12 days of christmas baking - day 9: peppermint toffee butter crunch

happy day 9! here's day 9's recipe. i've been quite busy with some holiday festivities, so this one requires no baking. it's super easy to make and takes very little time (minus the chilling). again, nothing fancy, but your good ol' toffee. seriously, you cannot go wrong with toffee. to add a little festive feel to it, i decided that along with the crunched almonds on top, why not add some crushed peppermint candy? it gives you a nice pepperminty taste to the chocolate and toffee. and for sure, you cannot go wrong with even more added crunch.

toffees are one of my favorite things to make this time of the year. and this recipe is super easy to make. i've made it many holiday seasons in the past and again this year. give it a shot and you never know, you may just have found a new favorite yourself. enjoy! :)


you can never go wrong with toffee during this time of the year. to add a little festive feel to it, top it off with any topping of your choice.


this toffee recipe is so easy to make and they make great holiday gifts.

peppermint toffee butter crunch
recipe from better homes & garden

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds or pecans, toasted
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon light-colored corn syrup
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
• 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans, toasted
• crushed peppermint candies (optional)

directions:

1. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts in pan. Set pan aside.
2. Butter sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In saucepan melt butter. Add sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium; continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring frequently, till thermometer registers 290 degree F, soft-crack stage (about 15 minutes). Watch carefully after 280 degree F to prevent scorching. Remove saucepan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour candy into the prepared pan.
3. Let candy stand about 5 minutes or till firm; sprinkle with chocolate. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. When chocolate has softened, spread over candy. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts and crushed peppermint candies or any other topping (if you desire). Chill until firm. When candy is firm, use foil to lift it out of pan; break into pieces. Store tightly covered.

makes about 1-1/2 pounds (48 servings).

check out last year's day 9 recipe: chocolate-almond saltine toffee

york peppermint pattie cookies

i'm not a big fan of peppermint patties, but i don't not like it enough to pass up on it. well, my MIL and m are big peppermint patties fan. right after the holidays i picked up a couple bags of york peppermint patties (because being the frugal person i am – i know, it doesn't show here, these were on clearance at half off!) with the intention of using them to make some yummy baked goodies. three months later i finally got around to making something with them.

these york peppermint pattie cookies turned out great. they taste delicious and i love how good they turned out (look-wise). they're like a different version of your classic delicious mint chocolate chip cookie you can say. i love how the minty sweet cream is scattered in various parts of the cookie as you bite into it. oh! and during the baking, some of them melted and crystalized turning into something that's toffee-like when it cooled and hardened. those bites are also delish.

below's the recipe should you want to try and bake some yourself. i say go for it, because these just like all the other chocolate chip cookies (or any cookie recipe really) that i've made are superb. of course, i'm biased here. enjoy! :)


i gave some of these away as mini gifts to coworkers. oh, and also tested out some hand-lettered packaging.


if you're a minty chocolate chip kind of fan, i say this is a must try recipe!

york peppermint pattie cookies

ingredients:
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 bag of york peppermint patties (you may not need the whole bag)

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350° f.
2. in a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
3. in a separate bowl with a fork (or you can do all of this in a mixer or hand mixer if you like) beat the butter and sugar (both granulated & brown) together until the nice and fluffy.
4. add in the eggs and mix until everything is combined.
5. then add in the dry ingredients and mix until everything is incorporated.
6. now, at this point you'll want to take the peppermint patties out of their individual wrappers (assuming they came individually wrapped because that's what i used). break up each pattie into 3-4 pieces and add it to the cookie dough batter. once you have enough patties (i say about 20-25 or you can use the entire bag) broken up and added, mix the dough until everything is combined.
7. then using a small cookie scooper (about 1 tablespoon in size) or you can use whatever you like (a spoon is fine too!), spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined (or silicone mat) baking sheet. make sure each dough tablespoon is at least 2 inches apart.
8. bake for 9-10 minutes or until the cookies are a light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy.
9. take cookies out of the oven and let them cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before removing them.
10. enjoy at slightly warm temperature or put them in an airtight container/cookie jar.

makes 30-36 small cookies. enjoy! happy baking and eating. :)

12 days of christmas baking - day 11: peppermint bark

i was short on time this morning so for the 11th day of my christmas baking, i went with a no-bake holiday classic. yes, the ever so popular peppermint bark. typically you could just use white chocolate but today i decided that i'd do some milk chocolate version as well. i guess i could have combined both all in one so you get a little bit of each, but instead i did them separately. these are so good especially if you're a chocolate lover. the peppermint adds that nice christmas-y and festive feel to these chocolates. they really are delish! plus, it's so easy to make, you cannot pass up making these this holiday season.

below's the recipe should you be interested. i say go ahead and make some yourself! enjoy. :)


we love peppermint bark. this classic christmas candy is perfect for any day of the week or gift-giving... and they're so easy to make too!


here's another shot of these delicious peppermint bark :)

black & white peppermint bark
recipe adapted from all recipes

ingredients:
8 ounces high-quality semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
8 ounces high-quality white chocolate, broken into pieces
25 peppermint candies or 6 candy canes, crushed

directions:

1. Lightly grease a 2 9x9 inch pan and line with waxed paper, smoothing out wrinkles; set aside.
2. Place the semisweet chocolate and 1 teaspoon of the canola oil in the top of a double boiler over just barely simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching. When the chocolate is melted, stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the peppermint extract. Pour the melted chocolate into the prepared pan, and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle half of the crushed peppermints over the chocolate layer. Refrigerate until completely hardened, about 1 hour.
3. Repeat the steps above for the white chocolate portion.

note: if you want to make them all in the same pan (similar to ghirardelli's), then instead of prepping 2 pans, use just one and pour the white chocolate mixture on top of the semisweet one (just make sure you cool the semisweet mixture completely first). then wait until they're set before breaking them. enjoy! :)

12 days of christmas baking - day 7: peppermint & coffee nutella french macarons

who doesn't love french macarons? yes, i've finally made some again since that last giant batch of macarons i made for a wedding. i can't believe i haven't made any since then. to go with the whole christmas theme, i decided on the peppermint flavor macarons, sprinkled with peppermint candy on the side. and to add to that, since i personally like to have more than one flavor of macarons whenever i'm making/eating them, i went with (almost) everyone's favorite, the coffee nutella.

i know, i haven't gotten my recipe up for these macarons yet, but again, i promise i will write a blog post soon and post the recipe here as soon as i have it written out. in the meantime, you can browse through these previous posts and get david lebovitz's recipe from one of these posts.

enjoy and happy baking! :)

***UPDATE 12/18/12***

i've finally got the recipe written up. scroll below for the peppermint recipe. for the coffee nutella macaron recipe, please click here. enjoy and let me know how yours turn out if you make them! :)


i love how festive and flavorful these peppermint french macarons are!


these peppermint and coffee nutella macarons really turned out great. so yummy and just the perfect treat for a cold day with warm coffee/tea.


i absolutely love making and eating french macarons. i really can eat all of these delicious peppermint and coffee nutella macarons. ;)


another shot of the peppermint macarons. yum!

peppermint macarons

ingredients:

macaron batter:

1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar

3/4 cup almond meal (about 3 ounces or 75 grams)

red gel food coloring (optional)

2 large egg whites, at room temperature

5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

peppermint buttercream filling:
1 stick of butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp peppermint extract
up to 2 tbsp heavy cream or milk
3 candy canes, crushed (optional)

peppermint candy decorations:
6 candy canes, crushed

directions:
to make the macaron shells: Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C).

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Sift together the powdered sugar, almond meal and 2 tablespoons of espresso so there are no lumps (usually I just use a fork to break any large lumps). If your almond meal isn't so fine, you can put the ingredients into a blender or food processor to make it finer. Personally, I'd just use the sifter and dump out any remaining crumbs that didn't make it through the sifting process.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer (or if you prefer, you can use a bowl and hand mixer), beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. If you want your macaron shells to be red, this is where you'd to add in the food coloring (with the dry ingredients), otherwise, you can just skip it and use the food coloring as paint to paint it on once the cookies are assembled (like I did!). When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1.35-inch (3.5 cm) circles evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart. Quickly after it's piped, sprinkle a few espresso powder over each shell (this step is optional, personally I do it because I like how they macarons look once they're baked).

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons. Then it let sit for at 30-60 minutes (okay, I've done it with just 15 minutes before and they turn out fine, but whatever you do, do not skip this step; even at just 15 minutes) before baking them in the oven, 15-17 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

to make the peppermint buttercream frosting filling: beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed (or you can use a hand mixer). add the 2 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. increase mixer speed to medium and add peppermint extract, and 1 tablespoon of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. if your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. if your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining tablespoon of milk, a little at a time. once you've gotten the right consistency and the buttercream is complete, add in the crushed peppermint candy cane pieces and mix until incorporated. of course, this last part here is optional, you can skip it if you like. i personally like the added crunch when biting into my peppermint macaron, so i do this last step. :)

to assemble: Before assembling these cookies, make sure to pair up all the cookie shells so they are as close as possible in size. Then using a knife, spread a good amount of the peppermint filling on the inside of the macarons then sandwich them together. Sprinkle the crushed peppermint candy cane pieces over the filling portion of the assembled macaron. Or you can roll the cookie on the candy pieces. This last step adds a nice decorated touch to these peppermint macarons. They are so cute and delicious!

Let them stand at least one day (keep them refrigerated) before serving (serve at room temperature), to meld the flavors. Or if you can't wait to dig in and eat, I say wait a few hours, at least! (Shhhh, I've eaten them newly assembled too, and they taste just as yummy! hahahaha). But really, for the best optimal flavor and taste, you must wait at least one day. They really are THAT good and worth the wait!

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Makes about 16-20 cookies. Enjoy and happy eating! :)

Note: I typically just bake mine for 15 minutes and they turn out fine. But yours may be different as all oven temperatures vary so letting them bake the full 17 minutes may be fine. I say set your timer for 15 minutes and add on from there.