Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

Ready to be baked

I made this recipe on Christmas Eve with my 6 year old brother who loves cooking. It is just a simple sugar cookie recipe with a twist. I came upon this idea on a facebook post and I wondered how they did it so I looked it up. I thought these cookies tasted great and my siblings loved them. They are amazing for parties and Christmas desserts (I made a few more batches for a Christmas party I went too).

Ingredients:
-2 cups flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/4 tsp salt
-2/3 cup powdered sugar
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (cut in small chunks)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp of food colouring of your choice (I used green)
-optional extract of your choice (I used peppermint)
-1/2 tsp of another food colouring (I used red)
-holiday sprinkles

Directions:

Final Result

Blend the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Slowly add butter and continue mixing. Add vanilla extract and mix well. Split your dough into 2 equal parts. Take the first part and blend in the green food colouring and peppermint extract. Mix until colour is spread out evenly. Do the same with the other part but with the red food colouring and no extra extract. Roll out both portions of dough separately between two sheets of wax paper until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Put both on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When firm, remove wax paper. Brush the red dough with water. Flip the green dough onto the vanilla dough so they are evenly stacked onto each other. Put the sprinkles on a large platter and set aside. Lightly press the edges together to seal. Begin rolling the long side of the dough into a swirl. Now lift your dough log onto the sprinkles and coat the log completely with them. Wrap the coated log with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours (or keep in freezer for up to 2 months, depending on when you are planning on using it). Slice the dough into 1/4 inch slices and bake on baking sheets for 350. When edges are golden (15-17 minutes) take out of the oven and let cool. Enjoy your Christmas Pinwheel cookies with a warm mug of hot chocolate.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar 
• 4 eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

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Chocolate Meringue Pie

My friend, Kate, gave me this recipe. I don't know where she got it but I tried it and it was great. I made it for my little brothers birthday party as a treat and he and his friends all loved it. It was a little messy though especially for younger kids. It also takes a long time to make but I think that it is well worth it. 

Ingredients:
Pie crust:
-1 pie pastry (single crust)

Pudding:
-2 cups sugar
-6 TBSP flour
-6 TBSP cocoa
-1 tsp salt
-6 egg yolks
-4 cups milk
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-2 oz unsalted butter

Meringue:
-5oz egg whites
-10oz sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Pie Crust: Roll out pastry into a 12 inch circle and put into a 9 inch pie pan. Place in freezer for 20-25 minutes. Line with foil and fill it with dried beans (used as weights) and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Lower temperature to 350 and cook for another 15 minutes or so. Remove foil and beans and continue baking for 10-20 minutes or until fully baked. Let cool.

Pudding: Mix flour, cocoa, salt in medium bowl. Add egg yolks. Add milk (1/2 cup at a time to prevent lumps). Pour into saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and starting to boil. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Pour through strainer into bowl. Pour into the pie shell and chill in fridge for 4 hours or until firm.

Meringue: Place sugar and egg whites in a kitchen-aid bowl (The first time I was hoping to make these, I didn't have it so I just bought it at Walmart). Place bowl in a pan of simmering water. Heat, stirring constantly. Check temperature regularly. When the whites of the egg reach 140 degrees, remove from heat and whip until the meringue has cooled and tripled in volume. Beat in vanilla. Spread over pudding and shape peaks using fingers. Use a propane torch to lightly toast the peaks. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Watermelon Cookies

I followed the recipe as stated here Watermelon Cookies. The only thing that went wrong was that I put to much salt in. Instead of putting in 1/4 tbs of salt I put in 3/4 so I tried to scoop as much out as I could to save it and in the end it worked out. The recipe at the top also gives a lot of exact measurements for how to make it look the way it does, so I just rolled it how i thought it would look.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cereal Bars

Any type of recipe with peanut butter and chocolate is a win for me! I decided to try this more complicated recipe and it turned out great! The squares were delicious and gone in a day! Try them here Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cereal Bars

Ingredients

• - 2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
• - 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• - 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• - 3/4 cup butter, melted
• - 1 large egg 
• - 1 cup light corn syrup
• - 1 cup granulated sugar 
• - 1 cup creamy peanut butter 
• - 4 cups crisp rice cereal 
• - 1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate morsels 
•  -1 (10-oz.) package peanut butter morsels
•  -1 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

1. Directions
2. 
   
3. 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Press firmly onto bottom of a lightly greased 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. (Mixture will be thin.) Bake 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes.
4. 2. Microwave corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter in a large microwave-safe glass bowl at HIGH 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. Stir in cereal. Press mixture firmly over oat mixture in pan.
5. 3. Microwave chocolate and peanut butter morsels in a microwave-safe glass bowl at HIGH 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30-second intervals. Spread over cereal mixture. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Cool 45 minutes. Cut into bars.
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Focaccia

Not a quick bread but super yummy!! Its from a secret source that will remain a secret.

Ingredients:
-2C Bread Flour
-1/2C Semolina Flour
-1t Kosher Salt
-7g Active Dry Yeast
-3/4C Water
-1/4 E.V Olive Oil (divided)
-Fennel

Directions:
-Mix dry ingredients
-Add yeast and water
-Mix in 1/2 olive oil
-Knead for 5 min while adding oil
-Rise for 3 hours
-Transfer to skillet and flatten adding pockets with fingers.
-Let prove for 45 min
-Sprinkle with fennel
-Bake over stone at 500F for 15 min

This was a slightly modified recipe compared to the original yet still works to make a great bread!

Maple Pecan Blondies

I just stumbled upon this recipe and thought it would be good to make! I forgot to take a picture though so the image is from the original recipe which can be seen here.

Ingredients:
Blondies
2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped1 cup packed light brown sugar3/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon baking soda8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled1/2 cup grade B maple syrup2 large eggs, room temperature2 teaspoons vanilla extract2 ounces maple sugar candy, chopped*

Maple Butter Glaze
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup grade B maple syrup
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Directions
-Heat oven to 350 F
-Grease 9x13 pan
-Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl
-Whisk wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
-Combine wet and dry and fold together.
-Spread in pan and bale for 20 min

-Melt butter in a small sauce pan
-Add syrup and sugar
-Bring to a boil for 2 min

*bring 2 cups maple syrup to 235F, let cool to 175F then stir till colour lightens.

This was a pretty good recipe, I dont like this type of stuff though so it wasnt amazing.

Eskimo Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 butter
• 3/4 sugar
• 2 cups oats
• 3 tsp. of cocoa
• 1 tsp. water
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredient's together
2.Roll in little balls and shake with coconut
3.Store in fridge

Zucchini Bread

Some people may know that I work at a fruit and vegetable stand during the summer. One of the things we sell is zucchini. Zucchini quickly gets wrinkly in the heat and after that we can't sell it. One day we had a lot of it left over so my boss gave it to me. I shredded and froze 21 cups of it! So for the baking category I decided to make zucchini bread, since I had so much zucchini I made 4 times the recipe.
(This is another one of those recipes that we just have written down, so I don't know where it came from)

Ingredients
3C all purpose flour
2.25C granulated sugar
*2C shredded zucchini
3 eggs
*1C vegetable oil
3tsp vanilla
3tsp cinnamon
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp salt

Directions
1. Grease and flour two 8x4inch pans. Preheat over to 325F
2. In a medium bowl sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together.
3. In another medium bowl beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together.
4. Add sifted ingredients and beat well.
5. Mix in zucchini and pour into prepared pans.
6. bake for 40-60 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Let cool for about 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan.
Makes 2 loaves.

Nobody in my family likes zucchini, but we all love this bread. You can't really taste the zucchini flavour.
*I added 3 cups per recipe instead of 2, partly because I had so much and partly because it's good for you.
*Instead of 4 cups of oil for my quadruple recipe  I added 3 cups oil and 1 cup applesauce. Applesauce gives it the moisture it needs, but is much healthier than oil. For a single recipe you can even do half cup oil and half cup applesauce (I only had one cup of applesauce in the house)

Sanchez's Apple Crisp

This is my moms wonderful Apple Crisp Recipe that we adore every Thanksgiving as a fall desert. I had the chance to make this before Thanksgiving weekend last week and it was amazing! hope you all enjoy! and Happy Thanksgiving  

Ingredients

For the Filling

• 6 medium baking apples, such as Granny Smith (2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup (50 to 100 g) granulated sugar, depending on tartness of apples
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the Topping

• 3/4 cup (105 g) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (65 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar (option: combine 1/4 cup brown sugar + 1/4 cup granulated sugar)
• 1/2 cup (115 g) butter, melted (1 stick)
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Method

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (177 C). Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) square (or 2-quart) baking dish.

Make the Filling

1. Core apples then cut into 3/4-inch (7 cm) pieces. Add apples to a large bowl, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir then add to baking dish.

Make the Topping

1. To make the crisp topping, combine flour, oats, sugar and the salt in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter then stir until all the flour has been moistened by the butter and topping is crumbly. Sprinkle over apple filling. (We like to use our hands to do this. As we sprinkle, we press the crumbles together to create larger clumps of topping.)

Bake Apple Crisp

1. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes or until juices are thickened, the apples are tender and the topping has turned light golden brown. If the topping starts to become too brown, cover with aluminum foil and continue to bake until the apples are done.

Apple Pie

Ingredients

Pastry:
3/4 cup (175 mL) Shortening 
3 tbsp (50 mL) Butter, softened
2-1/4 cups (550 mL) All-purpose flour
3/4 tsp (4 mL) Salt 
1/2 cup (125 mL) Ice water
Filling:
8 cups (2 L) Thinly sliced peeled tart apples (2-1/4 lb/ 1. 12 kg)
2 tbsp (25 mL) Lemon juice
1/2 cup (125 mL) Granulated sugar 
3 tbsp (50 mL) All-purpose flour 
1/2 tsp (2 mL) Cinnamon
Glaze:    
1 Egg yolk
2 tsp (10 mL) Granulated sugar

Steps:

1. In bowl, beat shortening with butter until smooth; stir in flour and salt until coarse and ragged looking. Pour in water all at once; stir until loose dough forms. With floured hands, gather into 2 balls. On well-floured surface, gently knead each into 3/4-inch (2 cm) thick disc. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until chilled.

2. On well-floured pastry cloth or work surface and using stockinette-covered or well-floured rolling pin, roll out 1 piece of dough from centre, lifting pin at edge to maintain even thickness. Turn rolling pin clockwise 90 degrees. Repeat rolling out and turning dough until in 13-inch (33 cm) circle.

3. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin; unroll into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Using sharp knife, trim edge even with pie plate.

Filling: In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Stir together sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples and toss until coated. Scrape into pie shell. Brush pastry rim with water.

4. Roll out remaining dough to same-size circle. Using rolling pin, drape over apples, without stretching dough. Trim, leaving 3/4-inch (2 cm) overhang. Gently lift bottom pastry rim and fold overhang under rim; press together to seal. Tilt sealed pastry rim up from pie plate at 45-degree angle.

5. With hand on outside of tilted pastry rim and using thumb and bent index finger, gently twist rim to form scalloped edge. With small decorative cutter or tip of sharp knife, cut steam vents in centre of pie.

6. Whisk yolk with 1 tbsp (15 mL) water; brush over crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in bottom third of 425°F (220°C) oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C); bake for 40 minutes or until golden, filling is bubbly and apples are soft when pierced with knife through vent. Let cool on rack.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

This is my Aunt Jen's famous chocolate chip cookie recipe! I have never tried making them before but they turned out pretty well! Enjoy!


1 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda



Cream shortening with sugars beat in eggs & add Vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients & add to shortening mixture. Add 12oz. Chocolate chips &1tsp. Hot water.

Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.

Dutch Cookies!

Dutch Cookies

Ingredients 

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  2 cups icing sugar
  3 tbsp water
  yellow/red/orange color dye 
  red,white,blue sprinkles

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
4. Mix the icing sugar and water together for you icing and add your color. spread it on the top of the cookies and powder it with sprinkles, et voila!!

Egg Bread (A Family Recipe)

This is a family recipe that my dad used to always make it when he was a kid. Now, he makes it every Thanksgiving with our turkey and stuffing. This Thanksgiving, he was swamped with work because his employees took the weekend off so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to learn how to  work with yeast. The bread turned out very well and tasted amazing. It was a little denser than it is when he usually makes it but nobody noticed. Next time I make it, I will kneed it a little less so it is more fluffy. Now that I know how to make it, I will make it more often (not just once a year, on Thanksgiving).


Preparing:
-½ cup warm (not hot) water
-1 pkg (1 tbs) dry yeast
Mix yeast with the water and let sit for 10 minutes.

Other Ingredients:
-½ cup warm (not hot) water
-2 eggs
-1 tsp salt
-½ cup vegetable oil
-¼ cup sugar
-3½-4 cups flour
-1 egg yolk
-1 tsp water




Directions:
Mix first 5 "Other Ingredients" in a bowl and add yeast mixture. Add the flour and knead dough for 5 minutes. Doug should be soft like an earlobe**. Coat with oul and put in metal pot. Wet a dish cloth with boiling water and cover pot**. Leave to rise for 1 hour. Punch and turn over. Leave for another hour. Cut dough into two pieces. Dived each piece into another three even pieces. Work into a braid and leave for another hour. Set oven to 350°F. Grease pan with butter and lightly sprinkle flour over it. Mix egg yolk with water and just before cooking, brush egg mixture over braids. Cook for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

**if sticky, add more flour, ¼ cup at a time
**dish cloth should be rung out before placed on pot

Apple Pie within an Apple

I made this recipe last Monday for desert. It turned out very well and my siblings and parents loved it. I didn't like it as much because I don't really like cinnamon because it is too strong. Next time I will make it with less cinnamon so it is less strong.

I found this recipe on a friends Facebook page. She posted this link. The website, Chronicles of a Domestic Dilettante, has many different recipes including appetizers, brunch, and desserts. Next time I can't find a recipe, I know where to go!



Ingredients:
-6 apples
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon
-¼ cup of sugar
-1 tbsp of brown sugar
-pie crust (I made my own... Recipe Here (only up to step 2))
Directions:
Cut off the top of four apples and remove the inside of each apple with a spoon**. Then, remove the peel off of the remaining apples. Slice these apple thinly. Than, mix these cut apples with the sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the mixture into the hollow apples. Roll out the pie crust and slice into ¼ inch strips. Cover the top of the apples in a lattice pattern with the strips of pie crust. Then, place the apples in an 8x8 pan. Add a little water just to cover the bottom of the pan. cover the pan with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil and back for another 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove for oven and let cool (just enough so you don't burn yourself). Serve with ice cream.
**Be very careful as not to cut off the peel. On my first try, it didn't turn out great because I cut a little too deep.




**This was my "fall fun" recipe**

Brownies

Serves: 10

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) mix oil and sugar until well blended.

3.) add eggs and vanilla; stir just until blended.

4.) mix all dry ingredients in a seperate bowl.

5.) stir dry ingredients into the oil/sugar mixture.

6.) pour into a grease 9 by 9 square pan.

7.) bake for 20 minutes or until sides start to pull away from the pan.

8.) cool completely before cutting.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

HALLOWEEN SUGAR COOKIES!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Choodles

I am so proud because last night I made choodles, a family recipe from the dutch side, and for the first time I didn't burn them and they were extra fluffy!! : )

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/4 cup butter
2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Directions: Preheat the oven to 300 F. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Next, mix both bowl together (if not opposed it's messy but easiest with hands). Take a small amount of dough and roll into a ball then roll in a bowl of sugar. Note: this bowl of sugar is not considered part of the ingredients, you must grab more sugar.  Place balls on a pan and then put into the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Changes: The only changes I can think of are to roll the dough balls into bigger or smaller pieces depending on preference. My personal changes were that these were the best ones I have made so far. Although after making them I remembered I don't like cookies that much.

Blueberry Muffins

I got this recipe from allrecipes.ca

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cups milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, blueberries, grated lemon zest and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg; blend well. Add dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy.)
3. Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm.

Key Lime Bars

My Mom always watches Martha Stewart on television and honestly it gets annoying at times with the amount of recipes she finds. However about a year ago she found a recipe for Key Lime Bars which was just a plate of paradise. I tried making it but as usual it doesn't end up as good as she makes it...

Ingredients

Key Lime Bar

-1 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons finely ground graham cracker crumbs

• 1/3 cup sugar
• -5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• -3 large egg yolks
• -1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• -2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (about 23 Key limes total)
• -1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
• -1/4 cup heavy cream
• -2 Key limes, thinly sliced into half-moons

Instructions

1. Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (Leave oven on.)
2. Make filling: Put egg yolks and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.
3. Spread filling evenly over crust using a spatula. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until filling is just set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight).
4. Cut into 2-by-2-inch bars. Put cream in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Garnish bars with whipped cream and a slice of lime.