Making The Most of Naptime : December 2016

Monday 12 December 2016

White Chocolate Gingersnaps #ChristmasCookies

Well, it's the final day of the 12 Days of #ChristmasCookies, and my final contribution to it for this year. Today I'm sharing White Chocolate Gingersnaps with everyone. I wish I could take full credit for this recipe, because it's amazing. However, it is really just one of my favorite gingersnap recipes , jazzed up with some extra deliciousness. This deliciousness that I speak of includes a variety of sparkly sprinkles and a little coating of white chocolate.

These gingersnaps are amazing, and I've spoken of them before. You might remember my post about Gingersnap Maple Pecan Ice Cream. Well, how can you forget it? .....I ramble on and on and on about it on a regular basis. Sorry. Anyway, this is the recipe I use for that too. Why? This recipe produces the most delicious little tender, but still a bit chewy gingersnaps. They are practically perfect in every way. The recipe's source is from Taste of Home Magazine, and it is called Lara's Tender Gingersnaps. I've rewritten the recipe below, and added my own few notes (in italics) to make them a little more festive.

Ingredients
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (I cut mine back to 1/4 tsp, but that's purely a personal preference)
1/4 cup sugar (for rolling)

Directions
1. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and butter until blended. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves; gradually add to brown sugar mixture and mix well (dough will be stiff). Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (I have found 1 hour to be ample time without affecting my results).

2. Shape dough into 1 in. balls. Roll in sugar. (I rolled some of mine in coarse golden decorating sugar). Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets.

3. Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until set (Just set! Don't overbake or you'll have crispy gingersnaps). Cool for 1 minute before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 3 dozen.

Now, to add some holiday touch to these:

-Microwave 1 cup of white chocolate chips + 2 tsp shortening in a 2 cup measuring cup. I start with 30 seconds, stir, and then keep doing this at 15 second intervals until fully melted.

-Dunk about half of each cooled cookie into the melted chocolate. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with any sprinkles or coarse decorating sugar of your choice. Cool completely before moving to allow chocolate to harden. Or, pop in the fridge for a few minutes.

These cookies freeze well too. Enjoy!

Welcome to the 12 Days of Cookies, hosted by Family Around the Table and Cooking With Carlee. We will be filling the season with all kinds of delicious cookies. Be sure to check out some of the recipes below or you can follow along on Facebook or Twitter by searching #ChristmasCookies. We also have a 12 Days of Cookies Pinterest board where you can see all of the goodness! May your holidays be sweet!

Day 12

Bullas (Caribbean Spice Cookie) from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Cinnamon Bun Cookies from Cooking With Carlee
Cranberry Bliss Cookies from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
Eggnog Snickerdoodles from Palatable Pastime
Gingerbread Crinkles from Jolene's Recipe Journal
Minty Dark Chocolate Delights from Family Around the Table
Norwegian Pecan Cookies from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Pecan Balls from The Chef Next Door
White Chocolate Gingersnaps from Making the Most of Naptime

Saturday 10 December 2016

Chocolate Mallow Drops #ChristmasCookies

Welcome back to Day 10 of the 12 Day of Christmas Cookies, and my 5th contribution to them. Be sure to check out all of the other delicious recipes featured today. Check out all of the links following this post!

I first made these cookies a few years ago for a Christmas platter, and remember them being SO good. I dug out this recipe again last weekend to bring along to a game day party we went to. I ate SO much at that event that I'm surprised I even had room to indulge on these. But I did. I had many. Too many! In my defense, we got there at noon and stayed until 8:00. So that's eight solid hours to rebuild my appetite, and eat again. Yikes!

The point is, these cookies are so full of chewy, chocolaty, marshmallowy (is that a word?) goodness, that anybody who reads this needs to add them to their list of cookies to try. The base of it is basically a rich, brownie-like drop cookie. In the last couple minutes of baking, you top it with a piece of marshmallow. If that isn't already amazing, you finish it all off with a squiggle of chocolate icing. Heaven in a cookie.

The original recipe can be found via Taste of Home, here. I have re-written it below with a couple of my own tips.

CHOCOLATE MALLOW DROPS

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans - I omitted these.
18 to 22 large marshmallows, halved

Icing:
1/4 cup butter, cubed
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 to 6 tablespoons brewed coffee

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in pecans (I omitted these).

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. I always cover mine in parchment for easy and lazy cleanup.

Bake 6 minutes. Do NOT overbake here. The will look slightly underdone. That's OK! If you overbake them they will be dry. You want moist and fudgy!

Press a marshmallow half onto each cookie, cut side down. Bake 2-3 minutes longer or until edges of cookies are set and marshmallows are softened. Again, don't overbake here. If your marshmallows start to spread, you have overbaked. You just want them to puff up slightly. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Since these are JUST baked, I recommend allowing them to cool slightly and firm up on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before allowing them to cool completely on a wire rack.

For icing, in a microwave, melt butter and chocolates; stir until smooth. Stir in confectioners' sugar and enough coffee to reach a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cookies. (I used a piping bag here. You can also cut a very small hole in the corner of a zipper lock bag). Let stand until set. Yield:about 3 dozen.

Day 10

Chocolate Mallow Drops from Making the Most of Naptime
Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookeis from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies from F amily Around the Table
Homemade Jingles from Jolene's Recipe Journal
Kolacky from Cooking With Carlee
Palmiers from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cookies from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
Turtle Chocolate Chip Cookies from Palatable Pastime

Thursday 8 December 2016

Eggnog Hugs #ChristmasCookies

Eggnog is one of those flavors that just tastes exactly like Christmas to me. I get really, really, really excited when I first see it in the stores each year. I swear it's getting earlier every year....but that doesn't matter to me. I bought my first carton in October this year, when my youngest son gleefully pointed to it and announced "Look mom, snowman milk!!" He's three. So I thought this was adorable.

When I signed up to be a part of the 12 Days of #ChristmasCookies, I knew I wanted to incorporate eggnog. I managed to come up with two eggnog cookies this year. I've already shared one, back on December 4th, my Eggnog Biscotti. This one is equally delicious - and fun, because it has a yummy little Hershey's Hug on each chewy, sugar coated cookie. The sugar makes them glisten a little. These were declared a winner in my household, and I hope they will be in yours, too. Again, be sure to check out what everyone else has baking today, by visiting each of the links at the bottom of this post!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar, + 3 tbsp for rolling
1/2 cup eggnog
1 tsp vanilla
30 Hershey's Hugs

Unwrap the Hugs and put them in the freezer while you make your cookies. If they're cold, it helps them from melting into your cookies!

Beat softened butter until very creamy. Add sugar, and continue beating until light and fluffy. On low speed, gradually beat in eggnog, then vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and pinch of salt in a small bowl. Stir into the eggnog mixture until well combined. Cover the dough and chill for approximately 1 hour.

Shape dough into 1.5 inch balls. Roll in sugar and place about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Gently flatten (just slightly!) with a fork (or a glass if you don't like any marks). Bake for about 11 minutes in a preheated 350F oven. The should look just done. Allow to cool on your baking sheet for about 2 minutes, and then place one of your frozen hugs in the center of each cookie, applying a little gentle pressure to "press" it into the middle. Remove to fully cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!

Day 8

Almond Butter Cookies from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
Eggnog Hugs from Making the Most of Naptime
Hungarian Poppyseed Pinwheel Cookies from Palatable Pastime
Kourambiedes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Melting Moments from Cooking With Carlee
Muddy Snowballs from Family Around the Table
Raspberry Coconut Cookies from Jolene's Recipe Journal

Tuesday 6 December 2016

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies #ChristmasCookies

We're half way through the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies! This brings me to my 3rd contribution to this roundup: Taste of Home's Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies. I first made these a few years ago, and then I forgot about this gem. I always have my standby baking that I don't tend to stray from over the holidays. So, with all of the cookies I've been making for this blog roundup, added to my old standbys in the freezer....it's going to be a very sugar infused holiday season. I'm happy I dug this one out again as it really should be part of my regular rotation.

This cookie is best described as a chewy brownie with a sweet little maraschino cherry in the middle. How can one beat that? Well, I guess the chocolate frosting added to the top helps. These are pure magic. PURE MAGIC! They come together quickly, and you don't even have to chill the dough, making them a very impressive treat that is super quick to prepare. I followed the recipe exactly as published by Taste of Home, with the exception of adding 2 tbsp of milk to the dough, and halving the amount frosting as it just made too much. I have copied the recipe, below, from Taste of Home. I've noted my adaptations in italics. Also note that this recipe is called Frosted-Chocolate Cherry Cookies on the Taste of Home Website, but was originally published as Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies many years ago, including the cookbook I found it in.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tbsp 2% milk
1 jar (10 ounces) maraschino cherries (I used 30 cherries)
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (I halved the frosting to use 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (I used 1/4 cup)

Directions
1. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa, 1/4 teaspoon salt, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture.

2. Drain cherries, reserving 1-1/2 teaspoons juice. Pat cherries dry. Shape 1 tablespoon of dough around each cherry. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on wire racks.

3. For frosting, in a saucepan, heat chocolate chips and milk until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add reserved cherry juice and remaining salt. Frost cookies.

Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen (Mine made exactly this!)

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies

Welcome to 12 Days of Cookies, hosted by FamilyAroundTheTable and CookingwithCarlee. We'll be sharing delicious cookie recipes all week long in celebration of the holiday season. Perfect for your holiday cookie trays or party dessert table. Search #ChristmasCookies to see all the goodies these 12 days. Follow the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies Pinterest board for more cookie ideas. Please visit all the blogs sharing cookie recipes today:

Day 6

Cherry Kiss Cookies from Jolene's Recipe Journal
Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies from Making the Most of Naptime

Jewelled Fruitcake Bars from A Palatable Pastime

Oatmeal Raisin Almond Cookies from Feeding Big

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies from Family Around the Table

Soft and Spicy Molasses Cookies from Cooking With Carlee
Spiced Pretzel Walnut Cookies with Chocolate Chips from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
Susensky from A Day in the Life on The Farm

Sunday 4 December 2016

Eggnog Biscotti #ChristmasCookies

It's officially Day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, and my second of six days that I'll be participating. Be sure to scroll down to the end of this post to check out some additional (and amazing) cookies from some other bakers!

Here it is.... something I've wanted to create for ages! Eggnog Biscotti. Don't you love it when a recipe turns out exactly as you imagined? Since last Christmas I've thought about tweaking my usual biscotti recipe to feature eggnog. Turns out that all I really needed to do was switch up a couple of ingredients and boom, there it was. Usually it takes a few tries to get things like this right, but I think I've achieved exactly what I was looking for. Replacing some of the liquid with eggnog, changing up the extract, giving the dough a blast of nutmeg, and glazing with some simple icing made this exactly what I was hoping for. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a little taste of Christmas with these!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup eggnog
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Glaze:
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp eggnog
1 tsp dark rum

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add eggnog and vanilla and beat until combined.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a small bowl. Stir into creamed mixture. The dough should be fairly stiff.

Using lightly floured hands, divide dough in half. Shape each half into a log/rectangle measuring approximately 12 inches x 3 inches. I recommend placing them on a large parchment lined baking sheet for this process, so you can transfer them directly to the oven after shaping.

Shape into approx 12 x 3 inch rectangles

Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer biscotti (leave them on the parchment paper) to a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 300F. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. DO NOT ALLOW TO FULLY COOL (or else you will be making a big, crumbly mess while cutting!). Yes, I just shouted that at you. It's very important that you cut these while still slightly warm, but not hot. Using a serrated knife, cut each log into 1/2 inch slices on a slight diagonal.

Cut while slightly warm, to reduce crumbling

Place the cookies, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake in the 300F oven for 10 minutes. Flip cookies and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to fully cool on the baking sheet.

To glaze:
Whisk together the icing sugar, eggnog and rum. (You may substitute additional eggnog if rum isn't your thing). Drizzle over-top of cooled biscotti (I like to drizzle mine on the top, rather than the cut side of the cookie, but it's up to you). I use a plastic zipper bag with the corner cut out of it to get a more even drizzle, but a spoon will work too.

Enjoy!

Welcome to 12 Days Christmas Cookies, hosted by FamilyAroundTheTable and CookingwithCarlee. We'll be sharing delicious cookie recipes all week long in celebration of the holiday season. Perfect for your holiday cookie trays or party dessert table. Search #ChristmasCookies to see all the goodies these 12 days. Follow the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies Pinterest board for more cookie ideas. Please visit all the blogs sharing cookie recipes today:

Day 4

German Gingerbread Cookies from Cooking With Carlee
Jumbo Brownie Cookies from Jolene's Recipe Journal
Lebkuchen from A Day in the Life on The Farm
Toasted Butter Pecan Cookies from Family Around the Table

Thursday 1 December 2016

Chocolate-Coconut Layer Bars #ChristmasCookies

Hello December! This is the first day of the 12 Days of #ChristmasCookies that I'll be participating in. What does this mean? From today until December 12th, there will be several talented folks sharing some of their favorite #ChristmasCookies recipes on their blogs. Some of these ambitious people will be taking part every day! I've seen some sneak peaks of what they're making, and trust me, you won't want to miss out! The participating blogs are a perfect place to get some new holiday baking ideas. I am such a creature of habit and tend to make the same things year after year, so following along will be a great way to inspire new ideas.

For me though, I'll be participating in six of the twelve days. I've been baking some new treats of my own creation, and have also thrown in a couple of stand-by recipes that aren't original to me, but are too good not to share. Please stay tuned!

So, what's kicking off Day 1 of the 12 Days of Cookies for me? It's more of a bar than a cookie, but I just had to include it. Today, I am shamelessly plugging my own recipe. This recipe just happens to be published (yay!!) in the December 2016 Taste of Home magazine, which is available on newstands now. I was so excited for this one to be shared in the magazine, as it is one of my absolute favorites! This Chocolate-Coconut Layer Bar is my twist on the classic Nanaimo Bar, which is another treat that you will almost always find on a holiday baking tray here in Western Canada. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

CRUST:
3/4 cup butter, cubed
3 cups Oreo cookie crumbs
2 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup cream of coconut*

FILLING:
1/3 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons cream of coconut*
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons 2% milk

TOPPING:
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 teaspoons canola oil
3 Mounds candy bars (1-3/4 ounces each), coarsely chopped, optional**

Microwave butter on high until melted; stir until smooth. Stir in cookie crumbs, coconut and cream of coconut until blended (mixture will be wet). Spread onto bottom of an ungreased 13x9-in. baking pan. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

For filling, beat butter, cream of coconut and extract until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and enough milk to reach a spreading consistency. Spread over crust.

For topping, microwave chocolate chips and oil until melted; stir until smooth. Cool slightly; spread over filling. If desired, sprinkle with chopped candy bars. Refrigerate. Yield: 3 dozen***.

Additional Notes:

* The cream of coconut used here is not the same as coconut cream. Look for cream of coconut in the liquor mixers section of your supermarket. I use Coco Real, which is apparently widely available in US supermarkets. For you Canadians, this can be tricky to find. I can only find it in one supermarket here in Calgary. Save on Foods carries it.

**Again, for us Canadians, a Mounds bar is similar to the coconut candy bar that we have, called Bounty. I use Bounty Bars.

*** Cut these bars into very small pieces. They are so, so, so wonderfully sweet. These are amazing, but it's best to eat them in small doses if you want to save an appetite for other goodies!

Enjoy!

oh, and pssssst: The December 2016 Taste of Home Magazine is also featuring 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. You can NEVER have too many Christmas treats. First, check out the awesome blogs below, then run to the store and pick up more inspiration from December's Taste of Home!

Day 1

Anginetti from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Candy Cane Cookies from The Freshman Cook
Christmas Sprinkle Cookies from Family Around the Table
Chocolate Coconut Layer Bars from Making the Most of Naptime
Chocolate Dipped Coffee Shortbread Cookies from Feeding Big
Cookie Butter Crisps from Palatable Pastime
Crispy and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Cuppa Cookies from Cooking With Carlee
Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies from Simple and Savory
Melting Snowmen from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
Meyer Lemon Cookies from Caroline's Cooking
Pizelles from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
Red Velvet Snowballs from The Chef Next Door
Snowday Cookies from Jolene's Recipe Journal