Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! This is my last Halloween cookie recipe for the month of October, before we jump into November. And they are Ghostly Chocolate Cats and Bat cookies:

Look at the kitty! It's so cute I could just eat it up!

Even this little bat brings a smile to my face! It sort of looks like a batarang from the old 1960's Batman cartoon. I wonder if I could throw it at someone....

This cookie was a perfect addition for my Halloween grab bags. They're like sugar cookies, but made with unsweetened cocoa powder. I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's website, the instructions were easy to follow and it yields a lot. At first I was worries about the texture of the dough, but after I let it firm up in the refrigerator it was easier to work with. You can dot the eyes with whatever you like. I melted some white chocolate chip and dotted them on. The recipe say you can stick pieces of candy in them before they cool down. These cookies are really good with a glass of milk or a steamy cup of coffee. They're chocolately, crunchy, and crisp! My friends really loved them and I think you will too. Here is the recipe:

Ghostly Bat and Cat Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling and cutting out dough
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
Small candies or sprinkles, for decorating (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy; beat in egg. On low speed, mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half, and form into 2 disks, each about 3/4 inch thick. Wrap disks in plastic; chill until firm, at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days.

3. On a lightly floured sheet of waxed paper, using a floured rolling pin, roll dough 1/4 inch thick. (If dough becomes too soft to work with, refrigerate for a few minutes.)

4. Using 2- to 3-inch Halloween cookie cutters, cut out shapes, dipping cutters in flour as necessary to prevent sticking; place on a baking sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart.

5. Bake until surface is dry to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes (if decorating, press candies into dough halfway through baking). Cool cookies 1 to 2 minutes on baking sheet; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Serve, or store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

If you would like to see the recipe on Martha Stewart's site click the link below:
http://www.marthastewart.com/315407/ghostly-bat-and-cat-cookies

Día de Muertos & Sugar Skulls

Did you know in Mexico they honor the dead by offering them treats? Every November 1st and 2nd natives of Mexico will set up an altar in their home dedicated to a loved one that passed away. These altars are usually covered in candles, pictures, flowers, and sweet treats. This tradition has been around for 3,000 years celebrating life and death. The holiday Día de muertos or Day of the Dead originated from Aztec culture and has been passed down from many generations. The celebration itself is bright, colorful and loaded with skulls.

The skulls carry a very strong representation of death and rebirth. Originally,the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as trophies and displayed them during the ritual. Today the Day of the Dead is celebrated in different parts of the US, Mexico and Central America. One of the most popular treats that can be found on an altar is the Sugar Skull. Its sugar that has been molded into a skull and decorated with brightly colored frosting and even glitter. On the forehead of the skull is the name of a dead relative and the skull is usually eaten by a close friend or one of their family members. Now I have always been interested in making them, however you have to find the right mold to do it. But, if you are interested in trying to make your own sugar skulls visit: http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/sugar_skulls/instructions.html

And if you would like to find out more about Dia de Muertos visit: http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-history.html

Peanut Butter Drizzled Pumpkins

So for my next Halloween recipe I decide to make peanut butter drizzle cookies. These are completely different from your average peanut cookie. First off they are cut outs instead of scoop and drop cookies. Which means, you can shape them into anything you want with some cookie cutters. Since I am doing Halloween themed baking I decided to go with the pumpkin cookie cutter. And Yes! I know, if I make cookies in the shapes of pumpkins shouldn't they be pumpkin spice flavored? Well, who made that rule! I like variety now and then, and peanut butter, lots of peanut butter.
Anyway, the second interesting thing about these cookies is the base of the dough. The base is made of Hershey's melted Reese's peanut butter chips. You don't even need a jar of peanut butter! Just melt the chips in a sauce pot with butter, stir until smooth and there is your peanut butter mixture. Fair warning, this recipe will leave your kitchen smelling sweet and peanuty. The most important part of this recipe was the baking time. If you leave these in the oven for to long they have the texture of biscotti, but if you take them out too soon they'll fall apart. So, be careful with your baking time.

Now, I thought that these would not taste as good as other peanut butter cookies I have made; since it doesn't use real peanut butter. But, to my surprise I was really wrong, they were good. I mean really good. And the drizzle made them even ten times better. That was the one cookie my friends seemed to enjoy the most next to the Witch fingers I featured in last week's post. So, if you would like to give your special little monsters this sweet treat the recipe is below:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 cup REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
CHOCOLATE CHIP GLAZE or PEANUT BUTTER CHIP GLAZE (recipes follow)

Directions

1. Place butter and peanut butter chips in saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Pour into large bowl; add brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat well. Stir in flour, baking soda and pecans; blend well. Refrigerate 15 to 20 minutes or until firm enough to roll.

2. Heat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough, a small portion at a time, on lightly floured board or between 2 pieces of wax paper, to 1/4-inch thickness. I used the wax paper to avoid a big mess with flour. Keep any extra dough in refrigerator. With cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until almost set (do not overbake). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

4. Drizzle CHOCOLATE CHIP GLAZE or PEANUT BUTTER CHIP GLAZE onto each cookie; garnish as desired. About 3 dozen cookies.

CHOCOLATE CHIP GLAZE: Place 1 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and 1 tablespoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil) in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 minute; stir. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.

PEANUT BUTTER CHIP GLAZE: Place 2/3 cup REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips and 1 tablespoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil) in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 30 seconds; stir. Microwave at MEDIUM an additional 10 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Makes about 1/3 cup glaze.

You can find this recipe online at: http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/5087/Peanut-Butter-Cut-Out-Cookies.aspx

Head Start on Halloween!

I know Halloween is not here yet but, I just couldn't help myself when I came across this witch finger cookie sheet. What could be more delicious than biting into a ghoulish witch's index finger? The pan is Wilton brand and offers two different recipes on the back for nail bitingly good witch finger cookies.

The recipe is actually really simple, but it yields a lot. It's supposed to make only 3 dozen, however I managed to get 40 total which is perfect for handing out to friends in grab bags. But, timing is everything, make sure you make this early in the day or you might be making fingers all night long.

If you really want them to stand out put some food coloring in the dough to change it to that classic wicked witch color. And don't be afraid to really work the dough with your hands, it really helps incorporate all of the ingredients. Also try sticking sliced almonds on the ends of the fingers to make nails. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, soften
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray pan cavities with vegetable spray.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until well blended. Add egg and both extracts; mix well. Combine flour and salt to butter mixture. Beat until well blended. (optional- add food coloring to dough and knead until combined).

3. Press dough into cavities, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 9-10 minute or until light brown around edges. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn pan over and lightly tap out. Transfer to cooling rack.

4. Decorate! I used some candy melts as glue and pasted almond slices onto each finger tip.

Take a look at how I made these at the link below:

Witch Finger Cookies

Martha Stewart's Cookies!

If there was one book I would suggest to any cookie fanatic, it would be “Martha Stewart’s Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share”. This book offers 175 cookie recipes from sandwich cookies to basic sugar cookies. This is my ultimate "go to" cookie book. What I really like about this book is the table of contents. The cookies are shown with the page number and are categorized by flavor and texture. Also there are plenty of pictures that show each cookie. In the back of the book there are technique pages that offer step-by-step pictures of how to decorate or roll out the cookies. I am a very visual person, so it helps to know what the outcome of the recipe should look like. I also appreciate how each recipe tells you how to store your cookies and how long before they go stale. Nothings is more disappointing than eating stale cookies.

The only thing I do not care about is how the directions are presented. Once in a while I will find a recipe that forgets to tell you to save a certain amount of an ingredient. I found that that out when I made my peanut butter cookies. It called for 1 and 1/3 cup of sugar, so I dumped it in the bowl. Mixed it together and put it in the oven for 10 minutes. But at the end, the directions said to sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of sugar over the cookies. So, as you can imagine my cookies were super sweet. Other than that, this book is still pretty good. Just make sure you read through the whole recipe.

This book comes in handy for last minute entertaining and offers a wide variety to choose from. The recipes are simple to follow and the cookies are so good!

You can get Martha's cookie book on Amazon.com at the link below: Martha's Cookie Book