Merry Christmas!

Even a small star shines in the darkness. . .

Happy Winter Solstice!

How far that little candle throws his beams!
~William Shakespeare

Tah Dah! Christmas Cookie 2013!

Chocolate Sugar Cookie!

I found this in the April/May 2013 Cook's Country magazine, page 23.  Well worth the extra steps and effort!

CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES - Modified 

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup (2 1/3 oz) granulated sugar
 -- I always mark a line underneath this, as it is not included in the cookie dough, but the cookies are rolled in it.  Actually though, I used Wilton Sparkling Sugar (Super Target carries it) and India Tree Sparkling Sugar in Red (Found at Central Market)

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (8 1/8 oz) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder*
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided - 10, 4
1 3/4 cups packed (12 1/4 oz) brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, plus 1 large yolk

Parchment paper

Notes:  

I veered away from the original instructions in that I made the cookies smaller (1" gum ball sized versus a 2 tablespoon hunk of dough -- plus you get more!) and I also refrigerated the dough for at least two hours or overnight to make it easier and less messy to work with.  I experimented with different sugars - the granulated white sugar seemed to disappear into the cookie after it baked.  I did use a light green colored sugar on one batch and that  was a nice touch, too.  But I liked the coarser and bigger white and red sanding/sparkling sugars instead.

Since Cook's Country is really a scientific-y kind of recipe-tested magazine, I decided to weigh the flour, cocoa powder and brown sugar instead of using measuring cups.  Remember when the older Burda's had recipes and the ingredients were in Metric?  When I showed it to my German-speaking friend, she said baking by using weight measure would usually give a better result.  I think I proved it right!

DIRECTIONS:

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder in Kitchen Aid mixing bowl.

Microwave 10 tablespoons of butter, covered in a large bowl until melted, about 1 minute.  Remove from microwave and stir in remaining 4 tablespoons butter until melted.  Allow butter to cool to 90-95 degrees, about 5 minutes.

Whisk brown sugar, vanilla and salt into butter until no lumps remain, scraping down bowl as needed.  

Whisk in egg and yolk until smooth.  

Add all to mixer and mix until combined.  Chill for two hours or overnight.

Using a little at a time, keeping the dough refrigerated in between, roll into 1" gum ball sized balls.  Roll in sugar.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets.  Flatten with with the bottom of a drinking glass.  Add a little more sugar (red) to the center, if desired.  Bake for 6 minutes, rotate cookie sheets from upper to lower racks, and then bake for an additional 6 minutes.  

Let cool and enjoy!

By making the cookies smaller, you can get at least 5 to 5 1/2 dozen cookies.  Perfect for cookie exchange parties!   They also freeze well.

*I found this at Costco - only $6.99!  Rodelle Baking Cocoa  I gave it a try, figuring Costco usually carries "the good stuff," even if I had never heard of it before.  And I was right!  The color and the scent are so much deeper and stronger than Hershey's -- I went back and bought another!

Poinsettia Post

December 11 -- So it begins!
It has been unusually cold and overcast here and predicted to stay that way through Christmas.  It may just give these guys the color push.

Santa's Workshop Wednesday Work in Progress

I can't post the final picture until they have all been received, but I will!  Can you guess what they are?

Times 16. . .

Fabric combination

Wednesday Work In Progress

Portable Snowman!

Disclaimer - No actual snowmen were harmed in the making of these water bottles : )

How cute is this!?  And I am sharing the link to make these cute labels, courtesy of my sister and her website.

Perfect for school parties, get togethers and even toting around for yourself during the holidays.  She's even using this design for another clever upcoming project, so be sure to check back to her blog.

Here's some of her tips for best results:

- Make sure your printer has the option to "print to edge of paper" or something to that effect.  On my printer, it is one of the effects for printing photographs.

- Use regular printer paper NOT cardstock.  Cardstock will make the labels pop open like Santa's buttons after too many cookies!

- Use the thin dark blue lines as cutting guides.  There will be extra to slice off on the last label.

- Use Sticky Strip to fasten them on.

Have fun!