Christmas Vanilla Butter Cookies

I got a late start and it took me forever, but I am finished with all things Christmas!  It has been a crazy month.  I planned a gazillion blog posts, but for almost the whole month only published one.  That doesn't mean I haven't been baking and cooking.  There was a whirlwind of parties and potlucks to go to, and that doesn't sound like much work at all -- until you're up at ungodly hours making hand pies or decorating cookies with royal icing.  But you still haven't made the family cookies or mailed them out.  And your twin sister keeps asking you where her annual cookie shipment is.

But I did have fun at all the parties!  Especially this one -- doesn't my book club know how to do a party?

These are the Linzer Cookies my sister must have every year, slaved over by yours truly.  Hazelnut cookies are sandwiched with raspberry jam, and dusted with snowy sugar.

And I included Eggnog Marshmallows in the cookie baskets this year.  I didn't even like this picture, so I made another batch and saved a few.  I tried to think quickly (while I was rushed) of a place they would be safe from the cats until I had time to photograph them.  I put them in the toaster oven, and took care of some other tasks.  You can guess how this ends, right?  Joe went to preheat the toaster oven for something, and I ended up with toasted marshmallows.  I guess it's a funny story (if you're not me).

And every year I attempt fancy decorated cookies with royal icing, trying to make them look like the showpieces you see in catalogs.  Well, I failed once again, but here are the best and the simplest of the bunch, decorated by Joe and I.  The hour was late, one of the cats somehow had edible glitter on his coat, and I was laughing deliriously at some of our attempted designs.  At least they taste good.  I'm not a fan of sugar cookies; I find them too sugary and not very flavorful.  These are simple but tasty: buttery with a hint of vanilla, a bit of salt tempering the sweet.

Now it's time to sit back and celebrate.  Especially since it's my (and my twin sister's) birthday tomorrow!  (No way am I baking a cake.)  Merry Christmas, everyone.

Photo added Dec. 2013

Update December 2013: These cookies are made using the same recipe, but decorated with melted white chocolate. Apply white chocolate using squeeze bottles or an offset spatula, then sprinkle with colored sanding sugar, nonpareils, or edible glitter.

Easter Chocolate-Covered Marshmallows

Have you ever had a homemade marshmallow?  The first time Joe suggested we make them, I couldn't imagine their being worth the trouble.  Storebought marshmallows are all right in hot cocoa or crispy rice treats, but otherwise spongey and kind of like styrofoam.  Homemade marshmallows, on the other hand, have a creamy texture inside and are flavored with vanilla or whatever else you put in them.

This chocolate-drizzled chick is nesting in toasted coconut.  It was a fun switch from my blog posting last year, where the marshmallows were just covered in colored sugar and sprinkles.  You can also submerge the bunnies and chicks completely in chocolate.  The thin layer of chocolate will crack and give way to the soft marshmallow, and the two flavors melting in your mouth are incredible.  Give them some Easter flair with colorful nonpareils, or sprinkle the coconut over the chocolate for some fuzzy bunnies and chicks.  Bag them up or tuck them in Easter baskets, and you'll have some happy campers.

For this look, dip a spoon in melted chocolate and let most of the excess drip off.  Then wave the spoon around in zig-zags or swirls, and sprinkle with nonpareils.  For the eye, dip a toothpick in the melted chocolate, then spin the toothpick to get off most of the excess.  Use the toothpick to make a dot on the marshmallow, avoiding any drips.  To cover the marshmallows in coconut, dip them in melted chocolate and then sprinkle with the toasted coconut flakes.  Set aside to dry.

A marshmallow syrup is made, then cooked later with more ingredients to make marshmallows; when that mixture is added to a gelatin mixture in the stand mixer, it steams and bubbles up furiously; after 10 minutes of whipping, the mixture has billowed into white marshmallow; the marshmallow is extremely sticky and must be spread out quickly in the pan before it begins drying and setting.

A couple more tips.  Don't even try to get every last bit of marshmallow off that beater and bowl -- it ain't gonna happen.  It's also not worth it.  You'll get marshmallow strings everywhere, and your marshmallow slab will begin to dry and set.  Also, when smoothing out your marshmallow into a slab, wet hands are your best friend.  Get your hands very wet with water, then use them to smooth the marshmallow out quickly.

This post was shared with:
Bunny Hop Easter Link Party
Tea Party Tuesday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweets for a Saturday

Forget Peeps... Make Easter Marshmallows!

These are not the marshmallows of Jet-Puffed fame.  Those styrofoamy things taste OK if you've never had the  homemade, creamy variety.  And they're a really appropriate treat this Easter weekend if you cut them in the shapes of bunnies and chicks.  Then coat them in sparkling pastel sugars and fun sprinkles.

They were a bit hit at book club, where I passed out cellophane bags filled bunny and chick marshmallows nestled into Easter basket grass.  The crowd favorite was the Easter egg sprinkles.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this recipe, unlike many others, had no egg whites.  The list of ingredients is smaller than usual as well, but the end product is still perfect.  Interestingly, my first batch using Domino brand sugar produced this honey-colored syrup, while a later batch of generic sugar produced a champagne-colored syrup; the marshmallows from both batches tasted and looked identical.  I had the usual fears of crystallization when cooking with sugar, but after a few batches I had not produced a single crystal.  So, what are you still afraid of?

Maybe a wonderfully sticky mess.  Because it is sticky.  And stringy.  Don't try to scrape the bowl and beater clean, because it's futile.  Not to fret... you'll still have plenty of marshmallows.

Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes

These cupcakes are just too cute.  They have a mild sweet potato flavor and are topped with toasted marshmallows.  They're a nice change of pace from frosting and faster to make.  If you're too busy during the holidays to make sweet potato pie, consider this quick treat.  Recipe after the jump.

The potatoes were a cinch to prepare.  I tossed them in my toaster oven for an hour the night before, and refrigerated them.

I don't recommend using the food processor to puree them, since you need a liquid to help the process along.  I ended up scraping them into a bowl, using a potato masher, and then back into the food processor for good measure, since I already dirtied the work bowl and blade.

Whipping up a creamy batter.

It looks curdly after adding the sweet potatoes, but it'll work itself out.

You can see flecks of sweet potato in the cups.  I used a cupcake pan instead of the muffin pan the recipe calls for, and ended up with 29 instead of 24 cupcakes.  The baking time and temperature remain the same.

Toasted marshmallow how-to: Group mounds of marshmallows, about 7 or 8 of them to a mound, on a silicone mat.

Stick them for a minute or two under the broiler, and watch carefully!  The marshmallows will swell and start to meld together.  Remove them when you get the desired coloring, and place atop cupcakes immediately. Recipe after the jump.