sprinkled sugar cookie christmas trees.

this is really just a sneaky cute way to save space on the overflowing holiday cookie tray. 

these cookies use the recipe for daisy's sprinkle sugar cookies, which are equally simple, delicious, and so fun. 

heyyyyyy! if you're reading this, it means that i've released my new blog location out into the wild!  all the content that was on my old blogger site now lives here.   it has been a big task to move 4 1/2 years of photos and content to a new platform. at times i wanted to explode/run away/throw my computer through a wall, but it has come together with the help of some awesome folks who helped keep my frustrations with technology at bay. 

thanks for the fun logo and extra tech support, james! and so many thank-yous to sara who really helped me make sense of all the back-end technical issues and got me to the point where i could continue working on this without screaming (i'm making myself sound quite violent/angry...but technological difficulties really bog me down sometimes). i'm not sure how a few things behind-the-scenes will function as i continue to post new content here, buuut hopefully i will be able to figure it out by my lonesome! 

so this is my new blog! i'm most stoked on the search function (my old search bar on blogger didn't work worth diddly-squat), CATEGORIES (!!!), archives, and an overall cleaner look and feel.  

moving right along...  christmas cookie time!

making sugar cookies is always fun around christmas time.  especially when oodles of colorful sprinkles are involved.  you could also frost them all up, but i didn't want them to stick together.

whip up your cookie dough and let it chill for a bit.  then comes the fun part.

i had grand visions of a specific color of green sprinkles, but of course target duped me into buying a giant 4-pack of sprinkles just so i could get this jar of multi-colored christmassy ones.

go about making sugar cookies as usual, but gently squish a layer of sprinkles into the dough before pressing in the cookie cutter.  all the remaining dough that was littered with various sprinkles by the time i had all the star shapes cut out was just rolled into balls to make some bonus chubby cookies.

i only had the largest size of star cookie cutter.  i resorted to cutting free-hand stars for the littler star shapes.  

bake these cuties for around 8 minutes.  let them cool on a wire rack.  then you can stack em up into these adorable little trees!

these make me happy just looking at them.

Sprinkled Sugar Cookie Christmas Trees

Makes 12-18 cookies (2-4 sugar cookie Christmas trees)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup colored sprinkles
• star-shaped cookie cutters of varying size

Instructions-

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add almond extract and egg and mix until smooth.  Slowly add flour,  baking soda and baking powder, mixing well until a dough forms.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for an hour, or freeze for only 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  After dough has been chilled, roll it out on a well-floured surface until the dough is less than 1/4 inch thick.  Sprinkle a handful of colored sprinkles onto one area of the dough and pat the area gently with a flat spatula until the sprinkles are stuck in the dough (as depicted in the photos above). Press the star-shaped cookie cutter into the sprinkled area until it cuts all the way through the dough.  With a metal spatula, carefully and gently move the star shape onto the prepared (lightly greased) cookie sheet.  Repeat this process using different sizes of the star-shaped cookie cutters.  Roll the remaining dough into balls if you don't need to make shapes out of the entire batch of dough.

I didn't have smaller cookie cutters, so I just free-handed smaller star shapes into the dough. They're kind of goofy, but it will do the trick (and give your sugar cookie Christmas trees some character).  

Place all the star cookies onto a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the center is still slightly soft.

Immediately remove cookies from the baking sheet, and let cool on a wire rack.

Starting with the largest size of star at the base, build a stack of star cookies about 5-8 cookies tall, using smaller star cookies as you go, and rotating the points of the star with each layer. Place a sprinkle, mini marshmallow, or any little edible decor that could work as a tree topper on your fun little cookie tree. 

enjoy all the cuteness while saving space on your holiday cookie trays at the same time! 

qp

homemade pumpkin purée.

my first post on squarespace!  still trying to figure this all out after having used blogger for 4 1/2 years.  thank heeeavens for my friend sara at work who figured out how to move her blog to squarespace all on her very own. i would have been so lost without her help.

so, is it too late to talk about pumpkins?  

this was my first time making my own purée; i gotta say, it was super easy.

i was at the store a few weeks ago holding a can of libby's pumpkin purée.  this old man walks by and says, "with all the pumpkin shortages, you're going to buy that can?!?"  i just stared at the can for like 10 seconds and then was like, "ah man, you're right.  i can make my own."  he just cackled and looked real proud of himself as he walked away.  

thanks, mister old man at the store, for making me learn something new.

see? just a whole bunch of pictures in a row and i don't know how to put words in between.  i'll figure this thang out soon.

pumpkin purée!  i had a couple of pumpkins still sitting around the house and just chopped em up, roasted em up, and puréed it up!  after the fact, i was wondering if i'd even used a sugar pie pumpkin like you're supposed to.  the purée didn't seem as smooth as can be.  oh well.  i'll have to make something with it and see if it works.  if not, then i'll know for sure that those sugar pie pumpkins are a vital step in this pumpkin purée making process. 

just be so careful when cutting open the pumpkins. eeek.  gut it just like you would when carving a pumpkin.  i found it most useful to use a grapefruit spoon to scrape off all of the stringy parts, but you could use a serrated knife too.  i was going to rub the punkins with olive oil, but then decided on coconut oil instead :)  i roasted them in a baking dish with maybe 1/2 cup of water in the bottom.   roast those babies for about an hour at 375 degrees F and let em cool.  peel the skin of the pumpkin off of the flesh.  then purée the flesh up with as much water as needed to make the purée smooth.  i used a food processor, but i think this could be done in a blender as well.

will report back on the outcome of an actual food item prepared with this first-timer's purée!

qp