3 Sisters Bake for Hours and Hours!

Soooooo.....of course I thought I would force all of my sisters to help me bake Christmas gifts. It seemed like a win-win scenario for me: more help means less time baking and less work. Plus, I decided to cut down on the recipes this year. 

We started with Gluten Free Gingerbread Bars.

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup butter

1/4 cup molasses

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

2. Mash the brown sugar, butter, and molasses together in a bowl with a spoon until the mixture is creamy and thoroughly combined. Mix in the ginger, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir 1/4 of flour mixture into the butter mixture at a time, incorporating each addition before adding the next. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool before cutting.

Honestly, things were going really well! 

Until I realized I used mint extract instead of vanilla. Cue my immediate breakdown. I was ready to throw in the towel before we even finished making one batch of cookies. Luckily we were able to somewhat salvage the mess by adding chocolate chips and making another batch correctly. 

Both batches turned out pretty darn good. The biggest hassle of this recipe was that I had to order almost all of the gluten free ingredients online, as our local grocery store didn't carry them. 

Next we moved onto Peppermint Cream Squares:

INGREDIENTS:

For the shortbread:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

For the peppermint filling:

30 soft mint candies

1 cup powdered sugar, divided

1/4 cup cream cheese

2 tablespoons whole milk

Peppermint extract (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment so that the ends hang over the sides of the pan. Coat the parchment and exposed sides of the pan with nonstick spray.

2. To make the shortbread, beat the butter in a stand mixer or with a hand blender until it is creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sugar. Beat again until the butter and sugar are light and fluffy, like frosting. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour and the salt until the dough comes together and no more dry flour is visible.

3. Scoop out about 1/2 cup of the dough, transfer it to a covered container, and refrigerate. Scrape the remaining dough into the baking dish. Press the dough flat with buttered hands, pushing the dough into the corners and smoothing the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the shortbread is turning golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

4. While the shortbread is baking, prepare the filling. Place the soft mint candies the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they have broken down into powder with pieces no larger than rock salt. Be forewarned: this will make an enormous racket! Alternatively, you can place the candies in a sturdy plastic bag, go outside, and smash the candies with a hammer. (A fantastic holiday stress-reliever.)

5. Mix the powdered candies with 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and milk. Warm briefly in the microwave if the cream cheese is too stiff. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 3/4 cup of the powdered candy mixture to the cream cheese. Whisk to form a thick paste. Taste and add peppermint extract in 1/4 teaspoon increments if you'd like a stronger peppermint flavor.

6. When the shortbread has cooled but is still warm to the touch, pour the peppermint cream mixture over the top and spread it evenly into the corners. Remove the reserved shortbread dough from the fridge and crumble it evenly over the top of the peppermint cream (or grate it on the large holes of a cheese grater).

7. Bake the peppermint bars for another 10-13 minutes, until the edges are just starting to bubble. The crumbs will still be fairly light-colored. Let the bars cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then sprinkle the top with a few tablespoons of the remaining peppermint powder (you may not use it all) while the bars are still warm. Let the bars cool completely, then lift them from the pan and cut into squares.

8. Peppermint squares will keep in an airtight container for about a week.

These were really easy to make and turned out pretty decent. I couldn't find peppermint flavored chocolate...so, I went with Andes mints and thought it turned out just fine!

Next we made Candy Cane Peppermint Patties:

INGREDIENTS:

5 cups confectioners’ sugar plus more for dusting

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon pure peppermint

3 tablespoons shortening

20 ounces tempered chocolate or dipping chocolate wafers

Food Gel Coloring: red

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat 5 cups confectioners’ sugar with corn syrup, water, peppermint extract, shortening, and a pinch of salt using an electric mixer (with paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) at medium speed until just combined.

2. Divide filling dough into half, color one dough red, and second leave white.

3. Form each filling into a snake shape and then roll it out between 2 pieces of parchment paper, dust bottom and top with more powdered sugar to prevent sticking.

4. Starting with the white layer, loosen both wax papers on the bottom and on the top. Same with the red layer.

5. Stack layers on top of each other. Flip the whole thing on a piece of plastic wrap dusted with powdered sugar.

6. Roll both layered into a log. Chill in the freezer until firm, 30 minutes.

7. Using a sharp knife cut small patties, place them on a tray lined with wax paper. If patties get soft, chill again until firm.

8. Prepare the chocolate, using dipping fork dip each round into the chocolate, gently shake of the excess and place freshly coated patties onto the tray lined with wax paper. Once you are done with all the patties, put the tray into the fridge for 10 minutes for the chocolate to set.

9. Store mint patties in a cool place in an airtight container, layered, wax paper between each layer.

The first hitch was that I had green food coloring and refused to pay $5 for red. So the insides were all green, no biggie. 

The next hitch was that making a log out of that sticky mess was impossible and then it didn't cut well anyway. 

So we resorted to making balls instead. 

While this was cooling, we started the prep for our Buckeyes (as they were to be dipped in chocolate as well). We then proceeded to melt all of the chocolate wafers at once. 

This seemed like the obvious answer; but, it took us so long to dunk each ball that the chocolate started to burn and/or harden without seemingly any way to make it just a happy liquid. 

This is where my second breakdown started to occur. These patties tasted great but looked a mess!

I was ashamed to hand them out, but didn't really see an alternative. 

Finally we made Buckeyes:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

2 cups semi­sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons Crisco® All­Vegetable Shortening

DIRECTIONS:

1. COMBINE peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on LOW until blended. Add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating until blended. Beat in additional powdered sugar until mixture, when shaped into a ball, will stay on a toothpick. Shape into 1­inch balls. Refrigerate.

2. PLACE chocolate chips and shortening in microwave­safe bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM for 30 seconds. Stir. Repeat until mixture is smooth. Reheat as needed while coating peanut butter balls.

3. INSERT toothpick in peanut butter ball. Dip 3/4 of ball into chocolate, leaving top uncovered to resemble a buckeye. Remove excess. Place on wax paper­lined tray. Remove toothpick. Smooth over holes. Refrigerate until firm.

I was super excited about this one, as I LOVE buckeyes. 

Everything seemed to be going perfectly, until the melted chocolate was just not having any of it. It just got funky. Which is when my second breakdown really got full blown.

We kept it on a low heat with constant stirring, but it refused to stay liquid. My pleading and crying made no difference. 

As I threw a freak-out-fit, my sisters hurried to get the buckeyes covered in chocolate before it was entirely too late. In the end, they tasted phenomenal, but looked predigested....

My dad didn't seem to mind, so I guess that is all that matters. 

Days prior, and on my own, may I add, I made mason jars of Peppermint Hot Chocolate Mix:

INGREDIENTS:

11 c. powdered milk

1 c. confectioners’ sugar

11 oz. powdered coffee creamer

2 lbs. powdered chocolate milk mix

4 tbsp. Cocoa powder

1 box instant chocolate pudding mix

10 crushed candy canes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Crush candy canes in a bag or a food processor.

2. Mix ingredients together in a LARGE bowl.

3. Portion into containers for sharing or store in an air tight container.

4. Use 1/3 mix and 2/3 water for the perfect mixture.

This really is fantastic hot cocoa! I love love love it. I do have to say, the original recipe called for 3 candy canes and I could barely taste them at that point, so I added a lot more. I would do even more next time with half finely crushed and half small chucks (for the aesthetics in the mason jar). I forgot to take pictures...

All in all, no one died from anything I helped make and I think that is the most important part.