Sugar Cookies

The Christmas season got a little away from me this year. I had grand plans of posting all sorts of recipes, and here we are on Christmas Eve and I have only posted one. I am going to post a few today, they won't have pictures, but still really good recipes.
This is by far my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I love soft fluffy sugar cookies, not the thin crispy kind, and this recipe fits the bill!! It has a ridiculous amount of baking powder in it, and I love them. Once you put the frosting on, they are delightful. It might be a little late for this year, but hold onto this one for next year, or Valentines day, or Easter!

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Butter
1 Egg
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/4 Teaspoon Baking soda
4 teaspoon Baking powder (yes, 4)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Cup Milk

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Combine all the dry ingredients, add to the butter mixture. Add milk and vanilla. Roll out the dough pretty thick, you will need a lot of flour on the counter and on your rolling pin. Cut out the shapes and put them about an inch apart on the cookie sheet (they grow) and bake for about 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of cookie.

Frosting (I am a big fan of a buttercream type frosting, so that is what this is. I know some people like the royal icing type, because it looks prettier, too each there own)

2 Cups Powdered Sugar *
1/3 Cup butter room temperature
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons of Milk (add more if it is too thick)

Combine all the ingredients, if you want a double layer of frosting or you are planning on piping on the frosting double the above recipe

Buttery Sandwich Cookies

Tis the season for all kinds of crazy baking. I spent the entire day yesterday baking, so I will be posting several recipes over the next few days. I first came across this lovely little cookie last year and I made it for the family and it was a HUGE hit. The cookie is super buttery, but it has no sugar in it, so you definitely need the filling, but together they are buttery goodness!!

COOKIES:
2 cups butter, softened (4 sticks)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
4 cups flour
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Cream softened butter, gradually adding flour, then cream. Roll onto a generously floured surface, approximately 1/4 inch thick, and cut into 2 inch circles (or another small cookie cutter shape). Prick each cookie with a fork three times and back for 7-9 minutes at 375 degrees.

* I found these cookies to be VERY delicate, so I froze them after they cooled slightly, which helped them hold up while I frosted them.
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FILLING:
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1.5 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbs. heavy cream
2 teas. vanilla
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Combine filling ingredients and spread between two cookies.
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Yields 50-60 sandwich cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter.

PS. You will think that there is not enough filling, but there will be plenty, so load they up because the filling is the best part

Monkey Munch, Puppy Chow...Blah Blah

I have heard this called several different things, Monkey Munch, Puppy Chow, whatever you want to call it, it is really good!! And it is very easy to make.

Monkey Munch

1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Butter

Melt all the above ingredients. Microwave for 1 minute, stir, microwave another 30 seconds until smooth
Add 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla.

Pour over 9 cups of cereal (corn chex, rice chex, cripix something along those lines) and toss until coated.
Pour cereal into a ziploc bag. Pour 1.5 cups of powdered sugar into bag and toss until coated.

***If you eat the whole bag, make sure you check your shirt for the evidence or it the powdered sugar will give it away!

Thanksgiving Post Mortem

So Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was pretty darn good!! We had a lot to be thankful this year, and the food was amazing. Here is a quick re-cap
Turkey- I did a couple of things differently this year, and it was well worth it. First, I ordered a fresh, organic turkey from Whole Foods. It is a quite a bit more expensive, but I think it was worth it. I also brined the turkey. We have all been hearing about brining over the last few years, but I was always afraid of doing it. Let me tell you, brining more than lived up to the hype. It was juicy and glorious, it looked like a turkey out of a magazine!!
Stuffing-I made a ciabatta bacon stuffing that was also very popular. I usually don't even eat stuffing, but this stuff was stinkin good!!
Green Bean Casserole-Homemade green bean casserole (not with condensed soup) with bacon and a yummy creamy cheese sauce. It was fantastic. It had all the joy of a traditional green bean casserole, but with a little kick
Mashed Potatoes-You cannot have Thanksgiving without them!! They were creamy and I added fresh thyme and they were GOOD!
Rolls- I made homemade yeast rolls and they were pretty good. Not the best I have ever had, but my quest continues. We did have some dough left though so I made a pan of cinnamon rolls for the next morning, and they were pretty decadent.

Dessert-We had a snicker cake (which is exactly what it sounds like, a chocolate cake with caramel and nuts..yummo) Pumpkin butter cake, it is a gooey pumpkin cake with LOTS of butter in it, very rich, and delicious. My sister is against pie (she is a little goofy) so we didn't have any, I am a little distressed about this, and I might have to make an apple pie just for myself. I haven't decided yet.

I hope that you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving and that you reveled in all your thankfulness!!

Now, onto the Christmas Baking season, MY FAVORITE Stay tuned for LOTS of recipes

Thanksgiving!!

I LOVE Thanksgiving. I look forward to it every year. I love all the basic Thanksgiving foods, I try not to get too crazy. Turkey (of Course) mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing (for my hubby, I could do without it, but he would reevaluate our relationship if I didn't make it) green bean casserole (for my sister) my grandmother's homemade rolls (I have not perfected these yet, but I will save that for another post) Dessert is always my downfall, I want to make several different ones, and we end up eating pie for the next 2 weeks. I am going to try and limit those this year. This year I am going to make homemade green bean casserole, instead of the one with condensed soup. Here is a link to the recipe, it looks fantastic. I will keep you posted!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/not-your-mamas-green-bean-casserole-recipe/index.html

Gobble Gobble!!

Apple Fritters

This post is a lot about my dad. My dad LOVES doughnuts! When I was a kid he took me and my sister to get donuts almost every Saturday. I remember one time we all thought he was at work and we went to pick up something at the dry cleaners, which happened to be right next door to his favorite doughnut shop. When we pulled his car was outside and he was sitting in there eating his doughnuts and drinking his coffee. There were 2 that he frequented, one by our house, and one by his office. So, if he wasn't around, you could usually find him at one of those.
So, Dad, this is for you!! I made apple fritters and they were awesome! You can dust them with powdered sugar, or make a glaze for them, either way, they are yummy.

Apple Fritters (adapted from the Pioneer Woman)

FRITTERS

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 2-¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1-¼ teaspoon Salt
• 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• ¾ cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 2 whole Granny Smith Apples, Peeled And Diced
• Powdered Sugar (optional, For Dusting)
• GLAZE (optional)
• 1-½ cup Powdered Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Vanilla
• ¼ cups Milk

Preparation Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

Gently fold dry and wet ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix.) Fold in apples. Add enough apples to make a very chunky batter. You want the apples to shine though!

Heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium to medium-low heat. When it gets hot, drop a little drop of batter into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat.

Drop teaspoons of batter into the hot oil, six or eight at a time. Sometimes they’ll flip over by themselves; sometimes you have to flip them. Just watch them and make sure they don’t get too brown, but cook them long enough to make sure the batter’s cooked through, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes total.

Remove and drain on a paper towel. Dust very generously with powdered sugar, or dip fritters in a light doughnut glaze (mix all glaze ingredients together, then dunk warm fritters).

Serve warm!

**May be heated up the next day in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Finished Product, dusted with powdered sugar!!

Lemon Cupcakes with Blueberry Buttercream

These were a yummy summertime treat. The lemon cupcake was just the right amount of lemon flavor and the blueberry buttercream was a great color, and soooo yummy. I found a similar recipe for the buttercream with blueberry preserves, but I wanted to use fresh blueberries, so I made a blueberry syrup. I added the syrup to a basic buttercream and it turned out fantastic!! I realize this is not seasonally appropriate now, but you can save it until next Summer

Blueberry Syrup
11 oz Blueberries (mashed up)
1/2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup water

Boil until it reduces and it is a thick syrup (about 15 minutes), cool until ready to use
This makes a TON of syrup, so you can freeze it and use it something else later

Lemon Cupcakes (makes 24 cupcakes)
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest (or 1 tsp lemon extract)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract.
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350, grease or put liners in 24 muffin cups
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl
Cream together the butter and sugar, add eggs 1 at a time. Add the lemon zest and the vanilla.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk in 3 batches until combined.
Bake for 16-19 minutes and let cool on a wire rack before frosting


Blueberry Buttercream

3 C confectioners' sugar, sifted (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
1 C butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
4 Tbs blueberry syrup (you can add more if it is not enough blueberry
flavor, but you might have to add more powdered sugar to stiffen it up, just play it by ear)

Beat butter until fluffy, add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add vanilla and whipping cream. Add blueberry syrup until desired blueberry flavor and color.Look how pretty it is!! :)