Holiday Baking Tips from Miss A!

Holiday Baking Tips from Miss A

We all love the taste of a freshly baked cookie at holiday time. Each family has their own set of cherished recipes that are made each year. For most of us, baking has become a luxury due to our busy schedules running from here to there all year long, especially during the holidays. If you are in the mood for some holiday baking, consider these tips to make your holiday baking more enjoyable and less stressful! 

Plan it out: Choose a manageable amount of recipes to make. If you know your schedule is already packed, then don’t push yourself to make 5 different types of cookies. 2 well executed recipes are much tastier than 6 recipes you threw together. Once you have your recipes, sit down and look at all of them. Take stock of what ingredients you already have and what you need at the store. If you are making several different cookie recipes, consider shopping for butter, flour, sugar, and eggs at BJ’s or Costco. It will save you some money! 

Mix in advance: Instead of trying to make everything from start to finish in one day, mix all of the cookie dough over the span of a few days. If you’ll be baking the dough within a week then it can stay in the refrigerator. If you are working a few weeks in advance, it is perfectly fine to store cookie dough in the freezer. I like to wrap the dough in wax paper and place it in a gallon size reseal-able freezer bag. Another way to store the dough is to pre-scoop or roll the dough before storing in the freezer. This can be done with most cookie dough, even sugar cookies can be rolled and cut out in advance. I lay them out in a flat layer on a cookie sheet and separate multiple layers with waxed paper. 

Enlist helpers: Invite a friend over, open a bottle of wine, and bake together! Not only will you have an extra hand to help but it is a great way to connect with friends during the busy holiday season. Also, involve the kiddos! They can be great helpers when mixing dough, scooping, and cleaning up. More tips for baking with kids to come next time!! J

Favorite Cookie Recipe~Buckeyes!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!! In honor of all the winter holidays, I'm participating in the 12 days of Holidays Carnival. Starting today, I'm posting my favorite holiday traditions, budget friendly ideas, etc. I'll also be linking up with some of my favorite bloggers!  Today is day #6, my favorite holiday cookie recipe.

I'm sure by now, most of you know I'm Ohio and as a kid we made buckeyes (as in our state tree and the OSU buckeyes).  The real buckeyes are a nut that you can't eat but these are a peanut butter/chocolate ball of yum!

Disclaimer, this is not a really good for you recipe but if you like peanut butter cups...these are so much better!!!

2 cups creamy peanut butter, (not all-natural)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened

3 3/4 cups  powdered sugar ( I usually use a little less, but you have to have enough to make everything stick together!)

2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Combine peanut butter & butter in a bowl & stir until creamy.  Slowly add in powdered sugar until the dough starts to "stick".  You'll be rolling them into balls so they need to stick together but not to your hands.  Once you have a dough consistency, roll them into 1 inch balls & place on wax paper in the freezer until firm. (about 30-40 minutes usually works)

Melt chocolate & vegetable shortening in a double boiler or microwave right before you take the peanut butter balls out of the freezer.  Use a tooth pick to dip the peanut butter balls in the chocolate, leaving a small spot of peanut butter on top to keep the buckeye look. Once they're dipped, place them back in the freezer or fridge until you're ready to eat them. 

*My note: If you're going to make these, I also purchase pretzels and small cookies to dip because there is always left over chocolate that you can use to make a nice holiday treat. 

Check out what my friends wrote while participating in the 12 days of Christmas, at A Life in Balance.