Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix and Chocolate-Dipped Spoons
December 21, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under chocolate
There’s just something magical about a cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter’s day, especially around Christmas time. I don’t know about you, but my favorite way to enjoy hot cocoa is with a little bit of whipped cream on top. Lately I’ve been trying all different kinds, though – some with marshmallows, some with extra chocolate, and I’ve even stirred in a bit of salted caramel sauce from Trader Joe’s (amazing). It dawned on me that little jars of homemade hot cocoa mix would make a perfect and easy, last-minute gift, so I went to work whipping up my own. The best part is that you can customize your mix by adding anything you like, such as chopped white or dark chocolate, a pinch of cayenne pepper for a little more heat, or a sprinkling of sea salt for those sweet/salty combo lovers. I packaged up my mix in eight-ounce canning jars tied with ribbon, and I included a candy cane and two chocolate-dipped spoons in treat bags with each jar for stirring. I printed out the directions for making the cocoa on card stock, punched a hole in the corner, and attached them to the jars with twine, but you can always hand-write them for an even more personal touch!
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Kahlua Balls
December 19, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under chocolate, coffee, kahlua
With Christmas only about a week away, I’ve been busy wrapping up loose ends. The shopping is done and most of the presents are wrapped, but if you can believe it, I’m a little behind on my holiday baking! Therefore, this week I’m going to be sharing some quick and easy “last-minute gift” recipes. While I was working on putting together some homemade gift baskets last week, I decided that I wanted to include rum balls in some of them. However, a quick check in the refrigerator revealed that I was out of rum – but, I still had a half-full bottle of Kahlua. Wanting to use what I had on hand, I modified my rum ball recipe, and now I’m not sure I want to go back to the original! I gave away samples to a few people as well, and they’ve already put in their orders for a batch or two of these for their own holiday gifts. These are definitely going into my permanent Christmas treat rotation…and I hope you enjoy them, too!
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7-Layer Cookies
December 15, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under 12weeksofchristmascookies, chocolate, cookies
Today is the last day of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies, so I wanted to go out with a bang with these 7-layer cookies that you may have noticed on my cookie tray from the cookie exchange last week. Being largely composed of almond paste and flavoring however, this presented a bit of a challenge as I am allergic to peanuts/nuts and so are almond paste’s many popular substitutes, such as marzipan. As I was brainstorming one day, my good friend Amber sent me a few recipes to try, and one of them was for coconut marzipan. I took the idea a step further to make my own coconut paste for using in place of the almond paste in this recipe, and then I simply substituted vanilla extract for the almond extract. The cookies came out perfect in texture and lightly sweet in flavor as I imagine their almond counterparts would be. I hope you enjoy the cookies, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies this year! Many thanks to Brenda of Meal Planning Magic for organizing such a fun group. Happy Christmas cookie baking!
Eggnog Scones
December 13, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under scones
With Christmas less than two weeks away, the level of preparation has reached “frantic” around here. I think it’s because I still have a little of everything left to do: a little Christmas shopping here, a little holiday baking there, a few gatherings to attend, and the list goes on. I’m trying to focus all my energy this week on checking things off my list so that I don’t have to worry about them anymore, since I’m totally type A like that. In the midst of all the bustle, I made these eggnog scones, another change-up of my favorite recipe. I usually like to store them in the freezer unbaked if I’m not going to be baking them right away, but this time I baked them first and then froze them, so that I can simply warm them in the oven or microwave when we’re looking for a quick breakfast or snack. I may even whip up another batch for Christmas morning – I’ll have to add it to the list! I hope all of your holiday preparations are going smoothly!
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Cookie Exchange 2011
December 8, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under 12weeksofchristmascookies, chocolate, cookies, ginger
As I mentioned on Tuesday, I have something special in store for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies today – a cookie exchange! My three best friends and I got together over the weekend for an afternoon of lunch, chatting, and of course, cookie swapping. We each contributed 2-3 dozen of our favorite cookies. Some were already finished, and some still needed baking, which made it even more fun since I love baking with friends!
We perused cookie magazines we’ve collected over the years over cups of coffee and sampled one another’s creations, and the way the house smelled as cookies were baking up in the oven was heavenly. I wish I could get a cookie exchange-scented candle; I’d burn it all year long!
So today, instead of sharing one cookie recipe, I’m sharing three – one from each of my friends. And, for the final week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas cookies next week (can you believe it’s already here?!) I’ll be sharing one of my own recipes from our exchange for 7-layer cookies. I hope you enjoy the cookies, and happy holiday baking!
Nutella Gingerbread (and Barista Prima Coffee Giveaway Winner)
December 6, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under bread, chocolate, nutella
First things first – congratulations to lucky number 4 – LaurieJ!
Please contact me at prizes [at] sugarcrafter [dot] net with your full name and mailing address so that I can get your prize out to you as soon as possible. Also, a huge thank you to all who entered! It was so much fun reading about all the ways you enjoy your coffee…I’m definitely looking forward to trying some of your ideas myself!
Now, on to today’s recipe – nutella gingerbread. It may not look like much in the photo, but don’t be fooled. It’s packed full of holiday flavor, and though it doesn’t contain a lot of sugar, it’s still very sweet from the addition of nutella. I served this at a small cookie exchange I hosted over the weekend (more on that Thursday for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies!), and it was completely devoured by the end of the party. And, while it’s a perfect snack for party guests, it also pairs perfectly with coffee in the morning or on its own for an afternoon snack or dessert. I highly recommend adding this to your holiday baking this year, whether you’re baking it for yourself or even mini loaves to give as gifts!
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Lemon Snowdrop Cookies
December 1, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under 12weeksofchristmascookies, cookie, lemon
Now that it’s December, has the stress of the holiday season set in yet? It has for me. My to-do list continues to grow in spite of my frantic efforts to cross a few more things off of it each day. My Christmas shopping is almost done though, which I consider a personal best for this time of the month. My growing list certainly isn’t going to stop me from having some fun in the kitchen, though! Despite the fact that we haven’t had much snow yet, which is unusual in our neck of the woods, I decided that these lemon snowdrop cookies would be perfect to welcome December and the rapidly cooling weather. This recipe is my mother-in-law’s, although I did use my own recipe for the lemon filling since I had already made a batch of lemon curd and had some left over. We normally enjoy these for dessert on Easter, but I thought they’d also make a nice addition to your holiday cookie trays this year. The bright flavor of these cookies adds a nice balance to all of the spicier holiday favorites, such as gingerbread or molasses cookies. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we do.
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