Belated Happy Holidays!

So. It looks like the New Year has kept us all a little busy! I know I've been slacking on the posting front, and I even took some pictures of my latest kitchen endeavors. It's still wintry outside and gingerbread never goes out of style in my book, so here a few recipes from the holidays.


Coconut Snowball Cupcakes

I took these to my office holiday party for a festive treat. The recipe I used is from 101cookbooks. I didn't have superfine sugar, and used granulated sugar instead. Next time I will take the extra trip to the store. The larger grains reduced the amount of sugar in the recipe I think, and they turned out a little dry, just slightly tough. I would also use fresh nutmeg next time, and maybe reduce the amount just slightly. That's coming from some one who loooooves nutmeg! But they are fun to bake and frost, and make quite an impression.


Gingerbread Cutout Cookies

These cookies are a little crisper than I was looking for, but they have excellent flavor and turned out very pretty. I tried this recipe from Simply Recipes. I generally like my gingerbread a little on the chewy side, but I ended up liking the subtle crunch these ones had. And they were a blast to frost.


Joanne Storch's Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

I don't have a picture of these little guys, maybe because they got gobbled up so quickly. They just might top my list of favorite holiday cookies ever! And they are so quick and easy to make. I used the leftover dipping chocolate to make peppermint bark as well. I just mixed a couple teaspoons of peppermint extract into the leftover warm chocolate, and then spread it out on a sheet of wax paper. I then gently pressed crushed candy cane into the top and let it harden in a cool place. Then I broke it up into bite sizes pieces.


¾ c. powered sugar
1 ½ c. graham crackers (crushed)
½ c. butter
½ c. peanut butter
1 Tbs. shortening
1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz.)

Mix powdered sugar, and cracker crumb together. Heat butter and peanut butter over low heat until melted. Stir in crumb mixture. Shape into 1" balls and let rest for a few minutes in a cool place.

Heat chocolate with 1 TBS of shortening. Dip balls into the chocolate with thongs or a fork until coated. Place on wax paper and refrigerate until firm.



I hope everyone's New Year is off to a fabulous start! I have bread rising in the kitchen, so I'll try and post again soon. :)