Happy Holidays!

I will be home for the last three nights of Hanukkah, but I'll be back with great new recipes next week. Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Request: If you have an excellent recipe for Cupcakes: traditional or original, I'd be so appreciative if you'd share them with me. I have to get ready for my 2009 cupcake classes, and am looking for something new to share with the Boston community!

You can either:
1.) Leave a comment with the link

or

2.) Email me at CreativeConfectioneryBlog@gmail.com

Thanks & Happy Holidays!!!

~Jen~

The Best Way to Find Great Bakeries...

You all have one...that hugely popular or hole in the wall bakery in your neighborhood that you just couldn't live without...

I live in Boston, MA...Brookline - to be exact. Boston is laden with great bakeries & restaurants, so it isn't hard to find a great place for a fresh loaf of bread or deliciously sweet cookies, cannoli, cupcakes & more. The North End houses two of my favorites (both very well known): Modern Pastry & Mike's Pastry. Personally, I adore Modern...but Mike's is quite famous & absolutely delicious. Visiting Boston? You should devote a night to excellent Italian food (anywhere on Hanover Street) followed by a visit to one of these great bakeries (or both??).

Sometimes, though, I don't want to travel all the way to the North End. Yes, Boston isn't huge, but if you have ever ridden the T, you understand why it can be quite the trek.

Growing up Jewish, I have quite the palate for Judaic baked goods: Challah, Hamentashen, Rugula...etc etc. A while back I promised a Challah tour of Boston - believe me, that is still coming. Though excellent bakeries, neither Modern nor Mike's can satiate my desire for the described baked goods. I found a place right in my own back yard though...

What is there to do on December 25th in Brookline, MA when you're Jewish? (Aside from going to the movies) You can walk around the neighborhood, just North of Coolidge Corner, and visit the Jewish Family owned stores. And guess what I found - an amazing bakery (that I definitely should have stumbled upon before) boasting an excellent selection of my favorites: Kupel's Bakery. They have an amazing selection of baked goods: cookies, the items I talked about above, tons of bagels (many varieties of whole wheat!) and much much more. You should really stop in here...I grabbed a loaf of Challah & two Hamentashen cookies (one raspberry & one apricot) - wow - so delicious! I'm now officially a regular...

So I encourage you: slow down your life & take a walk through your neighborhood. You never know what you'll stumble upon...

Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies?!?

Okay, I couldn't resist...here is one more for the road! I LOVE sugar cookies...they are, hands down, my absolute favorite! Always have been...

Problem: I am slowly turning into a health nut with a HUGE sweet tooth - unlikely pairing, right? It's hard to resist those colorful delights around the holidays! Well...here is a whole wheat sugar cookie recipe to knock your socks off w/o adding so many extra pounds!

Nutrition Facts for Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies:

(per cookie)

126 Calories

4g Fat

1g Protein

22g Carbohydrates

0g Fiber

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to Everyone!

Whole Wheat Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 ounces unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 egg white

1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

Icing Icing

2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

2 large egg whites

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. For cookies, whisk together first 4 ingredients (through baking soda) in a medium bowl.

2. Beat butter and sugars together in a separate medium bowl until light and fluffy. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl, and add the egg white and vanilla and almond extracts; beat until just combined.

3. Add flour mixture, and stir until incorporated. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 4 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 325°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.

5. Dust a work surface with flour. Turn out chilled dough directly onto work surface. Roll dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes in dough, and gently transfer them to baking sheets.

6. Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until set but not browned. Remove cookies from oven, and cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. For the icing, whisk together all the icing ingredients in a large bowl until completely smooth. Mixture should have consistency of a glaze. (If it's too thin, add a bit more sugar. If it's too thick, add a few more drops of lemon juice.) If you don't like lemon flavoring, use water instead of lemon juice.

8. Transfer icing to a pastry bag (or a zip-top plastic bag with a small hole in one of the bottom corners). First, outline the cookie or desired design, then fill it in. Let icing harden before serving. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Last Cookie Recipe of the Season!

Merry Christmas Eve to those of you who celebrate! Even though I don't, the holiday spirit is infectious! And...it's still Hanukkah, so I can relate to the cheer of the season.

Today will be my last holiday cookie oriented email. Post holidays I will move into a new theme: cupcake recipes! I will actually be asking for all of your help...my next class that I am teaching is called "How to bake the Perfect Cupcake". So many of you are so talented...if you have any show-stopping recipes that you think people would really enjoy, shoot them my way. I'd be honored if you'd allow me to impart them onto my class.

Then, in February I have a second cupcake class called "Hot Cupcakes for Cold Nights". My plan is to include Red Velvet for sure...because, come one, it screams Valentines Day :). The theme of the others...ideally...will be to focus on ingredients that are considered Aphrodisiacs. A little risque, I know, but that's the theme of the class the center created! So...obviously something decadently chocolate...but I need more ideas! If you have a recipe that you think is awesome & caters to the February Romance theme...please shoot them my way.

As I'll have a post after each of these classes on the class, I'm commited to giving you credit! If you've blogged about your recipe, make sure to include the link to the post in your email. I'll be sure to give you ample credit!

Now, here is the last recipe I am giving for the holiday cookie baking season!

I work at a company that gets a million gift baskets every holiday season. Yesterday, in one of the baskets, there were the coolest looking cookies: Shaped like walnuts with a pecan pie type filling (except with walnuts instead of pecans)...these guys were majorly decadent & original. I've searched around & found a recipe that sounds like it may replicate. The recipe is from cdkitchen.com.

You'll need a special baking tin for this: walnut tins. *that link takes you to a chocolate mold - check manufacturer for details on whether or not they can go into the oven!

Ingredients

***Pastry for shells:***

3 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 pound soft butter

1 1/2 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup finely ground walnuts

1/4 cup milk, more as needed

***Filling:***

1 cup milk

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups icing sugar

1/2 pound butter

2 teaspoons cocoa

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup finely ground walnuts

2 teaspoons rum or rum extract

Pastry for shells:

In large bowl mix flour, baking powder, walnuts, icing sugar, add butter in pieces and work with hands until blended.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup milk over mixture, make sure dough stays together add more milk if needed. Shape into big ball.

Take approx. 1 tsp. dough and press into walnut tins. Put tins on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until light brown. Approx. 10-12 mins.

Filling:

Put milk, egg yolks, and flour in blender and mix until smooth.

Pour into small non-stick pan and cook on medium until thick and comes away from sides of pan. Cool.

In small mixmaster bowl add icing sugar, butter, cocoa and vanilla. Blend. Add small pieces of cooked mixture as this is blending. Then add rum to taste. Add walnuts.

Blend until mixture is creamy & fluffy.

Fill shells with approx. 1 tsp. of filling and put shells together.

Peppermint-Topped Brownies from MyRecipes.com

I've talked about how I love MyRecipes.com before. Luckily for me...as I start to run out of my favorite cookie recipes to share with you (okay, I have a million more...but this one has to be shared) they send this AMAZING looking recipes! I certainly need to test it out. Maybe I'll do this on Thursday while most of you are celebrating Christmas :)

Use your imagination...think about this combination: rich, gooey, thick chocolate combined with the cool, refreshing taste of peppermint...delicious, right?

Boy, do I have an awesome recipe for you! Please enjoy - let me know how it comes out! You can use this with any similar mint...not sure how good spearmint would be...but you could try it if you want.

Peppermint-topped Brownies

Yield
Makes about 25 brownies

Ingredients

10 tablespoon butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, broken into large chunks
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
80 hard, round, red-and-white peppermint swirl candies (17 oz.; see Notes)
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whipping cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9- by 13-in. baking pan. In a medium saucepan, stir butter and bittersweet chocolate over very low heat with a heatproof rubber spatula until just melted (do not let simmer or boil). Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Slowly pour chocolate-butter mixture into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Into a separate bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder, then whisk together. With a clean rubber spatula, gently fold flour mixture into egg mixture until just combined.

3. Spread batter evenly in the baking pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, or until brownies are firm, beginning to pull away from sides of pan, and a toothpick inserted in center emerges with only a few crumbs clinging to it. Let brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 300°. Line a level, rimmed 11 1/2- by 16-in. baking sheet with parchment. With a pencil, draw a grid of 1 3/4-in. squares on parchment (5 rows of 8), leaving about a 1-in. border, and turn parchment over. Place a mint in the center of each square. Bake 15 to 25 minutes, or until completely melted into 1 large sheet, but remove before candy begins to turn yellow. Immediately score peppermint squares with a pizza cutter, using pencil lines as your guide. If scored lines don't hold, rescore quickly. Let candy cool completely. Gently break into squares along score lines. Arrange, bake, and score remaining 40 candies the same way (you'll have extra squares; pick the prettiest).

5. In the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl set over simmering water, combine chopped semisweet chocolate and whipping cream. Cook, stirring often, until melted and blended. Remove from heat and let ganache cool until just warm.

6. Pour ganache over cooled brownies in pan and allow to set until firm, about 2 hours at room temperature or 1 hour in the refrigerator.

7. Place peppermint squares bottom side up on ganache, leaving enough room between squares to cut brownies. Cut brownies into squares along edges of peppermint tops, wiping knife clean between cuts. Remove brownies from pan, discard (or eat) scraps, and return brownies to pan. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure wrap does not touch peppermint, and refrigerate 3 hours (to soften candy a bit). Serve slightly chilled.

Holiday Parties are Coming

Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, you probably have a few holiday parties lined up for this week. Lucky for you, I have tons of holiday recipes ready for you to bring to your potlucks or to feed your guests.

Though I have many wonderful cookbooks, my favorite recipes come from my mom & a few families that I've known my entire life.

Because today is the first day of Hanukkah (last night was night #1) I am going to share my family's Latke recipe with you. These are so delicious! You can also substitute 1/2 of the potatoes for sweet potatoes to make an awesome rendition to my holiday favorite.

Potato Latkes

10 medium white baking potatoes

2 medium yellow onions

2 large or extra large eggs

¼ cup all purpose flour

salt and pepper to taste

vegetable oil

Peel and grate the potatoes and onions (I do this with a food processor).

Place the potatoes in a strainer and press out as much liquid as possible reserving the starchy sediment at the bottom of the bowl. Return the grated potatoes to the bowl and blend the potatoes with onions,eggs, flour, salt and pepper.

Heat about ½ to 1 inch of oil in a frying pan. Drop about 1 T of the potato mixture for each latke into the skillet and flatten with spatula.

Fry latkes, turning once, until golden and crisp on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Serve with apple sauce, sour cream, or Greek yogurt.

And the Winner Is...

Thanks to everyone who has entered my contest for 2 oz of Gold or Silver Dragees! I hope you've enjoyed my posts this month.

The winner, randomly selected, of this contest is...

Megan of Megan's Munchies!!!

Megan - your choice: 20z of Gold or Silver Dragees :).

Today, having just had a huge snow storm here in Boston & another one coming, I will begin to experiment with fondant! Stay tuned this week for the results :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
~Jen~

Easy Fantasy Fudge

Ever had the urge to make a big batch of fudge to give away as holiday gifts to your friends/family/coworkers, but thought "well, I don't have a candy thermometer & fudge is super difficult to make"? Well I have the recipe for you!

Here is the best fudge recipe for any kitchen - the ingredients are super easy to find & the process is easy enough for anyone who has ever baked or cooked before. And, the fudge is FANTASTIC!

Easy Fantasy Fudge

3 c. sugar

¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter or margarine

1 5.33 oz. can evaporated milk (⅔ c.)

1 Jar (7½oz) Marshmallow Fluff

1 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg semisweet-chocolate pieces (2 cups)

1 /2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.

In large saucepan combine first 4 ingredients. Stir over low heat until blended.

Heat to a full-rolling boil being careful not to mistake escaping air bubbles for boiling. Boil slowly, stirring constantly, 5 minutes. **I've made this to the point where the mixture is very hot but not quite bubbling and made sure to cook it for about 7 more minutes after very hot. It turned out great!

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and chocolate until chocolate is melted. Add nuts.

Turn into greased pan and cool. Makes 2½ pounds.

Yields: 2½ pounds

Holiday Culinary Decorations

As you all know, on Saturday I will be announcing the winner of my Dragee give away! All you have to do is become a follower of this blog & you're automatically entered to win your choice of silver or gold dragee decorating balls. Not sure what these are? Take a look:

There is a plethora of other decorating accessories to choose from out there. Here are a few other ideas that I love.

Sugar Sprinkles:

You can find these in a huge variety of shapes, colors & sizes. The other day I found some in the shape of holly & others in the shape of pine trees! I've also seen Stars of David recently...

**The Star of David Sprinkles are for Meg - sorry again for the confusion! :)

Sugar Crystals:

These are much finer than sprinkles, but are great to add color without additional shape.

Chai Flavored Short Bread

Chai - no, I'm not referring to the letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

Who doesn't love a hot cup of Chai tea or a Chai Latte from the local Starbucks? I certainly do! And with this recipe, you can munch on a shortbread cookie flavored with the spices known to our taste buds as belonging to the delicious Chai tea flavor...

Chai Flavored Short Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup powdered sugar
10 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon ice water

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through pepper), stirring well with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until combined (mixture will appear crumbly). Sprinkle dough with 1 tablespoon ice water; toss with a fork.

Divide dough in half. Shape dough into 2 (6-inch-long) logs; wrap each log in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour or until very firm.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Unwrap dough logs. Carefully cut each log into 18 slices using a serrated knife.

Place dough circles 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes.

Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Lemon Bars to Sweeten Up Your Holiday Cookie Plate

It seemed that everyone really loved the bar recipe I last shared, so here is another one for you! First, a quick update: yesterday I taught my first cooking class "Sugar & Spice: How to Bake Delicious Holiday Cookies" - it was a huge hit & a lot of fun! I look forward to January when I start teaching cupcake classes :)

For today's holiday cookie recipes I'm going to share with you one of my fruity favorites: Lemon Bars! These bars are gooey, sweet & have just the right amount of lemon to give it a tart kick! Plus, of course, dusted with powdered sugar...yum! Please enjoy :)

Lemon Bars

Picture Courtesy of RecipeMatcher.com

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Powdered sugar

Combine 2 cups of the flour and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until you have a crumbly mixture.

Firmly press mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Whisk eggs in a large bowl; add 2 cups sugar and lemon juice. Combine remaining 1/4 cup flour and baking powder; stir into egg mixture. Pour batter over crust.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars, and sprinkle evenly with additional powdered sugar.

Then, of course, enjoy!

Christmas Cookies for the Football Lover in your Family

Even though we're quickly approaching the holiday season, we can't forget that it's still Football Season! What better way to celebrate both than to make holiday cookies to the theme of the great sport??

Now, I don't know all the intricacies involved in the sport...I know you need 10 yards for a touchdown, I know the Quarterback is super important - without a good one you're basically "up the creek" so to speak...and I know the shape of a football. Alright...finish your laughing - baseball is more my sport...

Really, for this baking adventure, all I need is the last part, anyway :) To decorate these cookies, I used the corn syrup method to add the sprinkles & then used white icing for the laces.

The cookie batter is my same sugar cookie recipe that I used for the Christmas Tree Cookies earlier this week. Below find the corn syrup method.


Corn Syrup Method for adding sprinkles to your sugar cookies:

Once you've baked your cookies & they've cooled, heat 1/4 cup corn syrup in the microwave until warm - the warmer corn syrup will be thinner & easier to spread. Use any type of paint brush (cheap child's brush works well) or back of a small spoon to cover the desired area with corn syrup. **If you want only a section covered in the sprinkles, only cover that part with the corn syrup.


As soon as you've covered your area, dip your cookie in your desired sprinkles. They will stick to the corn syrup. You can also sprinkle over the area & then knock off the excess.


Allow about 5 minutes for the corn syrup to solidify on the cookies - then use the royal icing (in a piping bag) to decorate as desired.

Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies

One of my good friends, Jon of Food Fight Blog, recently posted about his mom's famously delicious trifle recipe. If you've never experienced trifle before, I'd highly recommend doing so. His recipe (and the pic!) looks really good! I think it'd be a great dessert to bring to a party - particularly if you're strapped for time.

Trifle isn't the only great holiday dessert in my book, though...and I'm sure many of you agree! Maybe it's the tradition of fruit cake, but something about the holidays makes me love cookies with dried fruit it them even more.

Here is a great cookie recipe that combines the sweet, sultry flavor of cherries with ooey gooey chocolate. Delish, right?? :) What is it about chocolate & cherries that makes you want to cuddle up with that special someone? ;-) Enjoy a little something new in your cookie traditional gift giving basket!

Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies

Photo from MyRecipes.com

- Ingredients -
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2/3 cup dried tart cherries
3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk or fork. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until combined. Fold in cherries and chocolate chips.

Drop 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or just until set. Remove from oven; cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

---

Don't Forget : Holiday Give-Away!

Win a 2-oz bag of Dragees (silver or gold, your choice!)
Enter before my 100th post on the 20th of December
All followers are valid entries into the give-away!

Eggnog Tea Cookies

Image from Eggnog.ws (a website about eggnog!)

I have one word for you: Eggnog. The delicious, creamy, incredibly bad-for-you but oh so delicious holiday drink - spiked or not - that everyone looks forward to. I even look forward to it, and I'm Jewish! :)

Here is a recipe that I found a while ago that is quite delicious. Though the recipe does not call for actual eggnog, the addition of nutmeg & rum makes them taste just like the favorite drink of the holidays.

Eggnog Tea Cookies

- For the Cookies -
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp grated or ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup grated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

- For the Icing -
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
2 TBSP milk
1/4 tsp rum flavoring or light rum

Red & Green candied cherries for decoration (to make a holly type decoration - don't use maraschino - too squishy & wet!)

Stir flour, nutmeg, and salt together for the cookies in a bowl; set aside. (To use whole nutmeg, grate it on a spice grater, or scrape the surface using a paring knife. The entire nutmeg is usable and keeps indefinitely in an airtight jar.)

Cream 2 sticks butter and granulated sugar together in another bowl with a mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla; beat until incorporated, then mix in the flour mixture just until blended. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

Roll dough into scant 1 1/2-inch balls. (Use a TBSP measure.) Arrange on prepared baking sheets spacing 2 inches apart. Bake 10 minutes, or until firm to the touch and light brown on the edges. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Blend powdered sugar, 2 TBSP butter, milk, and rum flavoring together for icing, using a hand mixer. Frost cooled cookies, then decorate with candied cherries or ground nutmeg. Allow icing to harden before packaging cookies.

Oatmeal Turtle Jumbles

I'm going to change things up a bit and share with you a great holiday bar cookie that I stumbled upon the other day. To quote from the magazine:

"Sturdy, dense, and stick-to-your-teeth chewy, one of these rich turtle bars will satisfy the most ravenous sweet tooth."

This home made holiday cookie bar is the perfect combination of caramel, chocolate & pecans - how could you go wrong?? Trust me, even your pickiest friends will love these!

Oatmeal Turtle Jumbles
Makes about 32 bars
Total Time: About 1 Hour

For the Base & Topping:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup purchased caramels (about 24), halved

For the Filling:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; coat an 8 1/2 x 12-inch baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Cream butter and both sugars in a bowl with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix to blend, followed by the flour, baking soda, and salt; mix to incorporate.

Blend in oats with a pastry blender or wooden spoon. Crumble 2 cups of dough over the bottom of the prepared baking sheet. Press to cover base of the pan (don't push dough up the sides); set aside.

Add halved caramels to remaining dough, working them in with your fingers; set aside for the topping.

Melt chocolate chips, condensed milk, and cocoa powder together for the filling in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until mixture is smooth, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Off heat, stir in the pecans and vanilla.

Pour the filling over the dough in the pan and spread evenly. The layer will be fairly thin.

Crumble dough with caramel pieces evenly over the top of the chocolate. Bake bars for 30 minutes, or until chocolate is set and topping is firm. Cool bars completely before cutting.

**You can freeze these bars up to 1 month.**

**Do not double the recipe. If you want to make twice the bars, make each recipe separately for them to come out correctly.**

Sugar Cookie Christmas Trees & A Holiday Give-Away!

Happy December 9th to everyone! Wherever you are - I hope you're staying warm...winter has finally come to Boston, MA, which means more time inside for me (I'm not the biggest on cold weather, though I live in the NE of the states).

The holidays are not too far away: Christmas day is only 16 days away; Hanukkah starts in 12 days; Kwanzaa in 17 days. I have yet to do any of my holiday shopping...though most of my friends & family are probably expecting some sort of culinary surprise from me.

Holiday Give-Away: My 100th post is quickly approaching. It seems to be tradition amongst my fellow foodies to celebrate with a give-away. I had the hardest time locating a store that actually sold decorating dragees (you know, those silver/gold/shiny cookie & cake decorating balls). I have finally located them & would love the chance to share some with you! So, on December 20th, I will be posting my 100th blog post & will be announcing who wins a free 2oz bag of dragees: silver or gold - your pick! To Enter: Simply become a follower of this blog! If you're already a follower, you've already entered :). Also, if you refer someone to the blog & they post a comment or email me telling me so, you get another entry!

This blog post is dedicated to showing you a cute, crafty idea (that I saw on the Martha Stewart website - with my own special variations) for your holiday sugar cookies. Below are pictures of the trees as well as an awesome sugar cookie recipe that I've recently found in a holiday baking magazine. Please enjoy!

Sugar Cookie Christmas Trees!

Follow the sugar cookie recipe below (or another sugar cookie recipe if there is one that your particularly enjoy) and then the step-by-step decoration & assembly instructions to give you an awesome holiday gift for family & friends!

For these trees you will need a variety of star shaped cookie cutters - I have a pack of 5 Star-of-David cookie cutters: this allows me to use them for Hanukkah cookies (as I'm Jewish) and also for projects like this one.

To Assemble:

(You will need to have prepared piping & flooding royal icing to your desired green tree color (recipe below); you will need fondue/shish kabob wooden skewers, piping bag & tip, dragees and/or other decorations, colored yellow sprinkles, saran wrap):

Once you have your dough prepared and chilled, cut out cookies of each of your varying sized stars - each tree will need one of each size. I think that five stars looks great for these trees, but the number is up to you. Place cookies on a non-stick, sprayed cookie sheet & bake in your oven for 7 minutes at 350 degrees.

Important step: As soon as your cookies come out of the oven, CAREFULLY poke a hole in the center of each one with a thin fondue/shish kabob skewer, making sure to create a large enough hole to eventually stick the skewer back through it. Allow cookies to cool, approximately 10-15 minutes.

Once your cookies are cool, use your piping royal icing (already inserted into your piping back with a fine pointed tip) to outline the edge of the cookie as well as the edge of the hole you created in the last step. Hold the bag at a 45 degree angle for the best results.

Next, use the flooding royal icing to fill in the body of the cookie. Before the flooding icing becomes too dry (this happens pretty quickly) use your dragees, sprinkles, and other cookie decorations to decorate each cookie as desired. If your icing has already dried, you can use your piping icing to create small dots on which to place dragees & other decorations. For the best control in making these dots, keep the icing bag perpendicular to your cookies (straight up and down). Allow cookies to sit approximately 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, you will need to create a "tree topper". I hand molded 5-pointed stars, smaller than my smallest cookie cutter star. Eventually you will be using yellow sugar sprinkles on these. You can either cover the cookies in the sprinkles now, or use the corn syrup method to put them on after the cookies are baked (350 degrees for 3-4 minutes, flipping 1/2 way). I used the corn syrup method in the pictures you're seeing.

As soon as your "tree topper" comes out of the oven, stick a 4-inch section of the skewer into it. This will act as your grounding rod for your tree. Once your "tree topper" is cool, use it (attached now to the skewer section) to thread the decorated cookies by size (biggest on bottom, smallest on top). You are now able to lift your tree by the bottom cookie & your creation should stay together.

To package, I used regular saran wrap, closing the top with a small piece of gift wrapping tape, and pinching the saran wrap together so that it enclosed the tree. I cut off the excess saran wrap, but left enough so that the pinched part remained closed.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

makes 2 dozen 3-inch cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar

minced zest of 1 lemon (optional)

1 egg

2 TBSP heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together & set aside.

Cream butter, both sugars, and zest in a bowl, blending until smooth. Add egg, cream, and vanilla & blend again until smooth.

Add 1/2 dry ingredients, blend, and then add the remaining dry ingredients & blend until you have a sugar cookie dough consistency. Shape dough into disk, cover in saran wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours before rolling.

Once chilled, roll out & cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes (depending on oven) until top of cookies are soft but solid to touch & edges are a slight golden brown color.

Royal Icing

1 lb powdered sugar, sifted

1/3 cup water

2 TBSP powdered egg whites

Food coloring (if desired)

For Piping Royal Icing: mix ingredients together.

For Flooding Royal Icing: Add additional water until icing flows from a spoon in a thick ribbon.

Spicy Gingerbread People

During this time of year many people are busy making gingerbread people, houses, cookies...the list keeps going. I'm a huge fan of ginger, so I almost always love any gingerbread that I come across. This recipe is particularly good, however! I'm going to be making a gingerbread house in the next few weeks & plan to use this recipe for some of the decorations.

Spicy Gingerbread People Recipe
Makes 2 dozen 3-inch cookies
Total Time: 50 minutes + chilling

2 cups all-purpose Flour
2 TBSP ground Cinnamon
1 TBSP ground Ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground Cloves
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground White Pepper
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 stick unsalted Butter, softened
1/3 cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Molasses
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Stir flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.

Cream butter and both sugars in a bowl with a mixer, blending until smooth.

Blend molasses into butter mixture, then beat in egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.

Add half the dry ingredients and mix until nearly incorporated, then mix in remaining dry ingredients. Shape dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic, and chill it at least 2 hours before rolling out.

Preheat oven to 350F; line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut chilled dough in half. On a well-floured work surface roll one portion to about 1/8-inch thick. Flip and turn dough often during rolling to prevent it from sticking.

Cut out dough with 3-inch cookie cutters. Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Punch holes in cookies if desired (for ornaments). Chill and re-roll dough for additional cookies.

Bake 10-12 minutes, or until set; do not over bake. Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack. Decorate as desired; store in airtight containers for up to 1 week.

Kiflins with Vanilla Bean Sugar

Here is another great recipe for your holiday cookie baking pleasure! There are quite a few different recipes to make this type of cookie, but the general theme is a deliciously creamy butter cookie rolled in powdered sugar. These cookies are a winner in anyone's book - not healthy but, during the holidays, it is okay to splurge with a few!

Kiflins

For the Vanilla Sugar -
2 cups powdered sugar
1 vanilla bean, chopped

For the Dough -
2 cups slivered almonds
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Process the powdered sugar and vanilla bean in a food processor until the bean is completely ground; set sugar aside. (Vanilla sugar may be made up to 1 month ahead and stored in an airtight container. The flavor will deepen the longer it sits.)
2. Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely ground; do not over process. Transfer almonds to a bowl, then add butter, sugar, and salt. Cream with a mixer until blended
3. Add flour and mix just until combined. Chill for at least 30 minutes until it’s easy to mold.
4. Preheat oven to 350 °F; line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with cooking spray).
5. Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls, then mold each into a crescent shape. Arrange on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are just set and golden on the bottom.
6. Cool cookies on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
7. Roll cookies in vanilla sugar to coat.

*I haven't made these w/o the vanilla bean, but I'll bet they would be just as good if you didn't have the resources/time to include it!

This is one of the recipes I'll be teaching in my class next week. Very easy to create!

Holiday Cookies Galore

Every year I get very excited for the holidays because I have a million excuses to bake lots of delicious cookies & am able to avoid eating them all :)

There are tons of resources out there - wonderful cookbooks, cooking magazines, talented bloggers & awesome websites.

One of my favorite cooking websites happens to be MyRecipes.com. They have a wide assortment of recipes for you to browse. Even better: they have daily emails that you can sign up for that give you recipes in the theme of your choice! Currently I'm getting cookie recipes daily from them & I have to say...they're fantastic. Here are some highlights:

There are many more great recipes - definitely go check it out!

Linzer Ribbons with Raspberry & Apricot Fillings

Linzer cookies are one of the most popular cookies during the holidays - and really...they're delicious all of the time! The buttery, delicious cookie wraped around a sweet fruity filling...yum!

A week from Saturday I am going to be teaching a holiday cookie baking class & this recipe is definitely on my list to teach! It's very easy & the cookies turn out fantastically!

The recipe recommends toasting your hazelnuts first so that you can peel off the bitter skins - I did this & it was very easy to peel. One note...definitely do NOT buy the hazelnuts in the shell...they have very hard shells that are a huge pain to crack. I suggest either buying the pre-chopped hazelnuts (the bags will give you the exactly right amount) or buying the pre-shelled, whole hazelnuts & then toasting them to get rid of the skins.

And now, the recipe! Please enjoy :) You could also use this dough recipe to make traditional Linzer cookies in star/circle shapes & then fill with fruit.

Linzer Ribbons

Makes 54 ribbons
Total Time: 1 1/2 hours + chilling

For the Dough

1 1/2 cups hazelnuts

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (1 cup)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch of ground cloves

Minced zest from 1 lemon

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the Filling

9 TBSP raspberry preserves, stirred

9 TBSP apricot preserves, stirred (I used peach - very good!)

Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F; line three baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray (if you have really good, non-stick sheets).

Remove skins from nuts. Coarsely chop 1/4 cup nuts and set aside. Pulse remaining nuts in food processor until finely ground; set aside (you should have an additional 1 cup).

Cream butter and sugar in bowl with mixer until blended. Add vanilla, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and zest; beat until combined.

Blend flour and 1 cup ground nuts into butter mixture until dough forms.

Divide dough into 6 equal sized balls, wrap in plastic & chill for 30 minutes.

Gently roll each portion of chilled dough on a lightly flour surface to form a rope about 10 inches long and 1 inch in diameter.

Place two ropes on each of the prepared baking sheets (you can put more if you have large sheets - these don't expand too much), flatten ropes slightly, and using your thumb press a 1/2 inch deep trough down the center of each rope. Use your other thumb to keep sides of dough from spreading too much.

Score each strip of dough in 1-inch intervals at an angle, and prick bottom of toughs with a fork to prevent bubbling. Bake strips for about 10 minutes (dough will spread and puff slightly).

Remove strips from oven & deepen troughs by gently smoothing them down (back of spoon or finger will work - careful not to burn yourself).

Fill each trough with 3 TBSP jam, then sprinkle with reserved nuts.

Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until edges are golden and jam is bubbly. Let cookies cool on pan for 15 minutes, then cut through score marks. Dust with powdered sugar.