Easy {No Bake} Book Shaped Cookies

Easy {No Bake} Book Shaped Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

These book-shaped cookies are soooooo cute!

And I’m a total sucker for cute food.

Anyway, I made these for a book party I was throwing.  You know, because cookies that looked like books seemed like an appropriate snack for a party celebrating books.  :)

The best part?

{Have you read my blog?  Do ya know what I’m gonna say next??}

They were easy!

Cute + easy + yummy = AWEsome!

The idea came from Catholic Cuisine when I found a picture of their Bible cookies on Pinterest.  I just made mine a little differently.

Here are the step-by-step pictures:

Easy {No Bake} Book Shaped Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

As you can see from the above picture, I just cut off one end of some Newton cookies and – just like that – the cookies already looked like little novels.

I used the Apple Cinnamon Newtons and Blueberry Newtons, but any flavor will work.

To amplify the effect, I added some icing in a pattern that would make them look a little bit more like fancy hardcover books:  a line down the front to indicate where the spine would start, 4 little lines across the spine in two groups, and a rectangle over the front cover.

And then, for fun, I wrote some words on some of them.  You don’t really need to do that, but I really got into it.

Easy {No Bake} Book Shaped Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

To make the icing, all you really need to do is mix a little water or milk into some confectionery sugar, but I actually used the same recipe that I use for my Soft Sugar Cookies and Mini Soft Iced Gingerbread Cookies.

Then you just let the cookies sit for a couple of minutes to let the icing harden, before storing them in a closed container or displaying them on a tray to serve.

They’ll keep for a few days, so you can make them ahead of time.

Easy {No Bake} Book Shaped Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

And they’re totally perfect to enjoy with a cup of warm tea or coffee and a good {you know} book.

To find out more about the amazing books at our party, visit BooksWithRosie.com!

Enjoy!

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Freezer Crock Pot Meals: Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

With the colors and excitement of Mardi Gras around me, I felt inspired to make some jambalaya.

It’s been on my To Do list for awhile, and I really haven’t been keeping up with making new Freezer Meals anyway, so it felt like great timing.

Technically Mardi Gras had already passed when I made it, but it is a warmly spicy and flavorful dish that’s a comforting {and super easy} meal anytime.

Why is it so easy?  As you can see in the pictures below, everything gets thrown into one freezer bag, and then the contents of that freezer bag later get thrown into a crock pot.  Done.

It’s best with rice, but that’s also something you can make ahead of time and have stored in the fridge.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

I typed up my recipe with the ingredients measured out for one meal:  one freezer bag portion that serves 4.

However, you can see that I actually made two.

And if chicken hadn’t been so expensive when I was in the mood for this, I would have made even more.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Once you put all of the ingredients in the bag, you freeze it overnight while it’s flat.

I like to put mine on top of pizza boxes or baking sheets, or something else smooth, because if you freeze them right on wire shelves, they’ll have little bumps on one side.  That doesn’t hurt the recipe, but it takes up waaaay more space in the freezer.

And the whole point is that you can stack these frozen meals vertically or horizontally without them taking up much space.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

And when you’re ready to eat, you just pull a bag out of the freezer and dump the contents into the crock pot.

I run mine under some warm {not hot} water in the sink for just a couple of minutes, to help break the large chunk into a few smaller chunks.

You can throw it right in the crockpot when it’s still completely frozen, it just fits better in smaller chunks.

Oh, and as you can see in the photos, there’s an excess of broth.  It will look wet when you first put it into the bowl, but once you stir in a scoop of rice, the rice will soak up most of the liquid.

So the finished product is not as soupy as it appears when still in the crock pot.

Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your own taste!  I like my food spicy, and though the heat was strong, I didn’t think it was too much.  But you can just use less hot sauce or a milder sausage if you prefer.

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Ingredients:
14 to 16 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast
8 oz. Andouille sausage
1 (28 oz.) can diced or petite diced tomatoes
1 medium to large sweet onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup chicken or beef broth
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Prepare a gallon freezer baggy by writing today’s date and the instructions on it. Set aside.

Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Cut sausage into slices or dice it.

Put chicken and sausage into a one gallon freezer baggy. Add the rest of the ingredients to bag. Seal bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Place the bag into the freezer on a flat surface, like a baking pan, to freeze overnight. Once frozen, you can store the bags upright.

When you’re ready to cook, remove baggy from freezer and run under warm water just long enough to break the contents into a few smaller pieces, about 2 minutes. Pour contents into crock pot and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 hours. Discard bay leaves before serving.

Serve with rice. Serves 4.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR BAG: Jambalaya ~ Cook on high 7-8 hours / low 3 hours ~ Serve with rice ~ Date

NOTE: This recipe makes one freezer bag portion but is easily doubled or tripled, making it easy to assemble multiple meals at one time, like you see in the photos.

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To print the free PDF copy of the recipe, click here:  Freezer Crock Pot Jambalaya

Enjoy!

Roaming Rosie Signature

Letter F: Alphabet Activities for Kids

Alphabet Activities for Kids - Project Ideas - Free Worksheets - at RoamingRosie.com

Welcome to Letter F Day!

If you haven’t read the Introduction to the Alphabet Activities, you should start there.

Don’t forget to check out the Letter F:  Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids, too!

F is for Flamingo {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This F is for Flamingo paper craft is really one of my favorite letters.

It must be a Floridian thing.  I have a special place in my heart for flamingos.  :)

Anyway, to make this, I cut out a lowercase F ahead of time and some feet, wings, and a beak, then gave my daughter those pieces and a googly eye and let her assemble the bird.

I also cut out that cute itty bitty flamingo in the bottom corner.  Just ’cause.

F is for Fish Letter Sorting  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

For our letter sorting activity, I cut out two fish and cut out the letters on light blue paper in the shape of circles to represent bubbles.

F is for Finger Flower Puppets  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

These flower fingers were inspired by a similar idea I found in a craft book dating from my childhood.

What I did was cut out some green paper to resemble the shape of uppercase T.  That “top” of the letter T would get wrapped around our fingers and the rest would function as the flower’s stem.

I also cut out some flower and leaf shapes, and we glued them all together to form our flowers.  Then, after letting the glue dry for a few minutes, we taped that “top” part of the T that I mentioned into a circle so that we could slide that part over our fingers.

Of course, the flower petal part of our finger puppets were a little heavy.  They drooped a bit, but, really, the girls didn’t mind.  It was still a lot of fun for them.  To fix that particular problem, though, you could use thicker paper (card stock instead of construction paper) or add a Popsicle stick or something for support.

F is for Footprints  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

Now, this F is for Footprints project was a really, really huge hit.

And super simple.

One of my favorite combinations.  :)

Cornstarch Paint  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

To make the paint for the footprints, you simply combine 1/2 cup cornstarch with a 1/2 cup of water, and mix it together with a fork.  Then drop in a bit of food coloring.

{If you’re using a nonstick pan to make the paint, be sure to mix it with a plastic fork.}

I made two colors in two cake pans, because the cake pan was big enough to hold my kids’ feet.  But they were both pretty young the first time we did this – so be sure to check your pan/bowl against your kid’s feet.

F is for Footprints

Anyway:  throw the cornstarch paint container out onto a driveway or sidewalk or deck, let the kids step in the paint and then trek colorful footprints everywhere.

And to really highlight the letter of the day, I made an outline of a giant F on the driveway with painters tape.  The girls had fun filling the F with messy footprints.

Oh:  and you may need to stir the paint occasionally.  That’s why you see my daughter carrying around forks in the photo.  The paint IS – technically – edible.  But I wouldn’t suggest testing out the taste.  Ick!

F is for Foam Frames

Okay, okay … this was kind of cheating.

We had some foam frames and foam stickers left over from a birthday party craft … so I just let the girls go ahead and make another frame apiece.

I guess you could get really into the alphabet thing and just stick letter Fs all over the frame, but we kinda just added this into our activities as a fun little project, putting their names at the bottom of the frame and going to town with the flower, animal, and instrument stickers over the rest.

Another option, however, would be to just use the foam flower stickers.  Which would also look nice.

F is for Feathers {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This worksheet was really fun for them.

I picked up some feathers at my local dollar store, but they were kind of long.  Longer than the letter F if you laid them horizontally on the paper.  So I cut them into pieces for this project.

That may have something to do with my OCD, though.  You could also just use 3 feathers to make an F.

This is one of the free printable worksheets I made, which you can download at Letter F:  Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids.  If you have feather stickers or a stamp, you could use that instead, but I find that the texture of the craft feathers is part of what made it really interesting.

F is for Florida's Flag  {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

As you may have noticed, we live in Florida.

So, coloring Florida’s Flag was a natural for Letter F Day.  But you could also do Finland, Fiji, and/or France instead, if you preferred.

Either way, you can get some printable flag coloring pages at World Free Printable Flags, including the Florida Flag.

F is for Letter F Sound Box {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

We don’t actually make Sound Boxes for every letter.

We probably should, but the reason we did it for F is because F is a big letter for us.  It’s the first letter of my oldest daughter’s name.  So it’s a pretty exciting letter in our house.

Our F Sound Box included flowers, forks, fruit, fish, an F alphabet block, some paper flags, and a Ferrari.

Our Sound Box was inspired by the “Sound Box” books the series by Jane Belk Moncure.  They’re kind of hard to find now, so I’m glad I picked up a couple when I did years ago, although you can still sometimes find them on Amazon:

Sound Box Books by Jane Belk Moncure

F is for Food  :)

F is for Fish French Toast {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

We used the Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Honey Whole Wheat Bread.  You COULD get it on Amazon, which is what I linked to, but it’s kinda seriously pricey, so I suggest checking your local stores first.  I only include the link because it helps me to visualize what I’m looking for if I can see it first.

What I actually suggest is – if you can’t find the Goldfish bread in the store – just use fish shaped cookie cutters to make your own fish shaped bread, kind of like when I made Fall French Toast in the shape of Autumn leaves.

F is for Fruit and Franfurters {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This was a simple lunch.  I warmed up some frankfurters {turkey dogs count!}, sliced them into three pieces, and formed an F with the pieces on the plate.

Then I added some fruit.  A mixture of fruit would have been nice, but the only fresh fruit we had that day was watermelon, so that’s what we ate.

F is for Fish Sticks and French Fries {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

Since we did so many activities for Letter F Day, dinner was also {like lunch} simple.

I threw some frozen french fries and frozen fish sticks on a cookie sheet and baked them up while I made a salad.  {A “fresh” salad??}

Anyway, this particular meal is always a hit with my kids, but before we ate it, I made sure to make a game out of searching for all of the letter Fs on the boxes of the fries and fish sticks.

F is for Fairy Fudge {Alphabet Activities at RoamingRosie.com}

This was a pretty dessert, but also super, super sweet.

Why is it called “Fairy Fudge?”  Well, I named it for Fairy Bread, which is a slice of white bread covered with butter and colorful sprinkles.  But what we did here was make white chocolate fudge and cover IT with colorful nonpareil sprinkles.  My kids LOVE sprinkles.

The fudge pictured above was from a rather unsuccessful recipe {waaaay to sweet and not the right texture at all}, but I’ve come up with my own recipe for Vanilla Fairy Fudge which is SO much better!

Vanilla Fairy Fudge Recipe

Okay – that’s it for Letter F Day, except for my Letter F:  Free Alphabet Worksheets for Kids, of course!

And don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest to see my latest posts!

Have fun!

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Flower Shaped Cinnamon Buns

Flower Shaped Cinnamon Buns at RoamingRosie.com

These flower shaped cinnamon buns make breakfast a little extra special.  :)

And it’s pretty quick to do with the help of store bought cinnamon rolls.

I popped those babies out of the can, formed a flower near the top of the pan {one roll in the center and 5 around it to act as petals} and then cut the remaining 2 rolls in half to use for the stem and leaf.

I was pretty happy about how much it actually resembled a flower even before I added the colored sprinkles.

Once you pull the buns out of the oven, add some colored sugar sprinkles right after spreading on the icing – otherwise the icing will start to harden just enough for the sprinkles to not stick.  You have to be kind of quick about this step, so pick out your colors ahead of time.

Now, I made these for my mom on her birthday because she is a gardener and she likes flowers…. but while I was sprinkling on the bright colors, I realized it would also make an impressive centerpiece for any springtime or Easter breakfast or brunch.

Well, that is, it would make an impressive centerpiece if you transferred the buns to a platter instead of being all lazy like me and serving it right on the cookie sheet…..

Either way:  enjoy!

And if you’re a big fan of sprinkles, check these out:

Jack O' Lantern Cinnamon Buns

Jack O’ Lantern Cinnamon Buns

Milk Sprinkles

Milk Sprinkles

Sprinkle Cookies

Sprinkles Cookies

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Peppermint Polar Bear Paw Treats and The Books That Inspired Them

Peppermint Polar Bear Paw Treats and the Books That Inspired Them

These yummy treats were one of our recent projects.

I’d been wanting to do something that incorporated polar bears, since it’s winter, and when I realized I could shape little minty patties to look like bear paw prints, I got pretty excited.

It’s kind of like a teddy bear paw… but a polar bear instead.

My girls and I had been rotating through a couple of books that featured polar bears, which is one of the main reasons they were on my mind.  The books include East of the Sun, West of the Moon and Hush Little Polar Bear, both of which I’ve reviewed below.

Peppermint Polar Bear Paw Treats and the Books That Inspired Them

The bear paws are easy to make.  The patty is just sugar, cream cheese, and peppermint extract.

Then, for decoration, I added Junior Mints and milk chocolate chips.

You could use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips instead, but I liked the milk chocolate flavor with these.

Peppermint Polar Bear Paw Treats and the Books That Inspired Them

Here are the necessary ingredients.  I didn’t actually count out the candies ahead of time:  I just poured a bunch in a bowl for my girls to pick from.

My 4yo did a pretty good job, and my 2yo had a lot of fun shaping the dough… when she wasn’t busy eating the candy.

Peppermint Polar Bear Paw Treats and the Books That Inspired Them

To make the mint patties look like bear paws, add one Junior Mint and top with three chocolate chips.

You have to press them in right away, since the heat of your hand is what helps form the shape.  Once you’ve formed the disc and placed it on the counter, it will begin to harden.  So you’ll want to *gently* push in your candy right away.

Then store them in the fridge.

They look really cute on Christmas cookie platters, and would also be fun at winter birthday parties.  Or just, you know, to eat yourself.  :)

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

I love this book.  East of the Sun, West of the Moon is a retelling of a 19th century Norwegian fairytale.  It’s retold by Susanna Davidson and illustrated by Petra Brown.

It’s part of the Usborne Young Readers:  Series Two books.  It’s meant to be read by children who are 8+ years and are gaining confidence in reading on their own.  I bought it to read to my 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 year old girls.  It’s certainly much more appealing to the older child, who get’s very excited about it, but my youngest still enjoys the pictures and does listen to the story.  And older kids will definitely enjoy reading it for themselves.

I think it’s wonderful, especially because it’s a fairy tale written for a younger audience that isn’t one of the same old, worn stories that are told over and over and over in other books.  It’s a fresh tale.  There’s adventure and excitement, and it’s even a little scary – as all fairy tales are – but not too much.

It’s terribly romantic, too, but not in a mushy, flowery way.  This is a story about a brave girl who goes to the ends of the earth to save the man she loves.  She enlists the help of the Four Winds and outsmarts an evil Troll to break the spell that turns her beloved prince into a polar bear.

There’s even a little message hidden in the ending promoting the importance of love and family over money and riches.

The retelling is written to be easily understood by kids.  There are a limited number of words on every page, so as not to be overwhelming, and it’s 64 pages are separated into six chapters.  The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and many are displayed across a double page spread.

The physical book itself is also great.  It’s small, about 5.5 by 8 inches, with thick pages, and its sturdy hardcover is a silky, soft texture.  It feels nice to hold.

I completely and ardently recommend this book.  It is unfortunately no longer available from my Usborne site, but you can sometimes find used copies on Amazon.  You can also check out the other Young Readers:  Series Two books.

Hush Little Polar Bear by Jeff Mack

Hush Little Polar Bear, by Jeff Mack, is a charming picture book.  It’s available as a hardcover or a board book, and we have the hardcover version, since ours was a decommissioned purchase from our local library.

And I’m so glad I came across this gem while hunting for new books to read.  It’s colorful and adventurous, and a wonderful bedtime read.

It’s written in verse as a little girl talking to her stuffed toy polar bear and about what exciting dreams he may be having.  The bear sails the high seas on the back of a whale, swims through a waterfall, swings through the trees, forges through a desert, and floats through the sky … all the way home to her, where they curl up together to sleep.

The text has a good rhythm and the illustrations are a lot of fun.  The little girl appears somewhere on every page, watching the polar bear’s adventures from up close or afar, and my kids enjoy pointing her out.

Plus, I love reading stories at bedtime that end with the characters drifting off to sleep.  It helps set the mood.   :)

If you have Little Ones, you should really consider adding it to your collection.  It’s such a fun read!

Peppermint Polar Bear Paw Treats and the Books That Inspired Them

And now, back to the recipe that was inspired by these fantastic books:

Peppermint Polar Bear Paws

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups confectionery sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
20 Junior Mints candies
60 milk chocolate chips

In a large bowl, use a mixer to combine the softened cream cheese and confectionery sugar until smooth.

Add the peppermint extract and mix until fully blended.

Scoop large spoonfuls of peppermint mixture out and use your hands to shape it into a disc. It won’t “roll” in your hands very well, so you’ll need to form them mostly by pressing them into shape.

Immediately add a Junior Mint and 3 chocolate chips to the peppermint disc in a pattern that represents a bear paw while still malleable. The disc will begin to harden once you stop moving it around in your hands, so make one at a time.

Store covered in the refrigerator. Makes 20.

[Notes: place the chocolate chips in upside down, so that the flat sides are facing up. And when placing the Junior Mints on the disc, press very gently on the edges, instead of in the middle, to avoid cracking them.]

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Click here for the free printable PDF version:

Peppermint Polar Bear Paws

Enjoy!  And Happy Reading!

Roaming Rosie Signature

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

I love tiny cookies.  They’re just so much fun.

And I had a bunch of mini M&Ms left over from our Rice Krispies Christmas Trees, so I decided to bake with them, instead of just devouring the bag in a single sitting.

Thus was born:  Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Because the mini M&Ms weren’t enough:  I really felt we could use some mini chocolate chips, too.  :)

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

It’s a pretty basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, and a variation of the one I normally make.

One difference is that I usually make chocolate chip cookies with dark brown sugar.

But we were out.

So I used light brown – which is fine.  It’s just not quite as dark in color or as sweet.

But still good.

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

Doesn’t that look amazing??

I mean – the colors – the ooey gooey-ness!!

*drooling now*

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

To make the cookies miniature, just scoop the dough out with teaspoons, not quite filling them up all the way.

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

If you prefer, you could also make giant cookies, but I liked the way they look small.

Besides, I added these to some Christmas cookie platters, so small was convenient.

And cute.  Did I mention cute??

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies at RoamingRosie.com

Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
1 cup miniature M&M candies

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Either with a mixer or by hand, blend softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add egg, beating well until combined. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Drop about a half-teaspoon to a teaspoonful of dough onto ungreased baking pans. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until edges are just beginning to brown.

Cool on wire racks. Store covered.

Makes about 5 dozen.

[Note: you can use either light or dark brown sugar for this recipe. I used light brown sugar here, which has a milder flavor. If you use dark brown, the cookies will be a little darker in color, as well as a little sweeter.]

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And click here for the free printable PDF version:  Mini M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Enjoy!

Roaming Rosie Signature

Mini Soft Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

So my daughter came home from school with one of those individually wrapped, soft, iced gingerbread men cookies that had red and green sprinkles on it.

I love those things.

And I suddenly realized I hadn’t made gingerbread cookies in years.  Seriously:  years.

So I tweaked an old recipe, rolled out the dough thickly, and dipped them in some royal icing that got a touch of sugar sprinkles.

Uh… YUM.

And I made them miniature.  I did this mostly because I was looking for an excuse to use the miniature cookie cutters I bought on clearance last year, but it turned out to be a wonderful idea.

Bite-sized deliciousness.

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Look at all the spices and all that sweetness!

You can just tell they’re going to be awesome.

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

It’s a soft dough.

This means it needs to go in the fridge for at least 2 hours before you roll it out.

And you’ll need to sprinkle lots of flour over the counter before you roll it out, and flour the rolling pin, and probably add a little more as you’re rolling.

But that’s okay:  there isn’t that much flour in the recipe itself, so using the extra flour to roll it all out without sticking makes it just the right consistency.

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

And you really need to roll them out quite thickly to get that pillowy softness in the finished cookie.

Nearly a half-inch.  At least a quarter inch.  At minimum.

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Once the cookies are cooled, just dip them in the royal icing.

Use a fork to stir the icing in between dipping the cookies, and also to scrape excess icing off of the cookies just after dipping them.  You don’t need to scrape the fork directly across the surface of the cookie – just close to it.  If there’s too much icing, it’ll ooze all of the edges and make a mess.

A thin coating is really all you need.  And it spreads as it sits.

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Be sure to add the sprinkles before the icing starts to harden.

I usually dip about 3 or 4 cookies before sprinkling them.

To make my red and green sprinkles, I simply mixed some red and some green sugar sprinkles together in a small bowl ahead of time.

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Don’t they look yummy?

I could seriously have eaten all of the cookies by myself.

Luckily, I had help.  :)

But the recipe makes a ton.  Like 12 dozen miniature {1-inch} cookies.  Enough to feed an army.  Or 2 or 3 over-stressed moms.

Either way – seriously worth a try.

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Icing:
2 cups confectionery sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons water
Red and green sugar sprinkles

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well combined. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and egg with a mixer until creamy. Add the molasses and vanilla and mix until well blended. Gradually add the flour mixture, switching to mixing by hand. Divide dough in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Generously sprinkle flour over prep space, including the rolling pin. Remove one portion of dough from refrigerator and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness, using extra flour if necessary to avoid sticking.

Use mini cookie cutters (or regular sized cutters, if desired) to cut shapes from dough. Place on cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies sit on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Mix together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and vanilla extract. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach a consistency where a thick line of icing slowly and smoothly drips off of the fork when lifted from the bowl. Dip cookies into icing, wiping off excess with fork while cookie is still upside down over bowl. Immediately sprinkle with a mixture of red and green sugar sprinkles.

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For the free printable PDF version of the recipe, click here:  Mini Iced Gingerbread Cookies

Enjoy!

Roaming Rosie Signature

Almond Wreath Cookies

Almond Wreath Cookies

This is another of my favorites when it comes to Christmas baking.

These Land O’ Lakes Almond Wreaths are a soft, flavorful, fun-shaped cookie.

They take a little effort to construct, but once you get the hang of things, they’re pretty quick to bust out.

Almond Wreath Cookies

The use of confectionery sugar in the batter gives the finished cookies a smooth texture.

Almond Wreath Cookies

They are a little soft, though, so you have to wrap up the dough and refrigerate it before shaping the cookies.

But while they’re in the fridge, it’s a good time to clean up the kitchen or even make a different type of Christmas cookie.

Almond Wreath Cookies

I follow the directions given in the recipe for making my wreaths:  Shape one-inch balls, cut balls in half, roll each half into a rope, twist the two rope pieces together and form the twisted rope into a circle.

Again, it takes a minute or two to get the hang of it, but it’s not nearly as daunting as it looks!

Almond Wreath Cookies

I don’t dye my dough.  You could make the cookies green, but I never do.

In the original recipe, they’re left uncolored and decorated with white icing and white sprinkles.  I change that up a bit by using green sugar sprinkles on top of the icing.  I like the look of it.

Almond Wreath Cookies

After brushing the icing on two or three cookies, add the sprinkles before the icing hardens.

If using a larger decoration, like the sugar pearls I used, add them first, and then add the finer textured sugar sprinkles.

You could also use regular nonpareils for a more colorful look.

Almond Wreath Cookies

This recipe can be found on the Land O’ Lakes website: Land O’ Lakes Almond Wreaths

And if you thought they looked scrumptious, you may also want to check out these:

Spritz Butter Cookies

Soft Iced Sugar Cookies

Chocolate Almond Mummy Cookies

Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Ultimate Norwegian Spice Cookies

Elf-Sized Chocolate Chip Confetti Cookies

Easter Bunny Spiced Sandwich Cookies

Yum!

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Spritz Butter Cookies

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

I looooove Spritz cookies!

Of course, I usually just refer to them as “butter cookies” since I’ve found there are a lot of people who have never heard of “spritz.”

Which is a shame, really.

These cookies are almost entirely made of butter and sugar.

There isn’t much in life that’s better than that.

And one of the reasons I made sure to share this recipe is that I recently did a search for spritz and every recipe I found was different than the one I use.  I LOVE these cookies!  The thought of not sharing them with the world was just too terribly depressing.

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

These are totally a favorite of mine at Christmas.  I may make them a few times a year, but they’re definitely always part of my Christmas baking.

And my favorite way to make these little guys around Christmastime is by dying the dough green and making little Christmas trees.  It’s easy but super cute.

I also tend to make some red and leave some plain, too, which you’ll see in the pictures.

The easiest way to add the food coloring is to add it into the butter mixture, before you add in the flour.  I usually toss it in with the egg.

But if you’re not planning to dye the entire batch one color {you can see some plain dough in these photos – I did it half plain and half red}, then you can just massage some color into the finished dough with a gentle hand kneading.

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

There are a lot of cookie presses out there.

I’ve tried quite a few.

I’ve attempted the electronic version and tackled the pump handle ones, too… but they’re all just plastic pieces of crap, in my opinion.

There’s nothing like my mom’s old copper cookie press.

That said, if you don’t have one, the closest I can come to making a recommendation is the OXO Good Grips one,and only because it has a lot of positive reviews on Amazon.  But you’ll have to judge for yourself.

And please – PLEASE – if you know of a good cookie press, please tell me!!!

The good news?  You don’t actually need a cookie press to make these butter cookies.  Sometimes I just roll the dough into 1-inch balls and dip them in nonpareils.  You could also roll them out and cut them out with a fancy roller, kind of a la my easy cut out cookies.

But I usually use my press because they’re just so darned adorable.

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

Another fun option for these little cookies are making cherry wreaths.

These are another big hit and look lovely on cookie platters.

You simply cut a maraschino cherry in half and add it to a wreath-shaped cookie before baking.

If you didn’t dye the dough, you can also add some green sugar sprinkles.  Or some nonpareils for decoration.

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

I like the little swirl-looking cookies in red because they remind me of poinsettias.  :)

The sprinkles on those are the white sugar pearls.

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

And here they are baked.

Look almost the same as before they were baked, don’t they?

They’re just so pretty … which, if you didn’t know, also makes them taste better.  :)

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

And the trees again.  These are totally my favorites – so cute!

You could also take the time to add a little star to the tops of the trees, if you like.  Sometimes I use daisy sprinkles for stuff like that.

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

When you cook the spritz with cherries on them, you’ll notice a slight darkening of the dough around the cherry.

That’s from the cherry juice.

It’s part of what makes those particular cookies so good, but it also will make them soft.

This is awesome if you like soft cookies – but you need to keep it in mind.  These cookies get REALLY soft over time, so if you’re planning to serve them more than a couple of days past making them, then go ahead and freeze them the day you make them.  Then pull them out the day you’re going to serve them.  I also store these cookies separate from the other spritz that don’t have cherries.

Oh – and below you can see most of what I made out of two batches of the recipe.

I also made some dog-shaped cookies out of the plain {non-dyed} dough.  My girls love these.  :)

Spritz Butter Cookies with FREE Printable Recipe at RoamingRosie.com

Spritz Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cream together butter and sugar with a mixer. Blend in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture.

Put dough into a cookie press and follow manufacturer’s directions for making cookies. Press the cookies out onto ungreased cookie sheets. Decorate with sprinkles or cherries, if desired.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until just starting to brown on the edges.

Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely. Store covered. Cookies can be sprinkled with powdered sugar just before serving, if desired.

[Color Option: mix gel or liquid food coloring into the batter for colored cookies. You can do this by adding the color to the butter mixture before adding the flour, or, if you only want to color a portion of the dough, by massaging it into the finished dough.]

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And click here to print the free PDF version of the recipe:  Spritz Butter Cookies

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White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

These White Chocolate Confetti Blondies are a fun way to add some color to a sweet treat!

Plus, sprinkles are always a hit in our house.

I have to make sure my girls don’t eat all the sprinkles before we can stir them into the batter.  :)

White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

It’s a simple recipe, and easy to make by hand.  {I’m always happy when I don’t have to wash a mixer.}

I always have colorful cake sprinkles on hand, and the ones you see here are this kind.

White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

The end result is pretty sweet.

Not overly-sweet, but more of a party food than a eat-every-day snack.

White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

It’s quick, too – just stir everything together, smush it into a pan, and bake!

And don’t they look just full of gooey gorgeousness???

White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup colorful sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 9 inch square baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract with a mixer until creamy. Beat in the egg. Stir in the chocolate chips and sprinkles.

Press mixture into baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.

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To print the free PDF copy of this recipe, click here:  White Chocolate Confetti Blondies

Enjoy!

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