Cookie Dough Balls for Charity

I have two charity events coming up in which I am donating my wonderful cookie dough balls. One was fall themed:

And the other were snowballs:

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Tackling Planning for Cookie Day

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This week, I planned for our annual Ewing Family Cookie Day.

If you remember our haul from last year, we produce way more than our families can/should consume. But, we love baking all day so we didn't want to do less. We just decided we were going to give away more. So, the school's bake sale and the Veterans are going to reap the harvest of our labor. We are very excited about our giving this year. It makes me feel like we are in the true Christmas spirit.

So, here is my plan for Cookie Day:

Peanut Butter Blossoms
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 egg
2 Tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
54 Milk chocolate kisses or stars

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat shortening and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in the 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie's center. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes 54 cookies.

3. To store: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Servings: 54

Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Cake Journal is one of my favorite sites for decorating inspiration. I converted this recipe from grams from her site:-)

3.5 oz sugar
3.5 oz Powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
16 oz all-purpose flour
7 oz unsalted butter, diced
1/4 recipe Royal Icing
1/2 recipe Marshmallow Fondant

1. In a bowl or in the kitchen mixer with paddle attachment, mix the two types of sugar, vanilla and the egg. Add the flour and the butter and keep mixing just until the dough comes together.

2. Knead the dough lightly by hand on your flour dusted kitchen counter and wrap it well in cling film and put it in a plastic bag. Chill the dough for 2 hours.

3. I always roll out my dough on a sheet of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour and I set my oven to 325F (170C) when I bake cookies and place the baking tray in the middle of the oven. Depending on size I bake them from 15-20 mins. You want them to be light golden brown without being raw in the middle.

Servings: 30

Source
Author: Cake Journal
Source: http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/vanilla-sugar-cookies

Molasses Cookies
1 cup butter
1 1/3 cup Sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
3 cup All-purpose Flour

1. Preheat oven to 375. In large bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add in molasses and cream. Add in eggs one at a time until combined. Add in spices, baking powder, and baking soda until combined. Add in flour and mix just until combined. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let stand on baking sheet for 5 minutes for removing to wire racks to cool.

Servings: 24

Source
Author: Sherry
Source: Lamp Unto My Feet
Web Page: http://lampuntomyfeetandalightuntomypath.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-goodies-1-molasses-cookies.html

Lemon Bars
Lemon bars absolutely sing spring! The citrus awakens your taste buds, while the rich buttery crust satisfies all dessert cravings. Simple enough for an after-supper treat at home, these are also pretty enough for a spring bridal shower, baby shower, or tea party. Enjoy!

1 cup softened butter
2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
4 eggs
2 cup sugar
6 Tbs flour
6 Tbs lemon juice

1. Mix sugar, salt, and flour. Cut in butter. Press into an 8×12 pan. (9×13 will work, too, you’ll just have thinner bars) Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

2. Mix together while crust is baking. Pour onto hot crust. Bake an additional 25 minutes. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Store in refrigerator.

Servings: 12

Source
Author: Amy's Finer Things
Source: http://amysfinerthings.com/lemon-bars/comment-page-1#comment-3713

Pecan Delights
2-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup light corn syrup
1/8 tsp salt
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 lbs whole pecans
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. In a large saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Cook over medium heat until all sugar is dissolved. Gradually add milk; mix well. Continue cooking until a candy thermometer reads 248° (firm-ball stage).

2. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla until blended. Fold in the pecans. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm. Loosen from paper.

3. Melt chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl. Drizzle over each cluster. Cool.

Servings: 48

Source
Source: Taste of Home
Web Page: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Pecan-Delights

Gifts of Good Taste

I am going to take a break from gardening for a few weeks to play along with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free for her Holiday Food Fest.

Her host Cents to Get Debt Free is featuring Gifts of Good Taste and I thought it would be great to show you how I am packing my cookies for gift giving this holiday season. Here is what they look like:

And here is how you do it:

(These instructions are for 3 inch cookies)

Step 1: Get a piece of cellaphane that is 6 inches squared.

Step 2: Fold both sides 1 inch towards the center:

Step 3: Fold the bottom half way up to the center and secure with tape on both sides:

Step 4: Place the cookie face-down in the little baggie you just made for it:

Step 5: Bring the top flap down and secure it with a pretty sticker of some sort:

Step 6: Flip it over and viola! It is ready for gift giving by itself or put it with others in an attractive basket:

Susie's Oh My Gosh Ganache Chocolate Cheesecake

Here my next entry in my Christmas Menu : Susie's Oh My Gosh Ganache Chocolate Cheesecake.

I have been making this cheesecake for Christmas for over 10 years and it is always a hit. That's the "Oh My Gosh" part.


The ganache part is the glaze and the truffles on top.



And the chocolate cheesecake is the cake inside:-)

Ingredients:

For Cake:

1-1/4 cups chocolate wafers, crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

3-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tbls vanilla

1-1/2 cups sour cream

For Ganache:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbls unsalted butter

For Whipping Cream for Assembly of the Cake:

1/4 cup whipping cream

2 tbls powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine chocolate wafer crumbs and butter and stir well. Press crumb mixture into bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Fold in sour cream. Pour mixture into crumb crust.

3. Wrap bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil and put it in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it is half-way up the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in the oven for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar. Remove and cool on wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

4. For the ganache, place chocolate in a medium heat-safe mixing bowl. Heat cream and butter over medium heat then, bring to boil. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and mix until the chocolate is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes.

5. Place the fully chilled cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Using a cake spatula, cover the sides and the top of the cake with about 4 tablespoons of the ganache to create a crumb coat. Chill. To cover cake, pour the remaining ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula over the sides of the cake to create an even coating of ganache.

6. To make the truffles, strain the left over ganache. Then, spread it out in a line layer on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Chill 30 minutes. Scrap off balls of the layer with a melon baller to form 14 truffles. Chill for 30 minutes to set the balls. Dip each ball in powered sugar.

7. To assemble, make the whipping cream. Chill a small bowl and your beaters. Put the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whip until stiff. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe 14 stars on top of the ganache frosted cake. Place one truffle on top of each star. Chill for 5 minutes to set. Serve and enjoy:-)

Serves 14

Tackling Kid's Cookie Day

Update: By popular demand, I have included the "recipes" below each cookie. Enjoy:-)
Do you think I can get away with a Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus for this one too? Let's see:-)

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Last week, I told you about our annual Ewing Family Cookie Day and I even showed you how much we made . Well, creativity runs in the family and you can't leave the kids out at Christmas time. So, this weekend we had Kid's Cookie Day.

Here is what 7 kids and 3 adults did in 3 hours in 1 kitchen:

Peanut Mice:-) My 4-year old made these!!

These are just peanut butter cookie dough with chocolate chip eyes, M&M noses, peanut ears and pretzel tails.

Bacon and Eggs
Two pretzel sticks, a glob of white chocolate and a yellow M&M make this treat:-)

Hamburgers
These burgers are made with vanilla wafers for the bun, thin mint meat and colored frosting for the lettuce and ketchup.

Chocolate Spoons
This was my niece's concoction. These are just plastic spoons dipped in chocolate and decorated.

Three Women, Six Hours and a Kitchen

It's time for another Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-)

Annual Ewing Family Cookie Day

(This was only a third of what three women did in six hours:-)

Tackling Christmas Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

This week was Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee's Christmas Challenge . We were to create cupcakes that look, taste or are inspired by the holiday season. This is my entry: Santa's Bag Cupcakes.

Santa's Bag is a cherry red velvet cupcake with

white peppermint "fringe",

a cherry licorice tie and

white chocolate gifts.

Ewing Family Cookie Day Cookies

Yesterday, we had our annual Ewing Family Cookie Day. Every year, my MiL and SiL get together and bake Christmas cookies...ALL DAY! It's a great time and we make enough cookies to fill a bakery.

These cookies are an important part of my Christmas Menu . And as such, I am posting my favorite recipe from Cookie Day:

Susie's Homemade Caramel Bars

I made a triple batch but the recipe is for a single one:-)

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cups pecans, chopped
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsps vanilla
20 vanilla caramels
2 tbls milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until it looks like cornmeal. Press into 13x9x2-inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

2. Sprinkle pecans over the crust. Combine sweentend condensed milk and vanilla and pour over the pecans. Bake 25 minutes more. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, combine the caramels and milk in a small saucepan. Melt over medium-low heat. Pour mixture over the baked filling. Sprinkle the chocolate on top. Cool completely.

4. For easing cutting, freeze for 30 minutes. Cut into 48 bars and enjoy:-)