Christmas is a time for . . . Cookies!

I have been scheming about the Christmas treats I would make this year since June. Not surprisingly, however, I ended up making something that worked more with my time and budget restrictions than the grand imaginations of my Christmas-loving heart. They turned out wonderful however, and so delicious!
I used the sugar cookie recipe from one of my favorite cookie blogs Bake at 350 you can find the recipe here.
 I have to admit that I did not use almond flavoring because I did not have it. These cookies turn out light and flavorful. (not dull and hard and floury like some thick sugar cookies can become). Once I baked my cookies I allowed them to cool.
Then I decorated them using the recipe and method suggested by another blogger I am Baker and her icing recipe is found here.
Both these bloggers are incredibly creative so check out their blogs especially if you need some inspiration!

Happy Holidays!

From Your Favorite Co-Host!

Hello my name is Emilee, I am the co-host of this blog – Stop and Smell the Flours-  and also the “not so with it” sister of Kim. Today I wanted to share with you a cute and quick recipe that I found on the Pampered Chef website while looking for Christmas gifts.

http://www.pamperedchef.com/recipe_search/recipe.jsp?id=91599

S'more Cups

Ingredients:

7	whole graham crackers (1 cup/250 mL finely crushed)
1/4	cup (50 mL) powdered sugar
6	tbsp (90 mL) butter, melted
4	bars (1.55 oz or 43 g each) milk chocolate candy, divided
	Large marshmallows     For the crust mix the graham crackers, butter, and powder sugar  Tap it down in the mini muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes. Place a piece of chocolate bar on each crust and then a marshmallow and place back in the oven for 3 more minutes.  Once cooled dip them in some heated chocolate.  Ta Da! and Yum!           Enjoy! Please go to the website for indepth instructions.

Home-Made Tortilla

 

One day I was home and car-less and all I wanted to eat was a tortilla

 

So I decided to make my own. There are only a few ingredients in Tortillas including flour and a fat, I used shortening which I am sure most of you are thinking "YUCK!" shortening, but most of you make your own tortillas with LARD and I have no idea if I'll ever be able to actually cook with LARD!

 Rolling out all of those tortillas was the most time consuming and difficult part. I wanted them thin and when the first one turned out more like thick pita bread I realized that I needed to really dig in and make these suckers THIN. In the end they were still thicker than most tortillas that you buy at the grocery store, but we actually liked them the more that way.

Here is one of the tortillas cooking in my pan. Yum!
The recipe for the tortillas that I made you can find on All Recipes

Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the lard with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball. 
2. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.

Quite good and Quite simple! Very time consuming

Favorite Things!

Hello! For my first post I thought I would introduce you to one of my favorite ingredients! Drum roll please. . .

Cinnamon is absolutely one of my most favorite ingredients. I like to sprinkle it on my bananas, on my cereal, on my ice cream and ever since a friend of mine told me she put a dash in her AMAZING hamburgers I figure this spice knows no barriers.

A few weeks ago was General Conference (a religious meeting held 2 times a year for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). My husband and I decided that our new tradition would be to make AND EAT cinnamon rolls Sunday morning of General Conference. So I pulled out my trusty America's Test Kitchen's  The Best Light Recipe cookbook, and made my first batch of cinnamon rolls. 

I forgot to take process pictures but this is the second batch. As you can see from the little deformed cinnamon roll on the left my skills at keeping the roll together when transferring it to the pan were not yet perfected. 

And of course frosted them. One great thing about this recipe is that buttermilk is used in the dough and the frosting so it has a nice complimentary flavor rather than just a super sweet mess. (though I can't complain about messes especially the sweet kind) Everyone loved these!

America's Test Kitchen The Best Light Recipe 

Quick Cinnamon Rolls with Buttermilk Icing

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil spray

Filling:

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2    teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon salt

Dough:

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Icing:

2 tablespoons light cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons buttermilk

3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray an 8-inch-square baking pan and a wire rack with the vegetable oil spray; set aside. 

2. For the filling - Mix all the ingredients together; set aside. 

3. For the dough - Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter together. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed (the dough will look very shaggy), about 30 seconds. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy, about 30 seconds. 

4. Pat the dough with your hands into a 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the remaining tablespoon of melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with the filling leaving a 1/2-inch border of plain dough around the edges. Press the filling firmly into the dough. Using a bench scraper or metal spatula, loosen the dough from the work surface. Starting at the long side, roll the dough, pressing lightly to form a tight log. Pinch the seam to seal. Roll the log seam-side down and cut it evenly into 9 pieces. With your hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal the open edges and keep the filling in place. 

5. Arrange the rolls in the prepared baking dish (3 rows of 3 rolls). Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the edges of the rolls are golden brown, 12-14 minutes longer.

6. Use an offset metal spatula to loosen the rolls from the pan. Wearing oven mitts, place a large plate over the pan and invert the rolls onto the plate. Place a greased wire rack over the plate and flip the rolls onto the rack. Let the rolls cool for 5 minutes before icing. 

7. To ice the rolls - wile the rolls are cooling, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy cleanup). Set the rack of cooling rolls over the baking sheet (to catch the dripping frosting). Whisk the cream cheese and buttermilk together ina large nonreactive bowl until thick and smooth. Sift the confectioners' sugar over the mixture; whisk until a smooth glaze forms, about 30 seconds. Spoon the glaze evenly over the rolls. 

Per roll: Cal 280, Fat 4.5 g, Sat Fat 3.5 g, Chol 15 mg, Carb 55 g, Protein 6 g, Fiber 1 g, Sodium 340 mg