Classic Sugar Cookies

 A light and buttery cookie

that's sure to disappear fast.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt 

1/2 cup butter, at room temp.

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract.

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, 

baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, with an electric

beater, beat the butter and 

sugar together until smooth.

Add in the egg and vanilla.

Form the dough into 2 disks and

place in the fridge for about 1 hr.

Preheat oven to 350deg.F

Remove from fridge, let 

sit until it can be rolled, 

About 5-10 minutes.

Dough may be frozen also and 

used at a later date.

Roll out approx.  1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. 

Cut out cookies and place on 

parchment lined cookies sheets. 

Bake 8-10 minutes our until 

the edges are slightly brown.

Cool completely on a cooling rack,  

before removing from the cookie sheet.

To view my blog on Iced Sugar Cookies,

click here.

Store in a tightly covered container.

Will freeze well also.

Thanks for your visit xo

🎅🎄🎅

Gumdrop Cookies

I made these gumdrop cookies

 for gifts this Christmas.

Chewy little candy with a light

and delicious taste.

Children love these. 

I adapted a recipe from 

BettyCrocker.com, 

cutting it in half, 

which makes approx.

30 cookies.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup gumdrops (quartered)

or use baking gums 

available at the Bulk Barn.

Optional - sugar for sprinkling.

Preheat oven to 350deg.F

In a bowl whisk together the flour,

 baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add in the gumdrops, into the flour mixture,

save some to press in the formed cookie dough,

before you put them in the oven to bake.

With an electric beater, beat together 

the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla.

Beat just until blended.

Mix together butter mixture

with the flour mixture.

(I do this by hand with a wooden spoon)

Form balls about 1 inch and place on

an ungreased cookies sheet,

or parchment lined cookie sheet,

approx. 2 inches apart.

I didn't have enough baking gums, so

I cut up some gumdrops.

Do not use black or purple gumdrops,

the colours will spread in the cookies.

Cutting the gumdrops with scissors

works well also. A little flour makes

them less sticky.

Flatten the balls about  1  1/2 inch.

(I use 2 fingers to do this).

(Optional)Sprinkle with sparking sugar,

Press some gumdrops in also

Cook 10 to 12 minutes at 350 deg.F.

until the edges are set 

and starting to brown.

Do not overcook or this will

cause the cookies to be hard.

Cool 2 minutes before removing 

from the cookies sheet.

Cool an additional 20 minutes 

on cooling rack.

Store in airtight container.

Thanks for your visit...

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Date Pudding

 

This year for Christmas dinner

dessert, I made this date pudding.

A light and tasty pudding with

dates soaked in rum, served with a

brown sugar toffee sauce.

This pudding can be made ahead and

frozen to be used later and warmed up

in the microwave. 

I adapted the recipe from 

myislandbistrokitchen.com

Ingredients for Pudding

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp ground *nutmeg

¼ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp salt

About 1 1/3 cups pitted dates, 

coarsely chopped

¼ cup dark rum

1 cup water

1 1/8 tsp baking soda.

¼ cup butter, softened at room temperature

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs at room temperature

Grated rind of an orange 

1½ tbsp pure maple syrup

1½ tsp vanilla

(* Ginger may be used in the place of nutmeg.

 I'm allergic to ginger.)

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, 

baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon,

 cloves and salt. Set aside. 

In a saucepan, combine the dates 

with the 1/4 cup of rum.

Let stand 20 minutes, stirring a few times.

Add the cup of water and bring the dates,

rum and water to a boil,

over medium-high heat.

Reduce the heat to simmer and

 boil gently, uncovered for 

approx. 5 minutes, 

stirring once or twice.

Remove from heat and

add the baking soda and let

stand uncovered for 20 minutes, 

stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350deg.

Place oven rack in bottom third of oven.

Grease a 9 inch square pan, a bundt pan,

 or 10 individual ramekins 

While date mixture is cooling, 

Beat butter and the sugars together 

with an electric mixer.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, 

beating well after each addition.

Beat in orange rind, maple syrup

 and vanilla.

Stir in the flour mixture.

Add in the dates.

Grease ten (10) 1/2 cup ramekins and 

place on a baking sheet.

Fill each dish no more than 2/3 full.

Smooth over tops.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a 

toothpick inserted in the centre 

 comes out clean.

I didn't have 10 ramekins,

I filled 8.

Run tip off a knife around each pudding 

to loosen and turn out on to 

individual serving plates.

Serve warm with sauce and if desired,

a dollop of whipping cream or 

a scoop of vanilla or maple ice cream. 

Sometimes I serve the pudding,

 topped with table cream

 or ice cream instead 

of the toffee sauce.

TheToffee Sauce

Ingredients for Toffee Sauce:

¾ cup butter
1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
¾ cup whipping cream (35% M.F.)
2 tbsp rum
2 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add the cream and reduce heat to simmer.

Cook slowly, stirring occasionally,

 until sauce is slightly thick, 

about 6-8 minutes.

 Remove from heat and stir in the rum and vanilla.

Serve warm over the date pudding. 

(Sauce will thicken as it starts to cool slightly).

**********

Actually I found this Toffee Sauce to be too much,

too big,  but delicious. 

Next time, I'll cut the ingredients in 1/2.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for your visit 

🎅🎅🎅

Classic Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies originated in Scotland.

Made with simple and basic ingredients,

 flour, sugar, butter with vanilla 

or almond flavouring.

Whether you bake them plain or 

paired up with jam, they'll be delicious. 

 Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)

1 tsp pure vanilla  or almond extract

(Optional)Jam for filling.

In a bowl whisk the flour with the salt, set aside.

With an electric beater or hand beater, beat the butter
until smooth, about 1 minute.
Add the icing sugar and mix until combined.
Beat in the vanilla extract.

Gently stir in the flour mixture 

just until incorporated.

Flatten the dough into a disk shape, 

wrap in plastic wrap, and 

chill the dough for at least an hour.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove dough from fridge and let stand at

 room temperature approx. 5-10 minutes

 or until it is soft enough to roll out.

On a lightly floured surface, 

roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

If you are making the jam filled cookie, roll out

approx. 1/8 inch thick. 

Cut out the cookies with a cookie cutter. 

(Divide the cut out cookies into 2

 and cut half of the top ones 

with a small cookie cutter.

Knead the leftover scraps of dough

 into a ball and roll out again.

If you are using jam filled cookies,

Spread some jam on each of the 

cookie bottoms. 

Set a cutout cookie on top of each,

 pressing the two together 

so they make a sandwich.

( Optional) Sprinkle the top with 

icing sugar before placing

 on the bottoms, if desired.

Place the unbaked cookies on

 a baking sheet in the refrigerator

 for about 15 minutes.

This will firm up the dough so the

 cookies will maintain their shape when baking.

Preheat oven to 350deg. F

Bake for about 10-15 minutes or 

until cookie edges are lightly browned.

Let cool completely.

Can be stored in an air-tight container for a few week.

Shortbread cookies freeze well also.

Two batches of cookies in this photo.

 

Thanks for your visit xo

Cherry and Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

r

Great tasting,

green and red cherries

combined with chocolate.

A colourful and delicious Christmas dessert.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp.

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup each red and green cherries 

 (About 15 of each.) Cut in 1/2

(I rinsed with cool water and

pat dry before cutting cherries)

Some ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, 

baking soda and salt.  

Spoon in the chocolate chips and cherries

Set aside.

In another bowl, with mixer,  gradually 

beat the butter,  both sugars until 

mixture is light. (approx 2 mins)

Beat in the egg, then vanilla.

Mix the flour mixture and the butter mixture together

with a wooden spoon.

With your hands, knead the dough 

until it comes together and forms a ball.

Cut the dough in 3 portions.

Place each on a large piece of

 plastic wrap or waxed paper.

Shape into a log about 12 in. long.

Refrigerate 

until firm at lease 4 hrs. 

or up to 5 days, 

or freeze for up to 1 month.

When ready to bake,

 preheat oven to 350 deg. F.

Remove from fridge, 

let the rolled dough stand at 

room temperature for

 approx. 5- 10 minutes.

 Using a serrated knife, 

slice cold dough in 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick rounds. 

Too much pink in my photo. I don't know why, I don't us filters.

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet

 or a parchment lined cookie sheet. 

Bake 8to 10 mins, until edges are starting to brown.

(In my oven, I leave them 10 mins.)

Let cool on baking sheet, for 10 minutes 

before removing to cooling rack. 

Enjoy.

May be frozen and enjoyed at a later date.

Great for gifts!

Thanks for your visit xo

🎅🎅🎅