Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Top 10 post in 2013

I can't believe the end of the year is already upon us.  Where has the time gone?
I've rounded up my top 10 most viewed posts for this past year and wanted to share them with you in case you missed any.

Have a wonderful new year and thanks for reading Peanut Life Adventures!










It's hard to believe I've been blogging for over a full year now - and what a year it has been!  Thanks so much for your support this year!  I can't wait to share more with you in 2014!
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Monday, December 23, 2013

Top 5 Traditional Christmas Cookies



I love love love to bake at Christmas time.  I always have a set of traditional recipes that I make.  It just doesn't seem like Christmas can arrive until I have baked these items.  :)  Even when I was in college I would always have a baking marathon as soon as I got home after finals so that I could make these traditional cookies for my family.
Without further ado, here are my top five Christmas recipes

1. Traditional Cutout Cookies
 These cookies entered my family in the 1960s when my aunt started baking (that's what the recipe card says :).  My mom and I have been making these for as long as I can remember, I think I took over sole "rolling out" duties when I was 8 or 10.  It's a huge batch, but they always disappear fast!

2. Candy Cane Cookies
I love the "twist" on these cookies.  They also have a great taste.

3. Christmas Tree Cookies
These are cookies my mom made with her mom and the old aluminum crank cookie press.  I never met my grandma, but I like making these in honor of her each year.  Plus, these ones freeze great, my mom likes them best straight out of the freezer.

4. Chocolate Spritz Cookies
Again, another recipe from my mom's mom and her cookie press.  These are my mom and Opa's favorite cookies, while I don't enjoy chocolate, I love to make them to share with my family.

5. Kris Kringle Cookies
These are the "new" cookies on the block.  I love almond cookies and we received this cookie mold as a gift in the early 1990s and they were added to our cookie line up.

So those are my top five cookies that I make each and every year.  How many different cookies do you make each year?  What is your favorite traditional recipe?  Feel free to share!  Have a wonderful holidays everyone!

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Monday, December 16, 2013

Kris Kringle Cookies

 One year, my family received this Christmas cookie mold as a gift.  On the back of the box is a recipe for Almond Cookies.  Mmm are they ever delicious!  They are a little bit of a trick to make (using the mold), but they are simple and delicious.  As a kid, I only ever liked frosted sugar cookies, but I did always love these and making them with my mom.  The recipe below is double the original recipe and makes 9 large cookies (and by large, I mean really large - bigger than my hand tall kinda large!).  When I made them this year, my husband saw them and said, "oh, they are Matt sized cookies!  Can I have them!"  My dear husband loves his cookies, that's for sure.  He gave these his stamp of approval as well.  
I hope you enjoy these as much as my family has.  Happy Holidays!


Kris Kringle Cookies
Ingredients:

  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 1-2 Tablespoons almond extract
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 1/2 cups of flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Red and green sugar (if desired)
  • Longaberger Potter Christmas Cookie Mold (optional)
Directions:
Cream the butter, sugar, and almond extract together until light and fluffy.  Mix in the eggs.  Add in the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Chill the dough for several hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
Spray mold with cooking spray.  Roll a hunk of dough into a snake.  Press into the mold, using the heel of your hand to spread the dough out to all parts of the mold.  Be sure to level the back.  Remove dough from mold and place on a silicone baking mat on a cookie sheet.  To assist in getting the dough out of the mold, hold it perpendicular to a wooden cutting board and strike the edge 3 or 4 times.  If needed, you can also use your finger to start to pull the dough out.  Once started, it should come out smoothly.  
Sprinkle with green or red sugar if desired.
Bake for 7-10 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. 
*If you do not have a mold, you could make drop cookies, or roll the cookies out and use cookie cutters. 


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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Dragon Hooded Towel

Happy Wednesday!  Happy Hump Day!  This has been one heck of a week.  My husband is out of town for work this week.  I really don't like it when he's gone for so long.  Things have a way of happening.  Sure enough, my car hasn't started - twice this week.  Once nearly stranding me.  So once I finally made it home, I've been stuck here cause I'm too worried about my car going kaput to go anywhere.
At least the time on my own has given me time to catch up on my house projects and upload pictures to my computer.  
 

Which means I can finally share this gem with you.  My final hooded towel for this year (I think).  As I shared with you last week, in my 10 Handmade Gifts in an Afternoon post, I had one final hooded towel ot share with you.  And here is the dragon hooded towel I made as a big brother gift for my cousin whose new little brother joined the world the day after Thanksgiving.  


The pattern for the dragon again came from Crazy Little Projects.  She is a master at creating hooded towels!  Each one of these hooded towels has gotten easier for me.  So if your first one is a little rough, keep trying, they do get a whole lot easier! (And be sure to check out my Ladybug and Penguin)


I hope you all have a great week, we are halfway to the weekend!  Yay!  Remember to take a deep breath, I know things get crazy at this holiday time.  

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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Chocolate Spritzes

Today I'm excited to be sharing another traditional Christmas cookie in my family.  Like the Christmas tree cookies, this recipe came from the grandma that I never got to meet and has been passed down in my family.  Even though I don't like chocolate, I have always made these for my mom and grandpa each year.  They are a nice treat and something different to try from the traditional Christmas sugar cookie.  Since they are press cookies, you get a fancy looking cookie, without a lot of time or effort - double win!  Just one thing to be careful of, whatever you do, do NOT chill this dough.  It is a thick dough to begin with, and chilling will make it too thick for a press. (Yes I did find this out the hard way, and yes, I did break my favorite electric cookie press).
I hope you enjoy these sweet treats as much as my family has.  Happy Holidays!

Chocolate Spritz Cookies
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup Crisco
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tablespoons milk
  • 2 squares unsweetend chocolate (or substitute 6 TBSP cocoa powder and 2 TBSP oil)
  • 2 Cups Flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Sprinkles *
*I got the tree sprinkles in a large batch at the grocery store one  year.  Any type of shape sprinkle will work.  Before we had the trees, we used pastel flowers for years.

Directions:
Cream the Crisco and sugar together.  Add in the egg and milk and beat well.  Mix in the chocolate (I always use Nestle Cocoa and the oil).  Slowly incorporate the flour and salt.  Mix well.
Using the flower or pinwheel design in a cookie press, press the cookies onto a silicone baking mat on a cookie sheet. Press a sprinkle into the center of each flower/pinwheel.
Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Enjoy!

   <-- Click for nutritional info and a printer friendly version.



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