Stained Glass Cookies

I have seen many pins on Pinterest highlighting Stained Glass Cookies. I have never tasted a stained glass cookie, let alone made them, but really wanted to see if they were as simple as the instructions imply. Like most people, I have a basic list of recipes that I make every Christmas, but often add one or two new ones to the mix. In reading over several of the recipes, I noticed that the cookie itself seemed to be a pretty basic sugar cookie type of recipe. I have used the same Brown Sugar Cookie recipe for years and seldom try others, because these are so yummy. Of course, the finished cookie is slightly brown (darker) than a standard sugar cookie. I decided to use my own Brown Sugar Cookie recipe and then add the “stained glass” to it.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter
1 cup of  brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
2 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Method:

Preheat the over to 360 degrees. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, so that the dough is easier to work with. Flour your counter top and roll out dough. Press with a cookie cutter. Bake for 6 minutes.

Tips:

When rolling cookies, I use two sheets of parchment paper and stick the dough between them. I then roll out the dough by rolling on top of the top sheet. This creates a beautiful smooth texture and prevents the dough from sticking to the rolling-pin (if the dough seems to be super sticky, you may need to add a bit of flour or corn starch to the parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to the paper, but this is generally not necessary). Peel off the top layer and proceed to cut the cookies. I also find that it is super easy to remove the cut cookie from the parchment paper and transfer it to the cookie sheet. This avoids that mushy mess you get when you try to remove the cut cookie directly from the counter.

Sometimes I even roll my dough directly onto my stone. Place a layer of parchment paper over top and roll out the dough to cover the entire sheet or stone.  Cut the cookies so that you are leaving ample space between for baking. Once cut, peel off the extra dough from around the pieces and your cookies are on the tray and ready to go directly into the oven with no need to transfer them!

Stained Glass Cookies:

To make the stained glass cookies, simply use another cookie cutter (something small) to cut out the center of your cookie. (I was thinking that the base of a decorating tip would work well, but I didn’t think of it until after I had started mine, so I stuck with what I had started with).  Set the cut-out cookies (with holes in the middle) onto a foil lined baking sheet. Fill each hole with a mound of broken hard candies. I used Jolly Ranchers. I also tried one with a broken candy cane, but didn’t really like the look. Follow the baking instructions for the cookie recipe and let cool completely on the tray before attempting to remove them. Decorate as desired. I piped on some left over Royal Icing I had on hand from the gingerbread houses we made at youth group on Friday night. I found one star cookie in Google images that I really liked. I used it for my basic plan and then just got creative and did my own thing. A little whimsical and a whole lot of fun!

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Ginger Snap Cookies

I am not quite sure why these are called Ginger Snap Cookies, there is no snap. These cookies are super moist and chewy, you know the melt in your mouth kind. I always make these at Christmas, but my family loves them, so we make them several times throughout the year as well. We are doing a baking evening and cookie exchange with Eden’s Girl Guide unit on Monday evening. I think baking 12 dozen cookies in two hours might be pushing it slightly. I think we’ll do a few batches on Sunday and leave a batch or two for the Monday evening baking blitz.

Ginger Snap Cookies

Ingredients:

Ginger Snap Cookies
2 cups of flour
1 Tablespoons ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of shortening
1 cup sugar (+ extra for rolling balls in)
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Method:

  • Cream sugar and shortening.
  • Beat in egg and molasses.
  • Sift dry ingredients and add. Mix.
  • Form into small balls and roll in sugar. B
  • Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. (Cookies flatten themselves as they bake.)

WARNING!

Let cool and then place in freezer immediately to avoid the potential tummy ache that may result from eating the whole batch fresh out of the oven! No kidding, these have a serious addictive property and may result in weight gain.

Yummy Halloween Candy Corn Bark

I found this recipe on Your Homebased Mom, but I think the original post was found on Recipe Girl.  I made it last year and it was such a hit that I decided to whip up another batch this weekend.  The candy bark is super easy to make and so yummy.  I love that it doesn’t take much fuss to make it look good.  This is a great treat to give send to school for a class party, give as a little teacher treat, bag up and hand-out to those special kids in your life or just keep it for your own family to enjoy!

Candy Corn Cookie Bark

Leigh Anne’s Candy Corn Cookie Bark

CANDY CORN COOKIE BARK

 Please visit Leigh Anne’s site for her detailed tutorial.  Great job Leigh Anne!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 14 whole Oreos, broken up
  • 1 1/2 C pretzels, broken into pieces. I used the small stick pretzels
  • 1 lb. white chocolate melting discs (I used about 1 1/2 pounds for mine)
  • 1 C candy corn
  • brown and orange colored sprinkles, Halloween edible sequins or coloured sugar (Bulk Barn has a great selection.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper
  • Mix the broken cookies, pretzels and about 3/4 C of the candy corn in a bowl
  • Spread the candy mixture onto the waxed paper
  • Place white chocolate in a container and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes
  • Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds until melted and smooth
  • White chocolate melts faster and burns easier than chocolate
  • Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with spatula to coat evenly
  • Sprinkle remaining candy corn and colored sprinkles over the chocolate quickly before it sets
  • Place the cookie tray in the refrigerator until set and firm
  • Remove and gently break bark into small pieces
  • Store in air tight container or place in cellophane bags if you wish to share!

One thing I notice is that if you spread your candy mixture out too much, you will not have enough chocolate to cover the base.  If you look at the difference between Leigh Anne’s and mine, you will notice that her’s seems to have a thicker chocolate coating over the top of her candy corn cookie bark than mine does.  I think the key is not spreading it out so much that your chocolate will not cover the crumbs adequately.
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Another Yummy Pumpkin Recipe: Whoopie Pies

I needed to bring a treat into work today. When I was searching for a cheesecake recipe for Thanksgiving, I visited the Brown Eyed Baker’s site and found a recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple-Cream Cheese Filling.  They sounded delicious and I thought they would make the perfect fall treat.Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple-Cream Filling

 

PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES WITH MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FILLING

This recipe makes about 4 dozen assembled whoopie pies.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Whoopie Pies:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
3 cups chilled pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Maple-Cream Cheese Filling:
3 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, the dark brown sugar, and the oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.

5. Use a small cookie scoop or a large spoon to drop a rounded, heaping tablespoon of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.

6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, making sure that the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. The cookies should be firm when touched. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on a cooling rack.

7. To make the filling, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth with no visible lumps, about 3 minutes. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth and combined, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, then add the maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.

8. To assemble the whoopie pies: Turn half of the cooled cookies upside down. Pipe or spoon the filling (about a tablespoon) onto that half. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the filling. Press down slightly so that the filling spread to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm before serving.

My Observations:

These cookies were actually pretty easy to make as the cookies themselves didn’t need to be rolled. I find rolling takes lots of time. I loved that these were dropped by the spoonful.  The flip side it that they didn’t bake flat and thus I found my finished product less round and smooth looking.  Not sure how to get that perfect circle when dropping by a spoonful. Oh well! Also, I found the icing to be a bit thin.  Very creamy and delicious, but the cookies seemed to slide.  I have another recipe for a chocolate whoopie pie and this doesn’t happen.  I could have added more icing sugar, but decided to put a toothpick through them and freeze the cookies overnight.  They tasted great and I am sure they will be fine once the icing has cooled.  I am thinking the maple syrup thins it out a bit or perhaps my butter or cream cheese was a bit too soft.  It doesn’t matter.  I find these to be very tasty and would totally make them again – when I have more time to play with the icing consistency and see if I can get a cookie that is a bit flatter to make a better “sandwich”.  My other recipe is made from a rolled cookie.  They are quite sticky to roll, but do come out nice and round and a bit flatter.  I am not sure, but I think these maybe too sticky to roll into a ball.  The recipe does say to use a cookie scoop or spoon, maybe the round cookie scoop,would create a more even consistency.  I don’t have one, so I am just guessing?

pumpkin cookies

You can see that mine don’t look nearly as “perfect” as the Brown Eyed Bakers, but they still taste pretty good.

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Chocolate Coconut Bark

This recipe was given to me by my friend Robin. It is an absolute favourite at our house.  It is super easy to make and there isn’t any sugar in it.  You have got to love that!  The original recipe was for a “cluster”, but she modified it into a square/bark. Way less work. Surprisingly, I have tried this with peanut butter and although good, it is not as delicious as the almond butter version. I am still amazed by how much I love these, as I have always steered clear of coconut dainties. I remember my mom making Nanaimo Bars and leaving the bottom layer because I didn’t like the coconut. My mother-in-law served a version without the coconut base and I absolutely loved it, so of course I got her recipe ~ Robin Hood Nanaimo Bar mix. Too bad it has been discontinued 🙁  I am thinking my aversion to coconut was based more on the coarseness of the shredded coconut in many dainty recipes rather than the actual flavour of it. As long as the pieces are small, I love it!

Chocolate Coconut Bark Ingredients:

  • 1 (5 oz) bag Flaked or shredded unsweetened coconut (I like to grind mine in the food processor to make them even smaller, but not necessary) ~ 5 oz = about 2 cups if you are buying bulk
  • 2/3 cup melted coconut oil + 1 TBSP
  • 1/2 cup almond butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

How to Make Chocolate Coconut Clusters:

  1. In medium bowl, mix coconut flakes, 2/3 cup melted coconut oil, vanilla, and almond butter until well mixed.
  2. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and dump the mixture on top.  Use a fork to spread it out as best you can. Apply a second layer of wax paper on top of the mixture and use a rolling-pin to smooth it out.  Peel off the top layer of wax paper.
  3. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer until the layer harden completely.
  4. Once the layer has hardened, melt the chocolate in a double boiler with 1 TBSP coconut oil until smooth (or microwave).
  5. Pour the chocolate over top and quickly spread it out to cover the surface.
  6. Place them back in the fridge/freezer to cool before eating.  Store in fridge or freezer.


Enjoy the awesome mixture of crunchy chocolate shell and the chewy coconut base!

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Matrimonial Bliss…. of a Different Kind

My parents did not have much money when I was growing up, but my mom had the purist “servant” attitude around.  She had no money to give, but instead offered her time and energy for helping others in need. Our most valuable non-renewable resource, time, is what she gave freely to others.  She offered her time in many ways, and never as the “Chair” of a committee or the coach of a sports team.  She was the one who was always behind the scenes doing the grunt work, with little or no recognition and of course, expecting none.  She would be the one cleaning the old house or scouring the new home when a family member or friends were moving.  No job was too dirty or disgusting for her and she could fix almost anything! (I don’t hold a candle to my mom in this department, but what I learned, I learned from her and my husband, not my dad.  My mom taught him which end of the hammer to use!)  Her “gifts” to others were often very subtle ~ listening to a friend in need for hours on end, helping others with house cleaning (seems funny as ours was usually a mess) or other home repairs and providing home-baked goods for any one going through a tough time. She volunteered many hours at church and loved to counsel those in need.  She had a very giving spirit and gave with the only means she had ~ time and effort.  When she died, we were flooded with stories of how my mom had touched the lives of others through her kindness and selflessness.  There were many stories from people we didn’t even know and who were virtual strangers to my mom as well.  Bottom line, she always made time for others.  I so wish I could be more like her.

Sadly, 14 1/2 years ago, my mom passed away.  She had been sick for a few months and although there is never enough time, I tried to think of all the questions I had and advice I might need.  We spent many hours talking and we both tried to make sure that there was nothing left unsaid.  I think we did a pretty good job, except for one thing ….. my mom’s Matrimonial Cake Recipe!!

Mission Impossible!

During the months that mom was sick, she walked me through the steps for making her delicious borscht and Christmas Cake (it is actually good too and I am not a big fan).  I really tried to think of everything, but some how, her Matrimonial Cake Recipe did not come up in our conversations.  I really can’t believe that I never thought of it as it was like her signature dish. She delivered more Matrimonial Cake to people in need and potluck dinners than I could venture to guess.  It was kind of like “have cake will travel“.  Her matrimonial cake was delicious and because it was inexpensive to make, this was a natural choice.  Needless to say, dates were a staple in our pantry.

Since she passed, I have tasted many “date squares” trying to find a taste the replicated my mother’s. I scoured through the chicken scratch in her recipe books, but came up empty.  I suppose that she made it so often, she never really needed a recipe and therefore I didn’t know its origin.  I asked her sister, Lynn, shortly after she died, as I thought it might have been a family recipe, but she wasn’t sure what recipe mom had used.  I did recall my mom saying something about the lemon juice being the key, but have never felt like I found the correct recipe.  Last winter, I was in a local bakery and purchased some Matrimonial Cake, after sharing my story of how I was searching for this recipe.  The owner of the bakery told me that her Matrimonial Cake was her mother’s recipe and was taken from an early edition (1946 or something) of the Five Roses Flour Cookbook. She also said that people travel across the city specifically for her date squares and that perhaps it was the same recipe.  I bought the squares and they were indeed delicious and I was almost certain I had found the origin of the recipe, but was now on a hunt for an early edition of the cookbook.  Several weeks later, my Grandma passed away and I got talking to another sister of my mom’s, my Auntie Joan.  She lives in Alberta, so I had never asked her about the recipe before, but she said she did in fact have a family recipe that mom might have used.  I had two great leads, but still no recipe in hand.

Mission Accomplished

Just before we left on holidays, I was able to find a 1938 edition of the Five Roses Flour Cookbook in a local antique store and it did in fact have a recipe for “Date Shortbread” (Matrimony Cake) and a separate recipe for the Date Filling.  I read over the recipe and it called for lemon juice, so I was pretty sure I found the source of her delicious cake.  I bought the book for $8 and returned home excited.  I knew I wouldn’t have time to test the recipe out before we left for holidays, but was looking forward to giving it a try when we got home.  When we arrived home from our vacation, I began the daunting task of going through the many emails in our “in box” and I was so excited to find an email from my Auntie Joan, complete with the recipe she had promised.  Thanks Auntie!!  I compared the two recipes and found that the only difference was that my Aunt’s called for a pinch of salt and the cookbook said to add 1/4 teaspoon.  I organized the ingredients and made a batch last night.

My kids had never tried Matrimonial Cake before as they always thought it looked gross and would opt for something different on the dainty trays or at the bakery counter.  I wasn’t sure if it would pass the kid test or if they would even try it.  The recipe is simple and the cake turned out really well.  It didn’t cut perfectly, but I am sure that I can take responsibility for that as I was unable to restrain myself long enough to let it cool completely.  We each had a piece (or two), warm, shortly after being removed from the oven.  Mmmm good! (When completely cooled it cut fine.) The whole family loved it and now “Grandma Ruth’s” recipe can be passed on for future generations to enjoy.  My dad popped over for a visit this morning and luckily there were still a few (and I mean very few) pieces left and he got to try it out as well.  He agreed it was as good as mom’s and took a copy of the recipe for himself.
Screen shot 2013-08-12 at 11.39.23 AM

Grandma Ruth’s Best Ever Matrimonial Cake

This recipe is my Aunt’s Recipe, but I am pretty sure it was originally taken from A Guide to Good Cooking Five Roses Flour (1938).

recipe

*Use a pan that is approximately 8 X 14″ in size. (I wouldn’t go larger, but smaller will just make the layers thicker!)

matrimonial cake

Grandma Ruth’s Matrimonial Cake

The Moral of the Story:

Never give up!

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we have over the years!
Cindy