These Cookies are for the Dogs!

Really...for the dogs!

My dog Rex, is very, very picky! He has high standards, what can I say? He won't eat store bought dog treats, we don't feed him table scraps, he just likes his high quality dry dog food!

I have baked for Rex in the past using dog treat recipes and he would eat one or two and then that would be that, all done. They weren't very tasty either, trust me! I do so much baking for humans, I had to give this another shot...and we are having doggy guests for Christmas too!

Rex is 7 years old and I want him to be with us a very long time! I try to keep him away from chocolate, raisins, anything bad for dogs, as well as human food. I recently found a recipe for dog treats with cheese, then heard a blurb on tv that it could cause some sort of organ failure. I can't remember where I heard it, but for now, I am steering clear from giving him cheese too.

I do give Rex a little peanut butter on bread once a month to get him to take his heartworm preventative, so I know he loves it and he does well with it. So here is what I came up with made especially for Rex for this Christmas!

Rex's Cookies

2-1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 cup of creamy peanut butter

1 cup of 1% milk

1 (3.2 oz package) of GoGo SqueeZ Apple Peach (available at Target and most grocery stores, in the packaged fruit section. It is a 100% fruit, no refined sugar, no preservatives snack by Materne. If you can't find this, there are other similar products or unsweetened applesauce that would probably work.)

In medium bowl, microwave melt peanut butter for about 10 to 15 seconds. Mix in milk and continue mixing until combined. This doesn't look like it will come together at first, but it does. In stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment, add in flour and cinnamon, slowly pour in the peanut butter milk mixture and squeeze in the Apple Peach SqueeZ. Switch to dough hook and continue mixing until combined, scraping sides if needed. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick and cut with mini cookie cutters. For a large dog you will probably want to use regular size cookie cutters. Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet in preheated 400 degree for about 7 minutes for minis. Time may need to be adjusted for larger cookies.

This recipe made about 115 mini dog cookies.

I am not vet, so if you make these, give them to your dog at your own risk. However, these ingredients are in some dog foods, and Rex couldn't wait to get his paws on them! Here he is while I am taking pictures. "Ma...I am sitting pretty!"

These actual taste pretty good for a dog treat, yes I tried them. Don't laugh, it is human quality food in them and I wouldn't give him something that was horrible! It is a soft cookie and a very slight sweetness from the fruit. Of course it isn't as great as a human cookie, but Rex loves them!

Standing pretty now! He has eaten like 5 of these cookies already! (Usually he has clothes on, but he just got a bath yesterday and it is pretty warm outside today.)

I found these cute little Chinese Take out containers at Michael's and got the personalized bottle cap ornament from TLC Creations. I made 3 of these boxes for Rex, his aunt, and his great-uncle. They are all small like Rex. About 35 cookies in a zipper bag fit into each box.

I made 3 of these little goodie boxes! I knew the dogs probably can't read their own names, but maybe they will recognize their own picture? Anyway, at least I know Rex will eat them, now he just has to wait to get into his box until Christmas!

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Christmas Tree Cookies

This Christmas Tree Cookie Cutter is #4 of 5 new cookie cutters that I got this Christmas season and I have really been looking forward to using it! I had so many ideas floating around in my head on how to decorate this cookie using royal icing. I knew I didn't want to make a traditional looking tree and I like using lots of color!

I found this method on accident really, searching at Sweetopia to find out how to store royal icing decorated cookies and how long they would keep. It just so happened that Marian had just posted a new video- How to Pipe Lines with Royal Icing. I have been wanting to step up my cookie decorating and have had a problem doing outlines, so I had to check out this video! It is that video that gave me inspiration for these cookies!

I started with the pink set of cookies and a size 2 tip, since I didn't have a size 1.5.  My icing was a runnier consistency since I had mixed what I used to flood the cookies back with the thicker icing. I switched to size 1 and still found the icing a little too thin and wanting to bleed out when it hit the cookie, so returned the icing to the bowl to tighten it up a bit. It piped out beautifully after that. Unfortunately, being first, the pink cookies suffered a little.

I moved on to the purple set of cookies and discovered the loops weren't quite working for me with this icing still, so decided to cut my losses and stop with the loops for now. I love the lines and the polka dots and continued that theme on the teal cookies as well.

  I am really starting to enjoy decorating cookies, my old nemesis, and now finding it more therapeutic than challenging. My daughter decorated her Salted Dough Cookie Ornaments, while I decorated these. We had so much fun together decorating side by side. While I am still not a cookie person yet, thanks to the cookie people out their I am definitely getting more confident with my cookie decorating!

  
Recipes used for these cookies:
Bakerella Gingerbread Cookies
Wilton Royal Icing (thinned)

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Salted Dough Handprints & Ornaments

This salted dough ornaments were recently on an episode of The Chew and I thought that they would be fun to make with my daughter and share here! Even though they are not "sweets" and are not even edible, they are dough, cut with cookie cutters, and baked! 

I wasn't sure how much the recipe would make and I didn't want to make a ton, so I cut the recipe in half. I found this recipe from The Chew, and they got the idea from Katy Elliot. The recipe below will make 16 mini sized ornaments and 1 handprint.

Salted Dough Ornaments

(slightly adapted)

1/2 cup ap flour

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup water
cookie cutters
ribbon to hang ornaments with

  

For such a small amount of dough, I just mixed it by hand and kneaded it until it came together nicely, about 6 to 8 minutes. If desired, add food coloring. Roll to about 1/4 inch thick. If they are too thin they will curl up. Cut with cookie cutters.

For hand ornament- Gently press hand into dough. Trace around hand with flat end of a plastic spoon or gently with a dull plastic butter knife, being careful not to cut your child! Trace well enough to get a good enough line to finish cutting once the hand is removed. Depending on the age of the child, they may be able to do this themselves or with very little help. For very young children, you may just have to try and trace the pressed indention or just make a traditional handprint on a round shaped cookie.

Before baking, using a straw, make holes in the dough to accommodate a ribbon to hang the ornament from. If you wish to include a name or date, that would be stamped on using rubber stamps before baking also.

 Bake on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in 200 degree oven for 4 to 6 hours. Mine were still slightly soft at 5 hours and baked for the full 6 hours. Let cool completely. Decorate as desired with markers, crayons, glitter, whatever your child can dream up! Let them have fun with it!

Once decorated, the original recipe suggests coating with varnish. I am using an uv protectant acrylic spray since that is what I have on hand. Lay ornaments on newspaper and spray outside or in very well ventelated area. Make sure the first side is dried well before flipping to spray the second side.

I made wall hangings with dough like this about 12 years ago with my older kids. We first colored the dough and then I hand shaped the dough into an oval and made the handprint on the oval. I also sprayed those with the acrylic spray and they have lasted well all this time!

Not only are these ornaments fun to make and great memories for the tree, they also make great tags on Christmas presents. The handprints make great keepsakes for Moms, Dads, Grandmas, and Grandpas and would be fun to make an updated one each year!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

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Dude! Where's My Snowman?

No really...Dude! Where IS my snowman?

This one must be mine! "I had too much eggnog man, couldn't hold it!"

Even when things don't always go right, take time to laugh!

 

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Christmas Light Cupcakes

These Christmas Light Cupcakes are super easy to make!

First, don't you just love the cupcake liners? They are the Reynolds Baked For You StayBrite Baking Cups! This is actually my first time using them and I love them! They are foil lined liners that keep the oils inside and the bright colored cupcakes don't show through.

I made the candy using a Wilton Christmas Bulb candy mold that comes in a set including a Christmas Tree mold that I made Polka Dot Christmas Cupcakes with, from Michaels Arts & Craft Store.

 Making the candies are quite simple, just melt up your candy melts according to package directions or I always just microwave them for 1 minute in a microwave safe bowl or cup, that works for me. For the screw part of the bulb, I piped in the chocolate using a freezer bag to control where the chocolate was going more easily and once just the chocolate was in place, I put that in the refrigerator to set up for about 10 minutes before adding the bulb colors. After the screw part had set up, I spooned in the melts for the colored part of the bulb. If you are making as many colors as I did, to avoid melting up too much, it is helpful to know that each bulb takes just 4 candy melts.

I colored the cupcake batter green before baking to match the green on the cupcake liners. The frosting is Vanilla Buttercream made with the Wilton Buttercream Icing Recipe and piped on with a Wilton 1M tip in a swirled pattern. This could also be done using canned frosting if you are short on time or just don't want the additional mess.

These cupcakes are sure to brighten up anyones Christmas!

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Gingerbread Men & Boys

Run, run as fast as you can...you can't catch me...I'm the Gingerbread Man!

Cookie decorating isn't really my thing, I love to eat them and look at them, but I am still practicing on the decorating part. Being fairly new to baking and decorating, I don't have a whole lot of cookie cutters, well I do, but I don't. I have quite a few older plastic cookie cutters, but I have found that I really like working with the metal cookie cutters better. This Christmas season I picked out 5 new cookie cutters and have been working on making cookies with all of them! This Gingerbread Man (the large one) is the 3rd that I have used, after the Snowman Family & Snowflake Cookies.

First when making cookies, you need a recipe. I have a sugar cookie recipe that I love, but not a gingerbread cookie recipe. Have you looked to see how many different Gingerbread Cookie Recipes are on the internet? A ton! I didn't have a problem picking my recipe at all. Instead of going by an ingredient list, the adorable little Gingerbread Heads by Bakerella sold me on this recipe! Visit Bakerella's Gingerbread Cookies for the recipe.

This was my first time making Gingerbread Men from scratch. The dough really didn't look appealing, and molasses stinks, but I continued on. This set of cookies has definitely been a challenge, my kitchen sink faucet quit working right as I went to turn it on the clean the mixer bowl after making this dough. By the time you are reading this I will have a gorgeous new one, but working in the kitchen with no kitchen sink faucet wasn't fun. This recipe does say to refrigerate several hours or overnight, and with how my day was going, I decided overnight would be better.

The next day I used 3 of the 4 refrigerated disks of gingerbread dough and froze the 4th. I rolled, I cut, I baked, and they cooled. I made both Gingerbread Men and Gingerbread Boys. I would have liked women and girls, but neither Michael's nor Target had a cookie cutter for a Gingerbread Lady and I didn't want to try and cut them myself. The cookies are decorated simply as a lot of Gingerbread Men are. They have a nice, yet mild gingerbread flavor, not as strong as store bought gingersnaps. I don't have a lot of experience eating gingerbread cookies, but  I think they taste delicious! I do like the recipe and will definitely use it again!

and then...

The Fox devoured the Gingerbread Man!

YUM!

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Peppermint Oreo Bark

I really "get" why so many people are making "bark" this time of year!

After making Snowmen Oreo Pops, I had some left over Vanilla Candiquik with some Oreo crumbs in it, so it couldn't be reused. I decided to try making some candy bark and spread it out on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. My 3 year old spread out a layer of broken up Oreos on top of the first layer of candy. I followed that up with a layer of Wilton Candy Cane Colorburst melts that I had also added additional peppermint candy flavoring to. This is a perfect way to use up some of that leftover candy coating and something easy that younger kids can help to make!

The results were delicious and I now get why so many people are making it!

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Snowman Oreo Pops (2 Ways)

Well, Hello There! I am Mr. Snowman!

Some may call me "leftover" and others may just call me "easy" and there are even those that want to eat me up! But please, go after my brothers first, they won't see you coming!

These little candy snowmen by Wilton were also used on my Mini Snowman Cupcakes and there are still enough of the little guys left for cookies!

These Oreo Snowmen have become such a classic, I couldn't resist making them too!

These are just Oreo Cookies dipped in white Candiquik, a piece of candy corn for the nose, and a black Duff Candy Writer for making the eyes and mouth. My daughter thought they needed scarves because they were too cold!

Brrrrrr....it's a brisk 68 degrees out...in December!

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Note: It is hard to say where the Candy Corn Nosed Snowman idea originated from, but after making them I began searching and I found these made back in November 2010 at The Farm Girl Recipes.

  

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Christmas Cupcake Bites

Last week, I was invited to guest blog over at The Artsy Girl Connection! Marilyn (The Artsy Girl) is such a talented and sweet girl, and I was honored to be able to share what I like to do with her fans too! If you haven't visited her, stop by, her blog is full of fabulous things!

Today, I am going to show you how to make Cupcake Bites. You may be thinking..."Whatever, I have tried making cake pops and it didn't go so well, no way I am trying this!" Well, if that is what you are thinking, let me tell you this is much easier! If you are already experienced with making cake pops, these will be a breeze for you!

  Here is what you will need:

A Candy Cup Mold (mine is by Wilton)

2 or 3 colors of Candy Melts (also by Wilton)

Cake

Frosting

Freezer bag (to make drizzle) or sprinkles of your choice

  

First you need cake! You can buy a cake, make a cake, use left over cake, whatever you desire! I made a 6" cake for these and used the leftover batter for cupcakes. You can also make a cake in a 8x11 pan and cut it it into 4 pieces, using one for cake pops or cake bites now and wrap and freeze the other 3 pieces individually for future cake pops or bites. Each square will make 8 to 12 cake pops or cake bites depending on the size.

Once the cake is cooled, I always cut off the ugly parts, to avoid darkening the inside. Don't worry, these pieces won't go to waste, leave them out, someone will snack on them! Break up the cake with a spoon and add about 2 tablespoons of icing, this will vary depending on how much cake you are using, this amount will work for 1/4 of a box mix cake or a 6" cake. I always test roll a ball before adding more frosting to see how well it will hold together.

These cupcake bites are an easy alternative to a cake pop. The ball is a little smaller too, but there is no risk of them falling off of the stick when you dip them since they have already set up in the chocolate base! After the frosting was mixed into the cake, I decided to add some sprinkles before rolling (not pictured). To determine the size of ball I needed I simple rolled a ball and measured it to the mold. Once your balls are made, put them in the refrigerator about 10 minutes to chill. Heat your candy melts in a microwave safe bowl or cup for 45 seconds to 1 minute. For 10 cupcake bites you will only need about 1/3 of a bag. Using a small spoon and working one cavity in the mold at a time, fill the cavity about 2/3 full with your first color melts, I used Mint Dark Chocolate. As soon as you put the candy into the cavity, gently press in the ball just until the candy comes to the top of the mold cavity. Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes, longer is fine.

Once chilled, these should pop right out of the mold, if they don't they aren't ready yet. Once the cupcake bite bases and cake balls are ready to unmold, melt up your second color in a microwave safe bowl or cup, enough that you can dip the cake ball. Dip. Gently shake off the excess candy and if you wish to add candy or sprinkles, do so at this time. After they are dried you can also drizzle the tops with melted candy using a different color. For these I decided to drizzle.

To drizzle you can use a spoon or piping bag. I find more control using a bag, but instead of wasting a piping bag, I used a cut in half freezer bag. Unless you have an extra set of hands it is nice to have a small baby cup to hold your bag when filling. You will only need to put about a spoonful of your melted candy in the bag. I like to fasten with these black office clips. Snip a teenie tiny corner off and begin your drizzle, swirls, or whatever pattern suits your mood!

 So there you have it....cupcake bites, easily customizable to any occassion or holiday! They are great for parties and gifting too!

Enjoy!

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Eggnog & Cranberry Cupcakes (Improv Challenge)

Eggnog and Cranberries

  
We are now on month 3 of the Improv Challenge hosted by:

 
This months assigned ingredients:
Eggnog and Cranberries!
 

This challenge, I had an easy time figuring out that to make. I decided to make cupcakes again! These are really simple to make. Here is what you will need:

Eggnog & Cranberry Cupcakes
1 box of Duncan Hines Classic White Cake Mix*
1-1/4 cup low fat eggnog
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons oil
 
 Put eggnog, egg whites, and oil in mixer, followed by the white cake mix. Mix on low for 30 seconds, scrap sides, and continue mixing for 2 minutes on medium. The mixture will become fluffy and almost marshmallow-y.
(*other brands of cake mixes are now putting less mix in their boxes, so this recipe may not work with a different brand mix)

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake in 325 degree preheated oven for about 18 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. This should make about 24 cupcakes depending on amount of batter in each cup.
  
Eggnog Frosting
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
3-3/4 cups confectioners sugar
8 tablespoons of lowfat eggnog
a few sprinkles of nutmeg (1/8 to 1/4 tsp)
 
In mixer, on low, cream together shortening and margarine. Begin adding confectioners sugar 1 cup at a time, adding in eggnog a little at a time. Continue to mix on low speed until nice and creamy. Mixing at a higher speed will incorporate too much air into the frosting.
Frost cupcakes with spatula and garnish with dried cranberries.

I had originally wanted to mix a cup of dried cranberries into the cupcake batter as well, but this didn't seem to be a popular idea with the family, so I decided just to use the cranberries as a garnish. The cranberries give this sweet cupcake the perfect amount of tartness or tang.

This cupcake is very fluffy, almost reminiscence of an angel food cake, the eggnog flavor shines through beautifully in the frosting, and the cranberries give it the perfect sweet and tart combination!
Best served with eggnog or an eggnog latte!

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Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookie Cups

Sometimes, just when I think I have it all planned out, something happens and everything changes! That is what happened when I got the Betty Crocker 24 Days of Christmas Email Newsletter (Day 9) and saw these Chocolate Candy Cookie Cups! They looked so irresistible, that I moved them straight to the top of my to-make list!

All you need is a package of peanut butter cookie mix (plus ingredients needed on package), chocolate frosting, and chocolate candy. I made one small modification to these, in the spirit of using what I have, and used 2 Dark Cocoa Wilton Candy Melts placed bottom to bottom in the center of each of these peanut butter cookies. The Dark Cocoa Melts tasted perfect in these! I swirled the chocolate frosting on using Wilton tip #22.

For the complete recipe view Betty Crocker's Chocolate Candy Cookie Cups.

Simply Irresistible!

 

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