Christmas Eve Eve

Extra bananas, walnuts and hazelnuts. Banana bread of course!

Peppermint Bark Makes Me Silly!

Every year I make homemade peppermint bark. Of course I could just go out and buy a tin but I always feel like the homemade kind always tastes better! I know I’m using real chocolate and peppermint oil. Nothing artificial flavoring in my peppermint bark. I got a little silly taking pictures because I kept taking a small square during the photo shoot. It was just too good and I kept telling myself, “Okay just 1 more!” You know how that goes and then my dad started making fun of me. Hence the silly pictures and why peppermint bark makes me a little silly. ;)

Peppermint Bark
By Fallon

Ingredients
2 pounds of semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces (no chocolate chips)
2 pounds of white chocolate, broken into pieces (no chocolate chips)
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of pure peppermint extract
6 candy canes, crushed up

Directions

Take the unwrapped candy canes and place into a zip loc bag. Use a rolling pin to crush into small pieces. Set aside.

In a large microwaveable bowl, melt the semi-sweet chocolate in 30 second increments. Mix until melted and shiny. Add 1/2 teaspoon of oil. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread the chocolate into a nice rectangle shape. Place into the freezer while working on the white chocolate.

Melt the white chocolate the same way and add in 1/2 teaspoon oil and the 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract. Mix well and set aside to cool slightly. Once the semi-sweet chocolate has harden, add the white chocolate on top and spread an even layer making sure to not melt the chocolate into the white. Then quickly sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top. Set into the freezer.

For a little decoration I melted some extra semi-sweet chocolate and drizzled on top.

Break into all kinds of pieces and place into your favorite tin or holiday plate. Some people only say to add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract but honestly you don’t get the full peppermint flavor. 2 teaspoons work out perfectly!

Just make sure you don’t eat too much or else you will turn silly like me!

Enjoy,
Fallon

Gingerbread Men and Hazelnut Bark

   

A long time ago I found a recipe called salted gingersnap and hazelnut bark. A year later I finally decided it was time to make this bark! I had leftover gingerbread cookies and I had plenty of hazelnuts. This bark was out of this world. My gingerbread men were salty, sweet and chewy. Pair that with toasted hazelnuts and dark chocolate for a wonderfully sweet and savory combination. This was by far my favorite treat of the season because it had all my favorite components. I’m definitely making this bark again for Christmas this year. I’m glad I will have a few months to recuperate after all the wonderful treats I was able to make last Christmas. ;)

This is the LAST installment of all holiday cookies of 2010. I hope you all enjoyed reading what I was up to and hopefully you bookmarked them to make later on in the year. If you missed my other posts here is one more recap:

Gingerbread Cookies (Used this to make the bark)

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Cranberry Chocolate Almond Clusters

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

White Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

 

Gingerbread Cookies and Hazelnut Bark (Adapted from Bitchin’ Camero)

Ingredients (half version)

1 1/2 cups gingerbread cookies

6oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Place the cookies in a bag and beat them with a rolling pin or a heavy handled pan into rough pieces. Place the broken cookies onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Create a double boiler by placing a metal bowl on top of a pot of water over medium heat. Add your chocolate to the bowl and stir until it melts through. Carefully pour the chocolate over the cookies until completely covered. Use a small spatula to spread it evenly over the cookies. Quickly sprinkle the hazelnuts over the chocolate in an even layer. Then evenly sprinkle the salt.

Let cool completely. To speed up the process, place in the refrigerator. Once harden, break or cut into pieces.

 

Enjoy,

Fallon

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

After the cookie swap party, I couldn’t wait to make these cookies. I was so glad someone had made them because I was always curious how they would taste. They were sweet and tart. The lemon was very refreshing and they melted in your mouth. Moist and soft, like flurry pillows. The ricotta cheese plays a huge role in making these cookies light and moist. You don’t have to wait till Christmas to make these. They’d be fabulous to make now or for Sunday brunch. This was a winner with everyone on Christmas day. This recipe makes A LOT of cookies, so be prepared to have them stare at you saying eat me or hand them out as a present just because you want too. I’m sure it will brighten up someone's day.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze (By Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients

Cookies

2 1/2 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container, layered in between parchment paper.

   

Enjoy,

Fallon

White Chocolate Cherry Cookies

They are baaccckkk!!! My mom literally kept asking for these cookies. I made them last Christmas in 2009 and here as well. I had to scrounge up ingredients to make this recipe possible. For some reason I never felt like I had enough cookies made. I ended up making these bite-sized but I will never do that again. You don’t get the full cherry and white chocolate flavor action. Some cookies only had chocolate and some only had cherries! They were definitely better full-sized but you want to know something, they were still a popular cookie! The kids will love them. I know my best friend’s son Mason enjoyed them in the cookie bag I gave them over the holidays.

To get the exact recipe I used please head on over to Baking Bites for her White Chocolate Cherry Cookies.

Always,

Fallon 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Here is a cookie I made that came from the cookie swap party I help co-host back in December. My mom’s friend Paulette and her daughter brought these cookies. Chocolate and peanut butter, what more can you love? Apparently they loved them just as much as I do because they brought dozens of these cookies! I couldn’t help myself and enjoyed several of them.The creamy peanut butter cup filling and the peanut butter cookie that surrounded the cup was the perfect sweet to salty combination. In return Paulette couldn’t stop raving about how good my Peanut Butter Chocolate Dough Balls turned out. She ended up baking a batch of dough balls for her co-workers. What can I say we have good taste in flavors like chocolate and peanut butter. ;)

Next time I make these cookies, I’ll hire someone to unwrap each one of these. Can I say tedious??? hehe

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup AP flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar (I used Stevia extract instead)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk (cows, milk, soy, almond etc)

40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.

Bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

I only have 1 mini muffin pan, so I think my peanut butter cups melted more then they should since I had to let the cookie set/ pan cool before putting another batch in the oven. Also I didn’t roll out 40 balls first. I used my cookie scoop and went from there. I didn’t get exactly 40, I was shy by 8 cookies. Regardless they turned out really good and if you have Stevia in bulk, I highly recommend replacing it with white sugar in baked goods. You will save calories and you won’t really notice a difference in taste. Lately I’ve been doing that a lot, so I can enjoy it too!

My holiday cookie recap is almost coming to an end, just a few more to go. Check out cookies you may have missed out on. Bookmark now and bake later. ;)

Gingerbread Cookies

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Cranberry Almond Chocolate Clusters

Enjoy,

Fallon  

Cranberry Almond Chocolate Clusters

The best part about holiday baking is getting to eat what you make. But if you are a health nut like I can be time to time, eating a lot of sweets doesn’t make your tummy very happy. I love sweets but too much sugar makes me very ill. Chocolate is my all time favorite dessert to have. I can never get sick of chocolate. I swear it is like a vitamin for me. Everyday I take a multi and fish oil pill, plus a piece of chocolate during the day. It improves my mood and gives me a boost of energy during that afternoon slump!

Going through my binder of recipes I had printed out this Ellie Krieger recipe for Cherry Almond Chocolate Clusters. I love that she posts the nutrition amount and calories for everything she makes. This simple dessert was delicious to enjoy after a holiday dinner. Not the most attractive looking piece of candy but sure delicious. I could of bought some golden foil wrappers to lay the clusters in but I had no time to go shopping!

For the clusters I used dried cranberries because it is what I had on hand. Still turned out delicious because the chocolate toned down the tartness. I also made more then 12 clusters then the recipe states. I guess she makes hers rather large because I thought mine were a good size. So I ended up eating two at a time because two is better then one. ;)

This are good to make all year long and you can change up the ingredients. How about apricot hazelnut chocolate clusters? Oh yeah!

Cranberry Almond Chocolate Clusters Adapted from Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

1 cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

6 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

In a medium bowl, toss together the almonds and the cranberries. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

On top of a double boiler over slightly simmering water, melt half the chocolate, stirring frequently. Remove the double boiler from the heat and stir in the rest of the chocolate. Remove the top pan with the chocolate in it, gently wipe the bottom of it and set aside for a moment. Replace the simmering water with warm tap water. Put the pan of melted chocolate on top of the warm water. This will keep the chocolate at the right temperature while making the clusters.

Stir the fruit-nut mixture into the chocolate. Spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized clusters of the chocolate mixture onto the baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Put them in the refrigerator to set for 15 minutes. Store and serve at room temperature.

 

Few more holiday recipes to share and then I’ll get back to a normal program! I told you I was busy over Christmas. What have been your favorite treats so far?

See you soon!

Fallon

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

My goal for holiday cookies in December was to try something new. It is always good to keep up with traditions but I wanted to be a rebel. I had so many wonderful recipes I wanted to try, that there was no way I’d have time to make those, plus my classics.

For instance, peppermint bark is something I make for Christmas every year because it is delicious. I came across this wonderful cookie which featured peppermint bark on top of a buttery cookie. It was a twist on an old favorite and was one of the first holiday cookies I had baked up.

The verdict? They were very addicting. I had to hide them in the fridge so I couldn’t see them. Tasted just like peppermint bark but with a buttery shortbread cookie as the base. Cut them into fun shapes and pieces to mimic peppermint bark.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies From Bon Appétit

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

2 cups AP flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar (I did 1/2 sugar, 1/2 stevia)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (3 ounces) finely chopped peppermint candies or candy canes

2 ounces high-quality white chocolate (I used Wholefoods brand)

Click HERE to find out how to make Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies.

 

Enjoy!

Fallon

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

You would not believe how hard it was to find hazelnuts in 2010! Trader Joe’s is the place where I buy my hazelnuts. We love to just toast them and eat them as snacks in my house. It took them almost the whole year to get hazelnuts back in stock! A few days before Christmas I wandered down the nut isle and I saw them. HAZELNUTS! I picked up several bags and couldn’t wait to come home to make these cookies. I love baking with hazelnuts and especially during the holidays it is a must. Christmas was just starting to look better after I made these cookies. What can I say, I’m crazy for nuts! ;)

These are a cookie must because they have the perfect chew:crunch ratio, buttery and the chocolate + hazelnut combination is a winner! The toffee bits add a nice surprise as well! Everyone loved them. They kept well covered for 5-7 days. I think I ate about one everyday with a cup of coffee. It was the perfect way to keep me relaxed during the stress of packing and moving to a new state. I’ll be making these cookies again!

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies From Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

1/2 cup old-fashion oats

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 cup sugar (I did 1/2 sugar, 1/2 stevia combination)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 ounces English toffee candy, finely chopped (Heath or Skor bar)

1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked and chopped

1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper. Finely chop the oats in a food processor. Transfer the oats to a medium bowl. Mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the toffee, hazelnuts, and chocolate chips.

For each cookie, drop 1 rounded tablespoonful of dough onto sheet, spacing 1-inch apart (do not flatten dough). Bake until the cookies are golden (cookies will flatten slightly), about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.

  

Stay tune for MORE COOKIES!!!

Fallon

I’m Back + Gingerbread Cookies!!

Hey my friends! I’m FINALLY back to blogging. A normal schedule I have not decided, but I know my computer is finally hooked up and I have internet. WOO HOO!

At the moment I’m still trying to get all my stuff organized (house chores). I’ve gone from 2 closets, to 1 smaller closet. I have no furniture, so I’ve been trying to find an alternative to mimic furniture. Target has been very helpful in that department! Don’t worry I’ve been in the kitchen plenty of times cooking already. Speaking of which I made a red sauce for pasta over the weekend. Did the guys like? Hmm! The guys are tough critics but I like the negative feedback! I’ll let you know how that went.

In the mean time I will be sharing with you all my HOLIDAY COOKIES I made in 2010. I couldn’t find any time to get them up on the blog, so I figured I’d come back in January and sabotage everyone’s diets with delicious cookies. ;) If anything, bookmark these for the next holiday in what 11 months?!?

My first recipe I will share today is my absolute favorite cookie, gingerbread! At the cookie swap I was disappointed to find out no one made a spice cookie. I was left somewhat unsatisfied and had to make my own. The ones from King Arthur are fabulous. Spicy but not too spicy. The are buttery, moist and chewy. To keep them on the less sweet side I decided to not decorate with royal icing. It is always fun to decorate them with the kids. Instead I enjoyed my cookies smeared with peanut butter and dried cranberries. Very nontraditional but it actually made a really good pre-workout snack. ;)

Gingerbread Cookies By King Arthur

Ingredients

6 ounces unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

9 ounces molasses

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

14 3/4 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour

In a saucepan set over low heat, or in the microwave, melt butter, then stir in the brown sugar,molasses, salt and spices.Transfer the mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, let it cool lukewarm, and beat in the egg.

Whisk the baking powder and soda into the flour, and then stir in these dry ingredients into the molasses mixture.

Divide the dough in half, and wrap well. Refrigerate for 1 hour or longer.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take out baking sheets and lined with parchment paper for an easy clean up. Something easier to do is roll out your cookies onto parchment, cut into shapes, peel away the scrapes and then transfer cut cookies on top of parchment to baking sheet.

Once the dough has chilled, take one piece of dough out of the refrigerator, and flour a clean work surface, and the dough. Roll it out as thin or as thick as you like; for slightly less crisp cookie, roll it out more thickly.

Use flour under and on top of the dough to keep it from sticking to the table or rolling pin. Alternatively, you could place the dough on parchment, and put a sheet of plastic wrap over it as you roll, pulling the plastic to eliminate wrinkles. Cut cookies into shapes and as close as possible to minimize waste.

Transfer the cookies to the baking sheet. Bake the cookies just until they’re slightly brown around the edges 8 to 12 minutes, or until they feel firm. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for several minutes, or until they’re set. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

The little gingerbread men were my favorite!

You can either decorate with royal icing or a cookie glaze. I opted to leave mine plain and enjoyed them a smear of nut butter and dried fruit. They are also good dunked into coffee! Although if you are baking these cookies with kids, decorating the cookies makes for a fun activity.

Glad to be back!

Fallon

PS: Check out the giveaway going on at Healthy and Sane!

Merry Christmas!

Going to keep this short and simple.

I’ve been super busy and I feel really bad that I couldn’t find any time to compile all the delicious cookies I’ve been baking up. So never fail, I will be back in January to share all the delicious cookies I’ve made. That means I will corrupt your New Years resolutions. ;)

I have some news coming on the 27th, so stay tune for that post!

I want to wish all my readers and followers a Very Merry Christmas. For better or worst take the time to spend it with loved ones around you, friends and family. That what this time of the year is all about. Smile and eat cookies. ;)

Love you guys!!!

Fallon

2010 Cookie Swap

I finally was able to experience my very first cookie swap! I mentioned the idea to a good friend of the family and she loved it. She usually does a gingerbread decorating party but she just doesn’t get excited to do them anymore. It is a lot of work to throw a party like that. So I mentioned a cookie swap party and she loved it! We both never been one to before and were excited to finally host our own!I helped her out with making the invitations, putting some appetizers out and trying to figure out how to run the party. Doing it our first time we already know what we want to do differently next year. Yeah, we already want to do another one. That’s how much fun it was!

If you want me to get into more detail about how to host your own cookie swap let me know! I’ll make a special post about it. It’s a great way to get friends to come together and who doesn’t love cookies? I’m just going to recap the cookie swap with the photos I took using my new DSLR!

Enjoy and try not to drool!

I made the popular Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dough Balls with dark chocolate, and then a combination with butterscotch chips!

This was a lot of dough ball making.

Cranberry, Nut and Seed spread. Recipe coming soon!

Classic hummus and veggie tray.

Cheers! Prosecco with tangerine or peach juice.

My cookie loot.

These brownies were THE best. A Martha Stewart recipe, I will share this with you one day. They were absolutely fabulous. It might just be my favorite brownie ever.

 

The famous Giada De Laurentiis Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze. They were fabulous and I’m making them for Christmas this year.

 

Okay stop drooling!!

Fallon