Homemade Vanilla

I'm about to head out on my annual girl's retreat in October.  We decided to do a 'favorite things' exchange (I do this in the summer with a group of crafting friends I've been retreating with for over a decade and we love it).  My favorite thing is probably something sweet.  I was planning on getting a favorite cupcake or cookie, but I brought cookies last year from an Austin bakery I love, so I decided to bring something sweet related-an ingredient.  

These would also make awesome gifts for Christmas.  It's not super 'cheap' to make, but it is fun.  I found a pack of 9 bottles on Amazon that even came with tags (I didn't use) and a funnel (I did).  I bought 8 oz bottles, but in doing that, they do use a lot of Vodka, which upped the price.  

I also bought some vanilla beans on Amazon.  I read the reviews really carefully to find some that were not already split (apparently some people split them and take out the 'good stuff' and then sell the rest of the bean, which impacts your vanilla).  This company also had good reviews when it came to returns (if the seal breaks while shipping, they can mold).  I split my whole beans down the middle, but left about an inch together at the end b/c you just want it to infuse your alcohol and not have too many pieces floating around.  You can strain your vanilla after a few months, but....I'll leave that to the girls that get these.    

I then did some alcohol research and I learned not to use a bottom shelf Vodka, and not to use one infused with flavors.  Tito's was one that was recommended, so I went with that.  1 liter fills 4-5 bottles, depending on how full you make them.  

I put two beans (split in two) in the bottles, poured vodka over it, and sealed the bottles.  I also made some little tags for the front and I'm going to add an instruction tag.  I read these can be used within 8 weeks, but are best after 8 months.  It also says you can continuously refill your vanilla bottles, using the same beans for years.  I guess I'll let you know this time next year!  

The vodka is already amber (a few hours later), and I'm planning to shake them up every few days until I gift them away.  I probably spent almost $10 a bottle, but the bigger bulk you buy, the cheaper your vanilla will be.  

Muddy Buddy Truffles

 

Every year for at least 15 years I've hosted a cookie RECIPE exchange at my work.  I've talked about it in the past, but the gist is that you bring two cookies and a recipe attached for each person.  We've had 25 people and 10 people.  You never know how wants to bake, and what they want to bake.  I always find a few new recipes this way regardless of the number, and this year was no exception, including the one I brought.  

These muddy buddy truffles taste exactly like you would expect them too.  The crunch of the chex and the pb, powdered sugar, and chocolate give them the delicious taste of a muddy buddy, but I thought they were easier to make (I can never shake my muddy buddies evenly).

The original recipe says they make 12, but I got more like 18 out of a batch.  It also said to wait for the chocolate to dry before rolling them in powdered sugar (double rolling), but mine got a little too hard b/c the powdered sugar didn't fully stick.  I think I'll try to roll when it's ALMOST dry next time, but that didn't impact the taste, it was just powdery!  

Easy Personalized Cookies

 

     This Tuesday, some friends and I took a day trip in honor of my pal Sande's birthday.  One of our planned stops was Magnolia Bakery for their cupcakes, BUT I wanted to have some sort of fun treat that was personalized for her birthday, so I decided on cookies.

      I love baking cookies, but the date for this event coincided with the end of the busiest year of my life as a teacher, so I found that you can purchase edible rice paper cookies online.  You can order all sorts of shapes, but I went with some circles.  It was really easy-I sent a picture and the message I wanted on the pictures.  

I used my favorite cookie recipe and the rim of a cup to cut out circles the size I wanted (a little bit larger than the cookies, though this isn't necessary if you don't want to decorate the edges).  

I cut out a circle using regular scissors and I left a little white around it since my icing was white.  There is a clear paper on the back you peel off.  

I put a glob of icing down and the picture adheres right to the cookie.  

I put a ring of icing around the cookies and rolled them in sprinkles.  

I let them dry and then bagged them up.  

Paint Your Own Easter Egg Cookies

I have wanted to do these for several years.  Finally, Easter is close enough to my spring break that I was able to take advantage of having a little bit more time in my schedule.  I found the edible paint pallets on Etsy and chose the Easter colors.  I found the plastic bristle paint brushes at Hobby Lobby, and I found all the ingredients for the cookies in my pantry.  Ha!  I didn't use the typical Royal Icing Recipe, but my favorite sugar cookie recipe.  I added Karo Syrup to the recipe so it would harden.

I packaged each cookie up in a small cellophane bag b/c I was shipping them, or packaging multiple in the Easter bags I snagged a few years back at Hallmark (I told you I had been planning this for awhile).  I also packaged the paint pallets in a smaller cellophane bag.  

Some of the cookies I boxed up and mailed to some of my younger pals, and then I packaged up the ones I plan to pass out to friend's kiddos in the bunny bags and included the paint brush.  

Tiger King Cookies

       I can go months without watching Netflix.  I should probably reevaluate my subscription, BUT it has come in handy this quarantine.  Some of my work friends convinced me to watch Tiger King.  I regret every moment, but-I made it through.  We then zoomed, dressing like the characters (lots of animal prints, mullets, and one poop costume, otherwise known as Carol Baskin's first husband).  If you know...you know.  If you don't.  Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
      I bought some dopey teeth from USToys (there was a lot of drug used that impacted the teeth of the reality stars), I grabbed some animal print ribbon from Hobby Lobby, and I made these 'poop  cookies' with Wilton Eye Balls.  I wrapped them up and handed them out to my friends as end of school year gifts.  And....another year of weird friends that get me through is a wrap!

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

This past week was the annual cookie recipe exchange at my work.  More on that soon, but in the meantime, I made these cookies to take this year (original recipe is from the PioneerWoman).  They were a little drier than my usual cookie, so underbake if you like a gooey cookie.

BUT they were good, and the subtle chocolate and mint went so well together, and they sure were pretty!
Here is a free printable for the recipe.

Citrus Pecan Thumbprint Cookies

Just a quick little recipe I tried this week in my quest to cook through a cookbook (with a ten year window), these Christmas Cookies gone fall.  I used the pioneerwoman's recipe and took a suggestions at the bottom of my page to press pecans into the cookies instead of candied cherries, and it was a great substitute.  It's a really subtle cookie with a hint of citrus, thanks to the orange and lemon rind.
In case you are looking for a non pie dessert that will please the pallet.  Here she is, the pecan thumbprint cookie.

Turkey Cookies

 I have wanted to make this set of cookies for several years. It sat in my pins, and I was always going to make these for my table for Thanksgiving, but the people attending Thanksgiving this year would not appreciate the effort (minus about three), so....when I was assigned a task for a faux Thanksgiving table for a meeting at work-I signed on for cookies, and these were so easy, I might even make a set for people who don't appreciate the small details quite like me (they won't be offended by the comments).

 I used this recipe.  The cookies hold their shape, and the icing doesn't get as smooth as Royal, but it's so delicious.  I used a letter set of cookie cutters from the craft store I already had.  Next, I  dyed my icing brown, then got some heart and eye ball sprinkles from Wilton.  I was also feeling lazy and just bought some orange decorators icing (which I do a lot for reds and blacks if I don't need a lot of the color, b/c it can be a hassle to get the right color). I squeezed it from the tube and added about a teaspoon of Clear Karo Syrup to the 1/4 c. of icing.

 I piped the brown, then added the eyes and heart, and piped on the nose.  I let the icing harden over night and bagged them up.

There is about to be a lot more baking going down at my house this week b/c there are about 9 meals I'm attending in the next 7 days.  I have to bring a dish to most, and like any good blogger, I'm trying out things for the first time and making other people eat them.  Forget Grandma's Recipe.  I'm saving those for Thanksgiving for the fuddy duddies, who also won't be eating Turkey Cookies, but they will eat Grandmother's dressing.  And....so will I.  

Halloween Cookies

It has been a whirlwind fall, but it finally feels like fall, so in the midst of the crazy, I did a project on my list this year.  I used my favorite cookie recipe, and some supplies from Michaels and Hobby Lobby.  The sprinkles and cookie cutters are from Michaels, and the vellum baggies are from Hobby Lobby.  I used this trick to print the message and haunted mansion on the bags.


I wanted to try out a few cookies on a stick, so I inserted the stick before baking the cats.  They held up well, and doing it this way-they held their shape.

You can just see the ghost peeking through the baggies.

And I just added a ribbon and clear bags to the cats.  

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

I've been a little in love with oatmeal cookies the last few years.  This has been my go to for awhile.  It's not rocket science, but.....I'm all about sharing  a good thing, even if it's just to future me who is at the store trying to remember what ingredients I need. 

Ingredients:  1 c. butter (softened), 1 c. white sugar, 2 eggs, 1 t. vanilla, 2 c. flour, 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. salt, 1 1/2 t cinnamon, 3 c. quick cooking oats

Instructions:  

1.  Cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  

2.  Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to creamed mix.  Last, stir in oats.  

4.  Roll into balls, place on greased sheet in a 375 degree oven.  Bake for 8 minutes.  

Snowball Kiss Cookies

One of my favorite cookies is the peanut butter kiss cookies, so when I saw the recipe for these snowball cookies, I had to try it out.  It so easy, and the great thing is this recipe only takes a few ingredients, and makes just a few cookies.  You could double/triple the recipe if you wanted.  It's an interesting recipe to me b/c it doesn't use any eggs, so it would be easy to make this dairy free with a butter and chocolate substitute.   But....I didn't.  I could have, but....hello, it's not the new year yet and I lost all sense of reasons last January 3rd or 4th.

Snowball Kisses

*Makes 10 cookies.

Ingredients:  10 Hershey's Kisses, 1/4 c. salted butter (softened), 2 T powdered sugar, 1 t. vanilla, 1/2 c. + 1 T flour, 1/2 c. powdered sugar.
Instructions:  
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Unwrap the kisses and set them aside.
3.  Mix the butter, 2 T powdered sugar, vanilla, and flour.  (It takes a lot of work, just keep going until they are completely blended.
4.  Pinch off about a tablespoon of batter, flatten it out like a pancakes and place a kiss inside.  Wrap the dough around the kiss and roll into a ball until you can't see the kiss.  Repeat 9 more times.
5.  Bake at 400 for 9 minutes.
6.  Let cookies cool, and then roll them in 1/2 cup powdered sugar until well coated.

Italian Christmas Cookies

 Last week my school hosted a cookie exchange.  I've been putting this together for at least ten years now.  I'll share more about it in a few days, but in the meantime, this is the cookie recipe I brought this year.  I'll put a link below the full printable.  I always try out something new (which is our whole goal).  These were a new route for me, they were more of a sandy cookie, not as sweet as some, with a little hint of almond and lemon.  I liked the fact that you can sprinkle them any color you want.  I found instead of dipping my cookies, I spooned icing on top.  I also just used real butter instead of butter flavored crisco because it's what I had on hand. 

Here is a link to a free printable. 
We always share the recipe, which is great b/c you can keep the ones that meet your tasting standards likes and dislikes, and you can toss the others. 

Halloween Shortbread Cookies

 These last few years have been a doozy.  I'm dragging behind on all things holidays right now, but I'm trying to check a few things off my to do list for sanity sake.  I bought these little black boxes two years ago at Michael's.  Two years.  I wanted to make a little Halloween or New Year's treat, but then life happened.  Add to that this recipe for short bread cookies I saw last year on Food Network I've been wanting to try and today I set aside some time.  I do love a decorated iced cookie, but the great thing about these is they are just glazed, so.....that was tonights plan.

 The cookies are really simple to make, and the icing glaze hardens on top, and the cookie literally  melts in your mouth.  I used cookie cutters my pal Kelly gave me from Sur La Table and they fit perfectly inside my box.

I lined the boxes with adorable wax paper I bought at Daiso this year and then added a bow....because no gift is complete without a bow.  So....tomorrow these will finally find a home in some of my pals boxes.  There are a few folks in need of some cookie treats.

Glazed Shortbread Cookies

Makes 2 dz 2 inch cookies.

PRINT HERE

Ingredients for Cookies:  
3/4 c. butter (softened)
1/2 c. powdering sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 c +2 T flour
1/2 c. corn starch
1/4 t. salt
Ingredients for Glaze:
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 T clear corn syrup
1 T melted butter
2 T warm water
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond flavor
Cookie Instructions:
1.  Mix butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
2.  Add vanilla.
3.  Sift in flour, cornstarch, and salt.
4.  Place in fridge for 30 min-1 hr.
5.  Roll on surface dusted with flour until 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out.
6.  Place on parchment lined baking sheet.
7.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  Don't add color to the dough or it will look dull when finished.
8.  Cool before glazing.
Cookie Glaze Instructions:
1.  Mix all ingredients except for water.
2.  Add 1 T of water at a time until glaze is flowing.
3.  Color if desired.
4.  Use a spoon and drizzle over cookies
5.  Let cookies dry and harden for 10 minutes.

Caramel Cookie Bars

I like to eat icing with my icing.  In other words, I have a sweet tooth.  These bars are so sweet they even made me pucker in the best way possible.  The caramel centers reminded me of some toffee treats I had in Ireland, but the sweet cookie dough were all American.  This will definitely stay in my rotation.  I say caramel is the candy of September, but I think I can convince my theme loving self to let this recipe make an appearance in other months.  I found the original recipe at A Spice Perspective.

Caramel Cookie Bars

PRINT HERE

Ingredients:

Cookie Layer:  1 c. butter (softened, but not melted), 1 c. packed brown sugar, 1/2 c. sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 t. vanilla, 1 t. kosher salt, 1 t. baking soda, 2 1/2 c. flour, 2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Caramel Layer:    10 oz soft caramels (unwrapped), 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions:  

1.  Heat oven to 350.  Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil on the bottom and up the sides.  Spray it liberally with cooking spray.  

2.  Use an electric mixer to mix the butter and sugars until fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Add the eggs, vanilla, salt, and baking soda.  

3.  Add the flour a little at a time.  

4.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  

5.  Press half the dough into the bottom of the pan.  

6.  In a medium sauce pan mix the sweetened condensed milk and unwrapped caramels over medium.  Stir until the caramels are melted and the filling is smooth.  

7.  Pour your caramel mix over the pressed cookie dough.  

8.  Drop the remaining cookie dough in small clumps over the top of the caramel mix.

9.  Bake for 30 minutes (until the center is set).
10.  Cool completely, lift the bars out of the pan with the edges of the foil and cut into squares.
*The original recipe says you can freeze these.  Thaw individually and eat them later.  As if any of these will make it to my freezer....