Thursday, December 20, 2012

Grinch cookies!


Grinch cookies!

I got 28 or so out of this recipe.

1/3 cup margarine or butter
1/3 cup shortening
2 cups all purpose flour
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 or 3/4 of the bag of  Ghirardelli (because it was on sale!) 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate) 
(or more chocolate if you want!)

Set oven to 375 F

Using my stand mixer  :) 
Beat margarine and shortening. Once mixed together, add about half of the flour, the egg, sugar, milk, baking powder, vanilla, peppermint. Beat in remaining flour. Once all mixed, add chocolate chips.


However you want, put them on the cookie sheet (I used a cookie dough scooper and put them on, but then pressed them flat with a fork.)

Bake at 375 F for 7 minutes.
















Home made Peppermint Patties


Made these for my best friend. They turned out really good!

Home made Peppermint Patties
Made about 15

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
8 ounces chocolate 
(I used Ghirardelli (because it was on sale!) 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate)
1/4 cup peppermint candies, crushed (optional)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 2 1/4 cups of confectioners sugar together with corn syrup, water, peppermint extract and vegetable shortening until just combined. The mixture will be very crumbly. Dust a work surface with remaining 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar. Empty contents of bowl onto work surface and knead until smooth (this will take a few minutes). 
Shape dough into a log, about 2 inches by 8 inches long. Wrap tightly in parchment paper and freeze until very firm, about 20 minutes. Remove dough and slice into rounds using a sharp knife. Place rounds onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze again until firm, for at least 15 minutes.
The highlighted above was what the recipe told me to do but alas, I am still new at all this and could not get it shaped into a log..it was horrible..haha so what I did was just pinched off equal sized pieces, rolled them into a ball and pressed them flat. I then froze them for oh I don't know 30-60 minutes. I was busy that morning. 
When you are ready to coat in chocolate, melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals. Cool slightly. Chocolate should be warm but not so hot that you cannot put your finger into it.
Cover another baking sheet with wax paper. Remove patties from freezer one at a time and submerge into melted chocolate. I took them all out at once, but might have been even better to do as the directions said but it still worked for me. I just coated quickly. I dropped the pattie into the melted chocolate and used forks to flip it and then take it out. This process caused a nice thick layer of chocolate on the top :) And lots of drizzled chocolate over my counter :) . Coat quickly and allow excess chocolate to drip off. Place on wax paper lined pan. Repeat, covering all patties with chocolate.
The original patty recipe said to sprinkle crushed peppermint candies on the pattie with wet chocolate. But I did not do that.
Let patties stand until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. Store in fridge, between wax paper in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature before serving.



This is what I did with 12 of the patties. I made my own label for her box. She loved them!