Mother's E-Z Cookies. All of the grandchildren ask my Mom for these at Christmas time! Just thought I would share this busy season!

These "snow capped" drop cookies are a family favorite.

My Mom has made these for years and years and are one of her "go-to" recipes that are requested by young and old alike!  They would work for lots of occasions besides Christmas but I need to get into the grove so I am starting with these now.  Poor Katie hasn't had a homemade cookie for ages when I pick her up at school.  Bad Grandma!

The colored candy sprinkles give a festive look and taste great too.

Ingredients for E-Z Cookies:

1 boxed cake mix "Funfruiti, Party Rainbow Chip"  (The white cake with the colored sprinkles in the mix.)
1 thawed box of Cool Whip, 8 ounce size
1 egg
powdered sugar for rolling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When taken from the oven they should be puffed and set but not browned.

Combine the first 3 ingredients until well mixed.  Drop by teaspoons full into a dish of powdered sugar and roll them around to coat well.  Place onto an un-greased baking sheet.  Leave 2" between the balls of dough.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Yield 28 cookies.   Cool, serve, and enjoy!

This is my 1,000th post.  What fun it had been.  Thank you all for visiting!

Doing Pie and Cookie Dough Today! Christmas Buffet Menu.

5 pie crusts

Today I have made up my recipe for 5 single crust pie crusts (or 2 double and a single)  because I am making two very special people their favorite pies to send with my husband in the morning when he leaves for work.  He can deliver them for me and they will still be nice and warm.  That sounds like a great Christmas surprise to me!  I have the pastry made up and patted out into 5 disks and wrapped in waxed paper then dropped into a plastic bag  and stashed into the refrigerator.    thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2010/07/cherry-pie.html   thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2012/11/canning-apple-pie-filling-my-revision.html     thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2012/05/raisin-pie-and-primary-election-day.html

Home canned apple pie filling

I will use my last can of homemade Apple pie filling for one pie and then I am making an very old fashioned Raisin pie.

Raisins simmering

   

Snicker doodles

Next this morning I am making up a batch of Snicker doodles    thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2010/08/old-fashioned-snickerdoodles.html   then a recipe of sugar cookie dough  thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2013/12/baking-christmas-cookies.html   and a batch of dough for painted roll out cookies.   thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2013/02/painted-hearts-cut-out-cookies-for.html   I will bake the Snicker doodles today and store the made up cookie dough to bake off tomorrow after my marathon trip to both the butcher and the market.

Since I have been troubled with bad knees I was counting the days to the injection appointment.  But, the injections bother me about a day and a half but then I jump up and feel 30 again for awhile!  Today is my first feel like 30 day.  Thus the reason I have postponed the marketing.

Planned Christmas Buffet:

This Christmas I am planning a buffet to be left out and enjoyed at will.  The ham for Thanksgiving was such a hit I am repeating it.   thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2013/03/baking-whole-ham-for-easter.html    I also ordered several pounds of the butchers delicious homemade potato salad (yes I did!)  But I will throw together some baked beans.  Thinking of a huge, maybe 4 pound platter of fresh strawberries and some chocolate ganache for dipping!  Then our other "likes" include a platter of ice cold shrimp cocktail, a cheese ball with crackers, assorted bread. thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2011/12/old-fashioned-persimmon-pudding-my.html   Assorted beverages on ice and maybe a bit of hot buttered rum!    thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2010/11/hot-buttered-rum.html

Spiced Pecans

Some spiced nuts, and of course veggies and dip.  Dessert will be Christmas cookies and a batch of Christmas rice crispy treats with red and green holiday sprinkles!  Then maybe, just maybe, I will do up a persimmon pudding with whipped cream for good measure.  

Raisin and Apple Pies

Monday Morning 7:30 AM:  The pies have finished baking and are packed for Brian's deliveries! 
Since they are still hot I dropped a cooling rack into the bottom of each of two large tote bags.  Next I covered the rack with a clean tea towel and put the aluminum pie plate in a second aluminum pie plate to sturdy up the base.  Then I rolled 2 additional clean tea towels into cylinders and used them as bumpers to keep the pie from sliding.

Tucked away to travel

The last step was to tear, fold, and enclose two ample sheets of fresh aluminum foil for the pis to be covered with when cool. 

Baking Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies

We had a lot of fun this past week making Christmas Cookies and Caramel Corn with the twins!  Now that they are 5 they take great pride in their cookie decorating being quite careful to place each sprinkle in just the right spot for the best eating!

Spy decorates cookies.

Decorating Christmas Cookies in your PJ's is good.

Jack was still dressed as a spy while he helped but Sam was quite happy just enjoying a pajama day!

This is an old recipe we have used for many years for a simple cut out cookie to decorate whatever the occasion may be!  

Ingredients for Rolled and Cut Out Sugar Cookies:

2 C. flour sifted
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 C. room temperature butter (one stick)
3/4 C. sugar
1/4 t. fresh grated nutmeg
1 egg
1 T. milk

Sift and set aside the dry ingredients.  Cream fats and sugar until fluffy and add egg and milk.  Blend well.  Gradually add the flour beating well.  Gather the dough into a ball and wrap well in plastic then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Roll the dough on a flowered board to about 1/4" thick and cut with floured cutters.  Bake in preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes.  Makes 2-3 dozen cookies depending on the size cookie cutters you use.  Cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients for Cookie Frosting:

2 C. powdered sugar
2 T. soft butter
3 T. cream
1/2 t. vanilla

Beat these ingredients together well adding droplets of additional cream until you reach the desired consistency.  Frost cold cookies and decorate with sprinkles before the icing hardens.   You may also want to tint the frosting with food color as desired.

After tasting cookies and playing in the snow mittens were left drying in front of the fire.  It was a good day.

Best Cream Cheese Brownie EVER, They Call Them BOOM BOOMS!

Indescribably Delicious!

The gentleman who gave me this recipe over twenty-five years ago grinned and warned me these are better than SEX???  Now I make no guarantees about that but they are REALLY good.  It was about this time of year and I think our youngest son was maybe 14 (That would make it 25 years ago.) and I had gone to work as Christmas help at the old Stewart's Department Store in their Christmas Shop.

 It was so very special back then.  Every year Stewart's hired doormen who dressed in tuxedos with top hats and they opened and closed the store's doors for you and helped you to your car with your packages when needed.  I remember a snow covered evening with maybe 2-3 " of snow on the ground and big fluffy snow flakes drifting to the ground in the moonlight.  It was such a lovely sight.  Almost like a scene you would see and expect to hear someone singing SILVER BELLS.

The gentleman who had been sent in as the assistant store manager was from New York.  I cannot for the life of me recall his name but he was very kind to me.  As the Christmas Shop was in the back of the store on the second floor all of the big brass went by several times a day as the executive offices were yet further behind us.

At any rate we struck up a conversation about favorite foods and he told me about these and of course I asked for the recipe and he was kind enough to call his Mother back in New York and give it to me and now I share it with you.

Ingredients for Boom Booms:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and butter and flour well a 9" x 13" baking pan.  Set aside.

Brownie Mixture:

4 squares of unsweetened chocolate (can substitute 3 tablespoons of cocoa +1 tablespoon of vegetable oil for each square)
2/3 C. vegetable oil
2 C. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 C. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder

Melt together in a double boiler  over simmering water the chocolate and oil in a glass or metal bowl.  Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar after the chocolate had melted and is smooth.    Stir  until well combined. 

Beat together the eggs and add a small amount (About a fourth of a cup or thereabouts.)  of the chocolate to them and stir well to temper.  Add the eggs to the chocolate and beat together.  Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.



Boom Boom Mixture:

8 ounces of cream cheese
3/4 C. sugar
3 T. flour
3 T. butter
3/4 t. vanilla
1 T. water, or coffee, or coffee liquor

Mix all of the above ingredients together in a saucepan over low hear until it is melted together stirring all of the time.  Turn off the heat when well blended.

Pour 1/2 of the brownie mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan spreading evenly.  Swirl 2/3 of the cream cheese mixture over the brownie mixture.  Pour the rest of the brownie batter atop and spread.   Lastly dollop the remaining cream cheese in an even pattern over the brownie mixture.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes until done then remove and cool. (I baked mine for 38 minutes.)  Yield 18 large brownies.

Be prepared,
'cause these are REALLY good. 

Enjoy!

Frostings, Chocolate Butter Cream, Cream Cheese, & Old Fashioned Whipped, plus My Favorite Cookie Icing.

Left to right, Chocolate Butter Cream, Cream Cheese, and Old Fashioned Whipped Frosting.

As I told my Mother this morning I have always had more issues finding a frosting to ice my cakes with than the making of the cakes.  Since I delivered the desserts last night to the Christmas party I have been thinking of these cakes and frosting's and decided to share with you my FAVORITE frosting/icing recipes, how to make them successfully, and the tips I use.  I do not like the ultra sugary sweet frosting.  These are just the ones I like and hope you might too.  Some take some time and trouble and others are very simple.  All are delicious!

There is method to my madness and the confessions of my OCDS are as follows!  (Obsessive, compulsive disorder syndrome.)  The first thing I do is to assemble everything I need.  I would have already made the cakes and either wrapped the layers in waxed paper or parchment and slipped each into a large plastic bag and refrigerated or frozen them.  The reason is that it is WAY easier to frost a cold cake.  When I have the frosting done I take out the layers and unwrap brushing lightly any loose crumbs from the sides with my hands as I go.  I really prefer to freeze them overnight.  This is especially helpful if it will sit out with a cream cheese or butter cream to keep it cool and it is terrific if you have to transport the cake.  If it will not have time to thaw before you want to serve just refrigerate instead.

Tools: turntable if available, decorative flat cake platter, offset spatula, bamboo skewers, stand mixer with paddle and whip attachments, rubber scraper, measuring cups and spoons.

Ingredients for Old Fashioned Whipped Frosting:

7 T. flour
1 1/2 C. milk

Mix the flour and milk in a heavy bottomed pan and cook stirring constantly until it forms a very thick paste.  Remove from the heat and scrape into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate until cold.

1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
3/4 C. Crisco shortening
1 1/2 sticks room temperature margarine (3/4 C.) Do not use butter. 
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Beat the sugar, Crisco, margarine, and vanilla until it turns very white using the whip of a stand mixer for about 6-8 minutes.  Add the cold flour mixture and continue beating until it becomes very white and very fluffy, about 6-10 minutes.  The resulting frosting is not a sugary sweet frosting but more like whipped cream.  Very light and not overly sweet.  This recipe frosts a three layer cake.

To assemble I first place a good tablespoon of frosting in the center of the cake plate to anchor.

Next I frost the layers.

When I have placed the top layer onto the stack I ofter insert a wooden skewer or two to anchor and keep the layers from sliding, especially it they will be transported or on a hot day.  I use a scissors and a bit of elbow grease to cut it to size.

Old Fashioned Icing.

The skewer if placed in the center will just drop by the wayside when you slice and serve the cake.  It does not show on the frosted cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting.

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting for a Three Layer Cake:

12 ounces softened cream cheese
3/4 C. softened stick margarine, not butter
6 C. powdered sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Beat the cream cheese and margarine together in a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment until very well blended.  Then add the powered sugar,and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Frost the cake using the above steps.  This recipe is adapted from Chef Doug Rennie of Evansville, Indiana.  This recipe frosts a large three layer cake.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting.

Ingredients for Creamy Chocolate Butter Cream:

2 1/2 sticks of room temperature butter
1 C. powdered sugar
3/4 C. Dutch process cocoa
pinch of salt
1/2 C. light corn syrup
1/2 t. vanilla
1 t. instant powdered coffee or espresso powder
7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips melted over simmering water and cooled to room temperature

Add then butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt to the bowl of the food processor.  Pulse until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl once or twice, about 30 seconds.  Add the corn syrup, vanilla, and espresso powder and process until just combined, about 10 seconds.  Scrape the sides of the bowl one more time and add the cooled chocolate.  Pulse until the frosting is creamy, about 15 seconds.  Makes about 3 cups of frosting.  This is a recipe I think I saw of Bobby Flay's on The Food Network and have adapted it to suit our family..It is easy and delicious!


Cookie Frosting Recipe and Ideas:

Ingredients for my favorite Cookie Frosting:

For each cup of powdered sugar add 1 T. soft butter and 1 t. heavy cream adding more a droplet at a time until you reach the desired consistency.  This icing becomes firm if left out to dry a bit and then does not stick to the other cookies.

I also occasionally use this recipe for some cake frosting.   I just cover it with a cake dome instead of leaving out to air dry a bit.

These coolies were baked and decorated by my two granddaughters 13 and 17 this afternoon using this frosting recipe.  They made 2 cups and tinted part if the frosting.  I mixed up the dough for them last night and they came this afternoon and had a "cookie bake" at our house and Grandpa and I enjoyed it very much. It made great memories for us all.

Gingersnaps and 12/12/12 the bed is finally back together!

Gingersnaps

I may well remember this day, not just because of the uncommon alignment of the numbers composing the date but because on this day I finally got what should have taken maybe and hour took me 4 days to complete.   Am I getting old or was this just a fluke?   I take solace that my eyesight is good,  my mind clear,  and my trigger finger is strong. 

Betty Crockers' Cookbook

Gingersnaps if you are inclined to like sweet spicy cookies that are crisp around the outside and a bit chewy in the center are quite delicious and this is far and away the best recipe I have ever found.  I like them better than Ina Garten's ultimate Ginger cookie.  This is a repeat of the recipe I have already given and continue to bake each fall. As you can see the old worn Betty Crocker Cookbook has yellowed with age and is stained from wear and usage.

Finally got these big old rails in place!

You can see the blocks for the slats.

Antique beds are snugger and require a bit of easing to fit.

At last all together.

Both guestrooms have been readied with clean, warm and fuzzy flannel sheets.  Soft quilts and warm blankets cover them.  The quilts are made by my Mother of my late Grandparents clothing and my late Father's shirts, all softened by repeated washings.  Or some were made by my husbands Grandma Ruby,   Soft cozy store bought and home made stuffed animals adorn them for my Grandchildren.  These same animals always have greeted Emily and Katie as they now do Jack and Sam.  I don't think adults mind either to tell you the truth as it is a lot like going home to my Grandmother's house in Loogootee, Indiana was all those many years ago.

Note:  Our parents grew up 5 miles apart on farms between Loogootee and Haysville, Indiana.  Both had upstairs bedroom's with big old beds adorned with quilts and comforters made by family members.  This oak sleigh bed is exactly like the one at my Grandma's house.

The Big Christmas Cookie Bake is on and my misadventures with an antique bed!

Last night I mixed up a batch of cut out cookies,  see Sugar Cookies to Cut Out 12/10/11.  I like to frost them with the frosting recipe at the end of the post and sprinkle them with decorative sugars. I baked these first thing this morning.

This morning I tried The Pioneer Woman's Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies.  She had them going a week or so and I printed off the recipe as malts are my friend and that sounds awfully good in a chocolate chip cookie!  So this morning was spent baking and decorating cookies.   It is a very lovely thing to do on a cold and gloomy day.

This is my adaptation of Malted milk Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ingredients for Ree Drummond's Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks soft butter
3/4 C. brown sugar packed
3/4 C. sugar
2 large eggs
2 t. vanilla
1/2 C. malt milk powder, rounded
2 C. flour
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1 1/4 t. salt
12 Oz. bag of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. and whisk the flour, soda, and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.   Prepare the baking sheets with parchment or silpat mats.

Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add the slightly beaten eggs.  Combine the vanilla and malted milk powder with the creamed mixture until smooth.  Add the flour mixture until just combined and stir in the chocolate chips until distributed.

Drop by teaspoons onto the prepared pans or use a cookie scoop.  Leave quite a bit of room between them as these are a thin cookie that spreads.  I made six per half sheet pan.   Bake 9-11 minutes.  The cookies will be very flat and chewy.  Allow to cool a few minutes before removing them from the pans to cool.

Option:  Cool completely and use two cookies to make ice cream sandwiches.  Add sprinkles to the sides of the ice cream, then wrap individually in plastic and return to the freezer until serving time.

Again I will put at least half of these in the freezer for later.  The most important thing is to place waxed paper between the layers and double wrap them.

After I cleaned up the kitchen I headed to the back bedroom where I have worked for 3 days to switch out the rails of an antique oak sleigh bed.  Why 3 days?  Brian had hurt his shoulder and I don't want to aggravate it further by asking him to help me.  Right off the bat I hurt my back hauling the rails from the garage.  I didn't have enough sense or patience to take them one at a time.  I expect I am old enough to have known better.  Ha  ha!  By the way, the reason I got started on this project is that every fall, before Christmas, I change all of the beds to flannel sheets before we get overnight company.  So, while I was at it I thought I would out go ahead and switch out the rails.  I am thinking of using the old rails as shelves mounted with brackets for display or for plants.  I have seen this done with old ironing boards and I think this might do nicely.

Anyway it was the first days adventure.  Getting them up a full flight of stairs.  This bed is made with oak plugs instead of nails which dates it quite a bit.  It is solid oak and the rails have a ledge as well as notches built into it to place the slats into every few inches.  I have never seen one like this although my church pew is made this way. We have been using the incorrect rails up until now.

I broke a light bulb all over the place Sunday when I started again.  When it hit that hard old oak it shattered like it was concrete and I am still finding glass and sweeping it up today. 

Finally Monday I was able to drag the mattress and box springs off and lean them against the wall.  I pulled up, wiggled, and cajoled the first rail out and managed to keep the whole bed from collapsing on top of me.  About then I lost my balance, regained it, and decided "enough for today."  Thus my 3 days.

Still can't get this finished.  Tomorrow is day four of trying to get this bedroom back together and maybe Gingersnaps?

Christmas Cookies, Italian Biscuits (Cookies), as my Cookie Press Bites the Dust!

Such a list of plans I had for today!  And. honestly it all started off pretty well.  Last night after telling one son the pants size of another backwards I worried all night that I had ordered 32" W and 36"L instead of the other way around on the order I placed yesterday morning!  When I checked this morning I had done it correctly so I was reassured I had lost only part of my marbles!  

I proceeded to throw a load of fabric in the washer so I can sew this afternoon.  Then made a few necessary phone calls.  Actually it was moving right along.  I had washed and dried my cookie press last night to be ready this morning so I proceeded to mix up the dough.  It has been a couple of years since I have had this cookie press out so I opted to use the cookie recipe enclosed for and Italian Biscuit to be sure things would go smoothly.  I headed down and looked up the recipe conversions from grams and pounds to cups and was ready to roll.

Ingredients for Italian Biscuits (Cookies):

4 C. all purpose flour
1 C. + 2 T. sugar
1 C. melted and cooled butter
pinch of salt
4-6 T. milk
3 egg yolks
2 t. cocoa (optional)

Place the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl and whisk together.  Make a well in the center and beat the egg yolks adding the cooled melted butter and stir together with a fork.  Using your hands add the milk a few droplets at a time until the dough is formed and holds together.  Form into sausage like rolls about 1 1/2 -2 " wide to fit into the shaft of the cookie press.

Press the cookies through into desired shapes, sprinkle with sugars, and bake 12-15 minutes.  Cool and store in an airtight container.  Yield 6 dozen small cookies.

So away we went BUT ALAS after 2 pans of cookies the press LOCKED UP and would not budge!  A broken cookie press did not fit in my plan!  First I decided to forget it and put the dough away in the refrigerator.  Then I thought no I don't want to clean up the same mess twice.....So, (HELPFUL HINT) I poured decorative sugar in a paper plate and rolled each log until it was coated and just sliced them off and baked them.  All is well that ends well I guess!  They taste fine and while they are not as pretty as I had hoped they still have a bit of Christmas Spirit about them.

Christmas Baking!! Pecan Tarts start the cookie tray.

I have no idea where I got this recipe or when.  It seems like one I have made forever and is so faded I can barely read it.  But it is tried and true and I find them quite irresistible.  Truly you cannot eat just one, you really do want another!


I am starting my Christmas baking today with these and will double wrap and freeze each batch to thaw and serve when needed.

Ingredients for Pecan Tarts:

1 Cup soft butter
6 Oz. Cream cheese softened
2 C. flour

2 eggs
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 T. instant coffee (optional)
2 T. melted butter
1 t. vanilla
1/2 C. chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray miniature tart or cupcake pan lightly with baking spray.  Set aside.

Combine the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the flour and beat until well combined.  Gather the dough together with you hands or a large spoon to form a rough ball.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, coffee, butter, and vanilla  in a medium size bowl.

Form the dough into balls, about 1", rolling them in the palms of your hands.  Make an small indentation in the center of each with your thumb.  Place the roughly formed cup in the prepared pan.  HELPFUL HINT:  Use the end of the handle of a wooden spoon dipped in a little flour and insert it into the cup you have started to enlarge and deepen it.  This works better than anything I have ever found to form the tiny cups for the filling!

Place a half teaspoon of chopped pecans in the center of each tart and top with a teaspoon of the filling mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven then cool for 10 minutes.  Remove the tarts from the pan and cool on a rack or sheet of waxed paper until cold.  Store in a tightly closed container.  Yield 3 - 3 1/2 dozen tarts, depending on the size.

NOTE:   I also made a batch of Brownies from the "Homemade Brownie Mix" given on 10/15/12.  I omited the walnuts and added 1/2 C. Andes Green and Black mint baking chips.  These I baked in a 12 cup muffin pan sprayed with baking spray.  The chips dissapeared in the brownies and gave a wonderful and NOT overwhelming mint flavor to the brownie bites.  Yield 12.