Tuesday night meant a cookie fiasco. It came about mainly because I was in a grumpy mood. Even though I usually bake to get myself out of a funk, baking and an unhappy Dom do not mix. Oh yeah, that and Bejewelled Blitz. Now, now, don't laugh!! It's just too addicting to stop playing. So yeah, my original dark chocolate candy cane crackle cookies ended up burning because I spent too much time playing Bejewelled Blitz. Sigh.
After the BB baking debaucle, I didn't want the entire baking night to go to waste so I quickly whipped up a batch of these, which I knew would be a hit:
They're basically butter cookies rolled in sugar and then baked in the oven. I added a little bit of red food colouring this time so they took on a bit of a pink hue along with the white granulated and pink sanding sugar. These cookies turn out soft...just the way I like them.
They're incredibly buttery though so I kept these really small this time. In the past I've made these using instant coffee granuales instead of the sanding sugar. I also baked a batch and topped them with Hersey's Hugs (the Kisses that are white chocolate with milk chocolate stripes) and gave them to my co-workers with their Christmas cards, but I kept this batch for my mom who doensn't like chocolate. These are all that remained once it was photography time.
Lastly, I made a batch of raspberry oat bars for who else, Sean's parents.
I kind of miffed the measurements and made the crumble bit way out of proportion this time. I was also lacking in free time (baking on Christmas Eve is NOT a good idea) and rushed the toasted coconut process so these were a little crispier than I would have liked. I'm really going to have to go back and follow the original recipe to a tee one day to find out what they're really supposed to be like. It's been years since I followed the original one.
Sean's parents were presented with a bounty of my Christmas baking. They received the four peppermint cupcakes, along with the raspberry oat bars, individually-wrapped fudge and random Hershey's Kisses (mint truffle version). I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of their holiday treats tin! Oh well!
It was a good holiday baking time but unfortunately no time was left for cherry almond biscotti---boo! As for the rest of my baking list:
- dark chocolate candy cane crackles
(done but burned)- toffee crackle cookies
(store had no Skor bars, no time to run to Bulk Barn)- vanilla peppermint cupcakes with chocolate ganache and peppermint frosting
(done and a success)- raspberry oat bars
(done!)- apricot poppyseed thumbprint cookies
(no time left)- snickerdoodles/honeydoodles
(no time left)
Chocolate ganache laced with peppermint extract and a shot of chocolate liquor:
Cupcakes filled with chocolate ganache:
Frosted with peppermint frosting and topped with bittersweet chocolate shavings:
Close up:
Profiles:
Yummy:
Aerial:
Four standard-size cupcakes ready to be given away:
Profile:
Cross section:
I just ate half of the last regular-sized cupcake left and wow, totally awesome! But you most definitely must be a lover of mint in order to love these cupcakes. There's peppermint extract in all layer of these cupcakes: the cupcake itself, the chocolate ganache and the icing
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