candied almonds

Candied Almonds

1 C. sugar

1 C. almonds

2 tsp. cinnamon

coarse sea salt

Place sugar, almonds and cinnamon in a pan over medium heat.

Using a metal spoon (not a wooden spoon, otherwise the caramel will stick!) stir constantly until sugar starts to melt.

Keep stirring...and stirring...and stirring...until the sugar has completely melted into a smooth, sticky caramel and nuts are coated.

Spread nuts over a non-stick surface (wax paper does not count as non-stick...learned that the hard way) and sprinkle with sea salt.

Let cool and then enjoy! (Not the other way around, trust me, you'll burn your mouth. Also learned that the hard way.) This also works great with pecans, which you can then toss into a salad or use as a topping for ice cream!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

espresso shortbread

Christmas baking has officially begun in my house! Last week I made molasses cookie dough and put it in the freezer...today I made espresso shortbread dough which I also put in the freezer but just HAD to make one small batch to see how they taste. Verdict: they taste good. Really, really good. Especially if you like coffee.

I made a change to the original recipe. The original recipe (which calls these cookies 'Piped Coffee Kisses') says to pipe the dough into "Hershey's kiss" shaped drops on a cookie sheet - I tried this but found that the dough was too thick to pass through the icing tip. So instead, I rolled the dough into a log, chilled it, and then sliced it into rounds before baking. They probably don't look as pretty as the kiss shaped drops, but let's face it...my way is faster and easier! And most importantly, they still taste the same.

Espresso Shortbread

*adapted from Canadian Living

1 C. butter, softened

2/3 C. icing sugar

2 tsp. instant espresso powder

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/3 C. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

coffee beans for garnish

Cream butter and icing sugar.

In a small bowl, dissolve espresso powder with vanilla. Add to butter mixture and beat well.

Stir in flour and salt. Mix into a soft dough.

Shape dough into a log and refrigerate until slightly firm, 30-60 minutes.

Slice log into thin rounds and place on a greased cookie sheet. Top each cookie with one whole coffee bean. Bake at 350 until golden. Do not over bake!

Enjoy!

Christmas in Uganda

This Christmas I had step up to the plate and be in charge of the baking. My husband and I are in Uganda, and I realized if I wanted to enjoy what my mom usually puts so much work into, I'd have to put in the work myself this year! My cookie creations included:

• gingerbread
• shortbread
• molasses
• wolf schoten
• mocha pretzel cookies

Thankfully we had a big group of guests to do all the eating!

My favorite of all these cookies are the molasses ones. Even though the dark, sticky molasses we get at home was nowhere to be found in Kampala, they still turned out pretty good (the stars, trees, and angels above)! Here's the recipe!

My Mom's Molasses Cookies

1 C. butter

1 C. + 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

4 C. flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. vinegar

1 C. molasses

Cream butter and sugar.

Sift in dry ingredients and mix.

Add vinegar and molasses. Stir until well combined.

Chill dough at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Then roll out the dough, cut into desired shapes, and bake 8-10 min.

Tastes like Christmas!