Jello Spritz Cookies

This is another fun spritz cookie recipe.  Despite the name, I found that my cookies were not bursting with Jello flavor. They were colorful and easy to make.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 small box of Jell-O, any flavor
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
Food coloring
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
colored sprinkles


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, and add in the Jell-O powder. Add in the egg and vanilla, continuing to cream until smooth.

At this point, you can add in a few drops of food coloring, it brightens up the color of the cookies. This is not necessary, but it is prettier :)

Slowly add in the baking powder and the flour, until all ingredients are well combined.

Load the cookie press, and press out your cookies. Bake these cookies 6-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, because they are done when they no longer look wet, but are easily over baked.  When over baked they lose their bright color and turn brown- then they are super crispy and ugly, and won't look good on your table.

Bake the

Egg Nogg Spritz Cookies

Last year after Christmas I found a cookie press set on sale for half price.  It came with all sorts of discs to make different shaped cookies and I have loved having it.  The only thing with making Spritz cookies, as they are called, is that a batch is usually HUGE.  

I really have enjoyed making cookies with the press though, and this is a recipe I am trying out this year to give away as presents.  It seems festive and just right for the holidays.   When making spritz cookies, you make the dough, then fill the tube of the press with it, and attach a disc for the shaped cookies you want.  You set the press on the cookie sheet, like in the photo above, and squeeze the trigger.  Wait a few seconds and lift the press. Voila!  A cookie.  One squeeze of the trigger equals one cookie.  The cookies usually bake fast too, about 6 minutes per batch. 

Cookies

3/4

cup granulated sugar

1

cup butter or margarine, softened

2

teaspoons vanilla

2

teaspoons rum extract

1

egg

2 1/4

cups all-purpose flour

1

teaspoon ground nutmeg

Rum Drizzle

2

tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1

cup powdered sugar

1

teaspoon rum extract

1

tablespoon water

1/2

teaspoon ground nutmeg, optional

Heat oven to 350°F (if using dark or nonstick cookie sheet, heat oven to 325°F). In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and 1 cup butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, 2 teaspoons rum extract and the egg until smooth. Beat in flour and 1 teaspoon nutmeg.

Fill the cookie press. On ungreased cookie sheet, form desired shapes with dough. I find that when I am making large batches of cookies, I line my cookie sheet with foil, and then when I take a batch out, I slide the foil off of the cookie sheet with the cookies on it, then re-line the cookie sheet and I don't waste time that way. 

Bake 6 to 10 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Another thing that is pretty crucial to making a lot of cookies, is to use a cookie spatula.  It is thin, and about the width of a cookie. It helps to get the cookies off of the cookie sheet and not mess them up.

In small bowl, stir all glaze ingredients except nutmeg with spoon until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Use a table spoon to lightly drizzle the glaze over the cookies on the cooling rack.  Before glaze is set, sprinkle nutmeg over cookies.

Crock Pot Chocolate Candy

This is a recipe I thought I would try out this year and give away in our gift boxes.  I make a variety of goodies every year and give them out to our friends.

I have been told that to deviate from this exact recipe can be disastrous, so I am going to stick with what I was told.

You will need a six quart crock pot or slow cooker, wax paper, patience and the following ingredients.

1 x 16 oz. jar roasted, unsalted peanuts
1 x 16 oz. jar roasted, salted peanuts
1 x 12 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 bar (4 ozs.) german chocolate, broken into pieces
3 lbs. (two 24 oz. pkgs.) white almond bark, broken into pieces

Layer the ingredients into the crock pot in the order given, and put the lid on, setting it at the lowest setting for 3 hours.  I am using the "warm" setting.   If your crock pot is too hot, it will burn the candy!

DO NOT take the lid off the crock pot after you turn it on.  Let it sit and warm for the 3 hours.  Take the lid off, turn the crock pot off and let it cool for just  a moment.  The candy will not all be melted, but it will be soft.

Mix the batch thoroughly and then use a teaspoon or a cookie scoop to drop the candy onto wax paper.  Let it cool completely and it's ready to be packaged.  Makes 150-170 pieces.

Fantasy Fudge

When I was a little girl, my Mamaw made fudge every year around the holidays.  She made peanut butter and chocolate fudge.  Fudge is one of those things that reminds me of my Mamaw, who's been gone for about 15 years now.  Over the years, I have taught myself many things that I think my Mamaw would have been proud of, canning, quilting, reading crochet patterns, making apple butter- but I had always heard that fudge was just hard to make and it was so picky and it had to be done *just* right or it wouldn't turn out.

Several years ago, I attempted a batch from a recipe I found somewhere and it didn't turn out.  But not being a person who gives up on things easily, I wanted to try again.  So last year, I made this recipe, and it turned out great!  I found this recipe on Kraft.com and I will include a link to that page at the bottom of the blog.

Ingredients:

3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 5oz can evaporated milk
1.5 pkg (12 squares) Semi- sweet baking chocolate, chopped
1 7oz jar marshmallow cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)


Line a 9 inch square pan with foil or waxed paper, leaving the ends of the paper extending over the sides.

In a medium saucepan, bring the sugar, butter, and evaporated milk to a full rolling boil.  DO NOT use sweetened condensed milk.  Make sure it is evaporated milk!  Stir the mixture constantly and cook for 4 minutes or until it reaches 234 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Remove from heat.

Add the chopped chocolate and marshmallow cream, stirring until it's all melted in.  Add vanilla and nuts, if you want them.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it to cover the bottom.  Cool completely and use the paper or foil to lift it from the pan before cutting.

I like to put this is my treat boxes that I give as gifts at Christmas time. This is a very rich candy and a little goes a long way!  When making Christmas cookies or candies, I always use real butter.  I know that the recipes say you can use margarine, but I always feel like giving it as a present makes it worth the very best ingredients.  If you enjoy making fudge and caramels and the like, I suggest you invest in a candy thermometer.  There are tricks to see what stage the mixture is at, but nothing works as good as a thermometer.


The original can be found on Kraft recipes at http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/fantasy-fudge-51833.aspx