Eggnog Snickerdoodles + Tree Trimming

Admittedly, we finished decorating our Christmas tree a bit later than I would have liked. Usually we get our tree the weekend following Thanksgiving and decorate it that very same weekend, leaving a nice, long stretch of tree enjoyment for the season.

{I heart Christmas tree shopping!}

But this year, since the weekend after Thanksgiving fell SO early, we decided to wait until this past weekend to get our tree (so that it would last until Christmas!) and just finished decorating it last night. We always get our tree from the 14th Street Garden Center in Jersey City and have always gotten a beautiful, full Frasier Fir. Strong branches with light blue on the underside of the branches - we always fall head over heels for our tree!

Shaun and I tag-teamed the lights and the ornaments, which made for a nice, easy decorating session (followed by some seriously swollen feet for me!). Unfortunately we still do not have a proper tree-topper, but it's been tough to find one that we like. Someday, perhaps, we will find a good one!

So holiday cookie week continues over here and today I'm seriously crushing on these Eggnog Snickerdoodles. My sister Kim started making these many years ago and quickly became a necessary part of our holiday cookie tray. I'm not particularly turned on by snickerdoodles, but the eggnog flavor combined with the crispy edges and soft center makes these a true holiday treasure that I look forward to each holiday.

A bit of rum and brandy extract along with a hint of nutmeg take these ordinary snickerdoodles right over the top. Oh and the pretty red and green sprinkles are just the ticket to pretty Christmasy-ness.

Eggnog Snickerdoodles

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

1 C butter, softened

1/2 tsp. rum extract

1/2 tsp brandy extract

2 eggs

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 C colored sugar (we used both red and green)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and butter together until fluffy. Beat in the extracts and eggs. Slowly add in the flour and mix until completely combined.

Move the mixing bowl to the fridge and chill for 20 minutes.

Combine the colored sugar and nutmeg in a small bowl (we used one bowl for red and one for green sugar sprinkles). Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, place on a parchment or silicon mat-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Note: these cookies will expand significantly, so don't overload your pan! Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

We packed these up for upcoming holiday parties, but I so wish I had some for breakfast this morning. I think they'd be perfect with some coffee, no?

Do you like eggnog? Snickerdoodles? 

What are the most fun holiday flavor combinations you've ever had in a cookie?

Holiday Cookie Week: Salted Caramel Shortbread (and a sweet surprise!)

This morning I awoke to a Tweet from my good bloggy friend, Lindsay who writes The Lean Green Bean.

Um...what??!! I was so wonderfully surprised to find that some of my best blog ladies have put together an amazing virtual baby shower for me today and I'm just overwhelmed. My favorite thing about blogging has been the incredible community of people, all of whom are so encouraging, so genuine and though I've never even met some of them in person, such great friends who I look forward to reading about and interacting with every day! So thank you, amazing, wonderful, glorious ladies for making me feel super loved today :) And I cannot wait to make all of these recipes! Yowza!

Here are the posts - be sure to head over and check them out!:

Baby Shower Chocolate Clusters from Keep It Sweet Desserts

Candy Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookie Bars from The Lean Green Bean

Garlic Mini Monkey Bread from Yums and Loves

 [Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple-Marshmallow Filling ] from Eats Well with Others

Thanks again girls! Hopefully we will all get to meet someday :) And a super duper special thanks to Lauren @ Keep It Sweet Desserts for hosting and organizing this; Lauren was my very first blog friend and the first whom I've actually met in person...Lauren, you rock!!

Meanwhile, my glorious Holiday Cookie Week continues and today I'm featuring these pretty little salted caramel shortbread cookies that we whipped up on Sunday during our annual holiday bakeathon at my mom's. We had tried these for the first time last year and we knew immediately that these would need to be added to our permanent collection.

 

The buttery shortbread is mostly crisp with just a hint of softness in the middle. They are then topped with smooth, sultry melted caramels, drizzled with melted chocolate and sprinkled with coarse sea salt. Can you imagine anything better?!

Admittedly, they are a little more labor intensive since the dough requires being rolled out and cookie cuttered into rounds. Is it me or is that whole thing just a bit intimidating? But I promise you, these sweet and salty shortbread cookies are so, so worth it!

 

Salted Caramel Shortbread Cookies

*Adapted from Betty Crocker

1 1/2 C + 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened (divided)

3/4 C granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 (14oz.) bag caramels, unwrapped

2 Tbsp milk

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 tsp coarse sea salt 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the 1 1/2 C butter on high until creamy. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until completely combined. With the mixer on low, beat in the flour. 

Divide the dough in half and place one half in between two sheets of wax paper. Roll the dough into 1/4" thickness. Using a 2 1/2" cookie cutter, cut out circles and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2" apart. Roll out any scraps and repeat. Repeat with second half of dough.

Bake 12 - 14 minutes or until set and just golden. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

Meanwhile, in a microwavable bowl, melt the caramels and milk for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Stir the caramel mixture every 30 seconds until softed, melted and spreadable. Spread on the cookies.

In another microwavable bowl, melt the chocolate and butter for 1 minute and 30 seconds, stopping to stir the mixture every 30 seconds. Drizzle the chocolate over the caramel and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

Eat immediately!...errr, I mean, save them for Christmas or other fun holiday celebration ;)

Holiday Cookie Week: Double Cherry Cordial Kisses

So this whole pregnancy thing is kind of weird. Sometimes, I get super duper tired to where I almost feel like I'll be sick or die {I swear I'm only a little dramatic} if I don't go to sleep immediately. I could be in the middle of a project or a conversation when the sleepiness hits, and I just run to the bedroom, crawl under the covers and pass out. But then my body decides to do something weird. Like when after a full day of baking in my mom's kitchen, I hold out until 10pm to go to sleep and I awake at 4:15AM ready to rock and roll for the day (and Baby H agrees). So yes, friends...I've been up since 4:15 this morning and feel incredibly unproductive because I spent over an hour trying to fall back to sleep and then inevitably, once I do...my morning alarm is blaring.

So yeah.

Anyway.

Yesterday was our Annual Holiday Cookiepalooza at my mom's house! My mom, my sister Kim, my cousin Veronica and I spent the entire day baking somewhere in the range of 500 cookies for the holidays.

We set up all over my mom's kitchen (luckily it's very spacious) and baked our butts off. With 10 different kinds of cookies in the mix, I thought it would be fun to share a different recipe each day this week on the blog. There's plenty of time before Christmas to make any of these amazing cookies, and each one is a staple in our holiday celebrations...I couldn't imagine Christmas without them!

The batch that I got started on first yesterday morning were the classic cherry kisses. Pretty pink shortbread dotted with chopped cherries and topped with a Hershey kiss. But not just any Hershey kiss...a cherry cordial Hershey kiss! This extra special addition really takes these cookies over the top. These cookies turn out to be a not-too-sweet shortbread with just a hint of sweetness from the chopped cherries and a burst of chocolately cherry sweetness from the cherry Hershey kisses.  Oh and did I mention how I really just love how pretty they turn out? So sweet and pink (a color that I love even more this year!) and just scream Christmas to me.

Double Cherry Cordial Kisses

1 C butter, softened
1 C confectioners' sugar
4 tsp maraschino cherry juice
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 C maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
48 cherry cordial Hershey kisses, unwrapped & chilled

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add in the confectioners' sugar, cherry juice and almond extract and beat to combine completely. Gradually add in the flour and salt. Stir in the chopped cherries.

Roll into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and flatten slightly with the bottom of a measuring cup or small glass. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes. 

Meanwhile, unwrap the Hershey kisses, place in a bowl and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. When the cookies come out of the oven and are still hot, place a Hershey kiss lightly but firmly into each cookie. The Kisses will melt slightly, but they will adhere to the cookie. Let cool completely.

Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

Try not to devour them all at once!

It's tough, though.

I hope you enjoy cookie week - I have lots more delicious treats coming your way! 

What are your favorite or most traditional holiday treats?