Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange Party - Snowglobe Cookies

So I recently went to my annual cookie party, this time I made snowglobe cookies. This was definitely something different for me, never tried to do anything other than regular decorating. I used my normal cookie recipe and my normal frosting recipe. I used a snowglobe cutter to cut all the cookies.

I then took a smaller circle cutter and cut out the center of the "glass" part of the globes. I had bought some clear mints with red and green stripes from the store, so I hammered them into small pieces in a baggie  (I'm sure a food processor would have been amazing for this lol). I then spooned in enough mint pieces to fill the hole on each cookie after I had them on the baking sheets. 

Then I just went ahead and baked the cookies - as they baked the mints melted down into a smooth flat goo. Once they were done baking, I pulled them out and sprinkled some sugar on the bottom bit of the mint, and also added a couple small snowflake sprinkles as well (They just kind of sunk into the mint pretty easily). Then I just let everything set until cooled. (The mint pieces kept their red and green bit and it made a swirl of color.. if you could find plain clear mints they would just look more like glass)

Here's a photo of the mint part held up to the light.

I then outlined the cookie in medium blue piping, and flooded it with light blue. I let that dry overnight, then I tried out some edible glitter I had ordered in the past. (I actually ordered it from a lady on a cookie Facebook group- though most online shops do sell them, just be careful to get the food safe ones - some actually try to pass regular non-edible glitter off as food grade) The glitter I had read to mix with vodka... so I actually just poured a little into a shot glass of vodka and then used a small brush to paint it on the base of the snowglobe. (The vodka actually coats the icing and then the glitter spreads across the surface pretty easily) Once the vodka had dried off (it doesn't effect the icing), I used white icing to attach a couple snowflake sprinkles to the base, and then added small borders around the inside and outside of the snowglobe.

I ended up making 32 of these for the party, and they went over really well! Everyone said that the mint actually made it even better with the added flavor.

Next time when I give myself more time to plan ahead, I think it would be fun to either make a stained glass cookie or else some type of window with the mints.

New Icing Recipe! (My new go-to icing)

Hello again!!

So recently I traded out my old icing recipe (in the second post on this blog I believe) for one that I found on Sweet Sugarbelle's website!

This one is just so simple to make and turns out every time, and also makes just about enough for whatever I'm going to do. (I made one batch for the 4 dozen Peep cookies I made at Easter and that still didn't use it all)

Royal Icing

Yield: Approximately 5 cups

Ingredients

• 2 pounds {one bag} confectioner's sugar {907 grams}
• 5 tablespoons meringue powder {approximately 53 grams}
• 2-3 teaspoons oil-free extract or emulsion
• 1/2-3/4 cups warm water
• 
  

Instructions

1. Begin by stirring the flavoring into half the water.
2. Using a paddle attachment, gently mix the sugar and meringue powder. It's not necessary to sift the sugar beforehand, but you can if you like.
3. With the mixer on it's lowest setting slowly add the water/flavoring mix to the dry ingredients. As the water is added, the icing will become thick and lumpy.
4. Continue to add the remaining water {this may or may not be the entire amount} until the mixture reaches a thick, honey like consistency. At this point, turn the mixer to medium speed and whip 2-4 minutes until this icing is thick and fluffy. Mixing time can vary greatly so watch carefully and stop mixing when the icing is this enough to form a soft peak.

Notes

Don't be afraid to experiment by adding corn syrup, glycerin, or cream of tartar to the mixture. Use a fan for a smooth shiny finish. Royal icing can be affected by many variables. With a little time and patience, you will find your perfect match.

I'm also going to re-post my base sugar cookie recipe:

Sugar Cookies

• 2 sticks of UNSALTED butter (leave out about 30min to reach room temp, or microwave in 10 sec. intervals (I did this twice per stick))
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 3 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla or any other type of flavoring extract (I bought some emulsions at WalMart and a cake supply store, and this latest run I used a full tbsp. of Princess flavor)
• 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Combine butter and sugar into mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until well mixed (will appear “creamy”). Use a spatula to scrape everything back down off the sides of the bowl.
Add in the egg and your extract and mix again on low. Scrape again and get everything back down into the bowl. Then add in the baking powder and salt and run mixer on low. Then add in the flour in parts ( I usually use a half-cup and add that much six times, so the mixer has time to mix the flour in, if you add it too quickly or too much at a time your mixer is liable to bind up on you). You may need to shut off your mixer at times and scrape everything down into the bowl, and turn the dough on itself to get all the flour well mixed in. Mine always tends to leave loose flour in the bottom of the bowl. Once everything is all mixed well, the dough should be firm enough to just pick up with your hands and knead a bit just to get it all the same consistency.

Lay out a piece of waxed paper to work on and have a second piece to use to cover your dough as you roll it out so your rolling pin stays clean. You can also use a couple of paint stirring sticks or dowels on either side of the dough to keep the thickness consistent.
Then cut out shapes with cookie cutters, or freehand with knives/toothpicks or however. I've never really had any issues with the dough sticking to the cutters, but if you do, try dipping the cutter in some flour to help the edges release from the dough.
You’ll want to arrange the cookies on a baking sheet, I put waxed paper on mine to keep them from sticking, and all it does is leave a bit of greasy wax that washes right off. Now bake for about 8-9 minutes at 375. They won’t look really done, as in browned, but the dough will be cooked and they will stay soft.

 

Mint Chocoate Crazy Cake Recipe! (Tastes like Girl Scouts' Thin Mints cookies)

Chocolate Mint CRAZY CAKE (NO EGGS, MILK, BUTTER)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa (unsweetened)
• 1 cup sugar (All purpose sugar - Granulated Pure Cane Sugar)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil
• 1 cup water 

Directions (
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8" square baking pan.  Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients - two small, one larger (see #3 in photo below). Pour vinegar in one depression, peppermint extract in the other and the oil in third larger depression.  Pour water over all.  Mix well until smooth.
Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes.  Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Cool.  Top with your favorite frosting.  Enjoy!

Note:  Oven baking times may vary, be sure to check your cake to make sure you do not over bake.

Frosting:  Use your favorite chocolate, vanilla or peppermint frosting.  For this cake, I didn't have what I needed to make homemade frosting so I used a can of Betty Crocker Chocolate Frosting from the pantry.  I added 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract and mixed it up - it was perfect.   You can do the same with a container of vanilla frosting. 

Sangria Cupcakes

Sangria Cupcakes

 

Yield: 12 cupcakes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 1 & 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped strawberries, or a little less
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup blueberries or diced apples

To top the cupcakes

• Orange slices, strawberry slices and blueberries.

Buttercream

• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 2-2.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups red wine and 1/4 cup sugar, reduced to red wine syrup, see below

Directions:

Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F.
2. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Whisk and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and sour cream until combined.
4. Slowly add half of the flour mixture to the liquid, stirring to combine. Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture. Add in the chopped strawberries, orange zest, and blueberries or chopped apples. Stir to mix.
5. Divide the batter among a muffin pan lined with muffin liners, fill the muffin cups to be about a little more than 1/2 full.
6. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Red Wine Syrup

1. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the red wine and sugar to a boil. Once the wine starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, you still want to see the wine boiling, just not a rigorous boil. Allow the wine to thicken and reduce, about 20-30 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to cool at remove temperature. This is where the wine will begin to thicken. Once the wine has cooled to room temperature, you can place the saucepan in the fridge to help speed on the cooling process.

Buttercream

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the room temperature butter and shortening, beat using an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
2. Add 1/4 cup of the red wine syrup and mix. You can add more later, but you do not want the buttercream to become too wet.
3. Begin to add in the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time. Slowly beat the mixture until the powered sugar is incorporated. Continue this process, adding enough powdered sugar to make sure the frosting isn't too wet. You can add more red wine syrup at this time if you’d like the flavor to be stronger. You may have to add more powdered sugar too.
4. Transfer a portion of the frosting to a large ziploc bag or piping bag fit with a piping tip. Push or squeeze the frosting down, getting rid of any air pockets. If using a ziploc bag, cut half one corner, making a hole between the size of a dime and a penny.
5. Begin to pipe the frosting onto a cupcake, starting with the outside edge and working your way into the center of the cupcake, progressively stacking the frosting as you go around in circles. I used a wilton 2D piping tip.
6. Top each cupcake with a small orange slice, strawberry slice and one blueberry.

Crazy Wacky Cake! (No egg, milk, butter or bowls!)

Vanilla Crazy Cake Recipe (No Eggs, Milk, Butter or Bowls)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups flour + 3 Tablespoons (all-purpose)
• 1 Cup white sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp.  salt

• 1 tsp. white vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp.  pure vanilla extract
• 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil 
• 1 Cup water

 Directions (picture tutorial below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix first 5 dry ingredients in a greased 8" square baking pan.  Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients - two small, one larger (see #3 in photo below). Pour vinegar in one depression, vanilla in the other and the vegetable oil in third larger depression. Pour water over all. Mix well until smooth.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 35 minutes. Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Cool. Top with your favorite frosting. Enjoy!

Note: Oven baking times may vary, be sure to check your cake to make sure you do not over bake.

Chocolate Crazy Cake Recipe (No Eggs, Milk, Butter or Bowls)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups flour (all-purpose)
• 3 Tbsp. cocoa (unsweetened)
• 1 Cup sugar (All purpose sugar - Granulated Pure Cane Sugar)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp.  salt

• 1 tsp. white vinegar
• 1 tsp.  pure vanilla extract
• 5 Tbsp. vegetable oil 
• 1 Cup water 

Easter Cookies!

So for Easter I made some Peeps for my Peeps at work :D These were super fun to make!!

Welcome back!

So I've been away for a while now, but that doesn't mean I haven't been making cookies in the meantime! I recently bought some new cookie cutters too, so that's what I've been focusing on. My manager at work requested I make him some cookies with my new Fallout cookie cutter, so I had to comply.

The cutter was a little wonky, this was my first experience with a 3D printer cutter. The dough refused to come loose at first, then I inquired online and learned that I needed to drill a few small holes through the back of the cutter to create airflow so the dough wouldn't vacuum into the cutter. I also had to heavily flour the cutter and the dough to get it to come out halfway clean. So a heads up, 3D printed "whole" cutters are fun, but you gotta work with them a bit.
However I also just recently bought some 2-piece cutters from CrimsonManeCreations in Australia. Now these cutters are amazing! They're also 3D printed, but they are "plunger" type cutters. They are the easiest to use, and the details are amazing!! I haven't tried to decorate them yet, but I made basic sugar cookies with them.