Milk Powder Candies

Sometimes things don't work out as well as you would hope, but still taste good. This was one recipe was one of those. I almost gave up on it, but am glad I decided not to. My attempt at these candies turned out more like patties than balls, and I have no idea why, but they still tasted good.

Mix together powdered milk and powdered sugar. I let M. help with this step.

Then stir in coconut milk until moist and doughy. Then form the dough into 1” balls and roll into sugar. Place the balls on wax paper and refrigerate until firm.

If desired, you can add food coloring to your sugar to have colored sugar to roll the balls in instead of white sugar, like I did for some of mine.

Milk Powder Candies

Ingredients:

3 cups powdered milk

1 lb. powdered sugar

¾ cup canned coconut milk

White sugar

Food coloring (optional)

Steps:

1. Combine powdered milk and sugar in a bowl.

2. Stir in coconut milk until moist and doughy.

3. Form balls (about 1” each) and roll in sugar. Place balls on wax paper and refrigerate.

Andes Mint Chip Cookies

If you are looking for some easy cookies to make, these ones are great. Not only do they only have 7 ingredients and are quick and easy to make, you can also store the premixed dough in the fridge or freezer to be able to bake them whenever you want. Just follow the additional steps to prepare them for storing in the fridge or freezer if desired.

Prepare to make the cookies by preheating your oven to 325 degrees and greasing your cookie sheets. In a large bowl, beat the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add flour, mixing until just blended.

Then mix in your Andes mint chips.

Don't worry about rolling the dough into balls. Just drop heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 ½ inches apart. Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 17 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the tops look dry. Then cool on a wire rack.

If you want to refrigerate the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in a plastic bag. You can refrigerate it up to one month. To bake, bring to almost room temperature, drop heaping spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes in an oven preheated to 325 degrees.

You can also cut the freshly mixed dough in half and roll into two 2-inch logs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate as above. To bake, unwrap dough and slice into ½” rounds. Bake for 18 minutes in an oven preheated to 325 degrees.

If you want to freeze the dough, Drop by spoonfuls onto a foil-lined cookie sheet and freeze until hard. Then remove the dough from the foil and place in a plastic bag. Close the bag tightly and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes in an oven preheated to 325 degrees.

Andies Mint Chip Cookies (2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cups flour

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets.

2. Beat butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla until fluffy.

3. Gradually add flour, mixing until just blended.

4. Mix in mint chips.

5. Drop heaping spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets 2 1/2” apart.

6. Bake one sheet at a time for 17 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and tops look dry. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

7. TO REFRIGERATE (OPTION 1): Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in a plastic bag; close tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 month. To bake, bring to almost room temperature and drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.

8. TO REFRIGERATE (OPTION 2): Cut freshly mixed dough in half and roll into two 2” logs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate as above. To bake, unwrap dough and slice in 1/2” rounds and place 2 1/2” apart on a greased cookie sheet.

9. TO FREEZE: Drop spoonfuls of dough onto foil-lined cookie sheets and freeze until hard. Remove from foil and place in a Ziploc bag; close tightly and freeze up to 3 months.

10. TO BAKE FROM REFRIGERATOR/FREEZER: Bake 18 minutes in a preheated 325 degree oven.

Candied Pecans

 Years ago, I used to work at Disney as a part-time Cast Member working in concessions at Cirque du Soleil at Downtown Disney. I loved it, but the thing that drove me crazy was smelling the candied nuts all day and not being able to eat them. I would make up for it by buying them about once a month, or even more often, when I would go play at the parks. I loved those nuts and the last few years while staying at home as a stay-at-home mom I have missed the opportunity to eat those nuts. Recently I decided to see if there was a way to make the nuts at home, and I recently found a recipe to do so!

I made a double batch, and learned one thing. The mixture goes from being not ready to overdone in the snap of your fingers, so you need to watch it closely as you are cooking. Half of our nuts ended up a little burnt (though they still tasted good), and the other half of the nuts were perfect. It was hard making sure we didn't eat them all in one sitting. (We had some restraint and didn't finish them until our second sitting.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Toast your nuts on a cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes. I used pecans, but you can also use almonds or your other favorite nut.

Next mix your sugar, water, vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil. 

Then add your nuts and stir. 

Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the nuts are covered in the syrup and the syrup is all gone. This will be about ten minutes after the time that you put the nuts in the syrup. When they're done, it will be difficult to stir, but they won't be burnt. Be sure to remove the pan from the heat before they burn to spread them out on a lined cookie sheet to cool. 

Once cool, place the nuts in an air tight container to store. The nuts can be stored for up to one week at room temperature.

Candied Pecans

Ingredients:

2 cups of pecans (or almonds, or other nuts of your choice)

¾ cup white sugar

1/3 cup water

2 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. cinnamon

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on cookie sheet and toast for 10-15 minutes.

2. Mix your sugar, water, vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

3. Add nuts and stir to coat with the syrup. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the syrup is all gone (about 10 minutes).

4. Remove pan from heat and spread nuts on a cookie sheet lined with foil or wax paper to cool.

5. Store nuts in tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Oreo Truffles

I love truffles and cake pops, but until now had not made any myself. At a cookie exchange party I went to last year, someone brought some Oreo truffles and said that all they did was smash them up, mix in some cream cheese, and cover them in chocolate. I told myself then that I would try someday to make some, and I finally did. I decided to use Cool Mint Oreos rather than use regular ones. They are amazing! Coated in a hard chocolate shell, these truffles are nice and moist on the inside with a slight minty taste. You can make your own delicious Oreo Truffles by following the recipe below with whatever flavor of Oreos you choose.

I got my one and a half year old involved in making these by putting the Oreos in a gallon-size Ziploc bag in front of him and showing him how to smash them. Soon, he was hitting the bag of cookies with his fist and having such a fun time. 

Once the cookies were turned into crumbs, I poured them from the bag into a large mixing bowl and mixed in a package of softened cream cheese.

Next I rolled the mixture into 1” balls and set them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and refrigerated the balls for 30 minutes to an hour to set.

Next, I melted my chocolate to coat the truffles. I used a Wilton Chocolate Melting Pot, but you can use whatever method you want. You can use a double boiler, a pot on the stove over low heat (stirring constantly), or even microwave your chocolate, stirring every 15-30 seconds to ensure the chocolate is evenly melted.

Remove the balls from the fridge when the chocolate is melted, so they stay cold as long as possible. Then coat them in chocolate and return them to your wax paper covered cookie sheet. 

When your truffles are coated with chocolate, return them to the fridge for 15-30 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden.  When the chocolate is hardened, you can remove them from the cookie sheet and place in a tightly sealed container or a large Ziploc bag. It is best to store these in the fridge until ready to serve. I was able to make 2.5 dozen with this recipe, and within 12 hours of them being finished, there were only about 10 left in the fridge. Someone's been snitching truffles! I've been eating the fudge, so I'm sugared out, so it wasn't me. Hmm... who will eat them all in your house?  (They were all gone within a day.)

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

1 package Oreos, any flavor

1-8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

Chocolate to melt for the coating (I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers)

Steps:

1. Place Oreos in a gallon-size Ziploc bag and close with as much air out as possible. Smash the Oreos until they are crumbs.

2. Pour Oreo crumbs from bag into a large bowl and mix in cream cheese.

3. Roll Oreo mixture into 1” balls and place on a cookie sheet lines with wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes-1 hour to set.

4. Melt chocolate and cover each ball in chocolate, then return to fridge for 15-30 minutes or until chocolate is hardened.

5. Store in tightly covered container in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Easy Cinnamon Chocolate Fudge

Who doesn't love delicious chewy fudge on their Christmas treat tray? I know I do. Chocolate fudge, vanilla fudge, peanut butter fudge, strawberry fudge...I love every kind of fudge I've tried so far. I found an idea to make fudge with cinnamon recently, so I decided to add some cinnamon to the recipe for fudge that I've made before. It doesn't taste too much like cinnamon, but it gives it a little hint of cinnamon and makes it super delicious. If you don't like cinnamon, just leave it out and you will have my recipe for an easy chocolate fudge.

Some people use a double boiler to melt their chocolate to make fudge, but I have a hard time getting that to work for me, so I just use a pan on low heat on the stove, constantly stirring to ensure the fudge doesn't burn. You can use whatever method you want.

Before you start making your fudge, grease an 8”x8” pan with butter and line it with parchment or wax paper. Then melt your butter and mix in the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate. Continue to cook this mixture over low heat until the chocolate is melted and everything is mixed together. Be sure to stir constantly to ensure this mixture doesn't burn. 

Once it is all melted and mixed together, pour it into your prepared pan. 

Cover and refrigerate for about an hour until the fudge is firm. Remove from the pan by lifting the paper out and then gently pull the paper off the fudge. Cut your fudge into bite-sized pieces. It is now ready to share with others or enjoy yourself. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge to ensure freshness for up to one week.

Easy Cinnamon Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 pound chocolate, cut into small pieces

Steps:

1. Grease an 8”x8” pan with butter and line with parchment or wax paper. 
2. Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in large saucepan over low heat.

3. Add sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate.

4. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and everything is well mixed.

5. Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour until firm.

6. Remove fudge from pan by lifting the paper out and then gently pulling the paper off of the fudge.

7. Cut the fudge into bite-sized pieces.

Shortbread Cookie Bites

One of my favorite types of cookies during the holidays is the little shortbread cookies that come in the cookie tins that are sold during the holidays. When I found a recipe for homemade shortbread bites, I knew I just had to try it. These little bite-sized cookies are perfect for someone who loves shortbread cookies like myself. They are pretty easy to make and are so delicious. The hardest part is not eating all of them right out of the oven.

To make these cookies, you will need either a food processor with a knife blade attached, or a blender. I have yet to get a food processor, so I used my blender. One note, if you are using your blender like I did, you might need to make the dough half a recipe at a time, because it did get harder to mix the last bit of butter into the flour mixture. I ended up putting it a bowl and mixing it by hand for the last little bit.

Pulse the flour and sugar together in a food processor or blender, and slowly add butter, pulsing until the dough forms. 

Then place dough in a medium bowl and gently knead in sprinkles by hand until evenly blended. 

Place dough in an 8”x8” pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Gently press dough in the bottom of the pan until it is spread to each edge. 

Freeze for 15 minutes and then remove from pan. Cut into 1/2” squares and place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes at 325 degrees. 

Cool on a wire rack and store in an tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Shortbread Cookie Bites

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup flour

3 Tbsp. sugar

½ cup (1 stick) butter, cold, cut into pieces

1 Tbsp. sprinkles

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In food processor or blender, pulse flour and sugar until combined. Slowly add butter and pulse until dough comes together. Place dough in medium bowl. With hand, gently knead in sprinkles until evenly blended and dough forms a ball.

3. Line an 8”x8” square pan with parchment or wax paper.

4. Gently pat dough into bottom of pan, making sure it is spread to each edge.

5. Freeze for 15 minutes, then cup into 1/2” squares. Place squares about ½ inch apart on a large ungreased cookie sheet.

6. Bake cookies 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

7. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Grinch Cookies (Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies)

These cookies are sure to get you in the Christmas spirit. As green as the Grinch, but much sweeter, these delicious cookies are easy to make. Start with a box of cake mix and just a few other ingredients and less than 30 minutes later, you'll have moist chocolate chip cookies that are sure to please anyone.

Mix together a box of cake mix, flour, oil water, and an egg. (I prefer vanilla cake mix for these cookies because it makes it easier to change the color.) 

 Then mix in green food coloring until the dough is the shade of green you want. Then mix in your chocolate chip cookies.

 Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until lightly brown on the top. (You don't want them too brown, since you still want green cookies, but just enough to know they're done.) Cool on a wire rack before eating. This recipe makes 2 dozen cookies.

Grinch Cookies (Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies)

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix, vanilla

¼ cup flour

¼ cup water

½ cup oil

1 egg

12 oz. chocolate chips

Green food coloring

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2. Mix cake mix, flour, water, oil, and egg until smooth.

3. Add green food coloring to the dough until the desired shade of green is achieved.

4. Stir chocolate chips into the dough.

5. Drop spoonfuls of dough on greased cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

7. Cool on wire racks before eating.

Merry Christmas - Introduction to my blog

Merry Christmas!  This blog is being started as a Christmas present for my sister-in-law and for my niece.  I'm hoping it will give them many wonderful ideas of recipes to try, fun crafts, and ideas for other activities to try sometime.

My husband, D., and I made a goal when we got married that we would "always try new things," whether it was a new restaurant, a new activity, or new food.  I've decided to take this and use it as the basis for this blog.  I will post a new craft idea once a week, an idea for an activity to try once a week, and a new recipe every day.  If we try something new that we really enjoy, I will also share about that so you can try it too.

This week (December 25th until December 31st) will follow the theme of "Holiday Cookie Exchange."  Each day of this week will have a different treat found on plates gifted to neighbors, which are great for the holiday season.  Some of these will be cookies, and some will be candies or other holiday treats.  I'm having fun making these treats, and we have enjoyed eating them.  Most of them were made by me for the first time this holiday season, so they were new treats for us to try.

Each week will include a breakfast recipe, a drink recipe, and 5 different courses for a meal.  These courses will include a bread, a salad or an appetizer, a vegetable or a fruit dish, a main dish, and a dessert.

I hope you will follow this blog and enjoy the new recipes posted each day with delicious foods.  I encourage anyone reading to "always try new things" and keep a fun variety in your life.