Classic Spritz Cookies

I'm a very simple person, with simple taste, that's probably while I absolutely love this recipe while others enjoy it.  This cookie is a plainer one, but I love it all the same.  It's a butter cookie (it has 3 sticks of butter!) and the other ingredients are relatively basic.  My mom ordered the Pampered Chef Cookie Press and multiple recipe variations for Spritz Cookies came with it.  I'm just going to share the classic recipe as that's the one the others derive from, and it's the easiest to change to your tastes.  It is very important to have the cookie press for this recipe, it's kind of the key to it all.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Colored sugar or sprinkles are optional (I used them)

Instructions

1. Preheat 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed in a large bowl until creamy, or about three minutes.  Don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

3. Add egg and vanilla, beat well.

4. Add flour in increments.  Blend on low speed until fully mixed.  Again, do not forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Do not refrigerate the dough, even though the dough is very soft.

5. Put your first disc into the Cookie Press. I used the snowflake, Christmas tree, and pinwheel discs.  Fill the press with dough.

Snowflake Disc

An 'ugly' pinwheel cookie

6. Press the dough onto the cookie sheet (ungreased) by turning the handle of the cookie press.  The first couple of cookies will be, for lack of a better word, ugly, but that's because of the initial pressure in the press.  After the first few they should turn out fine.  Space the cookies one inch apart, they don't expand while cooking but they should still be spaced.  If you choose to do so, now is the time to add sprinkle to the cookies.  For the pinwheels I used red sprinkles, green sprinkles for the Christmas trees, and white or clear sprinkles for the snowflakes.

A 'pretty' pinwheel cookie

7. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes.  Watch the first batch carefully to make any adjustments to the temperature of the oven or the time the cookies are in the oven.  I had to take the cookies out early to prevent burning with my oven.  The bottoms of the cookies will be slightly golden, but they shouldn't be too dark.  The top of the cookies won't change much in color, so what you see when you put them in is essentially what you see when you take them out.

8.  Let the cookies cool for two minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Peppermint Almond Bark

This is a simple twist that is extremely easy.  Despite the name, no almond bark is used, rather, white chocolate chips are the best for this recipe.  This is another recipe my family makes around the holidays.

All you need is a bag of white chocolate chips and a bag of peppermint hard candy.

First you need to crush the peppermints, it's best to wrap them in something for this part so the pieces don't go all over the place.  In the pictures they were put into aluminum foil because that's what was on hand.  A plastic zip-lock bag or wax paper could also be used.  Crush them how you will, my family uses to a roller to hit and roll over the candies.  You won't be able to crush every single piece, but that's okay because you don't need to.  Just sort out the larger pieces so they don't dominate the candy.

Next, melt the chocolate chips.  This can be done multiple ways, but it's easiest to use the microwave.  Microwave the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl in thirty second increments, stirring between each until the chocolate is smooth.

While the chips are in the microwave, lay out wax paper about the size of a baking sheet.  When the chocolate is smooth, add in the crushed candies.  Stir until they are completely mixed in, then pour the chips onto the wax.  Allow the peppermint candy to set until hard, this usually takes about two to three hours, but can vary.  After it has hardened, break it into pieces, and enjoy!

Hopefully you enjoy this recipe!!

Peanut Butter Balls

If you like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, then you'll like these Peanut Butter Balls.  It's a spherical shaped peanut butter cup that is richer in taste and easy to make at home.  My family makes these around the Holidays, we like to have a steady supply of sugar on hand.

Ingredients

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup chunky peanut butter

2 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Almond Bark (usually 1/2 a package)

Instructions

1. Cream together the melted butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until smooth.

2. Form the mixture into small balls and set on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.  They should be about an inch across.

3. Chill for about an hour.

4. Melt the almond bark.  We use a double boiler so the chocolate remains melted throughout the preparation.  You can also melt the almond bark in the microwave if you'd like to shorten the preparation time of this recipe.

5. Dip the chilled peanut butter balls into the chocolate, and set on wax paper to set.

In this picture, the duller peanut butter balls are ones that have been sitting out longer, and have therefore had time to cool.  That is what they should look like when done.

Also, my family will use Rice Krispies in the peanut butter mixture to give the recipe an added crunch.  If you'd like to do the same, it only takes about a cup of cereal to achieve the intended effect.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!!