If you like Brownies you are going to love these ones.
These are gluten free, double chocolate yumminess with a hint of Peppermint essential oil. This is Haven. At least in my opinion. I use Young Living Essential Oil for many reasons. If you are interested in purchasing your own oils, click Here.
Now lets get started:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8-10 drops Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil
2 Eggs room temperature
1 1/2 cups Almond Flour
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F Degrees and lightly butter an 8 inch baking pan.
2. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over very low heat.
3. Stir in sugars, vanilla, and peppermint oil; set aside to cool.
4. Add room temperature eggs ave beat well to incorporate. Stir in
almond flour and well. Then stir in chocolate chips and almonds.
5. Spread evenly in prepared pan; bake for 30 to 35 min or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.
Makes 1 dozen brownies
Store in container with a loose-fitting lid.
This recipe was adopted from Blue Diamond Almonds and it's super yummy.
Enjoy
P.S. Young living has a clearly marked indigestible essential oils: They are called the Vitality oils. This is the peppermint one I used.
Giant Cross-Stitch / Needle Work Rose Pattern Cookie
Hi, thanks for stopping by.
Cross Stitch Rose Pattern Cookie
What you are looking at here is an 8 inch heart cookie decorated with Cross stitch/ Needlework Rose pattern. This was my first cookie made at this magnitude. I spent hours and hours searching for an easy cross-stitch pattern that would look nice on cookie and I don't have to count too many dots or stitches.
I settled on this easy one,that's on the cookie. However, it was too simple so I had to add more color by adding the sun to the cookie. The cookie just looked to plain, too naked.
So first I baked an 8 inch cookie (recipe is here) at 1/4 inch thickness. I forgot to roll out the dough thicker then 1/4 inch...so I took my chances and baked it anyway. I made sure I let the cookie cool off on the cookie sheet, to prevent it from breaking.
Next, I used white flood consistency royal icing to flood the cookie. I left the cookie dry overnight.
After that I used piping consistency royal icing in white to make the Cross-Stitch Grid. That's a lengthy process. When you make the grid, make sure your elbow of your arm where the piping bag is resting on the table and the other hand is guiding the arm with the bag in hand.
I had to concentrate and I had to make sure no one came into the kitchen to distract me. The grid requires crucial concentration. If you are at the second level of the grid and you mess one up, it is super hard to fix it. So, kick everyone out of the kitchen, get comfortable, and proceed. On the end you will feel a great accomplishment.
Next, I used red piping consistency royal icing to create the rose. It took me some time to figure out where to put the rose, since it was an oddly shaped patter that was going on a heart. Pre-planning your design is highly recommended. What I mean, draw it out on a piece of paper, don't wing it. I did the winging and it took me a lot of time to get this cookie going, make the rose fit and fill in the gaps.
After the rose was done, I continued with the green piping consistency royal icing to create the stem and the leaves. This part was fairly easy and quick.
This is where I saw how naked, plain my cookie looked. So, I doodled, I drew a bunch of stuff around to see what would go. I didn't want to make it look too busy, since the dots already make the cookie look busy. I settled for the sun. So I winged that too. But hey, it turned out OK. Right?
Now the big decision came. Should I fill in the white spots or leave them alone. I jumped on the opportunity to see what it would look like if I totally fill the dots in. Warning, if you have little patients, leave your cookie as is. Otherwise, proceed with the white piping consistency royal icing to fill every single white square in.
It is very important to pipe every other dot first....to prevent the dots from running together and look like a mess. The key to beautiful dots on your cross stitch pattern is to have the right consistency royal icing - not too soft, not too stiff. This will take some practice. If you have lots of practice, you will definitely be able to create beautiful cookies.
Even though, I worked on this cookie for 3 days, the actual work wasa total of 3 hours.
I hope you will try making your own cookie. If not for yourself, maybe for someone who needs a smile on their face. If you do make one, please post it either on this blog or on my Facebook page.
I appreciate you reading my blog and wish you an awesome day!
Who does not like pancakes? I for sure do...and a lot!
Gluten Free Paleo Friendly Banana Pancakes
I used a recipe I found on my blenched almond flour bag I purchases at Costco. The brand is Blue Diamond Almonds. It is a great almond flour to use for French Macarons, for chocolate chip cookies, pancakes, and so much more.
When I was making the recipe, I added a little more almond milk to my mixture because to me it looked to thick. It did not have the same runny consistency as a wheat pancake has. This was a mistake on my part because I had a hard time flipping the darn thing over. So I added the other egg yolk instead of tossing it away, and also added a little more almond flour to the mix to make it thicker. This was a game changer. I did not follow the recipe to the T...but it still came out great!
This is what it looked like before starting to bake. Not runny.
The other thing I change was I added coconut butter instead of butter. Why you ask? I was too lazy to get it out of the freezer and melt it. So there, coconut butter worked great as well.
After baking it for 3 minutes covered and ready to flip.
Lastly, again I was not up to roasting any almonds, so I skipped that part as well.
Here is the basic recipe:
Gluten Free, Paleo Friendly Banana Pancakes
Makes 6 Servings
2½ cups Blue Diamond Extra Fine Natural Almond Flour
⅓ cup almond milk
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons melted butter + additional for coating skillet
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs + 2 egg whites
1 medium very ripe banana, peeled
½ cup chopped Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almonds (I skipped the almonds)
Directions
Blend all ingredients except nuts in a blender for 1 minute. Stir in nuts.
Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat.
Brush with a little melted butter and pour batter into skillet,
using about ¼ cup for each pancake. Cover and cook for 3 minutes.
Turn carefully and reduce heat to low. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more.
Recipe tip: Keep heat fairly low as almond flour tends to burn at a lower temperature.
These Blue Ribbon Cookies were made for the Dallas, Tx police department in June of 2016. There were ladies from all over the United States and world who sent a grand
total of OVER 81 dozen cookies.
There were over 1200 cookies delivered to the Police Department by my friend's Amber Ward husband. Amber is this awesome who cars about people, specially people in need.
Thanks to her we were able to get this project together.
Here are part of the cookies that were shipped to Amber's home.
Cookies from US and other parts of the world.
I was up late working on 120 cookies and I decided to record the making. Here is a short demonstration of two styles.
This was my first attempt at making a Birthday Cake in a cookie
format. I must say, it was fun to make...and it was more fun to watch my friend's surprised face.
It was a last minute gift idea. I thought, and thought hard on what to give my friend. I wanted to give her something special. Something, that was made for her and that no one else has given something like this before.
Bingo!
I remembered my first basket weave cake I made 16 years ago, and that inspired me to make this cookie.
This is my old cake
So, this is how I made it.
I created a template that I used to cut out the cookie. I had to bake two because the first one broke when I took it off the cookie sheet. The candles on the end of the cookie are fragile, so be careful. Make sure the cookie cools off enough before you place it on the cookie cooling rack.
You will need Sugar Cookie Dough (click on the link to get the recipe). Warning: You will end up with about 2-3 dozen super yummy cookies depending on the size of the cookies.
White medium and flood consistency Royal Icing.
Light brown and dark brown medium consistency Royal Icing
Green medium consistency Royal Icing
Edible Silver Luster Dust
Lemon Extract or Vodka (Vodka dries faster without diluting the icing on the cookie)
Pre-made Royal Icing flowers (can be chocolate, fondant, sugar paste, wafer paper, etc...)
Scribe or tooth pick
Brush
Wilton decorating tip #2 or 3 (depending how thick you want the weaving on the basket to be)
Wilton tip # 352 leaf tip
Disposable piping bags
Edible Ink Marker
Edible color for painting the candles -or use edible markers
Let's get started:
Cut out the cookie using the template (or make your own template) and bake the cookie.
After it has cooled down, draw the basket outline onto the cookie with an edible marker.
Using the dark brown icing and a #2 or #3 tip, start the basketweave by
piping over the lines you just drew for the sides and bottom of the
cake. Next, using the light brown icing and the same size tip just used,
pipe a series of small horizontal lines extending from the dark brown
line to the right, spacing them a tip-width apart. Pipe each light brown
line a little longer than a tip-width. Return to the dark brown icing,
and pipe a vertical line so it covers the ends of the light brown
lines you just piped. Return to the light brown icing, and pipe another
series of horizontal lines tucked between the first and extending over
the dark brown line you just piped. Continue piping vertical dark brown
lines and horizontal light brown lines (offset to the previous set)
until you've filled the entire side of the cake with basketweave.
Fill in the top of the cake and the stand with white flood consistency icing.
After it dried for about 20 min pipe a twisted or S shape edge on the top part of the basket.
Next pipe the candles with white icing
Attache some pre-made royal icing flowers to the top of the cake and add some leaves with the leaf tip and green icing.
Outline the cake stand with white medium consistency icing and add some designs to the bottom of the stand.
After the candles have dried enough, about 20 min with the fan blowing on it, paint the candles in the colors of your choice.
Pipe a doily on the cake stand around the cake.
Mix some Luster Dust with lemon extract or Vodka and paint the outlines and details of the stand.
Below is the template for you to use. Left click on the picture, then right click to save the image.
Birthday Cake Cookie Template
Here is the How to video of this cookie.
Have fun making this cookie and watch someone's surprise on their face.
Thanks for stopping by. What you'll find here is a short
video tutorial for the Heart Lace-Cross Stitch inspired cookies that were
made for a Mother's Day cerebration.
Hungarians like red, hearts, and things that are made by
hand. Or at least I do. So, what is a better gift than these Red Heart Cookies?
These cookies are not necessarily for Mother's Day only.
You can give one to your neighbor, to your friend, to a stranger, or to
anyone who could use a smile.
A smile is contagious and I love to get it spread the joy with a sweet surprise.
So let's get started.
You will need:
- 3 1/2 inch heart sugar cookies (or your choice of size)
- Red flood consistency Royal Icing
- White piping or medium consistency Royal Icing
- Disposable decorating bags or tipless bags
- Size 1 Wilton decorating tip (optional)
- Scribe tool or toothpick
- Table top fan or regular fan [helps give a shine to the icing (optional)]
Step 1:
Outline and flood the cookie with red flood consistency
royal icing. Use the scribe tool or the toothpick to even out the icing
and to remove the bubbles.
Step 2:
(Before laying the lacework, the surface will need to harden/dry enough to prevent the lacework from sinking in and blending with the flooded area.) In open air, allow the icing to dry ~2-4 hours, or, with the fan blowing directly on them, you can get the process down to about
half an hour.
Step 3:
Use white medium consistency royal icing to create a grid
on the cookie. First lay 6 lines diagonally across the heart. Then, place lines across them to create a grid.
Step 4:
Use the same white medium consistency royal icing to fill
individual squares in the pattern within the grid. Create your own cross-stitch pattern or refer to the diagram below as a guide.
Step 5:
Decorate the edges of the Cross-Stitch grid using the pattern of your choice, (refer to pictures for examples), and finish the edges of the cookies with dots or another style of border.
Step 6:
Let the cookies dry thoroughly overnight.
Step7:
Now, wrap your creations in
cello bags, sealing them with a twist-tie or... for a fancy finish, decorate the bag with a
ribbon tied in a bow!
Have fun making these cookies...
And remember: give someone an awesome day. (By the way, I borrowed this saying from Casey Eberhart.)
Check out other Heart Cookie Ideas (some were inspiration from the "Gingerbread artist", "Julia Usher", Pinterest)
4
eggs at room temperature
1 cup or 250 ml flour
1 cup or 250 ml
sugar ( I found it too sweet for me)
125 ml vegetable oil
1 tsp
baking powder
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1/2 orange
1 1/2
tsp vanilla extract
Oil and flour for the pan or cake release
For
the cream:
5 egg yolks
200 grams sugar
500 ml milk
500
ml heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp of flour
20 grams gelatin
powder/granules
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla or lemon
extract
For topping:
6-8 larger oranges.
Preparation of the Cake:
Coat an 8 or 9 inch
pan with oil and dust with flour or use cake release. Preheat oven to
325 F degrees.
Mix eggs and sugar in the mixer till it
doubles in volume.
Add the oil and mix it on medium high, then
add the flour, orange zest, and the baking powder mixed with the
lemon juice. Mix or beat for 2-3 more minutes.
Poor batter in
prepared pan and drop the pan gently on the table to release the big
bubbles. Bake on middle rack for 45-55 min and tooth pick inserted
comes out clean.
Let it cool in the pan for about 10 min and
invert it to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Special note:
Do not open the door of the oven in the first 30 min.
Preparation
of the Cream:
Prepare custard first. Mix together with a
spoon the hot water and the gelatin in a small bowl till the gelatin
dissolves.
Whisk egg yolks, milk, sugar,flour, and vanilla in
a pan till is combined and no lumps are present. Place on low heat
and cook till it thickens. Let it get to a couple of boils.
Remove from the heat and let it cool
for about 10 min stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming on
top of the custard.
Meanwhile, peal and slice the oranges.
Use a larger pan then the one the cake baked in and line with saran
wrap. Arrange the orange slices on the bottom and sides of the pan to
preference. See image 1.
Cut up the remainder oranges in smaller pieces,
these will be used between layers.
After 10 min mix the gelatin
mixture into the custard till it totally dissolves. Let it cool
completely to room temperature. Once cold, add one third of the
custard to the whipped up cream, mix it well and add the remainder
custard in two parts. Bring the mixer to med high and mix well.
Put
a layer of the custard mixture on top of the orange slices and the
side of the pan, place a cake layer that has orange juice poured on
with a spoon, place another layer of custard mix, cut up oranges and
lastly the second layer of cake that has orange juice on it. (See image 2-4 above and images 5-7 below)
If
you have 3 layers of cake you can use them all.
Make sure you
do not cover the last layer of cake with the custard mix. That will
be the bottom of the cake.
Cover the whole pan and cake with
saran wrap (see image 8) and refrigerate at least 4-6 hrs. ( I usually chill it
over night)
When it is time to serve, remove the wrap and
invert the cake to a platter or cake board. Finish removing the other
wrap that is now on top of the cake.
Use a serrated knife to
cut through the orange slices while holding the oranges gently...so
you won't end up with a mess.
Enjoy.
P.S. Post a picture of your creation and let me know how you liked it.
Sugar Cookie Recipe I use (It's been adopted, changed and tried)
- 1 cup room temperature butter ( 1 stick salted and 1 stick unsalted)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 3 2/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. No need to sift. I use a whisk to mix the two together.
In
a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar till evenly blended. Add one egg
at the time after each egg is well mixed. Add vanilla extract then blend
till thoroughly mixed and make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as
needed.
Add the flour blend to the butter mixture in 2 batches. Mix
till combined. If mixture is sticky, add a little more flour. I
usually don't have to add extra flour.
Dived batter and half and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hrs.
After
is cold enough and not sticky, I roll it out between the plastic wraps
to 1/4 inch thickness and bake them at 350 degrees F from 8-10 minutes
depending on the size of the cookies.
