So i thinking of making some holiday treats before i leave for home. Maybe as a nice present and treat for everyone in my office and also the guys in the office next door. So i did my usual recipe crawl and came up with a bunch of different holiday treats. The only problem is they all look good and i can’t possible make them all! Here are a few pictures of the different ones i found
My list of treats are listed. In general i think i’m going to add them all to my baking cookbook but i want to make one of them before i leave! Which one!
- Tipsy Turtle Bark - rich chocolate with roasted pecans and butter-rum caramel
- Chocolate Chip and Peppermint Crunch Crackles - fudgy treats with peppermint chunks
- Pistachio and Cherry Mexican Wedding Cakes - little sweet cakes with pistacho and cherries inside
- Chocolate Panna Cotta Layer Cake - Lots and Lots of chocolate in a cake
- Chocolate Cake With Caramel-Milk Chocolate Frosting - Lots of chocolate with a caramel frosting flavor
- Triple-chocolate Cookies - Really soft and nice chocolate chocolate cookies
- Chocolate Chocolate-chip Cookies with mocha Cream Filling - Rich chocolate chip cookie with a creamy coffee center
- Kahlua chocolate chunk cookies - Rich Chocolate chip cookies and walnuts with a splash of Kahlua
I didn’t have pictures of the triple chocolate cookies but in general i have a bunch of different chocolate chip recipes. I was thinking maybe to make chocolate chip cookies then bring some mint ice cream and we could make chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches which are also a plus!
So yea if anyone is reading this help me out!
So Christmas is coming and i thought let’s make some cookies. I searched online and found a nice recipe for molasses crinkles. They are like the ginger snap cookies with that nice spice flavor you get around christmas time. So what could go wrong with Molasses Crinkles? Well Nothing went wrong. Just I realized don’t make cookies that taste just like if you bought them. I made these cookies and thought to myself …. I can just buy the same thing. I should of made something like crazy ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies or something. Though i have to say i do enjoy the cookies especially with some milk but i’m not going crazy over them! Next time i’m gonna make a carrot cake or something like that.
Anyways here are the pics of my little cookie monster adventure
The ingredients for these cookies were
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/3 cup sanding or raw sugar for topping
Whisk together the Flour, Allspice, Cloves, Ginger, Salt, Cinnamon, Baking Soda so that everything is mixed together. Start beating together the Vegetable Shortening, Butter and Brown Sugar for about 3-4 minutes in the mixer. When it’s mixed and fluffy add the egg and molasses and keep beating it together. When that has been mixed in lower the mixer speed to low and slow pour in the flour mixture. Keep mixing until everything is mixed together very well.
Preheat oven to 375F. Start rolling the cookie dough into 1 inch balls. It helps to have wet hands when doing this because the batter can get really sticky. After you roll the balls dip one side of the ball into the sugar you have for topping. You want one end to have sugar so when it bakes it is on top. Put these balls about 1-2 inches apart from each other on baking sheets. Put the cookies in the oven for about 8-11 minutes. The longer it cooks the crisper it is. I did around 8-10 and it came out half and half. Next time i might go for about 8 minutes. Anything lower than that and the cookies are still in a ballish shape. So after the time is up take them out and let them cook for a couple minutes. I had to do about 3 rounds of baking because i only had 2 baking pans. It’ll make around 50-60 depending how big your dough balls are…. 
There you go! Molasses Crinkles! Enjoy!
I’ll start off by saying the KitchenAid Mixer is one of the best things in the world. It’s so easy and soooo good. I think i can bake anything int he world now that i have one. (Back to the post)
Soooooooooo…. Today i made Pavlova. Besides little kiwis running around Pavlova is the first thing i think about when i think of New Zealand. This actually was my first time making Pavlova. I’ve had this every year for as long as i can remember because my best friends family always makes it for dinner occasions. I always look forward to having it with a nice cup of tea. I was afraid of making it because i thought it’d crack like crazy or i’d make it wrong and it wouldn’t taste right and maybe even be chewy. But i guess it all turned out great. I brought it to the office and everyone really liked it. The crust came out crispy and the inside was nice and fluffy. The double strength Vanilla really did wonders. I understand why everyone says Penzey’s Vanilla is the best. The Strawberry and Kiwi on top of the Pavlova really made it perfect.
I think for the size of Pavlova you make and the ingredients, that this is a pretty healthy dessert. (If you can call desserts healthy…..) It’s basically just egg whites and sugar. Anyways here are the pictures.
The ingredients are so simple you won’t even believe it. Other recipe sites suck. These ingredients are the best.
- 6 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla (I used the Penzey’s Double Strength)
- 1/4 cup of water
- A Bunch of Strawberries
- A Bunch of Kiwis
- 1 1/4 Cup of Whipping Cream
- 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
Preheat the oven to 375F. The first thing to do is put the egg whites and water together and start whisking away. Whisk until the egg whites and water get really bubbly. At this point while still whisking slowly pour in the sugar. Keep whisking away until it gets really thick and shiny and it starts to form peaks. While still whisking add the vanilla and vinegar. Whisk till it’s mixed into the mixture really well. You don’t want only part of your Pavlova to taste good. Now wet some baking paper and put it on a baking sheet. Scoop on the Pavlova mix onto the baking paper. Be sure to scoop it into a nice circle shape and start smoothening and shaping it into a cake like shape.
Throw the Pavlova in the oven at 375F. Let it sit in the oven for 10 minutes then turn the temperature down to 205F and leave it there for about 1.5-2 hours. Be sure not to open the oven because the Pavlova might cool down and get all messed up. You can quick take a peek to see if it’s done but don’t do that until maybe an hour has pasted. While you wait you can start slicing up the fruit. Just slice it unto circles or small slices so you can top the Pavlova.
While there’s about 10 minutes left for the Pavlova you should start making the whipped cream. Just throw the brown sugar and whipping cream together and start whisking away. When it looks like cool whip you know you’re done.
Take out the Pavlova and spread the whipping cream on the top of it. Place the fruit on top of the whipping cream and Voila!!! You’ve got Pavlova topped with Strawberry and Kiwi over Whipping Cream
