Cookie Swap Parties

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! http://www.duncanhines.com/.

December is a time for parties and entertaining.  There are class parties, office parties, and holiday open houses.  We always host an "Orphan's Christmas" on Christmas Eve for our friends whose extended families live elsewhere.  There's no secret that I love to bake(and eat) cookies, and one of my favorite types of December gatherings is the cookie swap.

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You'll want your invitations to go out early in the month, because December social calendars fill up fast.  It's a little late in the game, but you can right click on these to print them from your browser.  You can slip these in an envelope or send them postcard style to save on postage.

The way a cookie swap works best is with 6-12 guests.  Each guest brings one type of cookie, a dozen per guest.  One dozen is unwrapped and set out for sampling and each guest leaves with one dozen of each cookie brought.  I think it's nice for the host to provide pretty containers to bring the cookies home in.  You can grab takeout containers for very little and personalize them with pretty paper or ribbons.  For those of you with a Silhouette, I'm pretty sure there's a takeout box template.

What's a cookie swap without some cookie inspired cocktails?  How about a Naughty Girl Scout(thin mint flavor in a cocktail glass,) or a Peppermint Bark Cocktail?  Rim the glass with some colored sugar and mix together 1 oz vanilla vodka, 1 oz Godiva's white chocolate liqueur, 1/2 oz peppermint schnapps or white creme de menthe, and drop a piece of peppermint bark in the bottom of the glass.  Use a candy cane as a stir stick.

Thanks for popping in and partying with me.

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website http://www.duncanhines.com/ to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Yum

  Is there any more satisfying combination than chocolate & peanut butter?  There's a reason why it's always used as a temptation on shows like Survivor and The Biggest Loser.  Even with big money on the line, people always end up caving when there's chocolate & peanut butter on a plate.

If there ever were an occasion to chuck your diet out the window, these Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cookies would be it.

I started by whisking together 1/2 cup white rice flour, 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt.

In my stand mixer fitted with the scraper beater, I creamed 1 stick butter with 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar.  I added an egg, 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1 tbsp almond milk, and 1 tsp vanilla.

I beat in the dry ingredients,

and flattened spoonfuls of the batter.

I've shared peanut butter eyeballs for Halloween.  For this recipe mix together 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup peanut butter, and 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, and shape into balls.  I placed 1/2 inch sized peanut butter balls on the center of the dough disks.

Wrap the dough around the peanut butter ball, and flatten.

You can dip these in sugar if you think more is more.

Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes.

And since I really like to pile on, I piped some ganache on top.

Seriously, Yummo!

Thanks for popping in and baking with me.  I'm ever so slowly getting with the times and am on twitter now and would love it if you followed me.  You can find the twitter button on my sidebar.  I'm linking this up to House of Grace's Best of 2011.

Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies

I love baking with the flavors of the season, and both pumpkin and cranberries, are foods that come to mind when you think of Thanksgiving.  I combined the 2 into these fantastic Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies.

Start by whisking together 2/3 cups white rice flour, 2/3 cup brown rice flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup arrowroot starch, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, and 1/4 tsp salt.

In your mixer, beat together 1 stick of softened butter with 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy.

Add in 1 - 15oz can of pumpkin puree.

Mix in the dry ingredients and 3/4 cup of craisins(dried cranberries.)

Drop spoonfulls onto a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 375 for about 18 minutes or until they are puffed up and just a bit golden on the edges.  Those are WD's fingers filching one before it's cooled.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before melting 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips and piping or drizzling across the tops of the cookies.

These cookies are so moist, chewy, and delicious and they freeze beautifully for make ahead treats.

Thanks for popping in and baking with me.  I'm linking this up to Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays.



Pumpkin Biscotti

I like to start my day with a cup of coffee and nothing goes better with coffee than biscotti.  In the autumn, Pumpkin Biscotti just feel like the right go to cookie.

I start with 1 cup rice flour, 3/4 cup almond meal, 3/4 cup potato starch, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 tsps baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp salt, and a pinch of ground ginger and cloves in a large mixing bowl.  I whisk those together and set them aside.

In a separate bowl, I mix together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp vanilla.

I combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients,

and shape the dough into two logs approximately 3"x10" each.

Bake the logs for 22 minutes at 350.  The logs will have expanded quite a bit.

Cool before slicing into 3/4" pieces. 

Turn each slice onto a cut side and bake for another 15 minutes.  You can drizzle these with white chocolate or a honey glaze or enjoy them as is.

Thanks for popping in and baking with me.  I'm linking this up to Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Bake with Bizzy, and Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesdays.

Chocolate Coconut Biscotti

It's been a while since I posted a cookie recipe.  I haven't wanted to tempt Whirling Dervish with full cookie jars during the wrestling season, but it's lacrosse season now so bring on the treats.  I pulled out my Easter Egg Cookie Jar, and couldn't set it out on the counter empty, so I baked up some Chocolate Coconut Biscotti.

I started by whisking together 1/2 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup coconut flour, 1/4 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup arrowroot starch, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp xanthan gum in a medium sized mixing bowl.

In my stand mixer bowl, I creamed together 4 tbsps butter, 2 tbsps coconut oil, and 3/4 cups sugar.  Next time I'll add another tbsp butter, because they didn't spread as much as I wanted in the oven.

To that I added 2 eggs, one at a time, and the dry ingredients.  I also added in some chocolate flakes.  I love these thin little chocolate wafers from Hersheys.  They're the perfect little taste of chocolate to satisfy a late afternoon chocolate craving without compromising your waistline.  I took 4 of them and broke them in pieces to add to the dough.

I shaped the dough into a loaf about 10 inches long on a silpat lined insulated baking sheet.  You can line the sheet with parchment paper if you don't have a silpat.

I baked this loaf at 350 for 25 minutes, let it cool for 10 minutes, then sliced it into 3/4" thick slices.  I set them on a cut side and baked them for another 15 minutes.

I drizzled on 1oz of melted chocolate, and sprinkled on some toasted coconut.  They go perfectly with a dark roasted coffee with a splash of coconut milk in the morning.

Thanks for popping in and baking with me.  I'm linking this up to I {heart} Naptime's Sundae Scoop Party, Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, The King's Court's What's Cooking Wednesdays, and Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays.