Homemade Cranberry Sauce With Orange Flavour.

A fast and easy sauce to make

and a great addition to your  

Thanksgiving or Christmas meal

 

Cranberries paired

with Orange make this

sauce one of my favourites.

Also there's many other ways 

to enjoy this delicious sauce,

including on toast or ice cream.  

Ingredients

1 package 340g. package fresh

 or frozen cranberries

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

Grated zest of one orange

pinch of salt.

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in

a medium sauce pan.

Bring to a boil and cook on

medium for approx. 10 minutes.

Mash with a potato masher.

Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas!

🎅🎄💚💗💔💕

• 
  

Thumbprint Cookies

I made Thumbprint Cookies

and used raspberry 

jam for the filling.

 

A simple recipe to follow,

 using one bowl and 

mixing by hand.

 No mixer needed.

Yields about 18 cookies.

Ingredients;

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened.

1/3 cup icing sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp of salt

1 large egg yolk

1 1/4 cups flour

1/3 cup white sugar, or

as needed, (for rolling)

1/2 cup fruit jam.

Preheat oven to 325deg. F

(165deg. C.)

In a large bowl, mix butter and 

icing sugar,  together with 

 a rubber spatula until creamy. 

Add vanilla and almond extracts,

 salt and egg yolk.

Mix all together.

Add flour and blend until just combined.

Spoon out about 1 tbsp full 

of dough and form into a ball.

Roll balls in a plate of white 

sugar to coat.

Roll again between your palms.

To add jam in the middle of these

cookies, use the end of a thick wooden 

spoon, dusted with icing sugar, 

or use one of your fingers, poke a

hole into each cookie, slowly.

tip: to prevent cookie from cracking, 

make the hole in the middle as soon

as you finished rolling each one. 

The dough will dry if left too long,

causing it to crack.  

Space apart on a parchment-lined

cookie sheet.

Fill cookies with the jam.

Tap baking sheet against the

counter to let jam settle.

Bake at 325deg.F until slightly  

brown, about 20 minutes.

• Let cool on a wire rack.

  
  

  They can be sprinkled with  

  icing sugar, or 

  decorated with icing.

  
  

  

  
  

  For a previous blog on

   Homemade Raspberry Jam, 

  click here.

  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Thanks for your visit xo

  
  

  Merry Christmas!!

  💚💗

  
  

  
  

Almond Crescent Cookies.

I had some almond flour in the  

pantry, and decided to use it up,

  by making these Austrian 

moon cookies.

Recipe yields about 30 cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup almond flour or ground almonds.

1/4 cup powdered sugar for sprinkling.

Preheat oven to 350deg.F

In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar 

together until light and fluffy.

Mix in the vanilla and almond extract.

Add the flour and almond flour 

and mix throughly. 

Dough will be crumbly.

Form the dough into crescent shapes.

Take a generous tablespoon of 

dough and roll it into a small ball,

about an inch in diameter.

Then shape into a crescent shape.

Place onto a parchment paper lined

baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until

a light golden brown.

Place on a rack to cool.

Dust with powdered sugar/

icing sugar, or dip in chocolate.

Blue Willow dishes.

To view a previous blog on 

The Legend of Blue Willow, 

click here.

Enjoy!

1. 
   

Iced Sugar Cookies

 Sugar cookies 

are easy to make and are

a popular Christmas cookie. 

I decorated them with icing

 and sugar sprinkles to 

gives them an Icy look.

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 350 deg. F

Remove from fridge, set 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.

For the frosting/icing, I used 1 cup

 icing sugar/powdered sugar, 

(sifted to eliminate any lumps)

mix with 2 tbsp. milk

 and 1 tsp vanilla.

I used a little cherry juice mixed

with frosting, for the pink colour.

Frost the cookie and add some 

white sugar sprinkles to give it an

icy effect.

Enjoy!

Thanks for your visit xo.

Merry Christmas!

Chocolate Cranberry Biscotti

This is the first time I make Biscotti.

I made chocolate Biscotti 

and added dried cranberries with

white chocolate chips. 

The sweetness in the chocolate

chips, balances out the tartness

of the cranberries. 

A cookie that is baked twice.

The first time to bake the cookie,

 the second time to dry them out.

 Giving them a longer shelf-life.

Great for a coffee break,

accompanying coffee, lattes etc. 

Ingredients

Yields 20-25 biscotti

1/2 cup unsalted butter at

 room temperature

3/4 cup white sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt. 

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup white chocolate chips. 

Preheat oven to 350degF.

Line a baking sheet 

with parchment paper

With an electric beater 

beat the butter and sugar

until fluffy (2-3 minutes). 

Add the eggs, one at a time,

mixing after each addition. 

Beat in the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, 

whisk together the flour, 

baking powder, 

salt and cocoa powder.

 

Add the flour mixture, 

to the butter mixture and 

beat until incorporated.

Add in the dried cranberries and

white chocolate chips. 

Transfer the dough to a floured

 surface and divide it in half.

(You will find the dough very sticky.)

Flour your hands and roll 

each half in a 7 inch (approx) long log.

Transfer the logs to the baking sheet, 

spacing them well apart,

pat to flatten the logs slightly.

The logs will spread during baking.

Bake until the top of the logs are 

firm to touch about 30-35 minutes.

Remove from oven and place 

on a wire rack and let 

cool for about 10 minutes.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board,

Using a serrated knife, 

cut the logs into slices

about 3/4 inch thick. 

Arrange the slices on the 

baking sheet and bake 

about 8-10 minutes.

Turn them over and bake again 

about 8-10 minutes 

on the other side.

Remove from oven and

 let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas

🎅🎄🎅

Gumdrop Loaf

 

A great tasting Gumdrop Loaf

enhanced with the flavour of coconut.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter softened

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup milk

2 cups gumdrops

(omit black)

1 cup sweetened

flaked coconut

I used large gumdrops in this recipe

that I bought at the grocery store.

Cut them up and rolled them in

flour to keep them separated.

Use some of the 2cups of flour 

measured above.

If you use extra flour, the

loaf will be too dry. 

Baking gums are also available

in certain bulk stores.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350deg.F

Grease a 9x5 loaf pan,

lined with parchment paper.

In a bowl, with a mixer,  beat sugar 

and butter until light and creamy.

Add in eggs & vanilla and beat until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, stir together the 

flour,  baking powder and salt.

Gradually add the flour mixture into 

the sugar mixture alternating with the 

milk until mixture is smooth.

Stir in the gumdrops and 

coconut until well combined.

Spoon mixture into the prepared baking pan.

Bake 350deg.F for 1 1/4 hrs. or

 until tester in centre comes out clean.

Do not overbake.

Let cool in pan for 5 minutes.

Turn out and cool on wire rack completely

Dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!!

• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To view a previous blog on 
  a larger Gumdrop Cake without coconut,
  I did last year, click on
   Old Fashioned Gumdrop Cake
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Thanks for your visit
  
  
  💙💚💛💜
  
  

Lemon Christmas Cookies

 If you like the flavour of lemon 

you'll love these cookies. 

Very fast and easy to make

 with minimal ingredients.

I used a new mitten cookies cutter

to make these.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 egg

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

pinch of salt.

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered/icing sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

Candy decorations. 

Heat Oven to 350deg.F

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar 

with electric mixer on medium

 speed until light and fluffy. 

Add lemon peel and egg,

beat until well blended.

On low speed gradually add in the

 flour and salt until well blended.

Place dough on a floured surface,

The dough will appear that it 

needs more liquid, but it doesn't. 

Mix it together with your hands.

Roll out dough about 1/8 inch thick.

Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter.

Place cookies on an ungreased 

cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until 

cookies just begin to brown.

Remove from cookie sheets 

to cooling racks.

Cool completely about 10 minutes.

Making the Glaze

In a small bowl, mix powdered/

icing sugar, lemon juice and water.

Spread glaze on tops of cookies,

sprinkle with candies to decorate.

When glaze is dry, store

in an airtight container.

I adapted this recipe from:

BettyCrocker.com

for their snowflake cookies.

Thanks for your visit 

🎄🎄🎄