First, I made some sugar sprinkles. All you have to do is take some regular sugar and a few drops of food coloring. They turn out great - and are an inexpensive alternative.
Rolling out the dough:
Cutting into shapes:
The end result was good. We frosted and sugared the cookies, but I didn't get pictures of it. Things got busy after that with birthday parties, Christmas and all!!
Oh my gosh!! We went to a girlfriend's house a couple weeks ago, and she made these cookies that were the key ingredient to me going off my dang low-carb diet. They were just delicious, so I asked for the recipe. Finally (right when I'm supposed to be back on the wagon) I get around to making them.
I don't know where she got the recipe from, but I'm assuming it was a magazine or something, so I don't claim to have invented it:
Girlfriend's Graham Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 (14oz.) can sweetened, condensed milk
1/2 C. butter, softened
1 1/3 C. flaked coconut
1 (12oz.) bag of chocolate chips (or 2C.)
1 C. chopped walnuts
Mix crumbs, flour and baking powder in one bowl. In another bowl, beat butter and milk until creamy; add to crumb mixture and combine. Add coconut, chips and walnuts; combine.
Bake for 10-12 min @ 375
Super. Duper. Easy. But WARNING!! You will note this does NOT have any eggs in it. That might lead you to do what I did - lick the spoon. The hands, the bowl. If you aren't careful, you won't have any batter left to make cookies with. I joke you not. The batter is just as good as the cookie, my friend. As you can see, during the wee photo shoot, I had a little hoodlum try and snatch one:
Note to self: Try this Southern Buttermilk Biscuits recipe.
Right now I've got some pre-made biscuits, but am going to whip up some gravy. But, dang, these look extra yummy.
INDOOR S'MORES
When faced with the problem of not having a campfire, and needing to make some s'mores, I did a search for bakes s'mores. Slim pickings. So, I figured I couldn't kill them, and fired up the oven. Wanna make 'em? Here goes.
1.) Turn oven on broil.
2.) Take a baking dish (I used 9 by 13 - it has to be broiler-safe) and place 1/2 a graham cracker (it will be square) down. About 3 rows of 5 fit in my pan. Next, place the chocolate on top. I used 3 rectangles (Hershey's) per graham. Then, place one marshmallow on top of each. Center it, so it doesn't goo over the sides.
3.) Place pan in oven and keep a good eye on it. It won't take long for the marshmallows to start to brown. Mine took about 5 minutes. When they are too your liking, remove and top with another graham square. Eat!!
These were yummy, and about as authentic as it comes, when making indoors. It was so easy.
As you can see, the kids had no problem devouring (and making a mess with) the Indoor S'mores.
Coffee Jello. Now this, I must try.
Link found : here
Today, in honor of St. Paddy's day (shuddap), I made some Irish Soda Bread from this recipe. It was super easy, too.
I made 2 loaves instead of four. They were about the size of 1/2 a soccer ball. The outside was nice and crunchy, the inside dense and chewy. Very, very good. We also had some ham, potatos and broccoli ('cause it's green). The bread was a hit, and I'm keeping the recipe. I can't wait to have some for breakfast with peanut butter and honey... and a cold glass of milk.
For lack of some sugary sprinkles to put on cupcakes last Friday, I made my own. I took some regular sugar (about 1/4 cup) and 3 drops of food coloring, then mixed it all in.
It created a lovely pink that contrasted nicely with the pink frosting.
Mmmm this Healthy Macaroni and Cheese looks like it might taste pretty good. I think I'm going to have to try it.
Ahhh. I finally got around to making one of my favorite cookies.
They are SO delicious. The recipe makes about 40 - 50 palm-sized cookies.
4 cups flour
3 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar (and about 1/2 cup for sugaring the tops of the cookies)
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
2 eggs
1/2 bag (about 1 1/2 cups) of white chocolate chips
Directions:
1. In small bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir until blended.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter, sugar, molasses and egg until light and fluffy. By hand, mix in flour mixture until well blended. Mix in white chocolate chips. You may need to use your hands to sort of "knead" the chips into the dough. Set dough in fridge (or outside if it's cold - that's what I did) to cool for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough into golf ball sized balls and place on cookie sheet. I got about 5 cookies per sheet, laid out in an "X" - take sugar and dip the end of a flat glass in it (you may need to dip it in the dough first so the sugar sticks) then flatten each cookie with the sugared cup.
4. Bake about 10-15 minutes, until they are a golden brown. Remove from oven and let the cookies sit on the sheet for a few minutes before removing. Try and keep the dough cool by putting it in the fridge between making the batches of cookies.
Today I baked an apple pie. It wasn't for us, though. It was for church. My mom (knowing I love to bake), asked me if I'd make one for the swiss steak dinner tomorrow night. I was so excited to be able to bake something. Man, the house smelled delicious, too.