Iced Christmas Cookies

We are on winter break (yay!!) which means we can sleep in, play all day, and cozy up in front of the fire watching Christmas movies.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. 

One of my favorite things to do is bake with the kidos, and with winter break we have plenty of time.  

We love making these iced cookies, the kids can't get enough of them. I have used the same recipe for years, the cookies always turn out and the royal icing actually tastes good. 

Cookie Dough

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter (softened)

2 cups white sugar 

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 cups of flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. 

Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Chill dough for atleast an hour or overnight.

( I like to split the dough into 4 parts and wrap them up in seram wrap. It is easier to work with small portions of dough. Plus when I don't use all of it, I can just freeze the wrapped up dough till next time)

Preheat oven to 350. 

On a floured surface, roll out the dough 1/4 inch thick. 

Cut into shapes with any cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets. 

Bake 9-10 minutes. 

Cookie Icing

Ingredients:

4 cups powdered sugar

8 tsp milk

8 tsp light corn syrup

2 tsp almond extract

food coloring of your choice

Directions:

In your stand mixer, stir together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in the syrup and among extract until the icing is smooth and glossy. 

If the icing is to thick, add more corn syrup and milk (a tsp at a time)

Divide the icing into small separate bowls, add the food coloring to each desired intensity. Use piping bags to decorate the cookies. 

Our cookies are far from perfect, but they are quite tasty :)

Thanks for visiting, 

Baking with Kids-- Gingerbread Men Cookies

"Snow Day! No school!" 

Probably my most favorite words to hear when I was a child. It meant we got to sleep in and didn't have to trudge through the rain and wind to the bus stop. That was my child hood. This morning when I told my kids that school was canceled. Instead of happiness and joy, I got sad pouty faces and whiney NOs. I couldn't believe my eyes, they rather be in school then at home all nice and cozy.

To help pass their time at home we decided to bake some gingerbread men cookies. I haven't made gingerbread cookies in years, so I wasn't sure if the cookies would turn out or not. I found a recipe on Taste of Home, which used all ingredients I had on hand. 

The recipe is great, the dough was perfect and the cookies kept their shape when baked. They are soft and have just the right amount of spice in them, and off course the most important thing of all is the that the kids love them. So this recipe is definitely a keeper. 

Print recipe Here

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter softened 

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup molasses

1 egg

2 TB water

2 2/3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground allspice

Directions:

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. 

Beat in molasses, egg and water. 

Add the water, flour, baking soda, salt and all the spices and mix until creamy. 

Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for atleast 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/8 thickness. Cut with a gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. 

Bake 9-10 minutes and remove and cool on wire racks. Decorate with icing (recipe below)

Icing recipe:

2 cups of powdered sugar 

4 tsp milk

1 TB light corn syrup

1/2 tsp almond extract

food coloring of your choice. 

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in the corn syrup and almond extract until smooth and glossy. If icing is to thick, add more corn syrup and milk. If it is to runny, add more powdered sugar. 

Divide into separate bowls and add food coloring to each. Use piping bags to decorate your cookies. 

Thanks for visiting,

Gluten Free Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This mama has been busy experimenting with GF recipes. One thing on my list to perfect are chocolate chip cookies. I made a batch last week and they were so gritty, my son had one and asked me if he could please just the regular cookies. Poor guy, I don't blame him. 

Then a few days later, I tried another recipe and they were so hard and dense. 

This time, I decided to try my regular recipe, but make it with my favorite gluten free flour mix and some xanthan gum. Well my friends, I did it! I found the perfect recipe for gluten free cookies. They are soft, chewy and no grittiness!  

My son and daughter both loved these and agreed that they taste just like the regular cookies. 

This recipe makes 12 big cookies. 

Print recipe HERE

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups pamela's gluten free flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup butterscotch chips Directions:

1.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone liner and spray with oil.

2.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Sift in the dry ingredients  and mix until blended. Stir in the chocolate/butterscotch chips by on the lowest setting of your stand mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

3.	Bake for 11-13 minutes, in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

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Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

As some of you may know, I have been on a mission to find wheat free recipes for my son. He has a wheat allergy along with a few other foods like apples and bananas. Yeah, the three things he ate the most every day, bread, bananas and apples!

I was at a loss at what to offer to him to eat, I bought a few different things from natural health food stores, but almost everything was inedible. Honestly, who buys this stuff? Just because you can't  have gluten, doesn't mean you should eat things that taste like cardboard. 

I make muffins once a week at our house, my kids eat them for a quick breakfast along with some fruit. Now that my son can't have wheat, I decided to find a gluten free recipe. I tried 2 last week and they were both fails.  I even bought a box of GF muffin mix which was highly rated, may I add.  Yet it tasted bitter and so dense.  I was getting pretty discouraged.

There are alot of recipes online which have you mix gluten free flours, I was not about to go buy 5 different flours and mix them together, I decided to try different flour blends instead. The first one I tried was gritty, but the 2nd one I bought was amazing! I love this flour! It feels and looks just like regular wheat flour. In fact I had to go back and check the bag to make sure it was gluten free :)

This flour blend is made with brown rice, tapioca starch, white rice, potato starch, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, gaur gum, sweet rice, rice bran.

I love that it is already premixed so you don't have to mix gluten flours yourself. Amazon sells it for $15, but I found it for around $12 at my local health food store. 

To my muffins, I added some orange zest and fresh squeezed orange juice for an extra kick of flavor. They are so good, that don't taste gluten free at all. If you heat them up in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds, they will taste like you just pulled them out of the oven.

Print recipe HERE

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of blueberries (fresh of frozen)

2 cups of Pamela's Gluten Free Flour Blend 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Xanthan gum

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter SOFTENED

2 eggs

2tsp vanilla

1/2 cup of milk

1 TB fresh squeezed OJ

1TB orange zest

Crumble Topping:

2TB melted butter

2TB Pamela's flour

4 TB sugar

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 350º. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease with cooking spray.

- Prepare the crumble topping by whisking the ingredients together in a small bowl.

-In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, milk, orange juice/zest and continue beating until smooth. 

-Mix in the flour mixture, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt just until combined. 

-Gently fold in the blueberries. 

-Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full of batter. Sprinkle the crumb topping over each muffin. 

-Bake at 350º, for 25-30 minutes. Or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

-Let muffins cook for about 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then remove to a wire rack.

Thanks for visiting, 

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Chicken Kotleti (gluten free)

My family loves chicken kotleti. They are almost like a meatball meets chicken nuggets. 

I grew up eating kotleti, except my mom always used beef. Well once I tried making them with chicken, and have never gone back. Chicken tastes so much better, they are juicy, tender and full of flavor. 

My son Nico loves these so much, he always asks for them. He loves it when I pack them for lunch the next day. With him being on a wheat free diet, He can no longer get lunch at school, so I need to pack his lunch everyday. It can get pretty difficult to pack a gluten free lunch for a picky 5 year old. 

But when I pack these kotleti, I can be sure that he won't go hungry.

I have recently started making these with gluten free panko crumbs and breadcrumbs, they taste just as good as my previous ones and my son can eat them without getting an allergy reaction. 

Print Recipe HERE

Ingredients:

2 lbs of chicken breasts

1 large onion (cubed)

4 cloves of garlic

1 cup of panko crumbs (I use gluten free)

1/2 cup of milk

1 egg

1/4 cup of sour cream

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Italian bread crumbs for dredging (GF version)

Vegetable oil for frying 

Directions:

In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, combine the panko crumbs with the milk and let sit while you prepare the chicken. 

Rinse and cube your onion and chicken breasts.

7 Layer Bars - Gluten Free Dessert

I recently found out that my son is allergic to wheat. After suffering with allergy symptoms for almost a year, his doctor referred us to a allergy clinic, where he had a scratch test done as well as some blood tests. Turns out he is allergic to a number of things, one of them was wheat! I really didn't want to accept the fact that he was allergic to wheat, because that is such a huge part of our diet. I even cut out all the other things on the list and still left wheat in his diet, although his symptoms got slightly better, he still wasn't well. So finally I decided it was time to try a wheat free diet, It has been one week and he is already so much better! I wish I would have tried this right after I got the results instead of waiting. 

Going wheat free for my son not something that is easy, but it is doable. I love to bake, and now I have to be creative with my choices to include some gluten free versions so my son can eat them. He loves the 7 layer bars I make, so I decided to make them with gluten free graham crackers, they taste exactly the same as the regular 7 layer bars! Definitely a crowd pleaser.

If you want to make these diary free, you can use coconut oil, 

coconut condensed milk,  dairy free chocolate chips, and dairy free butterscotch chips.

Print Recipe HERE

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

Gluten graham crackers (7 oz) I used these

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 can (14 oz) condensed sweet milk

1 1/3 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place butter in a 13X9 inch pan and melt in the oven. Swirl to cover bottom and sides with butter. 

Rice Krispie Pumpkin Treats

I bake cookies every Monday for my kidos to snack on after school, today I decided to do something a little different, I surprised them with these pumpkin rice krispie treats. Not only are these incredibly easy to make, but they are fun to eat. Definitely something your kids can help out with. 

Ingredients:

3 TB Butter

6 Cups rice krispie cereal

10 oz mini marshmallows

Orange food coloring

brown chocolate candies: I used mini peanut butter cups 

green candies for leaf: I used skittles 

Directions:

-Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. 

-Add marshmallows and store until melted.

-Reduce the heat to low and put a few drops of food coloring into the melted marshmallows and stir until combined. 

-Remove from heat and stir in the cereal and mix well.

-Using slightly greased hands, shape into small sized balls. Place on a sheet lined with parchment paper. Add the candies on top. I melted each piece of the chocolate for a second or two on the side of the hot pot, that way, it stuck onto the pumpkin when it cooled. 

Thanks for visiting, 

Apple Tart

I picked up the most amazing golden delicious apples from a local farm. I seriously can't get enough of them. I decided to try and create some sort of apple tart with them earlier this week, I flipped through a few recipes online, but they all had one or two ingredients that I didn't have on hand, so I decided to wing it. Well, amazingly it turned out so good, that we ate it up in less then 24 hours. My husband had 3 slices in a row! In fact he asked me when I can make it again :) Don't you just love it when your family loves something you make? Well I made the tart again and  took the time to jot down the measurements so I could post the recipe on my blog to share with you all and off course to save for myself. I hope you all enjoy this delicious and easy to make tart. 

Print recipe HERE

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 TB sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter ( cut into small pieces)
• 1/3 cup cold  water
• 3 large golden delicious apples
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2TB flour
• 2 tb butter (cubed)
• 1 TB of sanding sugar

Directions:

In a food processor, pulse 1 1/2 cups of flour, salt, sugar and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea sized pieces of butter remaining. 

Corndog Muffins

We love corndog muffins in our house, I like to whip up a batch on Sundays because they are so easy to make and so tasty for snacking and for the school week. The kids love it when I pack these for lunch :)

Print recipe here 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 6 hot dogs ( We love the Hebrew National brand)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick spray.
2. In a a mixing bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, sugar and eggs. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and mix until combined.
3. Scoop 1 tablespoon batter into each cup and place 1 hot dog piece into the center. Place into oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
4. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Thanks for visiting, 

Cinnamon Muffins

I have a picky two year old, but on of the things he eats well are muffins. So I usually  give him a muffin every morning with some fruit and sausage. I have been alternating between two of his favorites: blueberry muffins and poppyseed muffins, which he loves, but I am getting tired of making the the same two muffins all the time, well I am happy to have found another muffin recipe he loves to add to the mix. These muffins taste like a cinnamon roll without the trouble of making cinnamon rolls ;). 

Print Recipe Here

INGREDIENTS:

muffin batter:

• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking power
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

cinnamon swirl:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter, melted and hot

vanilla glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 tbsp milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a regular muffin tin with cupcake liners (12 total).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and egg until combined. Add in remaining muffin base ingredients and whisk until batter is smooth.
3. Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full. You will have leftover batter which you will add later
4. In a glass cup measuring cup or a small bowl, melt the butter. Add cinnamon and brown sugar. The mixture should have the consistency of a thick liquid. Add a small dollop of mixture into each muffin cup (about 1/2 tsp each) and swirl it a few times into the batter with a knife, careful not to let it completely mix. You want the cinnamon sugar mixture to remain as swirls in the batter. You should only use less than 1/2 of your cinnamon sugar mixture for this step, reserving the rest for later. Add remaining muffin batter to muffin cups, covering the swirled mixture. Each muffin tin should be about 2/3 full and you should have enough batter for 12 muffins.
5. Reheat your cinnamon swirl mixture if it has thickened. Add a tiny amount on top of the batter, and swirl with a knife again. 
6. Bake for about 20 minutes until muffins are puffy and toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the  baking pan.
7. While muffins are cooling, make the glaze. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tbsp milk. Whisk until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add a little more milk, careful to not add too much at once. Once your glaze reaches the consistency you desire, drizzle on top of muffins. Serve once glaze is set.

Enjoy,

Homemade Healthy Fruit Snacks

My kids love snacks. An hour after they eat a full meal, they will ask for a snack, and I don't mind, as long as it is a healthy snack. I don't even know why I cook for them... they can just eat snacks all day long. 

Even though I am not a "crunchy mama", I still try to make the right decisions for my kids, and tend to stick to the "healthier" versions of things. BUT,  I have to admit that sometimes "TASTE" wins over "good for you" things. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I bake atleast twice a week. We have muffins, cookies, cakes almost every week. When my mom was visiting, she told me that she no longer uses white flour, and avoids sugar, and I should try it to. How do I bake a cake without white flour and sugar?! Nope, sorry, won't do it. I have a major sweet tooth. But as I say, everything in moderation :)

So when Nadia from My Fruit Shack contacted me about trying out their fruit snack molds, I jumped at the opportunity. The idea of making a healthy version of my kids favorite snack appealed to me.

Since receiving the kit, we have already made fruit snacks on two different occasions, and my daughter is already thinking of different flavors she wants to try out next. 

The kit comes with 4 different molds, 4 trays, 2 droppers and a recipe card.  

There are two different ways to make fruit snacks, you can use juice or jello mix. I wanted to make a more healthier version, so I decided to use Naked juice. 

You also need gelatin. I bought my beef gelatin here. 

You can sweeten your fruit snacks with honey or sugar. 

Mom's Refrigerator Pickles

My mom makes amazing Russian food, most of my "Russian" recipes come from her. She was and still is a supermom. She managed to work, run a household, cook  dinner every day, and raise 7 kids.   
Every summer she would can her own pickles and tomatoes. I actually dreaded those days as a child. It meant all hands on deck. Jars needed to be washed, garlic needed to be peeled, bags of pickles needed to be scrubbed, dill needed to be chopped. But now as a mom I look back  I realize those were amazing bonding moments, and I really miss those days. I miss sitting around the dining table with my sisters talking and helping out. Especially since they all live across the country from me. 

I love the idea of canning, but this is not something I want to do. However, making refrigerator pickles in ridiculously easy.  In Russian they are called: Mалосольные Oгурцы. (Low Sodium Dill Pickles) I grew up eating these pickles my whole childhood. My mom would make them often during the summer for the weekend. 

They last about a week in your fridge, but we always eat ours within 2 or 3 days. 

Print recipe HERE

Ingredients:

Pickling cucumbers (I use about 3 pounds)

8 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)

3 bay leaves

1 cup of chopped dill

10 black peppercorns

2 TB of pickling salt to 4 cups of water

Directions:

Wash and cut both ends of the cucumbers. 

Place chopped dill, garlic, bay leaves, pepper corns in a large jar or bowl with a lid, then put in your cucumbers. 

In a medium size bowl or a 4 cup measuring cup, add 4 cups of cold water and 2 TB of picking salt. Mix until completely dissolved.

Pour over the cucumbers. Repeat until all of your cucumbers are completely covered with water. I had to repeat 2 times. 

Place into the fridge for 24 hours, and then enjoy. These are amazing and can get addictive. I love to slice some up to snack on during the hot summer days. 

Thanks for visiting,