Spiced Caramel Apple Cider Doodles

 I really wanted to combine caramel and spiced apple cider into a cookie. I could get the spice and the caramel but the apple part was eluding me. So how would I get that intense apple cider flavor I wanted? Boil down some of our hand-pressed cider into a dark, syrupy goodness. Then combine it with butter, sugar and cream and make caramel. Place on top of a mulling spice snickerdoodle. Yup. That's it...

I used the Smitten Kitchen recipe HERE but only make a half batch for this recipe with a couple of changes.

First... make the snickerdoodles.

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp soda

1/4 tsp salt

***************************

1/4 cup sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves & allspice

Heat oven to 400.

Mix butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Blend flour, cream of tartar, salt, and soda. Stir into butter mixture. Mix well. Shape dough into 1” balls and roll in spiced sugar mixture.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. Before removing from pan and while still warm, press an indentation in the top of each cookie. I used my wooden tart shaper from Pampered Chef, but you can be creative.

Then remove and let cool on wire rack. (the cookies in the picture aren't the ones I used for these cookies, so no indentation for caramel... 😊)

Now to make the caramel. And this takes a while. Oh, and prep all your ingredients while you're reducing your cider. You won't have time later...

Reduce 2 cups of cider to 1/4 cup. 

You can't use just any cider for this. It needs to be the real stuff. Not the one you get at the grocery store. This needs to be hand pressed with the sludge at the bottom. Look at your local natural grocer or farmer's market.

Pour 2 cups of cider into a heavy saucepan and turn on a fairly high heat. Not your highest setting but close. And then just let it boil, hard. Stir it every once in a while. This is going to take a bit of time. Like maybe a half an hour. When it starts to get foamy, you know it's getting close. So keep an eye on it, it goes much quicker at this point. Have a heatproof measuring cup for liquids nearby so you can check your amount. 

Ingredients to prep while reducing cider:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix together in small bowl.

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

scant 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Mix in small bowl

3 Tablespoons of heavy cream

Pour into small glass

4 Tablespoons margarine (I don't use butter because it makes a stickier caramel and I hate caramel that sticks in your teeth)

Cut the margarine into smaller cubes

When your cider is down to 1/4 cup, immediately pour it back into your saucepan and remove from the heat. Stir in sugars, margarine and cream (in that order) and stir until margarine melts. 

Place back on burner and reduce heat just a bit (still med-high). Put a candy thermometer into the pan. Bring the mixture up to 252 degrees that can't be stirred down, while stirring constantly. You don't want it to burn. 😬

Stir in cinnamon and salt.

Carefully pour the caramel into a bowl and stir until it cools and begins to thicken a bit. 

Then carefully fill the centers of the cookies with the caramel. 

Let cool completely before eating. 

Roca Blondies

We are lucky enough to live only about 2 hours from the Almond Roca factory and their factory outlet store in Fife! I am lucky enough that a friend just happened to mention the store on FB a few weeks ago. I am super lucky enough that we got to go to my BIL’s wedding in Tacoma a couple of weeks ago and make a stop at the store on the way. I am extraordinarily lucky that my sweet hubby let me spend way more money than I should have on Roca candy!!! :o)

One of the treats I brought home was a bag of broken up Almond Roca pieces for cooking.

The first thing I tried was making blondies with some of them stirred in… Jackpot!!!

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on some smashed up Almond Roca, give these a whirl…

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Almond Roca pieces

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9” square baking pan.

Melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix in flour and salt. Fold in Almond Roca pieces.

Spread into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes or until set and golden brown.

Cool on wire rack.

Cranberry Fruit Gels

This is the latest chapter in my candy making obsession… I mostly just think about making candy but since I have perfected my fudge and caramels, I am now turning my attention to gumdrops. I wouldn’t called these gumdrops exactly, but they are pretty tasty! Next time I’m gonna try more fruit juice and then experiment with different flavors…

Mix in small bowl:

4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin

2 ounces cranberry juice concentrate, thawed

3 ounces cold water

Let this stand while you boil your syrup. This will get very thick! Don’t worry, it will be just fine!

Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat:

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

Bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and add thickened juice mixture. Don’t worry about the chunks, they’ll melt as you stir them into the hot syrup.

Pour them into a pan lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick baking spray.

Chill in fridge at least overnight. The longer they chill the better!

I didn’t get any pictures of this part. :o(

Lay a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Sprinkle liberally with sugar. Peel the gelled candy off the foil and onto the sugared paper. Sprinkle the top with sugar, too.

Now cut out your candies with a knife, small cookie cutter or pizza cutter into desired size and shapes.

Sprinkle them with sugar on all sides to prevent sticking.

Place back in fridge.

Chill them up to 2-3 days more before serving.

Peppermint Marshmallow Hearts

What’s better than a fluffy homemade marshmallow??? A tiny pink heart-shaped peppermint homemade marshmallow dipped in dark chocolate!

Combine in stand mixer bowl:

3 packets of unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 1/2 tsp vanilla or other extract of your choice

It gets thick immediately

Combine in medium saucepan:

2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup boiling water

1/8 tsp salt

Cook on medium high heat until candy thermometer reads 236. Stir occasionally. (It took about 10 minutes) Add 3 drops of red food coloring.

Remove saucepan from heat and pour into gelatin mixture in mixer bowl.

Beat with whisk attachment on medium high speed until the consistency of thick marshmallow cream. It should form peaks in bowl. (It took me about 15 minutes) Start mixer slowly after adding sugar syrup. It’s HOT and you don’t want it to splash!

Pour into a well-greased and powdered-sugared baking dish.

Let sit in fridge or at room temperature until set.

Remove from pan and cut into heart shapes with small cookie cutter.

Dust well with more sifted powdered sugar until no longer sticky. (It takes quite a bit of powdered sugar)

Shake off excess sugar and store in air tight container.

Make a chocolate dip by melting 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon shortening in the microwave for 60-90 seconds.

Dip or drizzle marshmallows into the chocolate. Or just enjoy them plain in a cup of hot cocoa!

Must Have Christmas Treats

The week before Thanksgiving is a frantic rush of trying to get all of the Christmas baking done and in the freezer before Black Friday! All the cookies have to be ready to eat by Saturday, so we can read the Christmas story by candlelight and enjoy hot cocoa and Christmas cookies. The tradition just doesn’t work without the cookies… Not to mention the ease of holiday entertaining with a freezer full of treats ready to pull out in a moment’s notice!

Some are yearly traditions, every year we try a couple of new recipes; some stay and some go. Here is a list of this year’s stash of Christmas treats. Just click on their name to go to the recipe.

From left to right:

Chocolate-dipped chocolate chip: These are my hubby’s all-time favorite dessert! We HAVE to make these!

Cookie Stamp Cookies: I made the stamp by hand while pregnant with our middle son and are fun to make with the kids. This is a fun and sentimental must-have!

  Mint Meltaway Brownies: These chocolate-mint brownies are making their first Christmas appearance but may become a regular… Just make the recipe for my brownies using peppermint extract in place of the vanilla, stir in about 3/4 cup of Ande’s mint baking chips, and top with a swirl of green candy melts. Super easy!

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread: Every cookie tray should have an old family recipe and this one is it! It is my Great-Grandma Miller’s recipe and is the ideal blend of cranberry and orange!

Top tier:

See’s Fudge: Easiest best fudge ever! ‘Nuff said!

Petticoat Tails: I haven’t made these for Christmas in a few years. This year I divided the dough into thirds, dyed two red and green. Rolled them flat, stacked them up, rolled them again before chilling and slicing. I like the way they look on a Christmas plate!

Mexican Wedding Cakes:Also known as Russian Teacakes, these were a yearly tradition growing up and will be for my kids, too!

Bottom tier:

Gingerbread: Because it just isn’t Christmas without gingerbread!

Orange biscotti: Dip these in hot cocoa and you’ll know why we make them every year! Chocolate and orange, FANTASTIC!

Egg nog logs: These became a new tradition last year. A truly spectacular cookie with a cup of coffee (or without)!

This Butter Almond Toffee will probably become yet another Christmas staple!

I don’t have a picture, but no cup of Christmas hot cocoa should be without a homemade peppermint marshmallow!!!    It’s like eating a fluffy minty cloud! They aren’t as hard as they seem… give ‘em a try. You won’t be sorry!

Well, that wraps up our Christmas line-up. What’s on your Christmas must-have treat list???

Peanut Butter Fudge

I got this recipe from my friend Annalise’s blog (you can also see the link on the right). I made it once, loved it so much that I had to make it again. Especially when I was blessed with a quart jar of dark chocolate ganache from my dear friend Betsy!

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

5 large marshmallows

Bring to a boil over medium heat in a heavy saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the marshmallows melt. Stir often.

Remove from heat and stir in:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

Spread into foiled and buttered 8” pan.

While fudge cools in fridge, prepare the ganache.

Heat 1/2 cup heavy cream in a saucepan until just simmering. Pour over 1 cup chocolate chips and let sit 1-2 minutes. Stir until smooth and glossy. (If you need to, you can microwave them for 15 seconds to smooth them out)

Remove fudge from fridge and smooth ganache on top.

Chill for 1-2 hours or until ganache is set.

Remove from pan and cut into small squares. Store in fridge for up to 1 week.

Easy Truffles

A friend inquired about a truffle recipe yesterday hoping that I had one that used cream cheese, powdered sugar and chocolate chips. Unfortunately I did not have a recipe. But I did a bit of searching, made a batch this afternoon with a few minor tweaks, and now I do…

6oz softened cream cheese

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

4 oz bittersweet baking chocolate

1 square of unsweetened baking chocolate (optional)

2 Tbsp heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in powdered sugar. Melt chocolate in microwave until smooth and glossy. Stir in vanilla. Stir in heavy cream (chocolate will thicken). Mix chocolate into sugar/cream cheese using electric mixer.

Chill at least 1 hour until firm. Quickly roll into balls and then roll in desired coatings. Coconut, chopped nuts, cocoa powder, crushed candy canes all make good coatings. Y0u can also experiment with different extracts and stir-ins.

Store in fridge.

Oreo Cheesecake Truffles

I got this recipe last year from my friend Maria on Facebook but finally made them this year. They are super easy and super rich and even yummier when frozen. Nuts! Now how am I supposed to make them last???

A friend and I made these this week with peppermint and peanut butter Oreos. The mint ones were not quite minty enough, I would probably throw in some peppermint extract. The peanut butter ones were really good all on their own!!!

Here’s all you need to make ‘em…

First crush one package of Oreos (not Double Stuf) in your food processor into fine crumbs.

Then add all the crumbs to one softened package of cream cheese. Mix until completely combined.

Chill the dough for at least an hour. Remove and roll into small 1” balls. Place back in fridge for at least an hour.

Dip balls into melted chocolate (or white chocolate). Chill until firm. Keep in fridge or freeze for longer storage.

Christmas Baking

I always do my Christmas baking the week before Thanksgiving. That way we can enjoy our tradition of eating Christmas cookies and reading the Christmas story from Luke in the candle/tree light the day after Thanksgiving. It also makes holiday parties and entertaining WAY less stressful and WAY more enjoyable! And they freeze up great and are always ready (even last minute)!

We have the ones we make every year and then we try to add a new one every year, too. Here’s the list along with the links to the recipes…

#1- Thumbprints: These cookies remind me of my grandma and is a great way to use that mint jelly I made.

#2- Orange Biscotti: Dipped or drizzled with dark chocolate, these are the best dunked in a cup of coffee or cocoa!

#3- Gingerbread: The boys always help decorate these and they turn out different every year.

#4- Mexican Wedding Cakes:  We called these Russian Teacakes growing up.

#5- Chocolate-dipped chocolate chip:  Chris’ favorite cookies are chocolate chip. So I make these just for him… Well, he does have to share. :o)

#6- Cookie stamp cookies:  I took a class and made these cookie stamps when I was pregnant with Andy and we’ve used them every year since.

#7- Cranberry orange nut bread: This was my great grandma’s recipe and it is delicious and a holiday must!

  #8- See’s Fudge:  This is foolproof recipe that is so good either plain or with mini marshmallows (nuts optional).

#9- Eggnog Cookie Logs:  This is the new one for this year. My friend Annalise posted it on her blog and we’re going to try it!

Marshmallows

These are possibly the very best thing I have ever made! I adore them! They are just like eating sugary, puffy clouds. And they are so easy! Thank you so much to my friend Betsy for giving me this recipe! I will NEVER buy marshmallows again…

Next time I am making orange marshmallows and dusting them with cocoa and powdered sugar!!!

Combine in stand mixer bowl:

3 packets of unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 1/2 tsp vanilla or other extract of your choice

It gets thick immediately

Combine in medium saucepan:

2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup boiling water

1/8 tsp salt

Cook on medium high heat until candy thermometer reads 236. Stir occasionally. (It took about 10 minutes)

Remove saucepan from heat and pour into gelatin mixture in mixer bowl.

Beat with whisk attachment on medium high speed until the consistency of thick marshmallow cream. It should form peaks in bowl. (It took me about 15 minutes) Start mixer slowly after adding sugar syrup. It’s HOT and you don’t want it to splash!

 

Pour into a well-greased and powdered-sugared baking dish.

Let sit in fridge or at room temperature until set.

Remove from pan and cut into squares, or shape of your choice.

Dust well with more sifted powdered sugar until no longer sticky. (It takes quite a bit of powdered sugar)

Shake off excess sugar and store in air tight container.