Eggnog Thumbprints

Good morning! I hope you guys all had a lovely holiday weekend! Mine was packed full of stuff to do, and I am EXHAUSTED. Wouldn't change it one bit, though. =]

I ended up making 4 kinds of Christmas cookies this year, and baking from 9-9 on Friday to finish them all. Everyone loved them, and we've only got a few left of each to share with friends we didn't get a chance to see over the weekend.

These thumbprint cookies are SO GOOD if you're an eggnog lover like myself. I got the recipe from Allrecipes, but used another eggnog frosting recipe since the original had no actual eggnog in it.

Cookie dough. I've been so scatterbrained the past few days that I did not get a good step-by step for these cookies. I added a teaspoon of nutmeg to the dough for more eggnog flavor.

Dough rolled into 1-inch balls.

Since I have long fingernails, I indented the dough balls with the end of a thick-handled butterknife.

Right from the oven.

Frosted, waiting for the frosting to set up on my new 4-tiered platter set.

I topped them with little peppermint-flavored candy cane sprinkles.

Eggnog Thumbprints Recipe (from Allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together 3/4 cup butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture by hand to form a soft dough. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Make an indention in the center of each cookie using your finger or thumb.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.
4. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, and rum. Spoon rounded teaspoonfuls of filling onto cookies. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Let stand until set before storing in an airtight container.

Eggnog Frosting

• 1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch ground cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/4 c. eggnog
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the butter on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Add the powdered sugar and continue to mix until it is well incorporated. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until frosting is very airy and thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes. Use immediately to frost cookies or cupcakes, or store covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Buttered Rum Meltaways

This is the first of three types of cookies I'll be making to share with family this Christmas, though I may need to make another batch of these since they're so irresistable! The recipe is from Martha Stewart, and the pictures do not do these scrumptious cookies justice. It's times like these we need smell-o-vision to be a reality, since these cookies make your whole house smell like Christmas.

Flour, cornstarch, salt, and spices. 

Butter and confectioner's sugar.

Can't forget the rum! I had to have help from the liquor store clerk in picking this out. Glad he didn't let me go with the $15 bottle of Captain Morgan I was considering, since the cookies would have come out overspiced and I'd have nothing to do with the rest of the rum! 

The heavenly-scented cookie dough.

I forgot to take pictures of the dough in log form, but here it is after being partially frozen and cut into cookies. I thought they would spread for some reason, but you'll see in the next photo that they definitely don't.

Fresh from the oven. Cool for 10 minutes, then toss in a ziploc bag with the remaining confectioner's sugar.

Buttered Rum Meltaways (from Martha Stewart)


INGREDIENTS

Makes about 4 dozen.

• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Whisk flour, cornstarch, spices, and salt in a bowl. Put butter and 1/3 cup sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in rum and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix in flour mixture.
2. Divide dough in half. Place each on a piece of parchment paper; shape dough into logs. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 1 1/4-inch log. Wrap in parchment. Chill in freezer 30 minutes (up to 1 month).
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap logs. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; space 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until just golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool 10 minutes. Gently toss warm cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Cookies can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 2 weeks.

Facebook!

Yup, I finally went ahead and made a Facebook page for this thing. I'll keep the random updates to the Facebook page's wall so it doesn't get so cluttered here. Go ahead and take a gander!

Mini Sweet Potato Pies

I made these little pies for Thanksgiving, which lets you know how behind I am with my posts haha. Another recipe from Allrecipes, though I added the toasted mini marshmallows on top, because what sweet potato pie is complete without marshmallows?

Rather than peel and chop whole sweet potatoes, I grabbed a bag of sweet potato fries at the store and chopped them up. Saved me a lot of time. 

Draining the potatoes

Mashing the potatoes with a fork since I don't own a potato masher.

Yep, totally used store-bought pie crusts too.

I used a circle cookie cutter to cut the crusts out

I then pressed them into the mini cupcake pan with the end of a small rounded bottle since I've got long fingernails.

Mixed up the filling ingredients in my blender.

Ready to go into the oven. I put a tablespoon of filling into each shell. 

Fresh from the oven. Yum yum. 

I then put some mini marshmallows on top of each and toasted them in the oven until golden. 

They were half gone halfway through dinner. Definitely a keeper recipe.

Mini Sweet Potato Pies (from Allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 (9 inch) refrigerated pie crust
• 3/4 cup evaporated skim milk
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 cup halved cranberries (optional)

Directions

1. Place the sweet potato in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until fork tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and mash with a fork or potato masher.
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Divide the pie crust into 24 small balls. Press them into the cups of two 12 cup mini muffin pans to make tartlet shells. Set aside.
3. Spoon the sweet potato into a blender or food processor, and add the evaporated milk, egg whites, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Puree until smooth. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of this mixture into each tart shell.
4. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into one of the tarts comes out clean. Cool in the pans over a wire rack. Garnish each tart with a cranberry half before serving.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 69 | Total Fat: 2.5g | Cholesterol: < 1mg

Chocolate Espresso Mini Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream

These were made for my mom's Marketing class. She's been working on a group project of developing a marketing plan for my imaginary cupcake business (which will not come to fruition until I at least get some business classes and cake decorating classes under my belt, so don't get too excited), and asked for something to sample during their presentation. So, I made mini chocolate espresso cupcakes with mocha buttercream, and topped them all with a chocolate-covered espresso bean. They were a hit.

I got both the cake and frosting recipes from Allrecipes.com.

My KitchenAid mixing up the batter like a champ

This recipe makes a TON of minis. Filled up two pie carriers and my two-dozen mini cupcake carrier, with a few to spare for David to take to work.

Chocolate Mocha Cake I Recipe (from Allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
• 1 cup hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9 inch round cake pans. (I of course used mini cupcake pans and liners, adjust the baking time to about 10 minutes per pan)
2. Measure flour, sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs, buttermilk, baking powder, soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water, and add to mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes until smooth; batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 318 | Total Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 36mg

Coffee Butter Frosting (from Allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 tablespoon strong brewed coffee (I used two tablespoons for stronger flavor)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together the confectioners sugar and cocoa powder. In another bowl, beat the butter until creamy, gradually beat in the sugar mixture, being sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl, occasionally. Finally stir in the coffee, and beat until smooth.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 105 | Total Fat: 5.2g | Cholesterol: 14mg