Tis The Season For Decoration

I love everything about the holiday season. I'm sure most of you do as well. When Christmas time rolls around I love to take part in as many Christmas related activities as possible, it only comes once a year after all. I love decorating the tree, putting up lights, listening to Christmas music, and of course, holiday baking. I am always the one in charge of the holiday themed treats in my household. Each year I have some traditional treats that I make every year, but I also like to make something new each year. After doing this for 13 years, it can be a bit of a challenge to find new holiday oriented desserts. I find that my best plan of attack to find a new treat is to look at the inspiration around me.

One such inspiration came from looking at my Christmas tree. I decided to make a treat that resembled it. I cam across a recipe for how to make Rice Krispies Treat Christmas trees. It was a huge hit at my holiday parties, so I wanted to share that recipe with you.

You begin your Christmas tree process with the original Rice Krispies Treat recipe found on their website here. In addition to this recipe you will want to add drops of green food coloring into the pot until the Rice Krispies turn the color green you want. Then instead of putting them in the conventional glass pan, shape them into tree-like figures. Take the tree figures and place each one on a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Then decorate them with little sprinkles to look like ornaments.

This is what the finished trees should look like:

Another great holiday treat is gingerbread cookies. I love decorating gingerbread cookies and you can find a great article about them on my website at  http://bakeeasyco2.webs.com/christmas-spirit-2

When decorating gingerbread men and houses, I love to turn to the internet to find interesting ways to use candy in decorations. Here are a few of my favorite gingerbread houses that I have gotten inspiration from.

1. http://onwardstate.com/2008/12/16/nittany-lion-inn-gingerbread-house/
2. http://www.toptenz.net/10-gingerbread-houses.php
3. http://weburbanist.com/2009/12/16/32-astounding-architectural-designs-of-gingerbread-houses/
4. http://crazyhorsesghost.hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Build-A-Simple-But-Beautiful-Gingerbread-House
5. http://judyscakes.blogspot.com/2012/12/vote-for-my-gingerbread-house.html
6. http://www.selfishgiving.com/capplause/5-holiday-cause-promotions-top-christmas-list
7. http://sweetteasunshine.blogspot.com/2011/12/thursday-13-gingerbread-houses-galore.html
8. http://www.examiner.com/article/amazing-gingerbread-houses-you-have-to-see-to-believe
9. http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/over-the-top-gingerbread-houses
10. http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/crossculturaldesserts/ig/Gingerbread-House-Gallery/gingerbreadMOW.htm
11. http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/new/gb-picts/gbhouse-picts.htm
12. http://rollingout.com/photos/gingerbread-houses-castles-and-mansion-designs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gingerbread-houses-castles-and-mansion-designs
13. http://www.gingerbread-house-heaven.com/pictures-of-gingerbread-houses.html
14. http://www.grinningcheektocheek.com/awesome-gingerbread-houses

For more Christmas recipes, check out my website at http://bakeeasyco2.webs.com

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies For The Family

When it comes to Christmas there are many things I love. I love the music, putting up the tree, and exchanging presents; but the thing I love the most is having the family come together to decorate Christmas cookies. Every year my siblings and I bake way too many sugar cookies and spend hours with red and green frosting all over our hands trying to decorate them all. We always have such a blast when we do this and that is why it has become tradition in our household. It’s just a really great way to spend time together, especially since my brother got married last year and we don’t see him as often. So now he brings his wife with and we have even more fun.

So if you want to help bring your family together this Christmas, why not try decorating cookies?

Here’s the recipe we use for the cookies and frosting:

 

Cookies:

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

2 eggs

11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high spend until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs and vanilla mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating just until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

Generously flour a clean work surface. Gently roll chilled dough about ¼-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters, working quickly enough so the dough remains chilled. If the dough gets too soft, refrigerate on a lined baking sheet until firm again, about 30 minutes. Transfer cut cookies to un-greased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. Refrigerate the formed cookies for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325° F. Bake the cookies until the bottoms are golden, about 12-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool.

Now it’s time to decorate!

Frosting:

Ingredients:

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Food coloring

Directions:

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Separate your frosting in equal amounts into the same number of bowls for the same amount of colors you intend to have. For example, if you are planning to do 5 colors separate your frosting into 5 bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring into each bowl and mix until you get your desired colors.

 

Then use that frosting to decorate your cookies however you want and enjoy the time you spend with your family!