Category: Desserts

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

Peppermint Sugar Cookies

Sarah

peppermint sugar cookiesAnother day of Christmas vacation, another day spent running, watching HGTV and TLC, reading, and cuddling with the kitty. Oh, and thinking about these amazing cookies. I’ve already made them twice in about a week. Does that tell you anything? Granted, I needed two batches for our Christmas goodie bags… but that may or may not have been due to the fact that once I tasted one hot out of the oven, I wanted to save some for myself. But that’s besides the point, right? Let’s get back to the cookies.

These Peppermint Sugar Cookies are Christmas in cookie form. Sugary, buttery, pepperminty. Rich, sweet, unmistakably seasonal. They may be now up there in the runnings for favorite Christmas cookie. After just one year… incredible, right?

Peppermint Sugar Cookies [from We Are Not Martha]
Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar, divided
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tarter
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies [about 20 peppermint candies or 7 candy canes]

Directions:

Crush candy canes/peppermint candies. I used a ziploc bag and a rolling pin, but you could use a food processor too. Be sure to leave some pieces on the bigger side because one of the best part of these cookies is the way the peppermint pieces melt as the cookie bakes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and 3/4 cup sugar. Add egg and vanilla, and mix well. In another bowl, stir together flour, cream of tarter, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients gradually, and blend until fully combined. Add 1/4 cup of the crushed peppermints and stir to combine.

In a smaller bowl, stir together remaining 1/4 cup sugar with 1/4 cup peppermints.

Now, roll dough into 3/4 inch balls and roll in the sugar/peppermint mixture. Place dough on baking sheet about 2 inches apart [otherwise the cookies will bake into one massive cookie…ask me how I know].

Bake for about 8-11 minutes, depending on how soft or crispy you prefer your cookies. Store dough in the fridge in between batches. Cool on the baking sheet for about a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Makes about 24.

Click here for the printable: Peppermint Sugar Cookies

Shared at Life as Mom, it’s just Laine.

Question of the Day: What’s your favorite Christmas cookie?

Desserts, Other, Recipes

Study Break, aka Eggless Cookie Dough that’s safe to eat

Sarah

I may or may not have just made some raw cookie dough [sans eggs] to help me with finals… just one large paper, one short essay, and one multiple choice exam stand in between me and FREEDOM!!!!

eggless cookie dough that's safe to eat!
In case you’re interested in my rendition, ya know, if you may or may not want to join me in my cookie dough fest, I used about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1/8 cup white chocolate chips + 1/8 cup butterscotch chips. Deeelicious! My college friends and I used to buy tubes of store-bought cookie dough and tubs of funfetti frosting to munch on during girls’ nights. Brings back memories… gotta go, I don’t want to experience the memory of 2 am paper-writing! 🙂

Eggless Cookie Dough - safe to eat and enjoy!

  • Servings: lots
  • Print

from Cupcake Project

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • any amount of any mix-ins you’d like – I used 3/4 cup total of semi sweet, butterscotch, and white chocolate chips but anything works!!

Directions:

Mix up in a bowl. Enjoy immediately, or refrigerate/freeze for future cookie dough cravings. 🙂

Cheesecakes, Desserts, Recipes

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Sauce

Sarah
pumpkin cheesecake
Don't you wish I was on your table?

I know, I know. It’s probably not nice of me to post a pumpkin recipe the day before Thanksgiving when the menus are already planned and the shopping is already done… [right?]. But this Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Topping is so fabulous I hope you’ll forgive me, just this once. I made it to take to our small group from church about a month ago and it was absolute devoured.
slice of cheesecake
This cheesecake is so light, so fluffy, so rich, so flavorful. Even if there is no room for cheesecake on Thanksgiving day, I bet there’d be room on Black Friday. Or Saturday. Or Sunday. Or Monday. Or… any day, really! The chocolate crust pairs really well with the spicy pumpkin filling, and the Pecan Praline Topping is to die for! [And leftovers serve really well as dip for apple slices or drizzle for ice cream…] All the work for this cheesecake is totally worth it… I promise. So, do you forgive me for being mean? 🙂

Pumpkin Cheesecake [from Brown Eyed Baker]

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs [use a food processor/blender or a rolling pin/ziploc to crush them]
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 32 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • about 2 cups [15 ounces] canned pumpkin
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use aluminum foil to double-wrap the bottom and outside of a 9 inch springform pan.

In a food processor or blender, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and butter. Press into the bottom of the springform pan and bake for about 7 minutes or until set and golden brown. Cool completely before filling. Adjust the oven to 325 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add cream cheese and sugars and mix on medium speed until creamy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add pumpkin and mix on low until fully combined, scraping the sides as needed. Beat in eggs one by one, mixing long enough to ensure each is fully incorporated. In a small bowl, whisk together cream and vanilla, then pour in the batter and mix until combined. Stir together the spices and add, mixing on low until all is combined.

Boil a pot or teakettle of water for a water bath.

Pour batter onto crust. Place the cheesecake pan into a larger dish [I use a roaster] and pour the boiling water into the larger dish, about halfway [2-3 inches] up the sides of the cheesecake.

Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until edges are set and middle is slightly underbaked [it should not be firm yet]. Turn off the oven and let cheesecake sit in the water bath for about 60 minutes, leaving the oven door shut. Then, take cheesecake out of water bath and oven, remove the foil, and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. [Do not refrigerate until cheesecake is cooled; this causes condensation.] About 2-3 hours is necessary for the cheesecake to cool completely, so take that into consideration when you’re planning!

Refrigerate at least 6-8 hours or overnight before serving

For more info on cheesecakes and water baths, check out this site.

Pecan Praline Sauce [from Food & Wine]

Ingredients:

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups pecans, roughly chopped and toasted in a 350 degree oven for 4-5 minutes if desired

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in sugar. Cook over medium heat, always stirring, until smooth. Whisk in heavy cream and salt, then bring to a boil and simmer until thick. Cool, and stir in pecans.

Click here for the printable: Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Praline Sauce

designQuestion of the Day: Favorite flavor of cheesecake. Ready, go!

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

Monster Cookies

Sarah
Monster cookies
there's nothin' scary about these monsters...

So, I have this problem. It’s really really really hard for me to pick my favorite kind of cookie. I mean seriously. How can I choose between peanut butter, or chocolate chip, or oatmeal cranberry? And what about M&M cookies? Or cookies with peanuts? I’ll pick all of the above, please. But thankfully… sometimes problems have happy endings. Sometimes you can have your cake [cookie?] and eat it too. Now is one of those times.

To me, monster cookies are so great because they combine the best of the best. A peanut butter, oatmeal based cookie dough with bits of chocolate and nuts and dried fruit and candy. Ohmygoodnessdeliciousamazement. Plus, they can be totally customized to your desires and tastes and preferences without changing the integrity of the cookie. So, honestly, there isn’t much to say about these fantastic treats other than make them now. Because you know they’ll be good. As your custom creation they better be! 🙂

Monster Cookies [from Brown Eyed Baker]

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon corn syrup
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • sprinkle salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
  • 4 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup pretzel M&Ms
  • 1/2 cup plain M&Ms
  • 1/4 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Add eggs, sugars, vanilla, corn syrup, baking soda, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. In a small bowl, whisk together butter and peanut butter. Fold into the egg mixture, then add flour and oats and mix to combine. Finally, fold in the add-ins [peanuts, M&Ms, chips, and cranberries]–I used a wooden spoon to do so because the bowl of my mixer was practically overflowing! Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to set.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove from fridge and scoop dough onto cookie sheets in rounded tablespoons, using the spoon to press down slightly on each ball of dough to flatten it a little. Bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.

Note:

I made 24 cookies and one 8-inch cookie cake in a pie pan. The cookie cake was the result of an abundance of add-ins; I just pressed all the extras into the remaining dough. It was yummy!

Click here for the printable version: Monster Cookies

Question of the Day: What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

Desserts, Other, Recipes

A Tale of Contrasts: Twice Baked Apple Crisp for Two

Sarah

I love fruit. Growing up, I often preferred fruit to chocolate in desserts. While I can’t say the same is 100% true today, I still love fruit in my desserts. Or as a snack. Or anytime, really. Fruit is so tasty and sweet on its own… it doesn’t need anything else to make it better.

However… [there’s always a however] it can be a little better with some mix-ins.

That’s why I love apple crisp so much. Apple is the star of the show, complemented by some side-show characters. Enter oats. Brown sugar. Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Ginger. The taste of fall.

Twice Baked Apple Crisp for Two
Dessert for two!

This tale of delightful contrasts plays its masterpiece in your mouth. Yum! That’s the best place to play, in my opinion. This apple crisp is simple and oh-so-sweet. The apples are baked twice for an extra oomph of tenderness and softness, and the crisp is perfectly crisp. [Anything else and would it be crisp?] You’ll enjoy the spice against the sugar and the soft, tart apple against the sweet, crisp oats. Each bite will bring you just enough crispy goodness and the perfect amount of real apples–none of that fake filling stuff here! No siree! And the best way to enjoy this delectable show? With a hearty scoop of ice cream, melting over top the warm apple crisp. It’s so good that you’ll want an encore. And you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen, so make it today.

Twice Baked Apple Crisp for Two

  • Servings: 2
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups apples, roughly peeled, chopped, and cored [I used 2 Granny Smith and 1 Gala.]
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter
  • cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet and 2 – 1/2 quart baking dishes with cooking spray. Arrange half of the apples on the cookie sheet, and divide the other half of the apples between the two baking dishes [1/4 of the apples will be in each dish, and 1/2 will be on the cookie sheet]. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Pour in the melted butter and stir to combine with a fork to create coarse crumbs. Top the apples in the baking dishes with about 1/4 cup of the oats mixture each. Reserve the rest of the oats mixture and stash in the freezer so it doesn’t get too warm.

Meanwhile, bake the dishes and the cookie sheet for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and transfer half of the cookie-sheet-apples on top of each of the baking dishes [this makes a second layer of apples]. Then, divide remaining oats over top of the second layer of apples. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until apples are soft and tender and the top is crisp. Serve with ice cream!

Are you a fruit or chocolate person?