Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays to everyone! I hope you are all having a great time with family and friends. I know I am having a lot of fun baking cookies and bars to give out during the holidays.

To Melt or Not to Melt Butter When Baking

I am often asked for recipes for various baked goods, and I love sharing.  Something I haven't thought about though when sharing these recipes is the skill level of the baker.  I have generally had most of my recipes turn out, so it's surprising to me when someone tells me theirs didn't turn out. I know that temperature plays an important role in the baking process. 

Most recently though, I discovered that my sister- who will outright admit that she's a terrible baker - melts butter for her baked good recipes.  Since she bakes infrequently, she doesn't preplan and merely gathers her ingredients to put the recipe together.  Her butter is always in the fridge or freezer.  So her resolution is to melt it for the recipe. 

I'm not sure if everyone knows this, because she didn't, and that's partially why her baked goods don't turn out.  For baked good recipes it's not necessary to melt the butter unless the recipe calls for melted butter, in which case it will indicate so. Mostly, I use butter at room temperature for baking.

It may seem simple to us bakers, but for those new to baking, or just unfamiliar with it like my sister, it's a great tip to share!  Especially with the holiday season quickly approaching! 

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

 

I have made shortbread cookies many times before, however this time I added chopped dried cranberries and it made such a difference! For some reason everyone who tasted them liked them more than they did the plain shortbread cookies.

 

The dried cranberries added a bit of tartness and a slight chewy texture to the cookies. They also added some color to the cookies and made them look kind of pretty! I had also cut them out into small flower shapes (about 2" across) to make them even cuter.

 

To make them, I simply used this shortbread cookie recipe and added 3/4 cup of chopped dried cranberries. I rolled the dough out to 1/4" thick and cut them out into shapes. You can also just roll the dough into 1"balls and flatten them with a fork.

Candy Cookies

We love going out to eat cookies, ice cream and other fun desserts, but it can get a bit expensive. It is a nice treat to go out once in a while, but when we can stay home it is definitely more cost effective.

My kids love getting cookies with candy on top so I decided to make a batch of shortbread cookies and cut them out using the biggest circle cookie cutter I have. (4" across). Then I pressed candy coated chocolate on top of them before baking.

They were really easy to make and the kids loved them! These would also make great party favors or party treats.

Garden Pictures

The summer season is usually busy, but always fun. I don't bake as many goodies during the summer since there is a lot of yard work to do, so I thought I would share some pictures from my garden.

I have so many things growing, including trees. berry bushes, tiger lilies and more. However, these two-toned peonies are my favorite.

What keeps you busy during the summer? Feel free to comment!

Cute Cupcakes

It is so fun to make cupcakes, especially when the kids can help out too! They like to make cute cupcakes and so I used some leftover royal icing to pipe out some eyes, noses and mouths onto parchment paper and let them dry. Once they were ready, we baked basic vanilla cupcakes and spread chocolate frosting onto them. Then they got to use the royal icing pieces to make faces!

Gluten Free Mocha Brownie Recipe

When friends or family have special diets, such as a gluten free diet, it is not quite as difficult as I once thought it was. I remember one of my "gluten free" friends came over for a birthday party and I only knew of a couple of things to make. That was a couple of years ago. Now, quite a number of friends and family are eating gluten free.

Brownies are such a popular dessert and the following recipe is great for those who are on gluten free diets and even those who are not!

Ingredients:
15 Medjool dates, pitted, soaked and drained
¼ cup of water
9 tbsp. raw cocoa
¼ cup agave syrup
¼ cup coconut oil, soft, not in liquid form
1 can of drained garbanzo beans
4 eggs
½ tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. espresso, finely ground
Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Blend dates and ¼ cup water on high until it becomes a paste (in a blender)
3. Add eggs, cocoa, agave, coconut oil, baking powder and espresso; blend until smooth
4. Add garbanzo beans; mix on high until entire mixture is well incorporated, thick and smooth
5. Stir in chopped walnuts. (Optional)
6. Evenly distribute mixture into mini muffin tins (fills 30-32)
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes (until it passes the toothpick test); remove and cool on a wire rack

Pretty simple and they taste great too! I sometimes put them in the kids lunch for school and they love it!