Summer – Mackinac Island, Family and Fudge

Hi Everyone! I have to apologize it’s been sooo long since I’ve written anything on here. I’ve been busy doing different things and creating new recipes. One of my favorites so far are the Maple Fudge Peanut Butter Bars I made using some fudge I bought while I was visiting Mackinac Island with my sister. We had such an awesome time on the island.

We haven’t ever spent time on the island without having conferences or something to go to too. So we were able to take advantage of all the different touristy things on this visit. One of my favorite things was the ghost tour. We had so much fun walking through town in the dark and then we got to go ghost hunting at Mission Point. I can’t recommend Haunts of Mackinac enough. Our hostess was very animated when she was telling us the stories and was very informative and entertaining. So much so that we were to scared to walk the three miles back to our hotel in the dark and instead took a taxi back. And by taxi I mean a horse and carriage with a driver. The picture below is not our carriage, but it is one of the carriage tours on the island. I took the picture below at Arch Rock.

We also visited arch rock. When I went up the Nicolet Watch Tower, there was a young couple taking in the view, and the young man asked if I could take their picture. I said sure, I can do that. So he handed me his phone and then whispered “actually take a video of us”. He then proposed to his girlfriend. It was the sweetest thing ever! I tried to see if they posted the video anywhere, but I haven’t been able to find it, and I didn’t get their names or anything, all I know is that they were visiting from Colorado. I wish them well though.

We also explored Anne’s Tablet, saw the crack in the island, and Sugar Loaf Rock. There are just so many things to see and do on the island, we were there for three days and didn’t get to see everything. We also visited both Fort Holmes, which wasn’t open yet, and Fort Mackinac, and had lunch at the Tea Room there. The view was amazing.

       Fort Holmes on Mackinac Island

View from The Tea Room at Fort Mackinac

I also went into numerous fudge shops to sample the fudge. I ended up purchasing some fudge from Murdick‘s, which of course is hands down my favorite fudge there. It is just so creamy and rich. I love it. I decided to use the maple fudge to make some bars. I adore the combination of maple and peanut butter. I’ve also made Maple Nut Peanut Butter Cookies, which are still one of my favorites.

Maple Fudge Peanut Butter Bars

• 1 Cup Butter
• 1 Cup granulated Sugar
• 1 Cup packed Brown Sugar
• 1.5 Cups Mighty Maple Peanut Butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. Maple Extract
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 2.5 Cups Flour
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Slice of Frozen Maple Fudge, diced

Preheat the oven to 350. Freeze the fudge for at least fifteen minutes before dicing, or it will stick together in a big clump, then keep the diced fudge in the freezer until you are ready to add it to the dough. Meanwhile, Cream together the Butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, mighty maple peanut butter, eggs, vanilla and maple extract.  In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking soda together. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture a little at a time and mix between each addition. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated add in your fudge and mix for 10 -15 seconds. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan, spreading the dough and pressing it down into the corners. Bake until dark golden on the edges, about 20 minutes, adjusting the time as necessary.

You could also make these into cookies instead of bars, by forming into balls and baking for 8 – 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Meringues – Low Carb

Valentine’s Day is here and I wanted something I could indulge in without feeling too guilty. For me Valentine’s Day is the worst. I hate being reminded constantly that I’m single. Dating is so hard and it seems like it’s impossible to find anyone I’m interested in.

I was at work one day thinking about dairy and how several coworkers are allergic to it. Most of my recipes have butter, cream cheese, or milk in them. It is really hard to find a recipe that doesn’t. I refuse to use margarine, as it’s disgusting. Then from there I started thinking about meringue and how could I incorporate peanut butter into egg whites. I wasn’t sure about how well they would go together, so I googled it and from there experimented. This recipe is the first try. I still think it needs some tweaking, and of course I added cream cheese, so it isn’t dairy free, but all in all it isn’t bad for a first shot.

I started out with the basic egg whites, cream of tartar and salt, and whipped them until soft peaks formed. Then I continued whipping on a slow speed and slowly incorporated the splenda. I decided to use splenda this time around to try to keep the carbs to a minimum. It would have worked, if I hadn’t add the chocolate chips at the end.

Anyway, once I incorporated the splenda I cranked up the speed on the mixer to high and let it whip until the meringue was stiff. Then I folded in the peanut butter and cream cheese, once these were mostly mixed in I added the mini chocolate chips. The whites deflated quite a bit once everything was incorporated, but they still turned out great.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Meringues

Makes approximately 24 cookies

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup splenda
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 oz mini chocolate chips (1/2 bag), optional

Preheat oven to 350, line two baking sheets with silicone mat or parchment paper.

In a large clean glass or metal bowl, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly incorporate the splenda about a tablespoon at a time. Once all the splenda is added, turn the mixer up to high and whip until stiff peaks form.

In a separate bowl whip the cream cheese and peanut butter together.

Once the egg whites are stiff, fold in the peanut butter mixture, folding until the peanut butter is well incorporated, the whites will deflate a little. Add in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto the baking sheet, leaving a bit of room between each cookie. Bake for ten minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven for an additional fifteen minutes. Remove from oven, cool and enjoy!

Per my fitness pal, each cookie has approximately 79 calories, 6 grams carbs, 6 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein. Without the chocolate chips, each cookie would have approximately 44 calories, 2 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein.  THESE ARE ESTIMATES ONLY

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Stuffed Sugar Cookies

As delicious as sugar cookies are, rolling them out, shaping them and decorating them can be quite tedious. So this time I decided I needed to do something different with my sugar cookies. I love peanut butter and white chocolate. So I decided to use a white chocolate Milka bar I had hanging around and some peanut butter. What could be better?

Stuffing sugar cookies saves having to roll out the dough, although I did still chill the dough before stuffing them. Be sure that the stuffing is fully surrounded by dough before you bake them, or you will end up with puddles of melted candy and an empty sugar cookie.

To decorate my cookies I used the colored sugar I made in my post, Colored Sugar – Make Your Own. I sprinkled it on before I baked them.

Grandma Johnson’s Sugar Cookies

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• peanut butter
• Milka white chocolate bar

Cream together the shortening, butter and sugar. Add vanilla, then add in the eggs one at a time until all are incorporated.  In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture until combined. Chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Once chilled, scoop into balls and stuff with one square of white chocolate and a teaspoon of peanut butter. Roll in colored sugar and transfer to a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 6 – 8 minutes or until lightly browned along the edges.

Triple Ginger Chewy Cookies

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

Ginger cookies are one of those cookies that just scream Christmas and Holidays. Ginger seems to be everywhere. Gingerbread men, ginger tea, ginger candy. I can’t get enough of the stuff. So I decided to modify my favorite Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookie recipe by adding extra ginger.

I grated some fresh ginger root into the batter and added some crystallized ginger, as well as keeping the original ground ginger the recipe called for. I absolutely adore these cookies. I just baked them an hour or so ago and I’ve already eaten four of them. They are terribly addicting.

Triple Ginger Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup honey
• ½ cup crystallized ginger
• ½ bag (6 oz) white chocolate chips
• ¼ cup turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

Combine flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl beat butter for 30 seconds. Then add the sugar, beating until fluffy. Add grated ginger, egg and honey, beating well. Slowly add the dry ingredients, beating until combined.  Add the crystallized ginger and white chocolate chips, mix until evenly distributed about 15 seconds.

Scoop into balls and roll in the turbinado sugar, placing on the baking sheet. Cookies should be placed about two inches apart. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. Makes about four dozen cookies.

Grandma Johnson’s Sugar Cookies with an Egg Yolk Glaze

Sugar cookies are always fun to make for Christmas. Every year my sister and her friend Shelley have a cookie party and make these sugar cookies. I absolutely love them. This is my go to recipe for sugar cookies. The recipe is originally from Shelley’s Grandmother, Grandma Johnson. I think it is the only roll out cookie I don’t really mind making.

This year I decided to try something new. I found a post about using an egg yolk glaze. The glaze is used in place of frosting and is painted on the cookies prior to baking. There isn’t any sugar in the glaze and it is flavorless. It is shiny, so if you prefer your sugar cookies plain, but still want them to be pretty, an egg yolk glaze is an easy way to achieve this.

To get started you need to make your sugar cookie dough and chill it. While it’s chilling prepare the egg yolk glaze. Then roll it and cut out shapes. Transfer the shapes to a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. I did little mini Christmas shapes, angels, trees, stockings and candy canes. I used a food safe paint brush to paint the glaze onto the cookies. They turned out to be pretty cute, and it wasn’t as tedious as frosting them with royal icing or butter cream.  The glaze turned hard and shiny in the oven and the cookies are easily transportable, with no worries about ruining the decorations on them.

Grandma Johnson’s Sugar Cookies

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt

Cream together the shortening, butter and sugar. Add vanilla, then add in the eggs one at a time until all are incorporated.  In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture until combined. Chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Once chilled, roll out on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Transfer shapes to a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. If using the egg yolk glaze, paint the cookies and then bake for 6 – 8 minutes or until lightly browned along the edges.

Egg Yolk Glaze

• Egg yolks
• Food Coloring, paste or gel

Place the yolk in a glass dish or custard cup. Add food coloring a little at a time until you get the color you want. The more food coloring you add, the more vibrant the color. Note that the yolk may add yellow to whatever color you put in it, so if you want blue you may need to add extra food coloring, to overpower the color in the yolk. It really depends on your eggs. I used farm fresh eggs from a coworker and the yolks were darker than store-bought eggs I’ve purchased in the past.

Once you achieve the color you were after, paint the raw cookies and then bake following the directions in the cookie recipe.

Maple Nut Peanut Butter Cookies

When I’m feeling especially sad or lonely, I love to curl up with a good book, a warm blanket and a bag of maple nut goodies. Brach’s makes fantastic maple nut goodies. Maple nut goodies are candies with chopped peanuts and a soft toffee center covered with a maple coating. Good ones are soft and chewy and sweet.

A week or so ago, as I was munching on some of those maple nut goodies, I decided I needed to bake something maple flavored. Inspired I thought why not make a maple flavored peanut butter cookie, with chunks of maple nut goodies chopped up and thrown into the batter! Yum! Of course this idea hit me in the morning while I was at work, and it was just torture to have to finish up my job before I could get home to bake. It seemed like the hours just dragged by.

I finally made it home and I figured out a way to improve upon my idea. I found a jar of Mighty Maple Peanut Butter, so I used that instead of regular peanut butter in the cookies. Maple peanut butter is amazing. It is made by Peanut Butter & Co. They make a ton of different flavors of peanut butter and they are all delicious. Another favorite of mine is the White Chocolate Wonderful. So yummy.

The cookies turned out soft and peanut buttery with chunks of chewy maple and toffee in them. They have taken up a spot on my favorite cookies list, they were that good. I was worried that the chunks of chopped maple nut goodies would melt all over the baking sheet, but they held together great in the oven and the texture of the candy’s remained soft and chewy even after the cookies cooled.

Maple Nut Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 Cup Butter
• 1 Cup granulated Sugar
• 1 Cup packed Brown Sugar
• 1.5 Cups Mighty Maple Peanut Butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. Maple Extract
• 2.5 Cups Flour
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1.5 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup of chopped Maple Nut Goodies

Cream together the Butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, mighty maple peanut butter, eggs and maple extract.  In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking soda together. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture a little at a time and mix between each addition. Once the dry ingredients are incorporated add in your candy and mix for 10 -15 seconds. Form into balls and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Cookies will be lighter in color.

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All opinions are my own. I am not being paid to advertise or promote products. I just like them and I like to share.

Mint Truffle Brownie Bite Cookies

One of the most popular cookies I make are my brownie bite cookies. I shared one version of these cookies in an earlier post, Mint Chip Brownie Bite Cookies with M & M’s, but I modified the recipe a bit and tried something new with these. These are minty and chocolate and oh so good!

For Christmas and because these were going to be donated to a silent auction, so I wanted them to look fancy, I drizzled them with a peppermint candy coating. I added a bit of green food coloring to the candy melts to make it a bit more festive also.

The cookies are soft, almost gooey, and have a burst of mint when you bite into the Hershey’s Mint Truffle Kisses pressed into the top of the cookies. I press them into the cookie while the cookie is still warm so it melts into the cookie a bit.

To make the cookies extra minty, I added one teaspoon of peppermint extract. This gave the batter a nice minty flavor. The kisses and drizzle really add to the flavor of the cookie overall.

Mint Truffle Brownie Bite Cookies

Recipe:

• 3/4 cup (60 grams) Cocoa
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 – 10 oz bag of Hershey’s Mint Truffle Kisses

Candy Coating

• White Candy Melts, about 1/2 cup or so
• 1/4 tsp of peppermint oil
• green paste food coloring

Directions for Cookies:

In large bowl, melt butter. Once butter is melted add cocoa and vegetable oil and stir until well combined. Stir in sugar and then blend in the eggs, peppermint and vanilla with a hand mixer until well combined. Add the flour a little at a time mixing well between each addition. Chill dough for about 20 – 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Using cookie scoop, shape dough into balls and place on a silicone lined or parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake 8 – 10 minutes, being careful not to over bake. Once you remove the pans from the oven, press the kisses into the center of the cookies. Cool on pans for about five minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about five dozen cookies.

To make the candy coating I added about 1/2 cup of candy melts, the food coloring and the extract to a glass measuring cup and microwaved in 30 second increments until the candy was melted and fluid. I then added it to a squirt bottle and drizzled the coating over all of the cookies after they were cooled.

Once cooled the cookies will keep for several days in a sealed container.

I’m Baa-ack with Holiday Spritz Cookies

I am so sorry, it’s been forever since I’ve updated the blog. I went back to Michigan for Thanksgiving and when I got back I was working ten-hour days to make up the time I used, and then this weekend I baked and baked and baked for a fundraiser my work did today. I just haven’t had time to sit down and type a post. Phew. I made Holiday Spritz Cookies (pictured below), Pumpkin Spice Cake Pops, Mint Truffle Brownie Bite Cookies, Honey Maple Cookies, and gingerbread cake bars with cream cheese icing. The Honey Maple Cookies were a disaster though so I won’t be posting pictures of them. Super sad as it seemed like it would have been pretty tasty if it would have worked out.

My work, the Public Drinking Water Branch of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, did a silent auction bake sale to raise funds for adopt a soldier and Fishes Food Pantry, in Vienna, Missouri. In total we raised $471. My coworkers are super generous when it comes to supporting charities. We were asked to donate baked goods or baking related items. I donated several bowls of cookies and a few cake pops.

The cake pops were awful to make, but that’s a story for a different post….

One of the cookies in my cookie assortment box were Holiday Spritz cookies. I found the recipe in a Taste of Home Cookbook. My sister gave me a cookie press awhile back and I hadn’t tried it out yet. These I think are easier than drop cookies. It was fun squirting the dough out on the cookie sheet and making Christmas trees, and then sprinkling them with sugar and/or sprinkles and baking them.

They turned out great, although it was tricky at first to figure out how much pressure to apply to the press in order to get a nice shape. Some of the trees turned out to be a tad on the chubby side.

Holiday Spritz Cookies (Taste of Home)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp rum extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Sugar or Sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream the butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add the egg and extract until combined. Combine flour and salt in separate bowl, then gradually add to the butter mixture until everything is combined.

Add the dough to your favorite cookie press fitted with whatever shape you desire. Press the cookies about one inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat, sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles, and bake for 7-8 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on racks for 2 – 3 minutes then move to a wire rack to finish cooling and enjoy!

Vanilla French Macarons with Chocolate Filling

French Macarons are delicious, they are a meringue cookie made with egg whites, granulated sugar, powdered sugar and almond flour. Many times food coloring is added as well as different flavorings. I love these and as they are really expensive to have shipped and aren’t available where I live, I have to make my own.

Since I am still learning I just made plain vanilla ones. I did attempt to make a heart though. It didn’t raise like it should have, but it did stay in the shape I piped it. I am by no means an expert on these.

I found a tutorial on BraveTarts blog, Macarons, which is what I use every time I attempt to make these. She is amazing and has step by step tutorials and answers all kinds of questions about them. I highly recommend if you are going to attempt to make Macarons that you read her instructions first.

I desperately want to learn how to make all kinds of pastries. Taking a hands on course with an instructor would simply be amazing. Unfortunately that isn’t an option with where I am living at the moment, so I have to settle with internet tutorials and YouTube videos.

Anyway this is my third or fourth attempt at making French Macarons. This time around I did get a bit of the ruffled edge, but they still aren’t right. They did not raise as much as they should have and some of the shells were cracked. I have a feeling I undermixed the batter, but I didn’t want to overmix it like I did the first few times I made these. It is very tricky to get it just right. If you undermix you get cracks, overmix and you can’t pipe it and they don’t raise right.

To start, I prepared my pastry bag, which I used a gallon size ziploc bag fitted with wilton’s #12 round tip.

I also sifted together the powdered sugar and almond flour and set it aside.

Then you need to combine the egg whites, sugar and salt together in your mixing bowl, making sure there are no yolks in the whites and that your bowl is sparkling clean, with no oil in it. Then you mix it until a stiff meringue forms.

Now you are going to add the almond flour and powdered sugar to the meringue. Just dump it all in there.

This is the tricky part, and the part that I always somehow mess up. You need to mix it together until it forms a thick batter, but not too thick. It will be hard to mix at first and won’t appear to go together, but it will eventually. Just be very careful not to overmix it. It needs to be fluid enough that it doesn’t hold it’s shape after 20 seconds or so, but thick enough that it won’t run all over the place when you pipe it. Like I said earlier, before you make these, read BraveTarts tutorial.

I have a feeling mine is undermixed. The batter did not melt back into itself like it should have. You can see it in the cup above and on the baking sheets in the pictures below, which I took after I banged the sheets on the counter to get the air out. The shells should be smooth, without the point from piping it. Once you are done mixing, pour half of the batter into your bag and pipe it into circles or whatever shape you want onto either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

To pipe these I held the bag straight up and down and counted to five as I squeezed to try to make them uniform. It worked for the most part. You want them to be as uniform as possible as later on you are going to match them up into pairs and sandwich them together. I baked them for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

You can see a little bit of the ruffled edge on these. This was my first batch. I under-baked them a bit though (oops!) and they turned out chewy, and the bottoms had a tendency to come off on the sheet pan, but I was able to get them off once they were cool. You also have to be careful when baking these, parchment paper seems to work better as to test when they are done, they should peel easily from the sheet. The silicone mats are trickier because the cookies will slide around a bit on them, but they won’t be done. The other batches I baked longer and they turned out to be crispier and the bottoms stayed put. The best part of these is that even if they don’t turn out like they should they will still taste fantastic.

Once they are baked and cooled, you can add a filling of your choice. You can use pretty much anything you want. Buttercream, jam, frosting, etc. I decided to make Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate, Chocolate Frosting, to keep things simple. I rolled some of them in sprinkles just for fun and to add a bit of color.

I used a piping bag fitted with the wilton #12 tip to pipe the chocolate frosting onto the flat side of one shell and then fitted the other shell on top, then I rolled some of them in the sprinkles.

For the Recipe for the Macarons, go here:  http://bravetart.com/recipes/Macarons.

To make the filling:

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl, add the cocoa, whisking until combined. Add the vanilla and 1 cup of powdered sugar, mixing until combined. Add in another cup of powdered sugar and half of the milk. Mix until combined and smooth. Add the final cup of powdered sugar and whip until smooth. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Colored Sugar – Make your own

We had our first snowfall today here in Missouri. It looks so pretty outside and put me in the mood to put on some Christmas music and bake up some cookies.

I decided I needed some colored sugar for my cookies. Looking through my cabinets I realized that I don’t have ANY red or green sugar.You can’t have Christmas cookies without red and green sparkly sugar! So I decided to make my own. It is super easy. All you need is a ziploc bag, food coloring and sugar.

Colored Sugar:

Ingredients:

• ziploc bag
• sugar
• food coloring (I used gel)

Place about 1/4 cup sugar in the ziploc bag. Add two or three drops of food coloring, more for deeper, more vibrant colors. Then shake and move it around with your fingers until there aren’t any more clumps of darker colors and the color is evenly distributed throughout the sugar. Pay special attention to the corners. That’s it! Use it as you would any other decorating sugar.