Desserts

Candy Cane Dip and Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies

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I’m sure you’ve learned by now I have a slight obsession with mint and chocolate.  From cupcakes to brownies, it might be my all time favorite combination.  This dip and cookies take that obsession to a whole new level.  The dip is divine.  As in, eat-it-with-a-spoon, divine.  It’s creamy, pepperminty, flecked with candy cane chunks and so different than anything else I’ve made for Christmas.  Seriously, if you want to wow people at your next holiday party, make this dip.  It literally took me about five minutes to mix together and then I made these Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies to go with them.  A match made in heaven.  The dip would also be good with bite-size brownies, chocolate chip cookies or even pretzels.

Enjoy!

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Candy Cane Dip and Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 8 oz. pkg. Cream Cheese, softened
  • 7 oz. Marshmallow Creme
  • 1 c. Powdered Sugar
  • 1½ t. Pure Peppermint Oil
  • ½ c. Crushed Candy Canes (plus a little bit more for garnish)
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, marshmallow creme and powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the peppermint oil and crushed candy canes. Place in a bowl and garnish with more crushed candy canes. Serve immediately with cookies, brownies, etc.
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Cookie, Desserts

Big, Fat, Soft Almond Sugar Cookies

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Tonight’s recipe is courtesy of Pinterest!  From the blog, Confections from the Cody Kitchen, these soft almond sugar cookies are some of the best I’ve ever had.  I’m talking unbelievably soft, slightly chewy, packed with almond flavor (which I LOVE), don’t require rolling and cutting and don’t even need frosting!  Does it get much better than that?!  I think not!  I never thought I’d find a sugar cookie that wasn’t in some way enhanced with the addition of fluffy, dreamy buttercream but these cookies simply don’t need it.  Now you could always skip the step of rolling them in sugar and go ahead and make frosting but I’m just telling ya right now, save yourself the trouble. You’ve got better things to do.

I did of course make a few minor changes to the original recipe (which is reflected in the recipe I’ve posted).  I can’t help myself.  I thought the almond flavor wasn’t quite cutting it so I added a LOT more to my batter, but you do what suits you.  They’ll be fabulous no matter what.

P.S. If you still feel you need that frosting (I can’t blame you), try these amazing Sugar Cookie Bars or these Thick Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (in a different shape, of course).  Two of my faves.

Enjoy!

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Big, Fat, Soft Almond Sugar Cookies
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ c. Sugar
  • 1½ sticks Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
  • ⅔ c. Shortening
  • 2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
  • 3 T. Pure Almond Extract
  • 2¾ c. Cake Flour
  • 1 c. All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 T. Cornstarch
  • 2 t. Baking Powder
  • ½ t. Salt
  • Coarse Sanding Sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together sugar, butter and shortening until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and almond extract and mix just until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and beat on medium speed just until flour is incorporated. Turn dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap tightly, place in an air-tight container and refrigerate for one hour or overnight (which is what I did).
  3. Roll dough into 2" balls, about the size of a golf ball and roll in sanding sugar. Place on baking sheets about two inches apart and bake for 12 minutes, rotating pans and switching racks halfway through. Let cool on pans for two minutes and then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store in an air-tight container.
Notes
Makes 35 cookies.
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Cookie, Desserts, Holiday, Recipes

Shamrock Sugar Cookies

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I racked my brain trying to think of something green to bake for St. Patrick’s day. All I could come up with was something with mint (original, I know) or pistachio and neither of those options appealed to me so I settled on sugar cookies.

And what could be more St. Patrick’s Day-ish than Lucky Charms? How about Lucky Charm marshmallows all over your shamrock sugar cookie?!? You can actually buy containers of these sweet little dehydrated sugar shapes at the Amish store in Branson. And you don’t need many…one, 1/3 lb. container for a mere $1.75 will be more than enough for your cookies. As I found out after buying THREE. Anyone need some extra sugar in their Lucky Charms cereal??? Let me know.

Thick Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

3 Egg Yolks

2 Eggs

1 c. Unsalted Butter, Softened

1 c. plus 1 T. Granulated Sugar

3 1/2 c. AP Flour

1 T. Baking Powder

1/4 t. Salt

1 T. Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions

In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each. Mix in the vanilla.  Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Cover dough and chill for at least one hour (or speed chill in freezer for 30 minutes…which is what I did).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a floured surface roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thick and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter. (I used a 4-inch cookie cutter and got 30 cookies.) Place 2-inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake for 8 minutes in the oven, rotating pans and switching racks halfway through. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with buttercream and decorate(recipe below).

Buttercream Frosting

2/3 c. (10 T.) Unsalted Butter, softened

4 c. Powdered Sugar, sifted

6 T. Milk (I use heavy whipping cream)

1 T. Pure Vanilla Extract

1 t. Pure Almond Extract (optional)

Beat butter, sugar and milk about 5 minutes. Beat in extracts. Decorate with sprinkles, marshmallows etc. (Allow cookies to set out for a while and the frosting will eventually stiffen up.)

P.S. These cookies work very well on a stick. Just insert lollipop stick into the dough once they are on the cookie sheet and voila! Cookies on a stick!

P.S.S. The marshmallows will get soft once they have set on the cookies a day or so. Just fyi.

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