classic tea cakes, two ways.

christmas time is just not complete without these cookies.  if you feel you don't have time to bake cookies, these are super easy, simple & delicious, and feel just like christmas to me.

i made this batch two ways. half are plain tea cakes and the other half have mini chocolate chips added.

i grew up on the plain tea cakes during the holidays, so as much as i do love me some chocolate chips, i'm a bit of a purist with these little cakes. 

the plain & simple cakes are such a nostalgic treat for me that i always only have around christmas time. the chocolate chippers are like a completely different cookie in my mind. somehow that makes sense to me. maybe i'm just a kooky cookie lady.

my family always called these cookies "butter balls," which does not sound very glamorous or sophisticated, but is exactly what they are...balls of butter.  i think they have a zillion names like russian tea cakes or mexican wedding cakes. i guess calling it a "tea cake" makes you feel like a little less of a santyclaus glutton than calling it a "butter ball."

make sure to cool the cookies all the way through after baking or the powdered sugar gets all sticky. i set mine outside for a little bit so they'd cool faster...but was eXtReMeLy paranoid that a squirrel or crow were going to divebomb down and gobble em up. 

that was a very stressful 5 minutes. but quite the timesaver!

oh yummmmmm. 

buttery soft melty pillows of crisp & fresh simple coooookie gooodnessssssss. also, i am a walnut lover. i know lots of people are haters, so leave em out if you dislike. i just think they make these cookies worth whiiiiile. and add chocolate chips to half of the dough, if you like. 

because variety packs make life worth livin'.

Classic Tea Cakes, Two Ways

Makes 24 cookies

Time: 30-45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 3 TB. powdered sugar
• 2 TB. milk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, optional
• for coating: 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream the butter well. Slowly add flour and mix on medium high between additions until a dough forms. Add the extracts, salt, 3 TB. powdered sugar, and milk. Mix until ingredients are just combined. Add the chopped walnuts and mix again.

If desired, scoop half of the dough into a separate bowl. Add chocolate chips to the dough in the original mixing bowl and stir just until combined. The second bowl will be for plain tea cakes.

Roll the dough into small balls (smaller than a golf ball). You want to roll them tightly so they do not crumble after baking. Place cookie dough balls on a baking sheet.

Bake for 13 minutes at 350 degrees F. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool completely (I set mine outside for about 5 minutes to speed up the cooling process). You want them to be all the way cool before rolling them in powdered sugar or it will melt and be sticky.

After the cookies are cool, roll each cookie in powdered sugar until it is coated. You can also add the powdered sugar to a small paper lunch bag and shake the cookies individually in the bag until coated.

Store in airtight containers lined with parchment. Share with friends & fam! These make excellent gifts in a cute holiday cookie tin! 😊

ho ho ho eat that butter ball, yo.

qp

green & red shredded chicken and black bean enchiladas.

there's something so satisfying about dreaming up a specific meal and having it turn out exactly how you wanted it to taste/look/smell. party on, wayne. 

i'd been craving some sort of enchiladas like this since the end of summer and kept thinking about them. now was the time to execute.

perfectly comforting, super flavorful, easy to make, and to top it off - leftovers for days!

i made these on the day of this supposed "seattle windpocalypse/rainstorm of the century" and was fully prepared to live on these enchis for days, wrapping ourselves in blankets and playing cards by candlelight. 

no such wind blew that night. and as strange as it sounds, i was sort of disappointed that the power didn't go out and we weren't able to live as pilgrims for the weekend. 

candlelit pilgrim life is a reeeal freaky deaky modern-day ultra-privileged thing for me to even wish on...believe you me, i'm so so ever grateful for our cozy home and allllll the good things in my life.

so let me show you how to prepare for a "storm" and enjoy some delicious homemade eats at the same time. 

^^^ i don't normally take photos of meat cooking or raw meat in general, but these chicken boobs looked a-ok.

this is really quite simple once you have all the cans opened, cheese grated, veggies chopped, and chicken shredded. 

gently wrap all the filling into the tortillas, roll them up and lay them to rest on their happy little spicy bed of green and red sauce. 

i prefer having both green and red enchilada sauces because sometimes when you have just green or just red enchiladas, its too much! having both sauces meld into one and dance around in each bite is like OOH, AAH, MMMM. OK. NOMS. 

^^^ how cute are those magnetic toucan kitchen scissors pete got me for xmas last year? :)

that bubbly browned cheese & spicy sauces covering those hearty enchilada goods just scream comfort food to me. so good. SO GOOD!

Green & Red Shredded Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

Makes about 15 medium-sized enchiladas

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (about 2 cups shredded chicken)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained
• 28 ounce can green enchilada sauce, medium heat (or whatever spiciness you prefer)
• 14 oz. red enchilada sauce, medium heat
• 2 heaping cups grated monterey jack cheese
• 1 heaping cup sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 small can (7 oz) diced green chiles
• 1/2 a jalapeño, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 12-15 medium-sized flour tortillas

Instructions-

Cook 2 thawed chicken breasts in 1 TB of olive oil in a pan over medium heat, flipping after about 4 minutes and cooking 4 more minutes. Place cooked chicken on a cutting board to rest. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Chop onion, grate the cheeses, and open all cans. Shred the slightly cooled chicken with 2 forks. If the meat is slightly undercooked and pink still, return shredded chicken to the pan or skillet and toss until cooked through. I prefer to let the shredded chicken brown up in the pan anyway.

Add shredded chicken, black beans, chopped onion, and green chiles to a large bowl with a few good shakes of salt and black pepper. Toss to combine.

Add about 1 cup of green enchilada sauce in the bottom of the large baking dish you'll use to bake the enchiladas. Add just a little red sauce as well (maybe 4 ounces). Assemble the enchiladas, adding a scoop of the chicken & bean mixture to a tortilla, a small handful of each cheese, and a small drizzle more of the enchilada sauces. Roll the filling up tightly inside the tortilla and place in the baking dish. Repeat until the baking dish is full of enchiladas.

{We were able to make 2 separate batches of enchiladas with the amount of filling here}

Add about 1 cup each of both green and red enchilada sauce, dispersing evenly over the top of the rolled up tortillas.  Sprinkle some of the thinly sliced jalapeños around and top with the remaining shredded cheeses. Make sure the cheeses are on the top layer so it gets good and browned and bubbly. 

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until browned and slightly crisp around the edges.

Serve immediately with cilantro and plain Greek yogurt or sour cream. And tortilla chips, if desired!

These refrigerate well and taste just as delicious reheated within the next couple of days, as well.

qp