Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

My first pregnancy craving and I am more than 30 weeks pregnant: I needed to make chocolate peppermint cupcakes today. And these did not disappoint. Inspired by Cooking Classy, I made a few tweaks and would not change a thing from the recipe below.

Servings: 24 cupcakes

Fresh 2/3 cup milk 2 eggs [...]

Cookie Cutter Fudge

This is a variation on classic fudge that I made this year to give to colleagues at the office for the holidays. After fudge set, I transferred to small clear bags and tied with ribbon as the gift packaging.

Servings: 12 cookie cutters (dependent on size of cutters)

Fresh 3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 [...]

Peanut Butter Fudge

Jim is bringing peanut butter fudge into the office as holiday gifts for his colleagues. We tried two different recipes, one with marshmallow creme and one without. The winning recipe is below (without marshmallow).

Servings: 18 muffin cups

Fresh 1 cup (2 sticks) butter

Pantry 1 cup creamy peanut butter 1 tsp. vanilla [...]

Egg Nog Cupcakes

This recipe required several attempts with a few tweaks to get right, but a was finally happy with the final product. The initial inspiration came from Stick, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy.

Servings: 24

Fresh 2 cups (4 sticks) butter, divided, softened 4 eggs, room temperature 2 cups eggnog, divided

Pantry 1-1/2 cups self-rising flour 1-1/4 cups [...]

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Gingerbread Cookies

My sister and I made these after my baby shower today. I’m going to tweak the recipe before posting. We love the concept, but a little too much cinnamon and a few other adjustments are needed.

Bourbon (or Rum) Balls

My holiday baking this year was minimal: Sugar Cookies and Peanut Blossoms. To supplement my lack of baking, my loving and generous mother sent a box of homemade goodies overnight mail – including these treats, which Jim quickly gobbled up.

Servings: 36

Pantry 2-1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafer cookies 1 cup plus 3 to [...]

Peanut Blossoms II

I scaled back my holiday baking this year, but I have to make Peanut Blossoms or it wouldn’t be the holidays in our house.

Servings: 48 cookies

Fresh 1 egg 2 Tbsp. milk

Pantry 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 [...]

Cranberry Relish II

For 2011 Thanksgiving I tried a little variation on the classic recipe using wine. The leftovers went into Cranberry Muffins the next day. This version differs from the classic Glen-Mor Restaurant Cranberry Relish, with larger cranberry pieces and a hint of Cabernet.

Servings: 6

Fresh 12 oz. cranberries 1 orange for zest

Pantry 3/4 to [...]

Halloween Sugar Cookies

Full disclosure: this is a recycled recipe. Halloween Sugar Cookies are the exact same as Holiday Sugar Cookies. But good recipes are worth repeating.

Servings: 24 cookies

Fresh 2 eggs 2 Tbsp. milk

Pantry 1 cup soft shortening ½ cup granulated sugar ½ cup brown sugar 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 2-¾ cups [...]

Sand Bakkel

In addition to the New England cookbook, I am working on a small Cookie Book filled with holiday treats – many are already posted on this site: Fudge, Tingalings, Sugar Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, Meltaways, and many others. As summer turns to fall, I am picking-up the Cookie Book project with a few final recipe [...]