Double Chocolate Candy Cane Bark

Need an easy, delicious sweet treat for dessert or a hostess gift? Try this! Any bag of chocolate chips will do and in any flavour. A few crushed candy canes and maybe a few extra sprinkles and you're done!

Ingredients

• 3 bags of milk chocolate chips
• 3 bags of white chocolate chips
• 1 bag skor bits
• 5 candy canes, crushed
• various sprinkles or other candies (smarties) or crushed cookies

What to do

1. Melt chips in separate bowls or sauce pans (careful not to burn them).
2. Spread melted white chocolate on a cookie sheet that has been lined with a silpat.
3. Sprinkle 1/2 of skor bits over white choclate.
4. Spread melted milk chocolate over white and spread with a light hand.
5. Sprinkle with more skor bits, candy sprinkles and crushed candy canes.
6. Place in fridge until set.
7. Break or cut into pieces.
8. Enjoy!

Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Carmelized onions and Turnips

Brussel sprouts are often on people's "most hated" veggie lists. They are reviled for their smell, texture, taste etc. I admit that I don't EVER crave them like I do potatoes. The brussel sprouts of my childhood were boiled and stinky and did not taste good (sorry Mom) but today there are so many different ways to prepare them - roast, fried, halved, shaved, grated - that I believe there is a brussel sprout dish out there for everyone to enjoy.

Today's recipe showcases shaved or grated brussel sprouts along with another hated vegetable - turnip! But the turnip is roasted first which caramelizes them to bring out their sweetness. The kicker is the caramelized onions that are also added to complete the dish. The dish brought rave reviews from everyone at Thanksgiving dinner which included a few brussel sprout haters!

Ingredients

2 lbs brussel sprouts, outer leaves removed
Medium turnip, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 cup caramelized onions - see here for recipe
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In small bowl add turnip, tablespoon of oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix.
3. Place on baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes until caramelized and easily pierced.
4. Remove and set aside.
5. Carefully grate brussel sprouts with hand grater or use a slicer attachment on your food processor.
6. Add 1 tablespoon butter to large nonstick saute pan over medium high heat.
7. Add brussel sprouts & salt and saute for 5 minutes.
8. Add caramelized onions and turnips.
9. Saute for additional 5 minutes.

Serve s 8-10.

Easy Caramel Pumpkin Pie

This dessert is as easy as pie! No, seriously, this pie is simple so even novice bakers will produce a delicious dessert. The addition of dulche de leche evaporated milk gives the pie a sweet side but also a bit of a flavour twist that my husband loved more than a traditional pumpkin pie. The kids loved it too so leftovers didn't last long!

PS - I call it caramel pumpkin pie cause dulche de leche is just too long!

Serving: Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 can (14oz/398 mL) or 1.5 cups pure pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
1 can (300 mL)  dulce de leche flavoured sweetened condensed milk (I use Eagle Brand®)
2 eggs
2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

½  tsp nutmeg

Pinch of salt
whipped cream (optional)
9-inch (23 cm) unbaked pie shell (if you want to make your own try the pie crust recipe here.)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 ºF (220 ºC)
2. In large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and spices.
3. Pour into unbaked pastry shell.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 350 ºF (180 ºC) and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted two inches from edge comes out clean. If edges start to burn too early cover crust edges with foil.
6. Cool.
7. Store in refrigerator.
8. If desired add whipped cream before serving.

Lebkuchen Cookies - Daring Bakers November

The Daring Baking Challenge this month was Christmas Cookies. Holiday season is the time for sharing and Peta of Peta Eats is sharing a dozen cookies, some classics and some of her own, from all over the world with us.

Sadly, the only recipe I had time to try was Lebkuchen. It is a holiday baked treat from Germany that has a long history. This recipe is adapted from The Pink Whisk. Although I was sad to only try one of the many recipes Peta offered I was happy that I chose this one! They are delicious. This Lebkuchen recipe produces a soft cookie that tastes like spiced gingerbread. The flavour improves as the days go by! I didn't have dark brown sugar, only light, so I added a tablespoon of molasses to the recipe. I also added almond flavouring to the glaze. Yum! 

Ingredients:

6 tbsp  honey
½ c dark brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 c plain flour, sifted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 large egg, beaten
3 tbsp ground almonds

To ice:
¼ c  icing sugar sifted
1 tsp water

1 - 2 tsp almond flavouring (depending on how strong you’d like it)

Makes about 36 cookies depending on cookie cutter size.

Directions:

1.   In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, spices and baking soda.

2.   Beat the egg in a small dish.

3.   In a medium sauce pot, over low heat, add the honey, sugar and butter. Stir until the butter and sugar have melted. Remove from the heat.

4.   Add half of the flour mixture and half of the egg to the pan and stir to combine. Repeat.

5.   Stir in the ground almonds until combined. The dough will be sticky.

6.   Place the the dough in a large Ziploc or container  and refrigerate for at least 3 hours but up to 24 hours!

7.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

8.   On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness and cut into desired shapes. I used small 1 to 1-1/2 inch cookies cutters.

9.   Place on a tray covered with parchment paper or a silpat leaving about an inch or so between cookies.

10. Bake in the oven for 8-9 minutes until golden brown.  Ccool for five minutes on the baking sheet before carefully transferring to a cooling rack.

Glaze: 

Combine sifted icing sugar, water and flavouring. You want it to be quite thin. Line up the lebkuchen on a wire rack (place wax paper underneath for easy clean up) and use a pastry brush to lightly glaze the cookies. If desired, add a second coat. 

Ginger Snaps with Lemon Butter Cream

This is my Mom's ginger snap recipe but I have sandwiched two of them between a light and flavourful lemon butter cream. Lemon and ginger are AMAZING together. I especially like this combination in a Christmas cookie because it is a great contrast to the season's heavy meals and flavours. Tip: These are also great straight out of the freezer! Almost like an ice cream sandwich :) 

Ginger Snaps

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 egg, large
1/2 cup molasses
2.5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt


What to do
1. Cream butter and 1 cup sugar well.
2. Beat in egg.
3. Mix in molasses.
4. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
5. Add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
6. Shape into 1 inch balls. Note: you want make each cookie the same size so you can sandwich them easily)
7. Let sit 20 minutes (you want them to be soft enough so that they will spread)
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Lemon Butter Cream

Ingredients

2 c icing sugar

1 c unsalted butter

1 tsp pure lemon extract

juice of 1/2 medium lemon

What to do

Cream butter and sugar for 5 minutes.

Add extract and juice. Beat 1 minute.

Putting Cookies Together

Place 1 tbsp icing onto flat side of a ginger snap. Place another cookie on top of icing (flat side in). Squish slightly. If desired, add Christmas candy decorations with a little bit of icing to act as "glue."

Thumb Print Cookie Recipe

Thumbprint cookies are so simple and easy to make. They are also the perfect recipe when the kids want to help in the kitchen. Their little thumbs are the perfect size for making the needed jam holder!




Makes about 20 delicious cookies.


Ingredients
1-1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs yolks
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups  flour
3/4 cup jam (any flavor)


What to do

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
• In a large mixing  bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
• Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and salt.
• In another bowl whisk flour and salt. 
• Gently combine flour and salt into creamed ingredient bowl.
• Form dough into 1-inch diameter balls.
• Place 2 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets.
• Press down center of each with your thumb or back of spoon.
• Fill centers with about 1 teaspoon of your jam.
• Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.
• Cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Reindeer Kit Kat and M&M Cake

I saw this cake on Pinterest last year and put it in my mental recipe box for this Christmas.  I didn't save the recipe but, to be honest, you don't need one. It's all about the decorating! I have had a tonne of compliments on this cake but anyone can do it. I used a 2 layer, 10 inch round chocolate cake that I made from scratch but you can use a cake mix, a smaller diameter cake, or any flavour you desire. Again, I used homemade chocolate frosting but store bought would save time (and let's face it, who isn't time crunched this month???)

It took about 8 kit kats to cover the outside of the cake (you'll have to break the bars into "2s" to easily shape to the outside of the cake). I used about 3 cups of mint M&Ms to top the cake. I found the "pooping" reindeer at a local grocery store and I am not sure if itis available outside of Canada??? But any cute toy or bigger chocolate would work (I also bought a 4 or 5 inch chocolate bear from Lindt that will be gracing the top of my next kit kat cake.) I tied it with cute ribbon and voila a super festive cake was completed!

Reindeer Cake Pops

Ingredients
1 9-inch round or square cake, I used chocolate
3/4 c icing, I used store bought vanilla
24, 6-inch lollipop sticks
1 package chocolate melting candy
30 or more pretzels, I used chocolate covered ones
red smarties
edible ink pen
small candies for eyes
patience
Styrofoam to stick pops into so they stand up


I'd be totally lying if I said these were easy! They are not. The crumbling of the cake and forming the little balls of cake mush is easy and the melting of the candy coating isn't too hard either. Coating the deer heads takes a little finesse and a few practice runs. BUT those damn antlers put me on Santa's naughty list for sure -thanks to the expletives that came out of my mouth while trying to find a way to easily attach them to the heads!! Hopefully, Santa will forgive me!


 
(The Christmas tree cake pops that I made last year were waaaaay easier to make so I recommend that recipe if you are nervous or a cake pop virgin.)
 
These are adapted from Bakerella's beautiful reindeer cake pops.
 
What to do
 
1. Crumble cake by hand into a sand like consistency (if you have a few hard end pieces that don't want to crumble, eat them - or use a food processor).
 
2. For me the key to cake pops is adding the right amount of icing - too much and you end up with a sickly, sweet ball of mush. But add the right amount and they will be loved by kids and adults! I start with 1/2 cup of icing and mix it in with a silicone spatula. Often I will end up adding another 1/4 cup of icing so that the mixture is just "wet" enough to just stick together when formed into a ball.
 
3. Using a 1 inch cookie scooper, I form the cake mixture into 20-24 balls (I also use kitchen latex gloves so it isn't so messy) and place them on a cookie sheet.
 
4. Refrigerate the balls for at least 20 minutes but preferably an hour so that they harden up a bit.
 
5. Melt candy coating according to directions. (gotta be honest and say that I melt them over very low direct heat.)
 
6. Add 2 tbsp of vegtable shortening - this will thin the candy coating a little. If it is still too thick add a bit more shortening.

7. Get your lollipop sticks out. Take one stick and dip one end in the candy coating (1cm or 1/2 inch) and then poke it into the cake ball. Push it in so it is at least 3/4 of the way into the ball. Place back on cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls.

8. Place all of the balls back in fridge for 15 minutes.

9. Get a piece of styrofoam ready.

10.Remove from fridge and, one-at-a-time, dip the cake pops into the candy coating. Make sure the whole ball is covered. Gently tap off any extra coating.

11. Place the coated cake pop into the styrofoam so it stands up and can dry. Repeat with all of the remaining balls.

12. The candy should dry rather quickly or you can place them back in the fridge until you are ready to finish them.

13. Here is where you will learn from my frustration. To affix the antlers, cut pretzels in half (or not - I did both ways - half and full). Now, using some melted candy coating, place some of it on a spoon or in a little bowl. You want it to start to firm up a little - this way it will dry rather quickly and you won't be stuck holding the antlers on those cute little heads for an eternity while it dries. I tried sticking the antlers through the chocolate with limited success - sometimes the pressure cracks the coating. So, once the coating starts to firm up, dip the end of an antler into the coating and using it as "glue" stick it to the cake ball head.

14. For the eyes, I used some small white round sprinkles I had on hand. To add the pupil I used a black colored edible ink pen.

15. The nose is a red smartie. Both are added using a little bit of candy coating glue, just like the antlers.
 
 

Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cherries

I love cranberry sauce. I have a confession though....until adulthood I didn't know it could be made from scratch...I thought the canned jelly variety was the ONLY variety! Now I make my own because it is soooo simple to whip up a batch and it tastes soooo much better than the canned sauce. In this version, I add dried cherries for extra zing but you can leave them out if you don't have them on hand. If you don't want to use alcohol, substitute orange juice for the cointreau.

Ingredients
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 cinnamon stick
1 c water
1/2 c dried cherries
1/4 c cointreau
1 c brown sugar

What to do

• In medium sized pot, combine all ingredients over medium heat.
• Bring to simmer and continue to cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let sit for an hour.
• Remove cinnamon stick.
• If desired, mash with potatoe masher or use an immersion blender to puree slightly.
• Refrigerate over night.

Sugar & Spice Cookies

These are one of my favorite Christmas cookies. In fact, I like them so much I couldn't wait for Christmas! These skeleton cookies are made with a Wilton cookie cutter and premade icing for super easy cookie making. My advice is to follow the pictures and let each colour set for 10 minutes or so before adding another colour.

Ingredients
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 teaspooon nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt


What to do

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until smooth about 3 minutes.
• Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat for an additional 2 minutes.
• In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
• Stir in dry ingredients into butter mixture in 2 additions.
• Flatten dough into a disk shape.
• Wrap disc in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Roll out each disc into 1/8 inch thickness.
• Using 3 inch cookie cutters, cut out shapes and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until edges are browned.
• Immediately move to cooling racks.
• Makes about 30 cookies.

My "Mummies" Favorite Gingerbread Cookies

Halloween is almost here! The kids and I sat down and decorated a bunch of gingerbread cookies last weekend. I didn't want to make royal icing so instead I used some premade Wilton icing that I had on hand. Since I only had white and red, we were limited in design options but the kids didn't seem to mind as they piled Halloween coloured sprinkles on top of everything!

The mummy and ghost and skeleton cookies are easy to create and don't take a lot of time or precision! My kind of cookie....especially when you have 60 cookies to decorate. The recipe below is simple and delicious. If you roll them thinner you will get a crispy gingerbread cookie but I like them softer so rolled them out to 6mm instead.

Happy Halloween!



Ingredients
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 c fancy molasses
2-3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda


What to do 

• In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar together for 4 minutes until light and creamy.
• Add and beat in egg and molasses.
• In another bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
• With a wooden spoon and in 3 additions, add the flour mixture to the shortening bowl.
• If dough is stiff, use your hands!
• Divide the the dough in two.
• Flatten dough into discs between pieces of wax paper and refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness (6mm).
• Using 3 inch cookie cutters, cut out shapes.
• Place on cookie sheets lined with silpats or parchment paper.
• Freeze for 20 minutes.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes.
• Let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely before decorating.
• Makes about 30 cookies.

Mom's Christmas Shortbread!

I think there are as many recipes for shortbread as there are Moms. This is my Mom's recipe. Christmas is not Christmas without these cookies. My Mom sent them 4,000 miles each year while I was in university. Many would end up in crumbs, but trust me, they tasted just as good that way as they did whole! They are amazing, simple and forever THE Christmas cookie in my house.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 cups butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup corn starch


What to do

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and corn starch.
3. Beat butter until fluffy.
4. In three additions, add flour mixture to butter and mix after each addition.
5. Using small cookie scoop, drop cookies on to cookie sheet and press lightly with a fork.
6. If desired, dust with sanding sugar or other sprinkles.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden at edges.
8. Cool for 5 minutes and remove to cooling rack.

• These cookies can be frozen and, in fact, taste great straight from the freezer.
• Crumbs also taste great sprinkled over ice cream!