Snowman Face Cookies

Miss M's Dance Christmas Party is Tuesday. I agreed to bring in some cookies for the party. Of course, I couldn't just do regular cookies. I found these cuties at BettyCrocker.com and made them today. Here's the recipe:

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 container (12 oz) Betty Crocker® Whipped fluffy white frosting
Red string licorice
Assorted candies

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.

2. Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

3. Frost and decorate 1 cookie at a time. After spreading frosting on cookie, add licorice for band of earmuffs and candies for ear "covers" and snowman face.

Enjoy!

~peace and blessings~

Lisa

Snow Day Candy and Cookie Baking

It was a Snow Day for me today, and then after some getting to school through a snowstorm drama the kids were sent home early today. Since I was home we did some baking and candy making.

Here's a picture of my cookies:

Chocolate Caramel Cookies


We also made some Chocolate Pretzel Treats

You need a bag of Pretzel Snaps and a bag of Hershey's Kisses. This bag of kisses made 53 treats.

First, have your helper take all of the wrappers off of the kisses. DD loves this job...seriously...and often unwraps them by sorting them by color. lol While your helper is unwrapping the candies, preheat the oven to 170 degrees Farenheit. Then lay the pretzels on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Next, place a kiss on top of each pretzel on the tray. Pop the tray into the oven for 4-6 minutes. They will look shiny when they are melted just enough.

Press another pretzel onto the melted kiss, smooshing it to make a sandwich. When all your sandwiches are made, pop them into the fridge to chill for a few minutes. Once set, store in an airtight container or bag and enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

Sandy Sandwich Cookies

This weekend I made a new cookie. They're my favorite coconut cookie.

The Ingredients...

mix them together in a medium size bowl, making sure the butter is softened....

until a soft dough forms. I had to work it with my hands, so don't be discouraged if a spoon just isn't doing it for you.

Then roll the dough into walnut sized balls and put them on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with Pam. Bake them in a 350 degree oven for 7-9 minutes until lightly browned on the edges.

Then Voila! Here are the finished cookies, cooling on a wire rack.

They're not done yet!

Next, you put a tablespoon of vanilla frosting on the flat side of half of the cookies and top it with another cookie. Smoosh it together until the icing oozes out of the sides. Then roll the sides in coconut.

Here's the finished product...so yummy!

This free printable recipe card created with Smilebox

Click play to see the complete recipe!

Enjoy!

Peace and blessings,

Lisa

Chocolate Snowballs

Make a Smilebox recipe

Our kids love these cookies and I do too! They just melt in your mouth.

Blessings,

Lisa

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Tonight is the official start of Baking Week in our house! Tonight's cookies are one of my favorites: Peanut Butter Blossoms. I just bought new cookie sheets and am thrilled with how well the cookies baked! Here's the recipe:

Peanut Butter Blossoms

48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Blessings,

Lisa

Cookies for Santa Kits

Jadi at Homemaking Fun shared this cute idea for Cookies for Santa Kit on her blog. I thought they would be a great gift for my niece and nephews this holiday season.

I purchased the clear "paint cans" from Michael's with a 40% off coupon. I filled each container with red paper shreds, snack size packages of sugar and chocolate chip cookie mixes, a container of holiday frosting, two jars of sprinkles wrapped with coordinating scrapbook paper, and two cookie cutters. I created the label using Microsoft word and clip art from http://www.graphicgarden.com 's Christmas Bears Art Collection.

I covered the lid with another coordinating scrapbook paper and added red star garland to the handles. I am pleased with how they turned out.

You can find the label here.

Blessings,

Lisa

Apricot Sheet Cookies

This recipe was in the November/December issue of Cooking with Paula Deen. They were easy and are delicious. I am going to bake another batch for Christmas.

Apricot Sheet Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup all vegetable shortening (I used Crisco)

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup apricot preserves

Confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar; beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour until combined. Beat in vanilla. Reserve 1 cup batter. Spread remaining batter evenly into prepared pan. Gently spread preserves evenly over batter. Drop remaining batter by tablespoons over preserves. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool 30 minutes and cut into bars to serve. Garnish with confectioners' sugar.

Enjoy!

Blessings,

Lisa

Another Christmas Cookie

Since it is a Snow Day (yeah!) I decided to make one more cookie for my Christmas giving and guests. DH loves the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, so I made Candy Cane Blossoms from Hersheys.com. Here's a picture and recipe:










Candy Cane Blossoms

Ingredients:


48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Candy Cane Mint Candies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
Red or green sugar crystals, granulated sugar or powdered sugar


Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Remove wrappers from candies.




2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternately with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.



3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in red sugar, granulated sugar, powdered sugar or a combination of any of the sugars. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.



4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookie is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press a candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Christmas Cookie Recipes from My Kitchen

Merry Christmas! This week I baked a cookie a night in preparation for Christmas gifts and guests. Here are my recipes:

Annie Hall's Butter Cookies by Susan Branch

2 cups butter -- softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer (even the hand-held kind), cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well. Sift flour and salt together and beat into butter mixture until well mixed. When ready to bake use an ungreased cookie sheet and place cookies 1 inch apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, but do not brown them. Remove cookies from cookie sheet while still warm and cool on sheets of waxed paper. Decorate, if you like. Makes 6 to 8 dozen. Taste fabulous!

Shapes:
I use a cookie press and make about 8 different shapes of cookies...it looks like you made a bunch of different cookies, but not really. :thumbs-up:

Candy Canes: Divide 3 cups of dough in half. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons red food coloring to one half. Using about a tablespoon of dough, roll a 4 inch strip of each color (no fatter than a pencil). Place the two colored rolls side-by-side and press lightly together. Gently twist like a rope and place on ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Curve the top like a candy cane and bake about 10 minutes; do not brown. You can sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy.

Rolled Cookies: Shape dough into rolls with width of a cookie. Wrap in waxed paper and chill. Before baking, roll in chocolate shots. Slice 1/2 inch thick and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes; do no brown.

Stars, Hearts, Circles and Jelly-Filled: Fill a pastry bag with unchilled dough and put through a 'star tip' (sizes 2 and 7 - 9). Squeeze onto cookie sheet into the shapes you like. For instance, make star, then fill baked cookie center with red jelly. Decorate these cookies with cinnamon hearts, mini chocolate morsels, color sugar, little silver balls, or frosting from a tube. Bake them, same as others. Do not brown.

Cookie Cutter Cookies: Chill dough. Roll out onto lightly floured board to thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut with cookie cutters and bake as mentioned above. Decorate your own way.

Plain Old Drop Cookies: Just drop unchilled dough by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Don't brown. Remove from pans immediately.

Peant Butter Temptations

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bag (10 oz.) miniature Reese Cups

Cream butter, peanut butter and both kinds of sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Blend into creamed mixture to make a dough. Preheat oven to 375. Shape dough into 1/2 inch balls and place in ungreased 1 1/2 inch muffin tins. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately after removing cookies from oven, press a miniature peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie until only the top shows. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from tins.

SWIRLED™ Holiday Snowball Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® SWIRLED™ Holiday Morsels

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts

Powdered sugar

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.
BEAT butter, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in morsels and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight containers.

Creamy Caramel Cups Recipe

Shells:

6 oz. of cream cheese, softened

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups flour

Filling:

14 oz. bag of caramels

½ cup canned evaporated milk

Topping:

½ cup sugar

½ cup Crisco

1/3 cup canned evaporated milk

1 tsp. Vanilla

½ cup chopped nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. To prepare the shells, combine cream cheese, butter, and flour. Press into miniature cup pans to form a shell. Bake in preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes until light brown. Remove from pans.
3. To prepare filling, place the caramels and canned milk in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave about 8 to 10 minutes on medium power. Stir. Pour into prepared shells and let cool.
4. To prepare topping, combine sugar, Crisco, canned milk and vanilla in a bowl. Mix until fluffy. I use the whisk on my mixer to make it fluffy. Decorate cups as desired. I prefer a cake decorator. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ingredients:
48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!