Sugar Cookies

I know this post is coming a bit late if you wanted to make these for Valentine's Day, but do we really need an excuse to bake delicious cookies? I think not. These sugar cookies texture are soft but somewhat chewy. depending on the thickness you make them. Thicker = softer, thinner = soft/chewy, and too thin = crispy. They're my husband's favorite kind of sugar cookie and mine too. They call for a just a few ingredients, take a little bit of time, but are so worth it. I make them every Valentine's Day and hope to keep up the tradition until I'm very, very, very old. Happy cookie day!

Ingredients

8 oz package of cream cheese
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla. Next add in the flour and baking soda and mix until combined. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap and stick in your fridge for about 10 minutes. While your dough is chilling, prepare your workspace by cleaning/disinfecting a place to roll it out. Lightly flour your surface and rolling pin. Grab half the dough and roll into a giant ball. As evenly as possible, roll your dough out to your desired thickness. Use a cookie cutter and have it.

Once you've cut all your shapes, carefully place on a lightly floured silpat.
Now, I don't know if it's completely necessary to flour it but why risk it? Bake in oven for 9-12 minutes (10 minutes for me). Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Let your cookies cool completely (at least 30 minutes) before frosting.





Frosting ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter
3-5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together butter and 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Now add in the milk and vanilla and continue to mix. Slowly add in the rest of your powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. I used about 4 1/2 cups or 1LB bag of powdered sugar. If you choose to color your frosting, slowly add in food coloring until you reach you preferred color.

Now, let me talk to you about my new best friend. It's this little guy...

This stuff rocks. I don't think I'll ever go back to white sugar. This stuff sweetens the same, tastes the same, light in color so it won't give your drinks any gross color, and it's just awesome. I used it today in my baking and I couldn't tell the difference. I suggest everyone head over to your closest Costco and pick up on of these 10 pounders. You won't regret it.
And aren't these the cutest teaspoons ever?

Peppermint fridge cake

Peppermint what cake?! Fridge cake. It's one of my husband's favorite desserts. If you've never heard of it, it's probably because it's foreign to us Americans. My husband grew up in Durban, a beach town in South Africa, which is an actual country in case you didn't know. When I first met him I thought he meant like southern Africa, like how I'm from southern CA. But he corrected me quickly and then I felt quite stupid. Anyways, my husband introduced me to this concoction and it's become a favorite. But because it's so sweet we usually only make it once a year. And that once a year came early and we made it tonight :) But it wasn't for us. We made it for his work party, sad face, so I won't be enjoying this wonderful treat. But I did clean that bowl spotless.
Enjoy your American version of South African peppermint fridge cake.

Ingredients


1 box graham crackers
2 cans dulce de leche
2 pints of whipping cream
2 boxes of Andes mints (chop finely)

An 8 x 8 baking dish

In a large bowl, whip together the Dulce de leche and cream. Add the cream slowly and continue whipping until mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.



Now at this point, you're probably going to want to break off a piece of graham cracker and dip it into that billowy mixture and partake of this amazing masterpiece you've just whipped together.

In your 8 x 8 baking dish, lay down a layer of graham crackers. Next scoop out some of that heavenly, fluffy, caramely cream mixture and spread it on top of the crackers.

Now repeat those 2 steps until you reach the top of the dish. It should make about 4-5 layers of graham crackers, and 4-5 layers of whipped topping. Make sure you have the whipped caramel as the top layer.

(can't figure out why this is sideways)

Now you're going to take the chopped Andes mints and layer them on top until you can longer see any whipped caramel.


Cover with foil or saran wrap and chill in the fridge over night or for at least 6 hours. You want the crackers to soften, so it all just melts in your mouth. Cut any size piece you'd like and take it all in.

Banana oatmeal choc. chip cookies

Okay, so I lied in my previous post. I never got around to making half the things I said I was going to make. Whoops. But now that the holiday season is over and most people have New Year's resolutions, I thought I would make a "healthy" cookie. I'll admit, I suck at keeping any resolutions, so this year I didn't set any. That way I feel no guilt or failure if/when I don't keep it. It's a win win situation :) Now with this cookie, it has a different texture than your normal everyday treat. It has a spongy texture and doesn't spread when baked. It almost tastes healthy, but in a good way. I used white chocolate chips, because that's all I had. And I'll be honest, I don't think I will make these with semi-sweet. I liked the little hint of sweetness the white chocolate gave it. But, if your not a lover of the white chocolate, then by all means, go ahead and dump in your favorite kind of chip...chocolate chip that is. Anyways, hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's and I hope you enjoy your semi-guilt-free cookie.

Ingredients
Makes approx. 2 dozen

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup evaporated can juice or raw sugar (plain old white sugar would work too)
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup banana pureed/mashed (1 medium-size banana)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Then combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Next add the dry and wet ingredients together. The batter is a super thick and sticky so make sure you really incorporate all ingredients.


Scoop 1-2 inch sized cookie dough balls onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes (10 minutes was perfect for me). Transfer to a cooling rack.

Adapted from Bethenny

Cinnamon, candied almonds

Sorry, no pictures. The hubby and I cleaned our apartment for a Christmas party we held last weekend and by "cleaned" I mean, we threw everything to our extra bedroom, and now I can't find my camera cable, cord thing. So here is the recipe, just in time for a little holiday snack, treat, gift, appetizer, or midnight munchies satisfier.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
3 cups raw almonds
1/2 tbs ground cinnamon
1/4 cup water

1 long strip of wax or parchment paper

In a medium skillet, toss together sugar, cinnamon, and water. Over medium heat, add in your almonds and stir until every little piece of almond is covered in the cinnamony, sugary, goodness. Continue to stir until your sugar starts to crystallize. Now lay out your parchment or wax paper and pour those babies out on to it to cool. Once they've cooled, package them as you please :)

Rolo Cookies

Yes, that's right. It's a rolo, and a cookie! And they're so good. My husband has already eaten half the batch that just came out of the oven. Can't blame him though :) I first made these cookies 3 years ago for Christmas and I've been making them every Christmas since. I think they're my tradition cookies now. Hope you enjoy them

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups salted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 package (48 ct) rolos, unwrapped
1/4 cup sugar for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixer combine butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Mix in flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

What you'll need to complete the cookie


Place 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Take a inch size dough ball (about a TBS size). Place an unwrapped rolo in the center and cover in dough. Next roll the rolo cookie ball in the sugar.


Then place on a greased, or silpat, cookie sheet.



Bake for 7-9 minutes (8 minutes is perfect for me) Let them cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Coming soon.

I have a couple of holiday time treats and drinks coming up.

Some things you have to look forward to:

Rolo cookies
Homemade hot cocoa
Chicken pot pie
Cinnamon candied almonds
and
Cranberry apple cider.

See you soon!

Veggie and Gnocchi Soup

Ever been to Olive Garden and had their Chicken and Gnocchi soup? If yes, this is very, very, very similar to that. I used only vegetables because I was too lazy to thaw out frozen chicken, but you can easily throw some in there and it would taste fantastic. Hope you enjoy this creamy, hearty, delicious, tasty soup as much as I did.

Ingredients

1 cup diced, cooked chicken (optional)
4 TBS butter
1 TBS e.v.o.o
4 TBS flour
2 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 an onion diced (optional)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1 quart half & half
2 cups veggie or chicken broth
3 large carrots sliced or diced
1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups coarsely chopped spinach
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
3/4 tsp salt (add more if needed)
1 pound potato gnocchi ( you can usually find this in the pasta isle or gourmet sections)

Here is what gnocchi looks like. The first one is of the packaging, I forgot to actually take one with it in there. And the second is the gnocchi. Looks a little weird but it's really yummy. Tastes like a dumpling.


In a large stock pot saute butter, oil, garlic, onions and celery. Once onions and celery are soft, whisk in your flour to make a roux. Let the flour cook for about a minute. Now slowly add in your cream. If you add your cream too fast it'll leave little flour clumps that are impossible to get rid of, so when I say slowly, I mean slowly :) Now bring to a boil and continue whisking for a minute. Reduce your heat to med/low and continue mixing until roux has thickened.
Add in your veggies and/or cooked chicken. Next mix in your broth and continue to stir. Once your mixture has thickened again add in spinach and seasonings.
Now cook your gnocchi according to the package. Once cooked (should only take about 2-3 minutes) add it to your soup and let it simmer for a few minutes. Once you've completed those steps you're ready to dish up and enjoy!