Tag Archives: holiday baking

Snowball Cookies…A Christmas Eve Tradition

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In my family we call these treats Mexican Wedding Cookies.

Ingredient

1 cup salted butter, softened

½ cup confectioner’s powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

For cookie sprinkle

½ cup confectioner’s powdered sugar

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Now let’s get to bakin’ these delicious cookies!

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.  Using butter or Pam spray, coat the baking sheet.

In a large bowl, add the softened butter and powdered sugar, cream them together until smooth.  Add the pinch of salt and vanilla extract and mix well.

Slowly add the flour until the dough comes together.  Fold in the pecans pieces and mix well.  Let the cookie dough chill for about ½-1 hour in fridge.  It is very important not to skip this step.  It is much easier to form the cookies when the dough has been refrigerated.  The temperature of your hand will make the butter in the dough soften.  Trust me on this one, I have learned this the hard way!

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Roll the dough into small balls and place onto the baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees until the cookies are golden brown about 12-15 minutes.  When done, remove the cookies from oven and let cool on a baking rack.  Once the cookies are cool, roll them in the sifted powdered sugar.  It’s important that you allow the cookies to cool so that the powdered sugar sticks well.  Roll well in the sugar making sure that each cookie is completely covered.

You can easily double this recipe if entertaining for a holiday party.  This is a great cookie dough to make the day before your baking party.

Along with baking and decorating sugar cookies for Santa, these Christmas Snow balls are for the little elves…Mama and Papa!

Enjoy friends and Happy Baking!

Yours truly with Love and Peace in my Heart,

G-xx

Another Piece of Pie!

My love for pumpkins

My love for Fairytale Pumpkins!

Pumpkin Pie – I like to use Fairytale pumpkin-squash for the pumpkin puree.

Ingredients

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 ground cloves

1-2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin puree

3 large brown or white eggs, plus 1 egg for glaze

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

1 tablespoon heavy cream

2 Maria’s Calendars frozen pie crust – or homemade pie crust

How to bake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I like to line my baking sheets with foil so that if the pie filling flows over it’s a super easy clean up.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree.  Beat 3 eggs in a separate bowl and then add to the sugar/spices mixture.  Whenever I come across a recipe that calls for eggs, I usually beat them separately and then add to the other ingredients.  I find it easier to take out any pieces of shell that may have dropped in, less to dig through. Mix the ingredients well.  Add evaporated milk and slowly combine.  Set aside.

Make the glaze for the topping of pie.  Beat the remaining egg, and combine with heavy cream.  Brush glaze very lightly on edges of pie shell.  Carefully fill pie shell with pumpkin mixture.

Oh yeah, one very important kitchen tip that I must share…Reynolds Non-stick foil is a must!!!  Using small strips of foil, carefully cover the edges of pie crust.  This technique will prevent burnt pie crusts.

Place the filled pie crusts on baking sheet.  Bake pies for 30-40 minutes.  Because every oven temperature varies, the middle of the pie should bubble just a tad.

*I use the Marie Calendar’s pie crust when I’m short on time, they taste and bake very nicely.  This recipe usually makes about 2 pies.  Get creative and place decorative fall cutouts using any remaining dough you may have.  This is always a nice presentation when taking a pie to a holiday party.  Congrats friends you have now made a delicious homemade pumpkin pie, Enjoy!

How to bake the pumpkin

Line a baking sheet with foil and add a little water to the bottom.  Cut the pumpkin in half.  Place the pumpkin face down on the baking sheet and cover with foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20min on middle rack of oven.  Remove the pumpkins from the oven very carefully and always use oven mitts.  Turn the pumpkins over so the flesh is facing up.  Sprinkle brown sugar and honey on top and return to oven.  Allow pumpkins to roast for another 15 minutes or until middle is soft.  I like to use a fork when testing for readiness.  Let the pumpkins cool on the counter top.  Once cooled, peel the skins off of the pumpkin and place into a medium sized bowl.  Transfer pumpkin to food processor and blend until creamy.