Peppermint Bark

Let the baking, making begin! I'm having a dessert party this Sunday (instead of a full blown Christmas party that I have every year..) and I have a whole list of things I want to make! This gives me a opportunity to bake, and have people eat it!! :)

First up, peppermint bark! a treat that is seen everywhere! I'd thought I'd make some myself!

I bought some candy canes, and stuck them in a plastic bag. I actually looked up on the internet the best method to crush candy canes and this was it!

Then I whacked it with a rolling pin. :)

Instead of spreading out the chocolate to make "bark" and breaking them up later, I wanted to use my brownie mold to make small squared "bark." So I melted the white chocolate and put it on the bottom.

Then, I melted the milk chocolate and poured it over the top after the white chocolate hardened. Then, sprinkle the top with crushed candy canes before the chocolate dries.

I love the silicon molds because stuff like this pops out easily! Easy to make treat!!

Enjoy!! :)

Christmas Cake pops!

I had a community Christmas party last week and I knew I wanted to make cake pops. So here they are!! I had the plan to make reindeer cake pops, christmas hat cake pops, christmas tree cake pops and snowman cake pops.

I didn't get a chance to make the reindeer ones because when I started to make the pops, I realized I didn't have any chocolate candy melts. Oops. I started with the Christmas Tree ones. Bake your cake, mix it with some frosting then roll them into little cone shapes. Dip it into melted green chocolate and before the chocolate dries, I stuck on mini mini colored kisses sprinkles and a flower sprinkle for the stars.

Here are my tree cake pops!

For my snowmen cake pops, I rolled the heads into balls and coated it in melted white chocolate. Before the chocolate dries, I stuck on the orange candy coated sunflower seed for the nose. I used black non pareils for the eyes and mouth. It gets tedious because it's so small, but I just used my fingers. A tweezer might make it easier. Then two red regular MnM's for the ear muffs and a strand of Twizzlers pull and peel candy. You have to move pretty quick to stick everything on before the chocolate dries!

And then I got tired because decorating the previous cake pops took so long, so I made some regular ball ones and just coated them with white chocolate. I had found this bottle of gingerbread boys sprinkles at the craft store and just stuck one on each. easy!

Sad that Rudolph and his friends ("friends?") didn't have a chance. oh well, perhaps next batch?? :) Enjoy!

Gingergread Men!

I can't say I've ever had a gingerbread cookie..much less make them. I'm not a fan of ginger at all, the smell, the sight, the taste of it just makes me shudder.. *well, except of COURSE, eating at Ding Tai Fung, the Chinese dumplings place, you have to eat the dumplings with vinegar and long shreds of gingers..I'm not ever sure why I can eat it raw like that, and in/with nothing else. So weird.

Anyhow, gingerbread cookies appear to be a staple of the holidays so, I thought I'd make them and..eat them for the first time! Wish me luck...the trying to eat it part, not the making part. :)

This recipe is from my Martha Stewart Cookies book.

Ingredients
-5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
-4 teaspoons ground ginger
-4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
-1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
-1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
-2 large eggs
-1 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

Directions

Sift together flour, baking soda, and spices into a large bowl. Set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until fluffy. Mix in eggs and molasses until combined.

nice and smooth!

Add flour mixture; mix until just combined.

Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic.

Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to just under 1/4-inch thick.

Transfer to prepared baking sheet and freeze for about 15 minutes (I actually skipped this step..I cut my men then just stuck it in the freeze after that to cut back time...the dough did get a bit sticky. I think putting them in the freezer would harden them up a bit to make them easier to cut with the cutter) Cut into gingerbread men (or whatever happy shape you want..just adjust baking time) Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Here's my men!!!

sooo cute!!! I love!!!! I didn't want faces on them so I just stuck buttons on (mini MnM's)...you can do the red.. or...

The green! Enjoy!!!

MnM's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Err. I don't know why but for some reason I thought that people (like Nestle) sold chocolate chips in different colors. Like, green and red for Christmas!!! So I looked everywhere, and the closest thing I found was a bag of dark chocolate and mint chocolate morsels that were a light green color. I don't really want mint! I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies with a Christmas color twist, so instead, I bought a bag of these:

These will have to do! :D

I used the basic chocolate cookie recipe from my very first blog:

http://asweetlife4.blogspot.com/2011/09/chocolate-chip-cookies.html

It's also on the back of the Nestle chocolate chip morsels bag. :)

I put in a cup of the regular morsels and dumped in the whole bag of MnMs...which turned out to be two cups. I like them chocolatey!

Then scoop out the batter with a cookie scoop for even cookies onto parchment lined baking sheets.

Then...wah lah!!

Quite delicious. I like the crunch of the MnM shells as you bite in to the cookie, then you get the gooey chocolate that's actually melted in the center of the MnM's...mmm...and I only ate 2. :)

The rest, off as treats for people! I bought these Christmas treat bags at my local baking supply store and just tied them up!

Enjoy!! :D

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Yes, I'm very excited to start baking Christmas cookies. There's so many options and so many recipes!!! But before I start, the other, for some reason, I started craving white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. One of my favorite combos. MMMmmmmm....I went to the grocery store to buy some macadamia nuts, but all they had were ones in this little tiny bag!!

What happened to the ones in the cans?! I couldn't find them anywhere. And these are EXPENSIVE!! well..I guess I need them to make my cookies.. :P

I found this recipe from All Recipes website...pretty handy website for...anything cooking/baking related!

Ingredients

-1 cup butter, softened
-3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 eggs
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
-1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F..In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.

(It'll look a little lumpy)

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. (This is when it smooths out)

Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate..Mmmmm look at all those nuts!! (uhh..haha)

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

uhhhh ummmm.....yummmm...

mmmm...Instead of teaspoonfuls, I actually made mounds more of tablespoonfuls. I like my cookies just a tad bit bigger... mmmm

crap I ate two already. Better go to sleep before I do damage on them. But this Occupy LA on the news is just sooo fascinating.... :)

Brownie Chubettes

I met up with a few girls tonight to discuss the wedding plans of one of the girls. :) her sister, is pregnant. So I thought I'd make something for her (pregnancy=chocolate...remember?) I wanted to make something new so I saw this recipe in my "The Cookie Book" book called the "Brownie Chubettes." Funny, but cute name. These are described as freestanding brownies-gooey and cakey in the center, with a cracked shiny surface like a tray of brownies.

Ingredients
-6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
-2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
-3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
-2 eggs
-3/4 cup sugar
-2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1/3 cup all purpose flour
-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 cup pecan pieces
-1 cup walnut pieces
-3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

(makes about 3 dozen 2 inch cookies)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the chopped chocolates and butter..

...melt using a double boiler or, like me, in a microwave in like 20 second increments. Keep stirring to melt completely. set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, instant coffee, and vanilla.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, bet until the coffee is dissolved and the mixture thickens, about 1 minute.

Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate mixture.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and stir to completely combine.

Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop 1 1/2 inch balls onto the baking sheets, placing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake for about 14 minutes or until the tops are cracked and the edges feel firm. The centers will appear a little wet and underdone. Let sit for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

These are similar to the double chocolate chip cookies recipe from this same book, but definitely not as cakey..I think I like these better...actually, well, maybe not..well..I guess depends on my mood..well..hahah...but then again, you can't ever go wrong with anything chocolate!

Enjoy! :)

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffin

I found this recipe on Bakerella's website. It calls for maple syrup in the recipe. Sounds yummy. Looks yummy. I had to make them!

Ingredients
-1 cup flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-2 tablespoons sugar
-2/3 cup buttermilk
-1 egg
-2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
-2 tablespoons melted butter
-1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use cooking spray generously on a 24 mini muffin pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.

In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.

Bake for 8-9 minutes.

Makes 24 mini pancake muffins.

Let cool slightly and remove from the pan. You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan. Serve immediately with warmed butter if you like or even just with maple syrup.

Enjoy! :)