Snickerdoodles for Santa

"SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM!"
Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope Santa brought you and yours everything you wished for!!  I also hope you left Santa some warm cinnamony Snickerdoodles to keep him full throughout his night!

Santa Sized Snickerdoodles
Recipe from Carol Cotner Thompson

Yield:38-40 big cookies

4 1/2 C. flour
4 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
½ lb. butter
1 C. veg. shortening
3 C. sugar
4 eggs,room temp.
1 T. vanilla


1 c. sugar

2 T. cinnamon

Combine and sift dry ingredients
Cream butter, shortening & sugar. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla.
Gently add flour mixture.
Roll golf ball size dough balls in sugar cinnamon mixture. Bake at 350 for 14 minutes.
*dough can be refrigerated up to 48 hours before baking.

Holiday Treats

This year, some friends of mine had the annual "Ugly Christmas Sweater" party.  Ugly Christmas Sweaters... when did you become a thing?  Although enjoyable, I think these sweaters are best when they have tangible decorations on them like extra fuzzy mittens, actual beads as garlands on the christmas tree, or little bells on the reindeer's antlers.  oooo! Our group this year only had a few good sweaters, but I personally think we played enough embarassing charade like games to make up for the lack of embarassment in our clothing. 

Anyway, Christmas party!  I took it as a perfect excuse to make a massive amount of paper snowflakes and an unhealthy amount of holiday treats!  Those that made the list this year?  A revisit to Oreo Truffles, Chocolate Fudge, and get this... Maple Bacon Kettle Corn!!!!! 

For the Oreo Truffles, I made them the same as before, but for half the batch I used Mint Oreos and added a little Peppermint extract to both the oreo mixture and the melted chocolate.  The regular ones I sprinkled with some rainbow sprinkes, and the mint ones with crushed candy canes. 

 

I love a good fudge.  Who doesn't?  It really doesn't come around often enough.  I used a Max Brenner recipe for Sweet Dreams Chocolate Fudge Candy.  I poured some of it in heart shaped Ice Trays and got heart shaped fudge!

And the star... Maple Bacon Kettle Corn.

First of all, Kettle Corn is a beautiful thing.  Get me a bag from the farmers market and I'll probably eat the giant size in one sitting.  I'd do as my mother taught me:  put some in a cup so I don't eat too much.  But with Kettle Corn, I just keep filling that dang cup up, no questions asked, and definitely no shame... at least until I realize it's all gone.  This story is all too familiar...
BUT cook the kettle corn in bacon fat?  Add some crispy bacon drizzled in maple syrup?  Bacon + Kettle Corn? ....I die. 

 

The pictures don't do it justice.  But believe me, this kettle corn is definitely holiday party worthy.  Turns out popcorn plus bacon is a winning combination.  I found this recipe on Joy the Baker who I've started to fall completely in love with.

Happy Holidays!

Scones: Two Ways

  

Scones make me think of Tea Time.  Of England.  Of fancy things and hats. 

I have cousins who have british accents.  One of them lives in London, so I guess that makes sense.  But both were raised in San Diego and one still lives there!  How does that happen?  I listen to them and wish that I could sound cute and British like they do.  Maybe I'll have to move to the UK and just practice, and then never lose it.  Oh and also meet my future husband, and wear tartan coats, and take a stroll on Primrose Hill.  Oh wouldn't it be lovely?

During college, my roommates and I used to speak in our "British accents" on a normal basis.  These accents were less than lovely and usually we sounded like something closer to Rose from the Golden Girls or a 3 year old child wondering where her scottie dog was.  Plus our conversations usually were centered around things like Taco Bell or what kind of 2 buck chuck we wanted to buy that night.  Anyway, if I could go back, I think I'd like to have a tea party with all of my roommates and our bad accents.  A tea party complete with scones.  Delicious Blueberry Lemon Scones and Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze.  But honestly, I think if we had a real tea party and spoke only in our accents, we would be in tears of laughter in no time.

As inspiration for your own tea party, make these scones!  I made them for a going away brunch at work, but the blueberry ones have been a staple in my brunch baking in the past.  The pumpkin ones were new this fall, and I made up a maple cinnamon glaze to sweeten them up a bit. 

The trick to scones is not to overmix them. Some scones can be tough and hard, but both of these recipes are really tender.  You want to keep your butter cold and incorporate it quickly.  If the butter doesn't get overworked, your scones will be nice and flaky!

Would you fancy some Earl Grey Tea with your scone? Right-O. These are just the dog's bollocks! Cheerio!