DecemBear checks by the dresser

Well – thank goodness it’s Thursday at least.  That means the weekend is close.  Today was another get up early-go to work- go to appointment – stop and get butter  – pick Pinot up from doggie daycare (she still seems to be doing just fine!) – come home – bake – run – bake ….  but tonight, Nick and I are watching one of our favorites – Mickey’s Christmas Carol, circa 1983.    And Friday will be here oh so soon!

Puppy Chow Cookies

Maple Coconut Blondies

Chocolate Sparklers

Well – as mentioned yesterday, I worked from home today for a combination of factors.  And a good thing I did, too – given the craziness that was today.  For starters – take a look at the three components that make up some of our Christmas ornaments:

Ornaments - bulb, hook and topper

Now, take a look at what I found on the floor when I got up this morning.  What is missing from this picture?

What I found

Yes – you can easily see (hopefully all) of the bulb fragments AND the hook….  but where the heck is the metal topper thing?  If you guessed that Pinot ate it, you would be right.  (And if you guessed that Cashew knocked it off the tree before Pinot ate it, I suspect you would be right on that as well.)  Given that metal pieces attached to metal wires with sharp edges aren’t typically meant to be ingested, you can imagine the fun that was this morning – first trying to figure out how on earth the hook got seperated from the topper, then guessing whether or not the topper was just somewhere else in the house due to Cashew playing with it…  when lo and behold, Pinot decided to bring the topper back up, all 3 pieces of it, and off to the vet we went.  I was a bit worried that she had punctured some of her insides due to the sharpness of the wires, but the Xrays came back looking OK.  So, Pinot is on a coating for her digestive system to try to help anything that may have gotten irritated from this excursion heal.  Fun fun.  (As a side note, I think I heard once that for possible internal stuff like this, you are supposed to feed your pet cotton balls  – both fiber and clotting – but I talked to the vet about this and she said not so much.)

What else happened on this lovely day of working from home?  Well  – given that we’ve essentially given up on finding my keys, the race to take care of everything is on.  Today, we got a new lock on our front door, and I got my car rekeyed.  Nick is doing his later this week.  I think those are the big 3.  I’m just glad I was only using our valet car keys (so both valets were lost) – it’s a lot cheaper than having to redo the whole system.

New Door Locks

Tonight, after work and the car appointment (and a lovely 5 miler outside with the boy!), the holiday baking began.  Some of you may know or have guessed that the past few years, I’ve gotten a kick out of doing “12 days of Christmas cookies” – which I actually don’t do over the course of 12 days, I make 12 different kinds of cookies in probably 3-4 days and freeze them for holiday parties and gift boxes and that sort of thing.  So tonight, with our holiday party looming this weekend, the baking started – and continued until I ran out of unsalted butter.  I’m all about baking with cranberries this year (probably residue of my love for my moms cranberry nut bread), and so tonight, the first 3 cranberry goodies were done:

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

White Chocolate Cranberry Macademia Cookies

Cranberry Bliss Bars ( a la Starbucks)

The mid-season finale of Glee was tonight and it was awesome!  I was glad that they didn’t end on a cliffhanger….

After Glee, Nick and I continued work on our holiday cards.  We’re mixing things up a bit this year – and are hoping to get them in the mail before next week.

DecemBear checks the upstairs closet

I’m not sure if there will be time for any more baking (or at least, I’m baked out for the most part right now, but who knows what next week will bring), but here are the first 12 kinds of holiday cookies!  All are new recipes to me this year, with 5 of them coming from Julie’s holiday baking cookbook!

Starting from 6 o’clock and going clockwise:

• chocolate cherry sugarplums
• hazelnut meringues
• pistachio spice cookies
• coconut macademia triangles
• double butterscotch cookies
• buckeyes
• bourbon balls
• kisses
• rolo cookies
• green and white cookies
• pecan pie bars
• butterscotch coconut cookies

I still want to make maple frosted pumpkin cookies & coconut macaroons, but not sure if the motivation is there.  Regardless, don’t these first 12 look so pretty all packaged up?

I didn’t mind these – Nick thought that they tasted too much like cherry pie and since he doesn’t like cherry pie filling, he was not a big fan. (I didn’t realize that cherry jam tasted like cherry pie filling or I would have used grape.) The leftover dough I used to make thumbprints and those turned out well. All in all, not a bad cookie.

Czech Squares

Ingredients
1 cup walnut pieces
¾ cup granulated sugar
2.5 cups AP flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
pinch fine salt
1.5 sticks butter, diced and slightly chilled
5 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons brandy
FILLING
1 cup cherry jam
½ lemon- zest finely grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 egg white, for brushing

Method
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes.
Cool completely.

Butter a 9 by 12 1/2-inch baking sheet pan, then cover bottom with parchment paper.
Pulse the walnuts with the sugar, in a food processor until fine and powdery, about 2
minutes. Add the flour, spices, and salt, pulsing until evenly combined. Add the butter, yolks, and brandy and pulse until the mixture starts to come together. Stop mixing and pull the dough together by hand, press and roll into a thick log about 8 inches long.

Cut the log crosswise into 12 equal pieces. (If the dough is very sticky, refrigerate it until easier to work with, about 30 minutes.) Lay 8 pieces of the dough on the bottom of the pan. Press and spread the pieces together with your fingertips to cover the pan evenly.

Stir the cherry jam, lemon zest and juice together in a bowl. Spread the mixture evenly over the surface of the dough with the back of a spoon.

Roll the remaining dough out on a well-floured surface about 1/8-inch thick. Use a small decorative cutter, such as a leaf, tree, or star, to cut the dough into 24 pieces. Evenly place the pieces on top of the filling in 6 rows of 4. Alternatively cut the dough into long strips with a pizza wheel or knife, and place them on the filling in a lattice pattern; or cut the dough into ovals and lay them on the filling in a decorative pattern. Brush decorative layer of dough with egg white.

Bake the squares until golden brown, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool completely in the pan on a rack. Cut with a serrated knife into 2-inch squares.

Source: Food Network | (Servings: –)

I don’t think I’d make these again – they just weren’t up to my sugar radar or something after they baked, which was disappointing because the dough was decent. (Nick thought the aftertaste was too cocoa-y.) White chocolate had issues melting, again I think because of the oil, but I did combine it with the peppermint and use it for the center of each snowflake. Maybe these would be better if the white chocolate would have drizzled!

Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookie Stars

Ingredients
1.5 cups flour
¼ cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick + 3 tablespoons)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon instant decaffeinated coffee granules dissolved in 1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
FOR ICING
4 ounces white chocolate, melted
¼ cup finely crushed peppermint candy, about 2 ounces

Method
For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or butter the baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugar, dissolved coffee and vanilla until blended and smooth, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing until the flour is incorporated and the dough holds together. At first the dough will form fine crumbs, then it will come together in large clumps.

Divide the dough in half and shape each portion into a smooth ball. Place 1 piece of dough between 2 large pieces of wax paper and roll it out to slightly less than 1/4 inch thick. Remove the top piece of wax paper. Using a 2 1/2-inch star cutter, cut out cookies. Slide a thin metal spatula under each cookie to loosen it and place the cookies about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and look dull rather than shiny, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the second piece of dough and then press all of the dough scraps together to form a smooth ball. Repeat the rolling and cutting process.

For the icing: Dip a fork in the melted white chocolate and drizzle it randomly and generously over the tops of the cooled cookies. Immediately sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy. The candy will stick to the warm chocolate.

Let the cookies sit until the chocolate is firm. The cookies can be stored between layers of wax paper in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Source: Washington Post | (Servings: 32)

I couldn’t get the chocolate to melt properly (I think because of the oil used), so the glaze on the bottom wasn’t exactly as planned. With that said, I like these more than the other macaroons I’ve made in the past – with or without the chocolate!

Black Bottom Coconut Macaroons
These cookies get their richness from sweetened condensed milk. To make jumbo cookies, use 1/4 cup of batter for each cookie and bake about 17 minutes.

Ingredients
butter, for baking sheet
14 ounces shredded sweetened coconut, 3.33 cups
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1.5 teaspoon almond extract
2 egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
FOR GLAZE
18 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted with
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil

Method
For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper and butter the paper.

In a large bowl using a fork, combine the coconut, condensed milk, salt, vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside.

In a medium bowl using a whisk or electric mixer on low speed, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves. Whisk vigorously or increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and mix until completely incorporated. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg white mixture into the coconut mixture.

Drop rounded tablespoons of the coconut batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing the macaroons about 1 inch apart. (The cookies do not spread a lot during baking.) Press any loose coconut shreds back onto the mound of dough.

Bake until the bottoms of the cookies and the tips of the coconut shreds are lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Slide a metal spatula under the macaroons to loosen them from the liner and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the glaze: Dip the bottom of each macaroon into the chocolate, allowing any excess to drip off or using a knife to scrape off any excess. Place each cookie on a wire rack with the chocolate side facing up or to the side. (You will have some chocolate coating left over for another use or to pour over ice cream.) Set the macaroons aside until the chocolate coating is firm, about 1 hour.

Serve cold or at room temperature. The macaroons can be stored between layers of wax paper in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Source: Washington Post | (Servings: 36)

After the past 3+ years of rolling out sugar cookies, decorating them with 5+ colors, I just don’t have the time to do that this year with this MS *finishing* up. (I hope.) So I sort of cheated this year, and my sugar cookies are coming from the cookie press. I baked them for only 8 minutes and threw some granulated sugar over them before baking. Overall, very happy with the cookie taste. Small for my liking, especially around this time of year. But oh so easy and quick. This is the same recipe that came with my WS cookie press.

Pressed Sugar Cookies
These simple vanilla sugar cookies are perfect for holiday baking. If desired, you can enhance the flavor with a pinch of cinnamon or a teaspoon of freshly grated lemon zest.

Ingredients:
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room
temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
Colored sugars or icings for decorating

Method:
Preheat an oven to 375°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg, vanilla and salt and continue beating until well mixed. Using a spoon, stir in the flour until blended.

Pack the cookie dough into a cookie press according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Fit with the desired-shaped cookie plate and press the dough out onto ungreased baking sheets or sheets lined with Silpat nonstick liners, spacing the cookies 1 inch apart.

Bake until the cookies are light golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and let cool. Decorate with colored sugars or icings as desired. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Makes 40 to 60 cookies.

Source: Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Series,Cookies & Biscotti,by Kristine Kidd (Time-Life Books, 1993). | (Servings: –)

Mmmm – these came out much better than I thought! Nick agreed

Peanutty Gooey Bars

Ingredients
FOR CRUST
2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
½ cup butter or margarine, melted
⅓ cup granulated sugar
FOR TOPPING
1 11 ounce package peanut butter & milk chocolate morsels, divided
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk –> I used fat free
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

Method:
Preheat oven to 350.

For crust: combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar in medium bowl; press onto bottom of ungreased 13×9″ pan.

For topping: microwave 1 CUP morsels, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in medium bowl on high for 1 minute; stir. Microwave additional 10-20 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Pour evenly over crust. Top with nuts and remaining morsels.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges are bubbly. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Source: Clipping | (Servings: 24)

Made these last night, but haven’t gotten around to trying them yet….excited to though

Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
20 chocolate wafer cookies –> I used chocolate grahams
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground coffee beans –> Oops, we were out of this, made it without
¼ teaspoon fine salt
Filling:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped –> I used milk chocolate morsels
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
⅔ cup sugar
½ cup sour cream
2 large eggs, room temperature
Glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped –> I used Lindt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon light or dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature
½ cup crushed candy canes (see Cooks Note)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil.

For the crust: Process the chocolate wafers in a food processor with the butter, sugar, coffee, and salt until fine. Evenly press the crust into the prepared dish covering the bottom completely. Bake until the crust sets, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, up to 2 minutes more. (Alternatively put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)

Blend the cream cheese, sugar, and sour cream together in the food processor until smooth. Scrape down the sides, as needed. Add the eggs and pulse until just incorporated. With the food processor running, pour the chocolate into the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Pour the filling evenly over the crust. Bake until filling puffs slightly around the edges, but is still a bit wobbly in the center, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

For the Glaze: Put the chocolate, butter and corn syrup in microwave safe bowl. Heat glaze in the microwave at 75 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Stir the ingredients together until smooth; add the sour cream. Spread glaze evenly over the warm cake and scatter the crushed candy canes over top. Cool completely, then refrigerate overnight.

Cut into small bars or squares. Serve chilled or room temperature.

Store cookies covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Cook’s Note: To crush the candy canes, remove wrappers and place in a resealable plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to roll and break the candy up into small pieces, about 1/4 inch or so.

Source: Food Network Kitchens | (Servings: 16)

Winter baking was kicked off with this simple recipe. I’ve never made the barks for the holidays before, and with my current love for smoked almonds, I was loving the potential that this recipe had. I used Lindt dark chocolate, and while it turned out OK, it was almost too salty. Melanie didn’t like the smoked almonds, I didn’t mind them, and Nick seems to like – now he’s the one eating the chocolate and I’m the one saying no thanks.

Sea Salted Smoky Almond Chocolate Bark
Ingredients
8 ounces Nestle 53% cacao dark chocolate baking bars, broken into small pieces
½ cup smoked flavor almonds, coarsely chopped, divided
⅛ teaspoon sea salt, perferably large crystal

Method
Line 8″ pan with waxed paper.

Microwave chocolate pieces in small uncovered bowl on high for 45 seconds. Stir. If pieces retain some of their original shape, microwave at additional 10- to 15- second intervals, stirring just until melted. Stir in 1/4 cup almonds.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining almonds. Tap pan several times to spread chocolate and settle nuts. Sprinkle with sea salt. Refrigerate for about 1 hour or until firm. Break into pieces. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Source: Clipping | (Servings: 15)