Eggnog Latte

Have you ever woken up in December not really in the Christmas OR morning mood? I tried adding eggnog to my coffee as creamer this morning and it was GREAT! Just the perfect amount of Christmas in my joe:). Although it's pretty easy, here's a recipe;)

You will need:
3/4 cup eggnog
a half cup of coffee
1/4 tsp. vanilla.
OPTIONAL: Whipped cream (in a can)

To start:
1. Pour the coffee in a mug and add the eggnog & vanilla.
2. Stir until sufficiently mixed.
3. OPTIONAL Squirt some whipped cream on top of your latte.

Viola! You now have a steaming cup of eggnog coffee! It may sound a bit strange, but I can assure you, it was pretty wonderful:) I hope you enjoyed this recipe!

Merry Christmas & Happy Cooking!

The BEST Sugar Cookies.

If you love sugar cookies, this is the recipe for you! It's perfect for Christmas cookies and they're super easy to make (not to mention SO YUMMY!)  This recipe is great when using cookie cutters and they're easily decorated. :)

 You will need:

8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature (salted or unsalted.)

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups flour (plus some for sprinkling.)

OPTIONAL: 1 tbsp. milk

 

Getting started:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.

 2. First, leave the butter out for about 30 minutes so it can get soft. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.  For drop cookies, add some milk to this step.

3. Next, add in the flour. If it's too much to add in all at once, feel free to add about a half cup at a time. *You may need to knead the dough with your hands. 

4. Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Rub some flour on a rolling pin and roll out some of your dough to about a half inch. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out some shapes and move them to a greased cookie sheet. 

5. Put in cookie sheets in the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

6. Decorate your cookies with cookie frosting. Click here for the recipe.

I love this recipe so much and it yields about 36-42 cookies depending on the size of your cutter. It's great for Valentine's, Christmas, or any time of the year. I don't think I'll ever use another sugar cookie recipe again! I've made them several times and everyone absolutely loves them! I hope you found this recipe helpful and enjoy making these sweet cookies:)  

Happy Cooking!

White Cake to Chocolate

Have you ever been craving a chocolate cake and only had a white cake mix at hand? Here's the solution!

You will need:
1. White cake mix
2. Unsweetened cocoa powder

To start:
1. Empty the contents of the mix into a bowl.
2. Add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and mix well.
3. Add the ingredients called for and bake, according to directions on your mix.

Viola! A chocolate cake out of a white cake mix!
Happy Cooking!

Fantastic Fondant

Whenever I'm making cupcakes, (which I do quite often) I like to use fondant to fancy 'em up! Sometimes it's hard to make frosting look nice, but you can't go wrong with this recipe!

You will need:
1. 1 cup light corn syrup
2. 1 cup shortening
3. 1/2 tsp. salt
4. 1 tsp. clear vanilla extract
5. 2 pounds of confectioners sugar
OPTIONAL: Food colouring

To start:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the corn syrup and shortening using an electric mixer.
2. Next, mix in the vanilla and salt.
3. Now, gradually knead in the confectioners sugar.
NOTE: Don't use a mixer for step #3. It will get too thick and stuck in the mixer.
4. If desired, add a few drops of food colouring and knead.
5. Put the fondant away in the fridge for about 25 minutes before using.

To use:
1. On a clean surface, sprinkle confectioners sugar and roll out your fondant.
2. If your using it for a cake, cut the fondant to fit your cake and smooth it out around the edges.
3. For cupcakes, find a cup that fits your cupcakes and use it to cut out circles. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the cupcakes for the fondant to adhere to.
4. You can use leftover fondant to make shapes using small cookie cutters.

I hope you found this recipe helpful for the next time you make a cake or cupcakes! Happy Cooking!

The Best Banana Bread

I made this today and it was a huge hit! If you like banana bread, you're sure to love this!

You will need:
1. 3-4 ripe bananas
2. 1/3 cup melted butter
3. 1 cup sugar
4. 1 egg
5. 1 tsp. vanilla
6. 1 tsp. baking soda
7. A pinch of salt
8. 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

OPTIONAL: For a healthier alternative, can use Splenda instead of sugar. I did and it tastes heavenly.

To start:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Mash up bananas in medium bowl and mix with butter.
3. Next, add in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.
4. Now, mix in the baking soda and salt.
5. Lastly, mix in the flour.
6. Grease a small loaf pan and pour contents of the bowl into it.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

This recipe makes one loaf, but you can double it for two. I definitely recommend using Splenda. It's light and sweet: total yum-fest! I hope you enjoy this recipe! Happy Cooking!

Easy Cookie Frosting

This is a really simple recipe for cookie frosting. It hardly takes any time and very little effort!

You will need:
1. Powdered sugar
2. Milk
3. A bowl
4. A spoon or small whisk
OPTIONAL:
Food colouring

To begin:
Pour powdered sugar and milk in a bowl and mix. If you want your frosting to be thicker, add more sugar. If you want thinner frosting add more milk. For coloured frosting, add a few drops of food colouring.

This recipe is so easy! You can put it in a pastry bag and pipe it on to your cookies or drizzle it on. Whatever you do I hope you enjoy yourself and found this recipe to be helpful:)

Happy Cooking!

The Best Brownies EVER. (forreal)

These seriously have to be the best brownies I've ever tried. I made a batch for my family to taste and they were so good I just had to make another!

You will need:
1. 2/3 cup un-sweetened cocoa powder
2. 2 cups of white granulated sugar
3. 4 eggs
4. 1 cup all purpose flour
5. 1 cup vegetable oil (melted butter will suffice)
6. 2 tsp. vanilla extract
7. 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
8. 1/2 tsp. salt
9. Two large bowls
10. Two large spoons

To begin:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9x13 pan.
3. In one large bowl mix the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla.
4. In the second bowl mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
5. Pour the dry mixture into the egg mixture about a half cup at a time and stir.
6. Once thoroughly mixed, pour into greased pan.
7. Bake for 35-45 minutes.
8. Once finished baking, let cool for about 3 minutes.
9. Cut and enjoy!

I love these brownies because they're better than a box-mix and you get satisfaction of knowing you made them from scratch! I hope you found this recipe helpful and easy. If these aren't the best brownies you've tasted, post your recipe in the comment section:)

Happy Cooking!