Soft Gingerbread Cookies

Sugar and spice, and everything nice, except I've always been more partial to the spicy side (LOL).  These cookies should be made all year long, but December seems the most logic time to make them.  This is my favorite ginger cookie, and as a ginger myself who better to trust???

I N G R E D I E N T S

 --2 1/4 cups flour

--2 tsp. ground ginger

--1 tsp. baking soda

--3/4 tsp. cinnamon

--1/2 tsp. cloves

--1/4 tsp. salt

--3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) softened butter

--1 cup granulated sugar

--1 egg

--1 tbsp. orange juice (trust me!!!)

--1/4 cup molasses

--frosting--

(not pictured ingredients)

--4 cups powdered sugar

--1 stick softened butter

--2 tsp. vanilla

--3-5 tbsp. milk

 --Preheat oven to 350 degrees before you forget!  In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, salt) and set aside.

 --In the bowl of an electric mixer (because it's so much easier than working those arms), beat sugar and butter until fluffy, then add in your egg.

 --Next mix in orange juice...

 --And your slow molasses.

 --It should look like dis.

 --Gradually add in the dry ingredients with the mixer on low (gradually because the poof of flour after dumping in large amounts of flour in a turning mixer is real) until it's all combined.

 --Voila!

 --Turn dough onto a plastic wrap and wrap dough, placing it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.  For rolling purposes, the dough is a lot more manageable when cold!

 --Find a flat surface and roll this baby out with a ton of flour underneath it and coating your rolling pin!

 --Find your cutest little guy and make a ton of them (I also just did circles woohoo).

 --Place on a cookie sheet with enough space in between them to grow a little bit.

 --Bake for 8-10 minutes, until there's little crackly surfaces on the guys!

 --Who else scrolled up to the last picture after seeing these??  Yes, the puffing will go down after they cool!

 --Now, you can leave them as is and they'll be super delicious, or you can pair these with your favorite frosting!  The one I use is super simple.  If you already have one in mind, skip these steps:
--In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until super fluffy, then add in vanilla and 3 tbsp. milk.
--dump in powdered sugar, and slowly mix together until it starts combining, then switch the speed to high and add in any additional milk in until it's the consistency you like!

 --You can add red cinnamon candies to make eyes and they look sort of like mute ghosts.

 --So add a smile to these guys! LOL I had too much fun creating these men.

 --They sort of looked like a team of some sort...

 --So I turned them all into Utah Jazz.  Big LOL but it made some of these guys taste even better.  Like #27 and #33 were the best.

 --Happy holidays from all of us^^^to you!!!

XOXO

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

recipe from martha stewart

We went to DC about a month ago for my cousin's wedding, and while there we went to one of our favorite bakeries called Baked and Wired.  They had these treats that were a cross between a donut and muffin, and they were divine.  I found a recipe that resembled them pretty close, and anything pumpkin during this time of year is fine by me!

I N G R E D I E N T S

--10 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature

--3 cups flour

--2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

--1/4 tsp. baking soda

--1 tsp. salt

--1/2 tsp. nutmeg

--1/4 tsp. allspice

--1/3 cup buttermilk

--1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

--3/4 cup brown sugar

--2 large eggs

--for the coating--

--3/4 granulated sugar

--2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 stick melted unsalted butter

--Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda and powder, nutmeg, and allspice and set aside.

--In another separate bowl, pour in the pumpkin puree and and buttermilk and stir together until it's nice and smooth.

--In the bowl of an electric mixer (sorry dishwasher), beat the sugar and butter on medium speed until it's fluffy and blended.

--Crack in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.

--With the mixer on low, alternate adding some of the dry mixture with the pumpkin/buttermilk combo until it's all added and looks like a beautiful batter.

--Like so.

--Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure there are no lumps in the batter.

--With some muffin pans sprayed with nonstick grease, scoop some batter into each muffin spot, about 1/4 cup.

--Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

--For the coating, combine the cinnamon and sugar and mix together.

--Also melt your butter!

--Time to take your first muffin...

--Roll it in the butter and allow any excess butter to drip off a bit before rolling it into the cinnamon/sugar.

--Don't forget any surface area on these!

--After one's done...

--Get going until they're all coated!

XOXO

Create your own pizzas {Revisited}

from thepioneerwoman.com

The beautiful thing about pizza is you can create each one however you want!  Each one can be different, and tonight I created three completely different tastes that satisfied everyone over.  The pizza dough is, in my opinion, what makes these pizzas so amazing.  Nothing beats a homemade yeast-based anything.  Enjoy!

I N G R E D I E N T S

--For the dough--

--2 cups flour

--3/4 tsp. salt

--1 scant tsp. yeast

--3/4 cup warm water

--3 tbsp. olive oil

--For the toppings--

--mozzarella 

--pizza sauce

--pepperonis

--pesto sauce

--3 chicken breasts (I had plenty leftover, but used them in quesadillas later on in the week!)

--barbecue sauce

--pineapple

--onions (and brown sugar and butter)

--cilantro

 --For the dough, combine the yeast with the warm water and allow these two to bubble for about ten minutes.

 --This is ten minutes later.

 --In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour and salt and start mixer on low speed with the paddle attachment.

 --Slowly drizzle the olive oil in.

--Next, pour in the yeast/water mixture, and turn the mixer to medium speed. 

--Mix until the dough comes together.

 --Continue to mix on medium speed, unless you have the dough hook attachment, then switch attachments and mix until the dough is completely combined and starts to *splat* the side of the bowl.

 --Like so.

 --Find a large bowl, and either spray it with cooking spray, or coat the bowl with some vegetable/canola oil so the dough won't stick.

 --Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, find a warm spot to allow the dough to rise, and leave it alone to do its thing for an hour, or until doubled in size.

 --After an hour of rising, with a floured surface, dump out the dough and roll it out, then divide it up into smaller pieces to create personal-sized pizzas!

 PREP OF THE TOPPINGS

--Seasoned Shredded Chicken--

 --Heat a large skillet with 1/4 cup canola oil to medium-high heat, and season your chicken with some salt and pepper on each side, then add the chicken to the skillet.

 --Cook on each side until the chicken is browned and cooked completely through, about 4-5 minutes each side.

--Transfer the chicken to a plate to cool, then shred into small pieces (SHORT CUT:  if you have an electric mixer, did you know you can shred your chicken with it?? Just use your paddle attachment, stick the chickens in the bowl, and turn your mixer to medium speed and be amazed at what happens!).

--Caramelized Onions--

 --In a small saucepan, add in 1 tbsp. butter with 1 tbsp. brown sugar and heat to medium heat.

 --Toss in your thinly sliced red onion and stir together, coating the onions with the buttered sugar combo.

 --Then turn the heat down to low and mix occasionally while the onions brown and caramelize. These onions are as amazing and as easy as they sound.  It's also the perfect condiment for burgers!

 --Does anyone else love pineapple on their BBQ pizzas??  It's a staple on mine.  But what I love most is fresh cilantro sprinkled on top right before it's done cooking.  Grab a handful of some and slice it up for yours!

 --This is the cast of characters for the BBQ pizza of my dreams:  pineapple, onions, cilantro, and chicken.

 --You also need barbecue sauce and your mozzarella.  For your other pizzas, get out the pizza sauce and pesto sauce and also your pepperonis I forgot to photograph.  Time to assemble!

 PESTO CHICKEN PIZZA

PEPPERONI PIZZA

BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA

--Bake at 500 degrees for 12-15 with the oven rack positioned on the lowest level--

I

LOVE

 PIZZA

 --Pepperoni usually ends up triumphant over the other two kinds, but I'll take my BBQ masterpiece any day.

 XOXO