Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

 

I was at the Santa Barbara airport last year flipping through magazines when I spied this darling cookie.  I bought the magazine, but never made the cookies until two days ago.  I'm so glad I did!

 These bite-size(about 1 1/2 inches) cuties live up to their name and aren't just all about looks.  They are a soft chew, and the buttery cookies blend well with the peppermint filling.  There was a little bit of extra effort involved in these cookies, but I thought it was rather fun, and so worth it! 

These cookies are definitely going to be a Christmas tradition. I think they look adorable wrapped to look like their candy counterpart:) I am also going to put some of these peppermint cookies in a cute jar or tin and give them as a gift.  Of course I won't give them all away;)

Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies

From "Southern Living" magazine

Yield: Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  butter, softened
• 1  cup  sugar
• 1  large egg
• 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 3/4  teaspoon  red food coloring paste
• Parchment paper
• 
  

Preparation

1. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended, scraping bowl as needed.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
3. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Roll 1 portion of dough into a 12- x 8-inch rectangle on a piece of lightly floured plastic wrap.
4. Knead food coloring paste into remaining portion of dough while wearing rubber gloves. Roll tinted dough into a rectangle as directed in Step 3. Invert untinted dough onto tinted dough; peel off plastic wrap. Cut dough in half lengthwise, forming 2 (12- x 4-inch) rectangles. Roll up each rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, starting at 1 long side, using bottom piece of plastic wrap as a guide. Wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze 4 hours or up to 1 month.
5. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut ends off each dough log, and discard. Cut dough into 1/4-inch-thick pieces, and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
6. Bake at 350° for 6 to 7 minutes or until puffed and set; cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).
7. Place Peppermint Frosting in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic freezer bag. Snip 1 corner of bag to make a small hole. Pipe about 2 tsp. frosting onto half of cookies; top with remaining cookies, gently pressing to form a sandwich.

Peppermint Frosting

Yield: Makes 1 3/4 cups

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1  (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 2  cups  powdered sugar
• 1  tablespoon  milk
• 1/8  teaspoon  peppermint extract

Preparation

1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Increase speed to medium, and gradually add milk and peppermint extract, beating until smooth.

Kitchen Notes

These cookies are delicious eaten at room temperature, or chill them 30 minutes for a firm, cool filling

This post is linked to:

All Through the Year Cheer,
Tasty Tuesdays
 and I'm Lovin' it Fridays.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Molasses Cookies

I hope it's okay if I post this early, just this one time.  I am going to be out of town for a long weekend, but still want to participate this week in sharing another Christmas cookie. These molasses cookies come from a cookbook by Susan Branch entitled "Autumn".  If you've never seen one of Susan's cookbooks, or art work in general, you're missing a real treat. I love looking through the cookbooks just for the eye candy:)

I was so happy with the way these molasses cookies turned out.  They are like little cakes, but more dense.  They're chewy, moist and delicious! The frosting has just a hint of lemon which fares well with the molasses.  They certainly taste like Christmas! :) 

 

I added sugar sprinkles to the cookies, but they surely don't need it.  They are perfect little beauties with just the plain white icing. Molasses cookies are definitely worth making!  I have them stored in the freezer for Christmas:)

I look forward to visiting all the cookie blogs to check out this week's Christmas goodies when I return!

Doesn't this recipe look charming? (Click on recipe to enlarge.)

Giant Oreo: Classic and Turkey Version

I have been seeing Oreo cookies all over the blogosphere lately!  They are dipped, put on a stick, decorated for every occasion and generally loved:)  It finally dawned on me one day that I had bought a sandwich cookie cake pan(of course you could just use a 9- inch cake pan and decorate your own details) set from Williams-Sonoma last year, and have never used it!  It was time to christen it!

I checked the reviews on the store's site and read that many people had a hard time getting the cakes to come out of the pans.  Still others had disappointing results with the cakes showing no details when they did release from the pans.  So,  I looked for the reviews that had positive results and followed their lead...Using a single brownie mix ( FYI: Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix) and spraying the pans with "PAM for baking" ( which I didn't know existed) and it worked very well! I forgot to tap the pans on the counter to get the air bubbles out, but I was pretty happy with the way the "cookies" turned out. I think the density of the brownies helped.

 Well, after being sandwiched, it was actually one single cookie...giant size!  (Please excuse my chalkboard skills, or lack thereof.) I used a simple, homemade cream cheese frosting for the sandwiched cream in the middle. I Love the cookie!

As I was photographing my brownie cake,  a sort of light bulb went on, and I thought about this adorable Oreo creature...

made "famous" by the very creative(and funny!) Shelly of Cookies and Cups(click for instructions). I love her blog! (I made my turkeys with the Whoppers, and only used 4 candy corn due to my limited supply.)   And then, just for fun, I decided to do this...

...make a giant turkey cookie! I already had 4 unfrosted candy corn sugar cookies(Don't look too closely at them.  I was so anxious to see the turkey put together that I set him up before the icing dried and a couple ended up getting smudged). I used a ding dong for his head, a whole candy corn for his nose, icing and m&m's for the eyes, red icing for the wattle and a pretzel rod for the legs:) FYI: As you can see,  I didn't actually push the cookies into the sandwich cream because I want to convert the turkey to a Christmas dessert by taking everything apart, flipping it over and putting it in the freezer for next month:) It may even end up as another blog post-ha ha!

 Have a Happy Turkey Day! 

Linked up to Tidy Mom's Lovin' it Fridays

and Alicia's Tasty Tuesdays at "A Beautiful Mess."

Thanksgiving Challenge: I'm very thankful that I can walk into my kitchen and  find whatever food I need, or want, there. Let's not forget to share our blessings with others, especially during this holiday season:)

Cinnamon Cabin Cookies

When I visited the Land O' Lakes site the other day(to retrieve the candy corn cookie recipe), a photo featuring Cinnamon Cabin cookies popped up on the Home page.  I knew right away that it was going to be my Christmas cookie choice for this week!  Aren't they cute?

 

The cabins are mini size and are actually only a couple of inches from top to bottom.  I imagine you could make them using a gingerbread cookie dough to make the "logs" look more like wood, but I wanted to use a recipe I hadn't used before, and I love cinnamon! The taste didn't disappoint! There's cinnamon in the dough and the icing:) Tasty!

Cinnamon Cabins (From Land O' Lakes)

Cookie

3/4 cup softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon softened

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

White nonpareils (I used crystallized sugar)

Red and/or green food color, if desired

Directions

Combine 3/4 cup butter, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour and cinnamon. Beat until well mixed. Divide dough in half. Cover with plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (2 hours or overnight).

Heat oven to 375°F. Divide each half of dough into 15 portions. Work with 5 portions at a time, keeping remaining dough refrigerated. Roll out each portion on unfloured surface into 7 1/2-inch long rope. Cut each rope into 5 (1 1/2-inch) logs.

To assemble cabins, place 3 logs horizontally onto ungreased cookie sheet to form cabin; press logs together slightly. Place remaining 2 logs in an inverted V-shape above cabin to form roof; press together slightly. Repeat with remaining 7 1/2-inch ropes. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Combine all frosting ingredients in small bowl; add enough milk for desired frosting consistency. Frost or pipe cabin roofs; sprinkle with nonpareils. Tint remaining frosting; decorate as desired.

I ended up with three dozen cookies.

Enjoy! 

Linked up to Tidy Mom's Lovin' it Fridays and Alicia's Tasty Tuesdays at "A beautiful Mess." 

Thanksgiving Challenge: I'm thankful for a home that keeps me warm and cozy in this cold weather.

  I wish it were true!

(I found this at Ross.)

Dad, Veteran's Day and Patriotic Polka Dot Cookies

 

 This post is my humble attempt to pay tribute and extend appreciation to all the veterans and current military for their sacrifice and service to our country. This is a photo of my dad as a sailor:)  He's a member of the "greatest generation" and served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. I'm happy that he will be in my home for Thanksgiving so that I can show him this post and thank him in person. He will also be able to refresh my memory regarding the details of his service. Thanks, Dad!  I love you. XOXO

The Soldier

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier,
who salutes the flag,
who serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.

By Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

Of course my dad was given top billing today, but I had to whip up something sweet to honor the military on this Veteran's Day.  Last week I came upon some Polka Dot Cookies(originally from Betty Crocker) on Tina's fabulous blog "Mommy's Kitchen" and thought they would be easy to transform into a patriotic treat.I was right.  It seems everything looks sharp in red, white and blue.  I had a huge bag of m&m's and had to  pick out some blue and red ones for the cookies. (I should have also picked out some green ones, and made half the cookies red and green to store in the freezer for Christmas!) I also added a handful of white chocolate chips into the mix.  You can't pay tribute to the red, white and blue without the white:)

Polka Dot Cookies

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened (2 sticks)
1 cup shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups candy-coated chocolate candies (m&m s) (I added a little less and supplemented with the white chocolate chips.)

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat sugars, butter, shortening, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in candies. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 16 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. 

 These cookies are delicious and do look patriotic:)  Of course you can add different colored m&m's to fit any holiday.  The Polka Dot cookies definitely have a classic "crowd pleaser" taste and appeal!

Happy Veteran's Day!

This post is linked up with: Lovin' it Fridays

Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies

Well, I actually made these cookies for Halloween, but we all know that candy corn plays a role in the Thanksgiving celebration, since corn was part of the first Thanksgiving meal:)  I just "happened" upon this recipe jumping around the internet and landing on the Land O' Lakes website.  The little gems were featured in a video tutorial.  I watched the entire thing, printed out the recipe, and Voila, here they are!

 Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (I used a lemon because I didn't have an orange.  I thought it worked out well using both citrus fruits to represent the yellow and orange sections of the candy corn.)

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Orange paste or gel food color

Yellow paste or gel food color

1/2 cup sugar

 Directions:

Line bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan with waxed paper or plastic food wrap. Set aside.

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, orange juice, orange zest and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of white dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Place another one-third of dough back into same bowl. Add small amount of orange food color; mix until color is well blended. Press orange dough evenly over white dough in pan. Place remaining one-third of dough into another medium bowl. Add small amount of yellow food color; mix until color is well blended. Press yellow dough evenly over orange dough in pan. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

 

Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl; set aside.

Heat oven to 375°F. Invert loaf pan to remove dough. Peel off waxed paper. Place layered dough onto cutting surface. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using sharp knife, trimming edges to make even, if necessary. Cut each slice into 6 wedges. Place 1-inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Immediately place warm cookies in bowl with sugar; roll in sugar to coat. Place cookies onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

Store in loosely covered container.

Though larger than the original candy corn, you can see that these cookies are bite size:)

 I portioned these into cellophane bags and tied them with a fun, matching ribbon. Very fun and delicious treat!
The recipe states that it yields 15 dozen cookies.  I ended up with a lot of cookies, but not 15 dozen. I think it was closer to 10-12 dozen.   ENJOY!

Thanksgiving Challenge:  I'm thankful for my relative good health.  At the moment I have a chest cold, so I appreciate what a blessing good health is!

This post is linked up with Tasty Tuesday  and Lovin" it Fridays.

TWO Giveaway Winners!

Christa from the Brown Butter Cookie Company "found" my blog post the other day about the giveaway and emailed me.  She offered to donate a $30 gift certificate and so now I have two winners!  THANKS, Christa!

SprinkleBakes said...

Those cookies look so smooth and perfect... I bet they are incredible. I love lemon cookies with glaze - especially after an italian dinner. I always make those for dessert when I make lasagna. :) AND

Katie said...

YUM! My all time favorite cookies are cucidati! (Italian fig cookies) My Sicilian Grandma used to make these cookies, and others, every year and to this day is one of my fondest memories. CONGRATULATIONS to both of you, and I will be contacting you both right away!

 Thanks so much to all who entered!  I appreciate your support!

"You've Got the Cutest Little Baby Face" Cookies

Ha, Ha, that title is from an old song.  A week ago I baked up some cookies for a friend hosting a baby shower.  They're sugar cookies with royal icing.  I tried one of my "test" cookies and it was really good, if I do say so myself. Cookies with royal icing are so much better when they are fresh(the icing is dry to the touch, but soft when bitten into)! I decorated them on Friday, and the baby shower was on Saturday. My friend was very happy with them and that made me happy:)

You can't tell in the photos, but the cookies are pale pink in honor of the new baby girl.

I just wanted to share these with all of you:)

Thanksgiving Challenge: I'm thankful for the very special babies (my munchkins!), my grandchildren, in my   life! XOXOXOXOXO Hugs and Kisses to each of them!  LOVE them!!!

This post is linked up with Tasty Tuesdays and Lovin' it Fridays.

Play Dough Cookies

This year for Christmas I thought it would be fun to decorate with red and blue, along with chocolate brown and white thrown in too. I usually just decorate with the traditional red and green, but I saw the border design on this scrapbook paper(in photo) and liked it so much that I decided to try and decorate for Christmas this year using these colors.  The blue in the cookie isn't exactly the blue I was going for, and the red needs to be deeper, but hopefully you get the picture.

When I told my husband the name of these cookies, he thought they were actually play dough:)  The name refers only to appearance because the recipe is really rather tasty! (I  added cocoa to make the brown dough as opposed to food coloring.) I do love the color combination!

 These cookies were a lot of fun to make and fashion into lollipops! (I did make this cookie recipe once before, making rainbows and lollipops, but this second version has the cocoa added to them.) Of course, the color possibilities are endless, and could be adapted for any holiday or event. I'm sure children would love to help!

The lollipops look very festive when packaged up like their candy counterpart. After wrapping them, I stored them in the freezer in an airtight container. This Christmas cookie event is helping me to get ahead of the game for Christmas, at least in the cookie department:)

Play Dough Cookies ( adapted from allrecipes.com)
* 3/4 cup butter, softened
* 3 ounces cream cheese
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 Tablespoon baking cocoa*
* assorted colors of paste food coloring
* 24 lollipop sticks (optional)

1. In the electric mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir till soft dough forms. Divide dough into fourths(I only made 3 colors, so divided it in thirds). Tint each with a different food color(*With 1/3 of the dough I added about 1 tablespoon of baking cocoa instead of coloring) . Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Working with half of each color, shape dough into 3/4 inch balls(since I used only 3 colors I fashioned 1 inch balls) and for each cookie place 1 pink, 1 green, 1 blue and 1 orange (I used red, yellow, blue and green) ball together to make 1 large ball. Shape into a 12 inch long roll (like a snake), starting at one end, coil roll to make a 2 3/4 inch round cookie. Place cookies 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Carefully insert lollipop sticks into bottoms of cookies.
4. Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until lightly browned(depending on your oven). Cool and store in an airtight container.

This recipe made 14 lollipop cookies for me. 

Thanksgiving Challenge: Today, I am thankful for the beautiful, fall weather we are having on the central coast!  I just love it here!
 This post is linked up to: Tasty Tuesdays and Lovin' it Fridays

A "Brown Butter Cookie Company" Giveaway!

 11/ 9 NOON  GIVEAWAY ENDED...Winner announced soon!

In keeping with Joni's Thanksgiving Challenge, I'd like to say that I'm thankful for all of my bloggy friends!  Since I first became an empty-nester this blog has been a very fun diversion and has helped me adjust to my new status:)  All of the kind comments and new friendly connections are truly the "icing on the cake!" To say THANK YOU, I'd like to offer a chance to win a $30.00 gift certificate(courtesy of moi) to receive some of the best cookies on the planet.(I sincerely would love to give everyone this chance, but due to the practical issues of freshness and shipping charges, the giveaway is only open to residents of the U.S.-thanks for understanding.)
I blogged about trying to duplicate one version of these cookies here, but there's nothing like the real thing.

Don't let the unassuming look of these cookies fool you.  Check out their site here. These Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies get rave reviews(4.5 stars out of 5 from 45 reviews) from anyone that has ever been privileged to have one.  They are the perfect balance of sweet(mostly) and salty(a little), and somehow, even with their density, they still manage to melt in your mouth:) We love them in this household! I know you will too. (Good thing we have to drive a solid hour to get them!)

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite cookie is:)

For a second chance, if you are a follower, tell me in a second comment.  If you become a new follower let me know in a second comment.  Be sure there is some way to reach you (email or link)!

The giveaway will end on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010 at noon, PST. A winner will be picked via random.org.

 Thanks for your support and Good Luck to all!

XO, Sue :)

Faux Pie

Welcome to the month of November...home to pumpkin pie and gratitude! I love this time of Thanksgiving! What's not to love about getting together, eating good food, and thinking about all the things that you're thankful for?  Not too stressful either, especially when Thanksgiving dinner will take place somewhere other than my home:) Better yet, it's going to be held at my brother's house, only five minutes away! Just wish my whole family could be together, but that will happen at Christmas. Yippee!

Take a close look at my pie.......

It's actually a giant, iced sugar cookie, masquerading as a pumpkin pie!  (My post title was a hint.)

My issue of Family Fun magazine arrived the other day, and on the very last page was this
"Treat of the Month." I knew instantly that I was going to make it to usher in the season.  Isn't it a fun dessert?
I think kids(and adults) will get a kick out of this treat! I know I had fun making it:)


I ate the wedge pictured above, and it was delicious!

3/14/13 I’m partying at the Pi Day Pie Party at Crazy for Crust today. Come party with us!

 Easy as Pie!

Ingredients

• 2/3 of a 16.5-ounce roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough*
• 3/4 cup orange frosting**

• Pecans, halved crosswise (see tip below)
• Whipped cream

 

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly dust a sheet of parchment paper and a rolling pin with flour. On the paper, roll out the dough into a 9 1/2- to 10-inch circle. Place a 9-inch pie pan on top and trim away the dough's edges. Transfer the dough round, on the paper, to a cookie sheet and bake it until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes (do not overbake). Let it cool 1 minute, then carefully transfer it, still on the paper, to a rack to cool completely.
   
2. Cover the cookie to its edges with the frosting and press the pecan pieces in place to form the crust. Slice the cookie as you would a pie and serve with whipped cream.
   

Tips:

To cut the pecans more easily, use a serrated knife and gently saw them.

* I used homemade sugar cookie dough.

** I frosted it with royal icing, and mixed in a 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

Linked up to Alicia's "Tasty Tuesdays" bloghop at A Beautiful Mess and Cheryl's Lovin' it Fridays at Tidymom.

Joni, of Red Couch Recipes, has extended a Thanksgiving Challenge, to write something we are thankful for, each time we post this month...

I am thankful for my hard working husband! I'm so grateful that his diligence afforded me the choice to stay at home with our children!  I especially appreciate that, now that they're all grown up. Those years together went by so fast!