Dried cherry shortbread cookies

Christmas came and went with nary a blog post by me.  It's a shame, really.  But work was insane (I mean INSANE!!!), and I was spending most of my time at work or charting for work, and spending some time with B, and I wasn't really able to blog much.  But that doesn't mean that I didn't sneak in a few cookies for the holidays.  Namely some (more) fruity shortbread cookies.

These dried cherry shortbread cookies were B's other favorite from the shortbread taste test from about a month ago (along with these toasted coconut ones).  I decided to make these with a combination of dried sweet and tart cherries, to give them a delicious intense cherry flavor, and it worked!   And I love the bright red flecks that the cherries lend to the cookies -- very festive for the holidays!

Sweet & Tart Dried Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 - 1 cup dried cherries (sweet, tart, or a combination of both -- I used half of each), chopped

Directions:

Chop the cherries by hand or in a food processor into smaller pieces.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speech until fluffy.

Add milk and vanilla.

Beat to combine.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour and salt.

Continue beating until the dough forms.

Add the chopped cherries.

Mix with a spatula to combine.

Divide the dough into 2 portions.

Shape each piece into a log.

Wrap logs in plastic wrap.

Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Then, move to the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Using a sharp knife, cut each log into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick.

Place cookies onto a ungreased cookie sheet (I used a parchment lined cookie sheet).

Bake until edges are just starting to turn brown, about 12 minutes (mine took about 10 minutes).

Remove from the oven.

Place cookies on a wire rack to cool.

Vanilla bean fudge

I didn't really grow up eating fudge. So as a result, it's really something that I simply don't crave.  But it always looks so good and rich and delicious when I see it -- as well as when I see the thousands (literally!) of fudge recipes posted around the holidays.  I made some fudge last year (it was super duper loaded with tons of  things including potato chips!), and there were white chocolate-Oreo and cookie dough varieties before that, but given how long I've been baking and how long this blog has been around, that's not a whole lot of fudge!

So I set out to make some fudge again this holiday season.  It was such a hit last year, and I wanted something I could make ahead.  So I went searching through the multitude of fudge recipes populating Pinterest and this one particular recipe caught my eye.  It was fudge....but it wasn't chocolate (I always equate fudge with either chocolate or peanut butter (or both!), but this one was neither)!  Also, seeing as I was planning on making a double batch, I was glad it was vanilla, since B loves vanilla (ie. I had someone to give fudge to to get it out of my kitchen, and therefore not on my hips)!

Vanilla Bean Fudge
From Chocolate Moosey

I doubled the recipe, since I wanted thicker but smaller pieces of fudge (so I used a 9x9 inch pan).  The ingredients listed below are for a single batch.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut in 1 Tbsp pieces
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup marshmallow fluff
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and seeds scraped

Directions:

Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.

In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, and milk.
Bring to a rolling boil, stirring until everything is smooth.
Boil for 5 minutes, stirring often (make sure you don't shorten this time, or the fudge may not firm up).

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips, marshmallow fluff, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds until melted and smooth (it will be thick!).
Spread into the pan (if the fudge thickens too much, put it back over the heat until it's easy to stir again).
Let cool until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
Cut into pieces.
If not serving all at once, cut off what you want and leave the remaining slab of fudge, wrapped in a plastic bag, in the fridge.

Chocolate dipped toasted coconut shortbread cookies with salt

Remember those Toasted Coconut Shortbread Cookies I made recently?  The ones that B chose as one of his favorites when I forced him to taste test different kinds of shortbread cookies for my online cookie swap?  I decided that as delicious as they are, chocolate could maybe possible likely make them even better.  And a sprinkling of sea salt might just take them over the top.

So I defrosted that second log in the freezer that was just waiting to fill the void when I needed some last minute cookies, baked them up, and then dipped them in some semisweet chocolate and sprinkled them with sea salt.  Because really, when don't chocolate and sea salt make everything better?!

Toasted Coconut Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from this original recipe, also found on the blog here

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 - 1 cup toasted coconut

1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips, or chocolate of your choice

Sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions:

Toast the coconut on a baking sheet in an oven that has been preheated to 350F.

Watch the coconut closely as it tends to burn quite easily.

Stir often.

Mine took about 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow it to cool.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speech until fluffy.

Add milk and vanilla.

Beat to combine.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour and salt.

Continue beating until the dough forms.

Add the toasted coconut, crushing it slightly between your fingers as you add it.

Mix with a spatula to combine.

Divide the dough into 2 portions.

Shape each piece into a log.

Wrap logs in plastic wrap.

Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Then, move to the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Using a sharp knife, cut each log into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick.

Place cookies onto a ungreased cookie sheet (I used a parchment lined cookie sheet).

Bake until edges are just starting to turn brown, about 12 minutes (mine took about 10 minutes).

Remove from the oven.

Place cookies on a wire rack to cool.

Once cookies are cool, melt half of the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.

Place a sheet of wax paper on the counter or a baking sheet.

Dip cookies half way into chocolate.

Shake off excess chocolate.

Place cookie on wax paper.

Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on the chocolate while it's still wet.

Repeat with remaining cookies.

Melt more chocolate as needed.

Once all cookies are done and the chocolate has hardened, place cookies in an airtight container.

Cookies will last at least 3 days in the container (if they'll even last that long!!).

Toasted coconut shortbread cookies

When I made the cookies for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I started off with four different flavors, and then employed B to do a taste test.  One of his two favorites were these toasted coconut shortbread cookies (his other favorite will make an appearance on the blog soon).  They're jam-packed with toasted coconut flavor and the buttery crispiness of a shortbread cookie.  They're absolutely delicious and insanely easy to make.  And like these - where I subbed the toasted coconut for the original chopped dried cranberries - you can add almost any kind of dried fruit (spoiler alert, I'll be making two more varieties of these for my doormen this holiday season), or even nonpareils like I did with these last month...

The nice thing about these is that you can also keep the logs in the freezer for last minute cookie baking, and then just thaw them in the fridge a little longer before slicing (take it from my experience -- if they're in the freezer for a long time, they're too hard to slice if you have to use your entire body weight on the knife and you don't even make a dent....).

Toasted Coconut Shortbread Cookies
Adapted from this original recipe, also found on the blog here

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 - 1 cup toasted coconut

Directions:

Toast the coconut on a baking sheet in an oven that has been preheated to 350F.

Watch the coconut closely as it tends to burn quite easily.

Stir often.

Mine took about 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow it to cool.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speech until fluffy.

Add milk and vanilla.

Beat to combine.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour and salt.

Continue beating until the dough forms.

Add the toasted coconut, crushing it slightly between your fingers as you add it.

Mix with a spatula to combine.

Divide the dough into 2 portions.

Shape each piece into a log.

Wrap logs in plastic wrap.

Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Then, move to the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Using a sharp knife, cut each log into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick.

Place cookies onto a ungreased cookie sheet (I used a parchment lined cookie sheet).

Bake until edges are just starting to turn brown, about 12 minutes (mine took about 10 minutes).

Remove from the oven.

Place cookies on a wire rack to cool.

Cranberry shortbread cookies -- The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

This fall, I signed up for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.  It's really a fantastical event -- a cookie swap of epic proportions, so to speak.  The premise is this: sign up.  Get 3 matches emailed to you.  Bake 3 dozen cookies.  Mail 1 dozen cookies to each match.  Receive 1 dozen cookies from 3 bloggers who received your name as their match.  Blog about your cookies. (Check out the logo on the top right side of my blog.)

And the best part (the other best part, the best part besides receiving 3 dozen cookies mailed.  to.  your.  door!)?  Your $4 admission fee goes to Cookies for Kids' Cancer -- which really helps combine two of my passions: baking and helping kids (I am a pediatric nurse practitioner, after all!).

So here's the thing....you have to mail your cookies.  I was so afraid of my cookies breaking that I went out and bought cute tins to put them in.  Then, I sorta padded the tins -- in the bottom at least.  Then, I layered my cookies in the tin, topped them with a little more padding, and then packaged them up.  I went to the post office and mailed the cookies to my matches, and then prayed that they survived their journeys to Utah and upstate New York.  Fingers were crossed!!  (As a side note, as of the time I wrote this blog post, I heard from two of the cookie recipients that they received -- and loved -- their cookies....and that they arrived intact!!)

Now that you know about this fantastic event and what it entails, I'm sure you're wondering what kind of cookies I baked!  The answer is....a variety.  Well, sorta. You know me -- I never make things easy for myself!  So I made a variety of shortbread cookies and then made my poor boyfriend taste test the four flavors to decide what kind to mail to my matches.  Sometimes I'm just the meanest girlfriend ever, making him taste four different kinds of cookies.  I mean, seriously!!

In the end, I went with my original flavor choice, dried cranberries, because cranberries are oh-so-holiday festive.

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 - 1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Directions:

Chop the cranberries by hand or in a food processor into smaller pieces.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speech until fluffy.

Add milk and vanilla.

Beat to combine.

With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour and salt.

Continue beating until the dough forms.

Add the chopped cranberries.

Mix with a spatula to combine.

Divide the dough into 2 portions.

Shape each piece into a log.

Wrap logs in plastic wrap.

Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Then, move to the fridge for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Using a sharp knife, cut each log into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick.

Place cookies onto a ungreased cookie sheet (I used a parchment lined cookie sheet).

Bake until edges are just starting to turn brown, about 12 minutes (mine took about 10 minutes).

Remove from the oven.

Place cookies on a wire rack to cool.

Samoa Rice Krispie treats

It's fairly common for me to have all the ingredients on hand for a new recipe.  Chocolate chips, flour, butter, sugar, salt...those usually grace my fridge and cabinets day in and day out.  Other ingredients are less common, but still make a regular appearance: dried fruits, marshmallows, coconut, Rice Krispies.  But it's not all that common that I have homemade caramel sauce just chilling in my fridge.  So when I came across this recipe earlier today, I knew it was fate that I make them tonight!

I made a few modifications -- first, I toasted the coconut.  Samoas are ubiquitous with toasted coconut in my book.  Then, I also added some of the toasted coconut to the Rice Krispie treats, because I thought that would elevate the coconuttiness of the Samoa Rice Krispie Treat (and they were delicious and I may, or may not, have eaten at least 3 4 of them while I was prepping the rest of the stuff for the Samoa treats)!  I actually didn't have as many Rice Krispies as I thought I had, so I halved the recipe and used a 9x9 inch pan, so my Rice Krispie Treats are a little thinner than I had hoped, but they're still delicious!

Samoa Rice Krispie Treats
Based on (but adapted a lot by me) this recipe (makes a 9 x 13 inch pan)

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp unsalted butter
40 large marshmallows, about 1 bag
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 1/2 cup PLUS 2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes, cooled
3/4 cup caramel sauce, preferable homemade (I used the caramel from the salted caramel apple pie, which I know I still owe you the recipe for, and will link to this as soon as the pie is up!!)
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray.

Toast the coconut.
Place coconut on a foil-lined baking sheet and toast at 350F for a few minutes.
Mix/stir often.
Watch coconut very closely as it burns quickly.
Allow coconut to cool.

Measure out the Rice Krispies and add in 2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes.
Toss to mix.

Melt butter in a large microwave safe bowl (be sure to use a bowl a lot bigger than you think you'll need....the marshmallows enlarge....a lot!).
Toss marshmallows in butter to coat.
Microwave marshmallows for about 45 seconds.
Stir the mixture.
Microwave for another 45 seconds or until marshmallows are completely melted and the mixture is well blended.

Add the Rice Krispie-Coconut mixture to the marshmallows and stir well.
Pour into the pan.
Press firmly into the pan (a piece of wax paper lightly sprayed with cooking spray works well).
Allow Rice Krispie Treats to cool.

Once cool, cut into 24 bars (I made mine a little smaller)

Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, stirring frequently so that they don't burn.
When completely melted, dip the bottom 1/3 of each Rice Krispie Treat into the chocolate (I skipped this part because my treats were a little thin, but look down below for the * and I'll tell you what I ended up doing myself).
Let them dry, upside down, on a piece of wax paper.
Mix together the caramel sauce and coconut in a small bowl.
Place a small spoonful (I used my small scooper, and then flattened it out with a fork) of the coconut-caramel mixture on top of each Rice Krispie Treat.
Drizzle with melted chocolate.
Let the Rice Krispie Treats set.

Try not to eat all of them at once!

* Because my treats were a little thin, I did the following:
I mixed together the caramel and coconut as above, and placed a small spoonful (scoopful) of the mixture on top of each Rice Krispie Treat, and the flattened it with a fork.
Then, I put them on a cooling rack with a piece of wax paper beneath.
I spooned 1-1.5 tsp of the melted chocolate over the caramel-coconut mixture.
I debated -- but ended up not actually -- sprinkling some additional toasted coconut on them, which I might do the next time I make them

Allow them to harden.

Piña colada cupcakes

I'm not generally a complainer. But if I'm going to be honest with you, the past few weeks have been a little rough. The shortest possible way to give you the rundown is this: I started having thumb pain about 5 weeks ago....when it wasn't feeling better, I bought myself a brace.....then, about a week and a half to two weeks ago, I noticed that my thumb was swollen and went to see my colleague at our adult office....I was diagnosed with synovitis and tendonitis, prescribed some meds, was told to keep wearing the brace, and told to get an X-ray if it wasn't getting better... so fast forward to this past Friday, my day off, where I went to the orthopedist, was diagnosed with tendonitis and a ligament injury (that thank g-d does not require surgery), and ended up getting a cortisone shot in my thumb. Before going home to bake these cupcakes. Did I mention that the cortisone shot was unpleasant, at best, and it didn't make my finger feel any better right away? Oh, and the added lidocaine? Numbed up my thumb completely. Yeah, so you might imagine I wasn't in the best condition to actually be baking and decorating 2.5 dozen cupcakes...but they were for our annual party that my friends host on Long Island and I wasn't going to let them down! So I made the cupcakes. Piña Colada cupcakes, to be exact, since the theme of this years party is summer!!

So these cupcakes had been on my "to bake" list for a while.  I wanted to throw a luau this summer just so that I could make them.  The luau didn't happen, but these cupcakes remained high on my list.  So when the theme for our annual fall/winter bash was decided, and it was "summer," I was so excited to have an event to make these cupcakes for!  I have to say that these cupcakes were delicious, partly because they were really well flavored and not too sweet.  But the standout was the coconut cream cheese icing, of which I am currently regretting dumping out the leftovers instead of freezing, because there's a good chance I would've eaten it with a spoon for dessert!

Piña Colada Cupcakes

From Glorious Treats

For the cupcakes:

2.5 cups flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola, since that's what I had on hand)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream

1.5 cups canned crushed pineapple (drained slightly)

For the icing:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cool

8 oz cream cheese (directly from fridge)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

4 cups powdered sugar (I'm pretty sure that, as i'm typing this up, I only used half of the powdered sugar, since I doubled the recipe but only remember using 1 box of powdered sugar....which might explain my previous "not too sweet comment."  But either way, the icing was AMAZING and I'd add the powdered sugar to taste)

1 Tbsp heavy cream, heavy whipping cream, or milk OR 1 Tbsp dark rum

For the garnish:

Maraschino cherries, with stems if you can find them

Toasted coconut

Cocktail umbrellas

Paper straws, cut into thirds

Pineapple wedges, I actually debated using crispy dried pineapple pieces, but opted not last minute

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with cupcake liners (I used cups, which I thought were adorable and very "summery").

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer, until slightly thickened and a light cream color.

On low speed, add in oil and vanilla.

Add the pineapple and sour cream (don't worry if it looks too liquidy....it'll be fine!).

Mix until completely incorporated.

Add the flour mixture.

Blend until just combined and smooth.

Fill each of the cups about 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes for about 22 minutes (mine took 18 minutes, so keep an eye on them towards the end).

Remove cupcakes from the pan and allow them to cool on a wire rack.

While cooling, make the icing.

If using toasted coconut, this is a good time to toast it.  Keep an eye on it as coconut tends to go from toasted to burnt VERY.  QUICKLY.

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and blend until smooth.

Add cream cheese and blend until well combined.

Add the vanilla and coconut extracts.

Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, blending at low speed until combined.  I add the last cup in 1/4 cup increments to make sure it doesn't get too sweet.

Once all sugar is added, increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.

Slowly add the heavy cream or rum (I used cream)

Beat again, until fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes.  I used a piping bag with a star tip.

Top cupcakes with the garnishes of your choice.