Gingerbread Men Sugar Cookies (Royal Icing)

Merry Christmas, hope you all had an amazing time with your family. 

I had to share one last cookie I made. I saw this  fun design on Gisela on Instagram. I have done gingerbread men before but this was a fun way to make using royal icing. I made these cookies for my dance fitness instructors.

 

What you need:

Baked Cookies (My favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe)

Brown, Red and White Royal Icing (see my favorite recipe below)

Brown and Red AmeriColor Gel Food Coloring to tint Royal Icing
Gingerbread Man Cookie Cutter (Bought on Amazon)

I used the dipping method with my royal icing. I started to do the dipping method about several months ago to speed up my decorating time. You can pipe each cookie which is a little cleaner but I find the dipping method to be the best. You get your royal icing to the outline consistency and put into a pie dish (I find this is not too deep, so you don't looses your cookie). Once you dip the top of the cookie you tap off the extra icing and then you let dry!
 

Once the brown was dry I added the details. I took a piping bag with white icing and added the details on his legs, arms and face. I then took a piping bag with red icing to make the buttons.

Click HERE to see who I link with.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Julie Usher, she has a GREAT YouTube video on how to make, color and make consistency adjustments. 

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.

Reindeer Cookies (Upside Down Gingerbread Men)

Next on the classroom gifts is Reindeer Cookies that I made for Caden and then Cole asked if I would make for his advisory class (In my day we called it home room). I found several ideas to do this but I'll give credit to the one I printed and used as my template on Simplee Thrifty. 

What you need:

Baked Cookies (I used Sugar since Ginger sometimes is a required taste)

Light Brown Royal Icing (I use Food Gel to color)

Dark Brown Royal Icing (I use Food Gel to color)

Black Royal Icing (I use Food Gel to color)

Red Hots (Red Candy or Red Royal Icing) 

Pipping Bags

Bake your gingerbread shaped men, I used a sugar cookie since when I did gingerbread this last time I noticed a lot of the kids didn't like the taste. I used my favorite Sugar Cookie recipe that I've been using for a few years now.

After my gingerbread man have cooled. I started on the Royal Icing. I've been using Julia M. Usher's Recipe for royal icing, she has the best video's also to help you! I've included the recipe at the bottom of this post also. I color mine with Gel Food Coloring. I used a dark brown but only used a few drops to make the light brown. Usually I would have 2 gels I use but I forgot to run to the store so I made do. I broke my icing into 3 balls, one large for the light brown (face), one medium for dark bark (antlers) and one small for the black (eyes and mouth). 

I started with the face. Turn your gingerbread upside down (head on the bottom). Out line with royal icing what will be the ears, head and mouth. Flood with icing to fill in, almost like a triangle with rounded edges. Before this dries add your red hot for the nose, I put mine a little low.  Let dry and come back with the dark Brown draw on your antlers (on gingerbread man's legs). Also add a little dark brown for the inside of the ears. Then take your black to make eyes and a mouth (this is were I found my nose was a little low). Let them sit overnight and your read to pass them out. 

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

For Royal Icing:

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Oreo Cookies

So I've seen these all over Pintrest and the web so I don't have ONE person to give the credit for.  If you were the brilliant person who came up with this idea, let me know and I'll make sure to give you credit, ok blogger police who leave comments on not giving credit.

Next on my list was some Rudolph Reindeer's for Cole's classroom friends!

What you Need:

Oreo Cookies

Light Brown Wilton Melts

Red Hots

Wilton Candy Eyes

Chocolate Covered Pretzels (Flips are easy)

Wilton Slotted Spoons

Microwave Wilton Melts, mine takes 2 minutes be careful NOT to burn them.  Place an oreo in the melted chocolate.  I LOVE my Wilton Candy Spoon with the slots makes gets all the extra chocolate off the cookies.  I found placing the chocolate covered pretzels on first.  I then added 2 candy eyes and added a red hot for the nose.

Place in the fridge to harden up.  I picked up a some bags at the dollar tree and off they went to school.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Santa Cookies (Nutter Butter)

Wow it's almost Christmas so it's time for Classroom treats!! Here are the cute Santa's I made for Caden's class.  I found these super cute Santa's on Phaedra's Adventures.  These are actually pretty easy to make, takes a little big of time but so cute!  Here is a step by step tutorial.

What you Need:

Nutter Butters

Wilton Red Melts

Wilton White Melts

Shredded Coconut

Mini Chocolate Chips

Red Hots

Parchment Paper

Piping Bag

I melt my chocolate melts in the microwave for 1 min 30 seconds.  BE CAREFUL not to burn! I melt my melts in my pampered chef glass bowls they are amazing for this.  Take a Nutter Butter and dip in Red for the top of the hat. Place on parchment paper to harden.  I use a plastic piping bag melt the white melts in the microwave.  I added the fir on the red hat and a dot for the end of the hat.  Let this harden, then to the bottom of the cookie.  I melted the white melts in my other pampered chef glass bowl and dipped the bottom of the cookie in the white for the beard.  BEFORE it dries add some coconut for the fuz of a beard.  I then pipped a little white to hold the eyes and the nose.  For the eyes you use mini chocolate chips and a red hot for a nose.  I picked up some plastic bags from the dollar tree for Caden to share with each classmate.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Tis the Season ... White Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispies

A few days back my dear friend Beth posted a recipe that I just had to try for my Christmas Packages that were going out.  I had most of the ingredients on hand and went to my favorite bulk section at Winco for the rest of the ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 cups Rice Krispies cereal 
2 cups dry roasted peanuts 
2 cups miniature marshmallows 
1 cup peanut butter 
2 pounds white chocolate chips (2 12-oz packages plus 1 1/3 cup) 

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine cereal, peanuts and marshmallows. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and peanut butter on High for 1 minute and then in 30 second intervals until fully melted. Stir chocolate into cereal mixture. Mixture will be slightly runny. Drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper. Let set until firm, 2 hours. Store in an airtight container.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used White Chocolate melts, they melt nicer (no clumps and I think taste better).  I used 5 cups (1lb = 2 2/3 cups) and found mine was a little too soupy so I added more of the dry ingredients until I got to a scoopable cookie.

These are so simple and I did take a taste of one and they were very yummy but pretty sweet so I only wanted to have one which is a good thing so I didn't eat the whole lot in front of me.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Look for a little Crème? How about Cookie style!

I wanted to make something nice for the ladies at my women’s church group and ran across this recipe.  Around this time of year I always stock up on Betty Crocker Cookie mixes since they have box tops and they are great starters for cookie recipes.  This Snickerdoodle Crème Cookies turned out great, I switched out the cream to Wilton’s Buttercream Icing.

Then Cole’s was in the Children’s play at church so I thought I would whip up a Pumpkin version using the Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix.  Well I got the cookie made but then found out the kids needed to be there early for rehearsal so they went in the fridge and now will be passed out to neighbors .  I used the Very “Butter” Cream Frosting that I made a while back that pared perfect!

Now on to more cookie making this week, must get all my homemade gifts out the door this weekend!

Have you done any baking?  Do you make cookies for friends/family?

Holiday Treats in Bags (3 Recipes)

Do you know Christmas is NEXT week??? I mean really how the heck did that happen? Usually I have all the treats done early for my Christmas gifts, this year money is tight (now tighter with the new puppy) so I thought I would do home goods. Ok how in their right mind thought that would be cheap .... lol. OK if you do just a few it is but you KNOW me and I went overboard so it wasn't cheap. Looks like mom really isn't getting any gifts this year .. lol. I up until Midnight yet again and I still have a little more to do :).

Real quick a few to choose from to put in baggies to give!

Microwave Peanut Brittle

by my Girl Tammy's Two Cents

Microwave Peanut Brittle

1 Cup Peanuts (can be salted or unsalted...your preference)

1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup

1 Cup Sugar

* Cook for 4 minutes (in an 8 Cup glass container)

* Stir

* Cook additional 4 minutes

Add:

* 1 teaspoon butter

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* Stir in and cook 1 minute

Add:

*1 teaspoon soda

* Stir until light brown and foamy, pour onto greased foil quickly, let harden and then break into pieces.

ALEXIS NOTE: Being in a hurry I so forgot to do the soda ... lol. It turned out great but I do plan to do it right next time :).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Holiday Bark

Ma, What's for Dinner?

2 11 ounce bags white chocolate chips

1 T walnut oil

¾ cup dried cranberries

1 cup shelled pistachios

What to do:

In a large microwave safe bowl combine chocolate and walnut oil. Heat on high at 30 second intervals stirring in between until just melted.

Remove from microwave and stir quickly to finish melting. Pour in cranberries and pistachios and stir to combine.

Pour out onto a greased sheet pan into a thin layer.

Refrigerate until cool. Break up into jagged pieces.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used Olive Oil and slivered almonds. (She rocks and put in awesome little boxes, I used bags).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And last on my list is some yummy Chex Treats (Well not last on the list just the bag goodies for humans - yes a doggy treat will come soon).

Chex Chocolate Malt-Cherry Mix

From Betty Crocker

2	cups Corn Chex® cereal
2	cups Rice Chex® cereal
2	cups Wheat Chex® cereal
1	cup dry-roasted peanuts
1	cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4	cup butter or margarine
1	cup natural-flavor malted milk powder
2	cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2	cups coarsely chopped malted milk balls
1/2	cup dried cherries, chopped

1. In large bowl, mix cereals and peanuts.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butter on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.
3. Gradually stir in malted milk powder until evenly coated. Stir in remaining ingredients. spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container.

ALEXIS NOTES: I only had rice chex so that is what I used :). Skipped the peanuts & malted milk balls. I added up some crushed peppermint candies.

I picked up the bags you see above at Walmart and the ribbon. The plastic bins at a local grocery store and then picked up some blank labels. YOU know my love of Hallmark Channel well it was left on so I caught Martha Stewart and found she has label templates for free. They are great!

WELL CRAP ... What did I do now?

So of course I LOVE to make myself crazy! I can't just take anything to Cole's school party I have to do something fun. Ok so the turkey's were so freaking easy why not snowman! Ok let's just say I was up until MIDNIGHT with these stupid things they would get soft fall apart I would put in the freezer then start again (yes that is a picture of my snowman in the freezer!).

I was so in the holiday spirit but then after a day of shopping for homemade gifts which I thought would be fun and cheap ... hehe my bill was OVER $100! CRAP then you add in all the stuff for the dog and yup it's a VERY tight time of year right now ... lol. Double crap, well I guess I can go shopping Christmas Morning when I get paid for the stocking stuffers ... hehe

So I'm stressed and freaking out so it's a recipe post today ... lol

Crispy Snowman Treats

Makes: 5

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 1 package (10 ounces) marshmallows (about 40)

• 6 cups crispy rice cereal

• 5 round red peppermint candies

• 8 red jelly beans

• 10 semisweet chocolate chips

• 25 miniature semisweet chocolate chips

• 1 fruit roll-up, cut into 3/4-inch strips

• 15 red-hot cinnamon candies

• 10 pretzel sticks

1. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and coat with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Melt the butter in a soup pot over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and add the cereal; stir until completely coated.

3. Using a 3/4-cup measure of the mixture for each, form five balls and place on the baking sheet. Using a 1/3-cup measure for each, form five more balls. Place the smaller balls on top of the larger ones, forming snowmen. Decorate with the candies, chips, and pretzels as shown.

4. Serve, or cover loosely with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

TIP: Coat your hands with nonstick cooking spray to keep the marshmallow mixture from sticking to them when forming the cereal balls.

Make Something Monday ... Christmas Cookies

As promised recipes for the cookies I made :). Sorry this is kind of a repeat of this weekend, been crazy busy and sick on top of it ;(. I'm hoping I feel better by the time Christmas rolls around. So I'm sort of calling it in, but technically I didn't give recipes ... LOL. Much love!

We Start with one of my favs:

Sugary Gingerbread-Oat Chews Recipe from Betty Crocker

1/2	cup butter or margarine, softened
3	tablespoons molasses
2	teaspoons ground ginger
3/4	teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4	teaspoon ground cloves
1	egg
1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1/3	cup coarse sugar

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1.	Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat butter, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add cookie mix; beat until soft dough forms.
2.	Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in sugar. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart.
3.	Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Store in tightly covered container.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe from Betty Crocker

3/4cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)1/4cup butter, softened (not melted)1teaspoon vanilla1egg1box (19 oz) Betty Crocker® Gluten Free chocolate chip cookie mix1/2cup raisins, if desired1/4teaspoon ground cinnamonPowdered sugar, if desired

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheets with shortening.2.In large bowl, stir pumpkin, butter, vanilla and egg until blended. Stir in cookie mix, raisins and cinnamon until soft dough forms. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.3.Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when lightly touched in center and edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Now these are sinfully good! They are now my favorite

Super-Easy Macaroon Chewies Recipe from Betty Crocker

1pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix1bag (14 oz) flaked coconut1/4cup milk1can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)1/2cup semisweet chocolate chips1teaspoon butter or margarine

1.In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and coconut. Stir in milk and sweetened condensed milk until well blended. Cover; refrigerate 2 hours.2.Heat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper or use ungreased cookie sheets. Using 1-tablespoon-size cookie scoop, scoop dough onto cookie sheets 2 inches apart.3.Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.4.In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and butter on High 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and stirred smooth. Using fork, drizzle chocolate in lines over cookies. Store loosely covered.High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 350°F. Stir 3/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour into dry cookie mix. Bake 14 to 16 minutes.

These you saw a week ago, but were so yummy I added to my list

Orange Cream Cookies Recipe from Betty Crocker

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
3	tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1	teaspoon orange extract
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	egg
5	drops yellow food color
2	drops red food color
1	bag (12 oz) white vanilla baking chips (2 cups)

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1.Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir all ingredients except baking chips until soft dough forms. Stir in baking chips.2.On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough with 1 1/2 tablespoon-size cookie scoop or by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.3.Bake 9 to 10 minutes or just until dough is set (do not overbake). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.

LOL totally forgot to put the chocolate drizzle on these

Chocolate - Drizzled Cherry Bars

3/4 c butter or margarine, softened

3/4 c sugar

1 egg

2 1/4 c Flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c cherry-flavored gelatin (from 4-serving size box)

3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 tsp vegetable oil

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with mixer on medium speed until creamy. Beat in egg until well blended. On low speed, beat in flour, salt and dry gelatin until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of ungreased 13x9 inch pan.

2. Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely about 30 minutes.

3. In resealable freezer plastic bag, mix chocolate chips and oil; seal bag. Microwave on High 30 to 45 seconds, squeezing chocolate in bag every 15 seconds, until smooth. Cut 1/4-inch tip from corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over bars. Let stand about 1 hour or until chocolate is set. For bars. Cut into 8 by 4 rows; cut each bar in half diagonally to make triangles.

These were last years favorites

Eggnog Spritz Cookies Recipe from Betty Crocker

Now I just use the cookies and make them bars so no frosting or putting in the spritzer but if you have time the original rock also!

Cookies1pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix1/2cup butter, melted1egg1/2cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour1teaspoon rum extract1/4teaspoon ground nutmegIcing1/2cup powdered sugar1 1/2teaspoons milk1/4teaspoon rum extractBetty Crocker® red and green decorating sugars, if desired

1.Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg, flour, 1 teaspoon extract and the nutmeg until soft dough forms.2.Fit cookie press with desired template. Fill cookie press with cookie dough; press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. 3.Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.4.In small bowl, stir powdered sugar, milk and 1/4 teaspoon extract until desired consistency. Drizzle over cookies. Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar.High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

These I took this recipe and adapted it to my own!

Part I

Buckeye Delights Recipe from Betty Crocker

These are suppose to be mini cupcakes but I of course did bars

Part II

Buckeye Delights Recipe from Betty Crocker

For this recipe I took the cookie base and the filling only. I put half the cookie base on the bottom and then the filling and topped it with the rest of the cookie base. My former co-workers wife told me that he absolutely LOVES these. I took the extra to him! Here's the original recipe you can adapt like me or do it the way they say. Again depends on time!

Cookie Base1pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix1/3cup unsweetened baking cocoa1/2cup butter or margarine, softened1egg
Filling1/2cup powdered sugar1/2cup peanut butter2tablespoons butter or margarine, softened1teaspoon vanilla1/4teaspoon salt
This part I didn't use:
Topping1/2cup whipping cream1cup plus 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips1tablespoon peanut butter

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Line 36 mini muffin cups with mini foil candy cups (about 1 1/4 inch). In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until dough forms. Press about 1 tablespoon dough into each foil cup. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until puffy and set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove from pan.2.In small bowl, mix filling ingredients until well blended. Press about 1 teaspoon mixture on top of each cooled cookie.3.In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream just to boiling over low heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until cooled. Spread about 2 teaspoons chocolate mixture over each cookie cup.4.Place remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Microwave on High 30 to 60 seconds or until softened; knead to mix. Cut off small tip from one corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle chocolate mixture over each cookie cup. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. Store covered in refrigerator.

I made double batches of all, except the buckeye I tripled.

These are the cute Santa and Snowman!

Look all lined up and packed ready to go out the door!

Even had a plate of different ones to take to the daycare lady.

Hope you all enjoy the recipes and try a few. I love to hear if you did!