ThanksNovember D27 (&Chocolate-Mint Cookies!)

I'm thankful for Christmas.

I really really am.

Even if I just want to run away from it this year.

I'm so thankful I get to give gifts from my heart and my hands.

I'm thankful for merry making and joy.

I'm thankful for holiday songs and sing-a-longs 

(in the privacy of my kitchen of course).

I'm thankful for decorations and crafts.

I'm thankful for shiny ornaments and paper snowflakes.

I'm thankful for Christmas mugs, my favourite.

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone is having an awesome Christmas weekend.  Here is a bit of what we are doing:

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

I want to introduce you to these.  They sure don't look or sound like much, but are they ever good!?  Chocolate Gingerbread cookies.  Not really anything to the name, but they are my favourite thing I've made this season.  I made them on a whim, for a night of wine and cheese, ha! they've got nothing to do with wine or cheese, but we gobbled them none the less.

They are chewy, a huge plus in any cookie and very complex.  They are spicy with ginger and dark with a tiny bit of crunch all around the outside from the sugar.  They feel so decadent, but I can't. stop. eating.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies


I found these here.


1 heaping cup of semisweet chocolate chunks, chopped
180 g (1 1/2 c) ap flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tbsp cocoa powder
125 g (1/2 c) butter
100 g (1/2 c packed) brown sugar
1/2 c molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp boiling water
granulated sugar, for rolling

Cover a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment.  In a medium bowl sift flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cocoa.  Set some water on the stove to boil.

In a mixing bowl cream butter on medium-high speed for three minutes until it is white and very creamy.  Add brown sugar mixing until combined.  Pour in molasses and combine.

In a small bowl mix together baking soda and boiling water.  First beat in half of the flour mix, then all of the baking soda/water mix and then the remainder of the flour mix.  Mix in chocolate chips (Batter will be very stiff) and dump out onto a piece of plastic wrap.  Pat into a one inch thick rectangle, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least two hours.

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Cut dough into 24 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and coat in sugar.  I would place no more than 8 per cookie sheet, they spread a lot.  Place extra cookies in the fridge to chill while waiting for their turn to bake.  Bake for 14-16 minutes until the tops crack slightly.  Cool on the sheet for five minutes and then move to a cooling rack.

Christmas Box Finale

                    

The christmas boxes finally went out.  I'm not as happy with these ones as the ones from last year, but these were a heck of a lot easier.  There was only one item in the boxes I baked the day before, everything else was done in advance and just needed to be portioned.  

The final list was: 

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Speculaas Spice Cookies

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Bacon or Hazelnut Toffee

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Spiced Nuts

Orange Pistachio Biscotti

I did 17 this year.  I love doing them, I am looking forward to next years already.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Sorry about my absence.  Really, I fake calm, but really I've got way to much to do in such a short period and all this working sure is getting in the way.  Do you ever get overwhelmed by choices?  This happens almost exclusively in my food life, oddly I am a fairly decisive person in most other areas.  I'll want something for dinner, look at my board and feel SO overwhelmed.  If I haven't taken anything out of the freezer to thaw, then that is the end of my dinner plans.  Leftovers, sandwiches or baked goods it is.

I bought a cookie magazine, one of those 100 BEST CHRISTMAS COOKIES! magazines, with pretty pictures and simple recipes, but I can't choose! I'm so overwhelmed with all that is already on the list, I can't choose another to add.  Maybe I sense a little buyers remorse.  But not to worry, the magazine will be put to good use.  On a whim today I decided to make gingerbread cupcakes with molasses frosting for a get together celebrating two birthdays thus far this month.

I think these cupcakes are very good, light and moist with the gingerbread flavour you'd expect and a silky cream cheese frosting on top.  I don't make a lot of cupcakes, but if I had a hankering I'd make these again.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Molasses Frosting


I found the recipe right here.

Makes 12

Cupcakes:
8 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
100 g (1/2 c) brown sugar
1/2 c molasses
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c boiling water
1 tsp baking soda
180 g (1 1/2 c) flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:
9 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
60 g (4 Tbsp) butter, at room temperature
1/4 c molasses
1/8 t ground cloves
1/8 t ground cinnamon
3 - 4 c icing sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350 F, line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Cream together butter and sugar for a few minutes in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add in molasses, mix and then add egg, mix well.  Meanwhile mix boiled water and baking soda in a small bowl.  Add the the sugar mixture and mix.  The batter will be very thin.

Sift together the flour, spices, zest and salt in a small bowl.  Add slowly to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is combined.  Spoon the batter evenly between the muffin cups.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean.  Place the cupcakes on a rack to cool.

To prepare frosting beat the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer with paddle attachment until the base is smooth and fluffy.  Mix in the molasses cinnamon and cloves.  Slowly add the icing sugar in increments of 1/2 cup. Add the icing sugar until you get a thick stable consistency.  Scrape the frosting into a piping bag with a large star tip and frost generously.

Busy!

Boxes are leaving the kitchen.

Mandarin Jam

I made Mandarin jam today, which is very easy and not all that time consuming except for the part where you tediously remove all the pith.  In fact that and a thirty minute boil are all that stand between you and a toast slathered with jam.  I'm supposed to give these pretty jars away to a few special people at Christmas, but the leftovers went in the fridge just a few hours ago and I CAN'T STOP EATING IT!  It's so darn good I wouldn't be surprised if someone missed out on a gift.  They'd never know anyway!


Mandarin Jam

I adapted the recipe from The Traveler's Lunchbox.  She says here that the recipe could be made using any citrus fruit and I wholeheartedly agree.  Lemon, grapefruit, tangerines, even limes!  In this case however be sure to seed your fruit and up the sugar and lemon levels.


I found some nice mandarins at a local produce store locally, they were smooth, with only a few green patches and heavy for their size.  So juicy in fact it was difficult to zest them without getting any pith. (I think my zester is incredibly dull as well.)  


Made almost two and a half cups worth of jam.


1 kilo (a generous two pounds) of mandarins (I used twelve)
450 g white sugar
juice of two lemons

Wash two or three of your mandarins and zest them careful to avoid the pith underneath.  You want enough to make a tablespoon or so of zest.  Peel all of the mandarins, getting as much of the pith as possible.  Peel the oranges over a bowl to catch the inevitable stray juices.  Puree the oranges for a few minutes until pureed (mine never got totally pureed, they stayed a little chunky, but I like it better that way.)

Combine the mandarin puree, zest, sugar and lemon juice in a large heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil.  When it boils lower to a slow boil and simmer for 25-30 minutes.  At 20 minute put a plate in the freezer.  After 25 minutes put a little of the jam on the plate and return to freezer for about two minutes, until the jam is cool.  If you run your finger through the jam and it holds the trough, it's finished, otherwise try again.  At the same time taste the jam to see if it needs more sugar or lemon juice.

Pour the jam into sterilized jars and process anyway you see fit, or throw it in the fridge to keep for a few weeks.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

It's time for week six of ten weeks of Christmas cookies.  And this time I'm not bringing you a cookie or bar or even anything baked.  This time it's hot chocolate on a stick, one of my favorite treats in the winter.  This recipe is a no brainer for me because I don't usually have marshmallows in the house, they're full of bad for you ingredients, of course they don't usually end up in my hot chocolate as a result.  I should also mention I rarely have hot chocolate in the house, I don't typically find them all that good.  So once (or maybe twice) a year I make a batch of these to give away with my Christmas boxes, indulging in a few myself of course.

It's a block of fudge, I'm not kidding, you swirl into hot milk and a built in marshmallow!  I've made these marshmallows peppermint flavoured before which turned out really yummy.  Homemade marshmallows are different from store bought ones, they're lighter for one, and have a lot more flavour.  I really really like them!  (I'm going to try using my leftover marshmallows in place of marshmallow fluff in a fudge recipe, I'll let you know how it goes)

I got the recipe right here and I didn't stray from it at all.  But just a warning it makes a lot, even a half batch makes 20 or so (depending how you cut them) so share them.  Okay?

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

Week four of ten weeks of Christmas cookies.  HOW CAN IT BE WEEK FOUR ALREADY??  Sorry, I’m just a little worried about where my time has disappeared to.  Has anyone seen it?

I made these little, very unassuming bites of Christmas three days ago.  I had sort of a bake-a-thon-alyssa-has-gone-crazy day.  I love those.  I just bake everything that’s made my To Bake list in the last few days and give it all away.  

These freeze really well, so they, or some variation of them will be in my treat boxes. 

Cranberry orange shortbread cookies

Go here and see pictures that are a million and ten times better than mine!

The cranberry adds an awesome chewy contrast to the crisp cookie and the orange is Christmas in a fruit.  They’re easy and fun and versatile.  Enjoy.

Makes enough for two people to consume in a few days, maybe 18-24 cookies.  The recipe doubles very easily.

92 g (1/2 c + 2 T ) butter, room temperature

75 g (1/4 c + 2 T) icing sugar

1 t vanilla 

1/4 t almond extract

1/2 T orange zest

1/4 c dried cranberries, chopped

120 g (1 c) flour

1/8 t baking powder

small pinch of salt

Beat butter with mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamed, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Slowly add the icing sugar, beating until smooth.  Add vanilla, almond extract, orange zest and cranberries and beat until smooth.  

On low speed mix in flour, baking powder and salt until blended. 

Form dough into a log about 1 1/2 inches wide and wrap with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate  for at least one hour.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat.  Remove plastic wrap and slice 1/4 to 1/2 an inch thick rounds.  Space at least one inch apart.  They don’t spread much.  Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Snowdrop cookies

It’s time for week three of ten weeks of Christmas cookies.  I decided on snowdrop cookies, which I think are a classic during winter.  Around these parts however, there is no snow coming for a very long time.  We are lucky when we get snow here, maybe that’s why I look forward to it so much, it’s a treat when it comes.  Last year we had one day of snow.  One day, that’s it.  Here have an 10% chance of a white Christmas which I find is a very disheartening statistic.  So I try not to think about it and hope for the best.  If all else fails, eat a cookie.

Yesterday morning I woke up in a very good mood.  It was the first day, the start of the Christmas season.  I’m loving it!  I’m giddy every time I walk into a store.  Christmas is coming.  The chocolates are starting to appear on shelves, the lindor boxes, the chocolate oranges.  And this morning I got a text message “starbucks has their Christmas cups”  my knees nearly buckled I was so happy.  A Christmas fanatic I may be, hate me if you must but I’ll enjoy every last minute of it.

Chocolate Snowdrop Cookies

These have a wonderful crispy cracked exterior with a fudgey, dense and chewy interior.  These can satisfy your chocolate craving on multiple levels.

125g (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate, chopped

60g (1/2 c) butter

235g (1 1/2 c) flour

45g (1/2 c) dutch process cocoa powder 

2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

4 eggs

500 g (2 c) sugar

1 t vanilla

280g (1 1/2 c) mini semisweet chocolate chips

60 g (1/2 c) icing sugar

Place chocolate and butter on top of a double broiler.  Heat stirring often until the two melt.  Set aside to cool slightly.  In a bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In a mixer or large bowl combine eggs, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes until thick and light in colour.  Beat in the melted chocolate mixture until blended.  Add the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 or more hours until you can roll the dough into balls.  

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and line baking sheets with parchment or silpats.  Roll about a tablespoon of dough in your hands and then in icing sugar.  Place on prepared sheets about 3 inches apart.  In between batches put the dough back in the fridge to cool.  If you don’t, the dough will stick to your hands and become a huge mess.  

Bake for 13-17 minutes until the tops are puffed and crinkled and feel firm when lightly touched.  Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.  These can last a few days at room temperature until the texture is compromised.  These can also be frozen.

Linzer Cookies

This is week two of 10 weeks of Christmas cookies.  I’ve gotta say this is a wonderful way for me to justify a lot of Christmas baking!  I’m allowing myself to start thinking about it and am really enjoying putting so much thought behind it.  I saw these cookies on an awesome new (to me) blog called Eat Live Run.  The author makes everything she posts so much fun to read.  Her pictures though are what made me add these to the list and while mine aren’t near as pretty they’ll do.

Every time I see the name Linzer I think about how much I’d love to be in Austria for Christmas.  It’s even on my life list, yes I do have one, it’s two pages long and makes me so happy to read.  It’s full of wonderful things that appeal specifically to me.  One day I might show it to you.  I’ve done four of the things on it already, made my own yogurt (LOVE), got married (also LOVE), drove down the west coast (a good chunk of it), and learned to scuba dive (well I tried it and I’ll never be able to actually do it).

These cookies are nutty and buttery and down right delectable.  Something my grandmother would have made me.  They’ve got texture from the nuts, I can never get my hazelnuts finely ground enough, but that’s probably just my problem and I think it makes them interesting.  They soften with jam in them overnight so that they’re chewy in your mouth and the raspberry jam (homemade of course) is just a perfect compliment to the hazelnut (I made hazelnut pancakes with raspberry syrup twice in the last month, so they’re a winning combo for us.)

Next time I make these, for the boxes, I’ll make them much smaller and remember that re-rolled scraps will shrink so don’t use them.

Linzer Cookies from Eat Live Run

Mine made 16 big cookies (note to self need new cookie cutters)

240g (2 c) flour

200 g (1 c sugar)

5 oz (1 c) toasted and ground hazelnuts

1 egg

8 oz (1 c) butter 

1/2 t vanilla

1.5 t cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 t salt

Cream together butter and sugar until creamy and light.  Add egg and vanilla while mixing until well combined.  

Mix together dry ingredients in medium sized bowl.  Add to butter sugar mixture until just combined.  Pat dough into two disks, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 2+ hours (otherwise it’s all sticky).

Preheat the oven to 350 and flour a surface and rolling pin liberally.  Working quickly roll the dough onto counter, don’t make them to thin, about 1/2 a cm will do.  Punch out with cookie cutter and place in oven for 12 minutes until edges start to brown.  Once the cookies are transfered to a cooling rack, roll out the other half of the dough this time cutting out the center of the cookies for the top layer. 

When the cookies are all done and cooled, sprinkle icing sugar on the top layer cookies and spread jam on the bottom layer cookies.  Sandwich together and enjoy!

As the recipe points out these cookies can be made in advance and frozen before topping with jam and sugar.

10 weeks of Christmas Cookies

It’s definitely time to start my 10 weeks of Christmas cookies.  I just saw this idea a couple days ago and loved it because that same day I had picked out my Christmas box cookies.  

Last year I started this project and ended up giving away 12 boxes to the people that we wouldn’t see on Christmas.  They were given great reviews so I knew I had to expand this year.  I also needed to put more forethought into it, I ended up doing a lot in the last two days.  So this year I will start early, testing begins now and I”d like to have the last of the Christmas boxes sent away by the 19th of December.  

This week: Chai spice biscotti.  My own and absolute favorite biscotti I’ve ever had.  More crisp like a cookie and very flavorful.  Enjoy.

Chai Biscotti

This recipe makes only 15 or so biscotti.  It’s enough for our household of 2 but not enough to give away.  You can easily double and triple the recipe, but if you do, make sure to split the dough into halves or thirds respectively before shaping and baking.

If you take out the chai and spices you have a completely blank canvas.  Try adding 1/2 a cup of cocoa powder, chocolate chips and pecans or pistachios and candied ginger or espresso powder and walnuts with dark chocolate drizzled on top.  I use this recipe many different ways.

1 c + 2 T flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1/4 t allspice

1/4 t ginger

tea from 2 chai tea bags (at least 2 t)

3 T butter

1/2 c sugar

1 egg

2 oz white chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place silpat on baking sheet.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, allspice, ginger and chai tea in a bowl and mix to incorporate.

In another bowl cream butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy.  Add egg and mix well. 

With mixer on low add flour mix slowly. 

On silpat shape into log 12 inches long and 2 inches wide.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Cool for 5. 

Transfer to a cutting board and cut into individual biscotti 3/4 inch wide.  Place biscotti on baking sheet cut side.  Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes.  Cool on rack and drizzle with white chocolate.