Vanilla Sugar Cookies with Mint Chocolate Ganache

 After making last week's Chocolate Cinnamon Ganache Sugar Cookies, as someone who prefers vanilla over chocolate, I knew that I needed to make a vanilla-based cookie as well.  My husband's sister and her family are in town from Alaska, and I knew this would be the perfect time to make something new and get some feedback at the same time.

I love the combination of mint and chocolate, and how it pairs with the vanilla cookie.  My husband thinks that it needs to be more chocolatey, so he would suggest using the ganache in this recipe on the chocolate cookie base from last week's recipe, and if you are in the same camp, go for it!  My sister-in-law and I love the balance with the vanilla cookie and it would pair so well with any type of ganache or frosting (if that is your thing).

Zopf Brot (Braided Bread)

Life has been busy.

Life is always busy, let's be honest, and sadly, this little blog gets left by the wayside when my life gets busy.

I still cook and bake, I still experiment and try new recipes, and create new recipes, I just don't get around to photographing and posting about it to share with all of you lovely people (all 5 of you who probably read this!  Hi mom!😉).

Recently, I hosted a group of ladies at my house for a lesson on making infused butters, and what better vehicle for infused butter is there, than fresh baked bread?  I made some of my go-to bread recipes ahead of time, including the recipe that I am bringing you today, along with my Carrot Nut Bread, Rosemary Garlic Crust Loaf, and a wheat bread that I hadn't tried before.  During the lesson, the ladies were able to shape their own Buttery Rolls if they wanted to, and then we got to sample the breads with a variety of sweet and savory butters.

My 4 favorite butters were Cinnamon Vanilla, Orange, Strawberry, and Garlic Butter, while others enjoyed the Bacon Chive, Cilantro Lime, and Honey Cinnamon butters.  I guess you can say that I like the sweet butters the most, and you wouldn't be wrong!

I actually finished off my sample of Cinnamon Vanilla butter on a piece (or 2) of this Zopf Brot, and it was probably the best decision I will make all day.

Traditional Zopf Brot is a braided bread from Germany, which I had a number of times on my trips to Switzerland back in my single days, however, that isn't where I first encountered the bread.  I have eaten this simplified version of Zopf since I was a teenager, when my mother put together a recipe book for our church women's group, she had not one, but two recipes for Zopf submitted by different contributors!  What are the odds?!

This bread is not only gorgeous, it is incredibly delicious!  Slather some Nutella or butter on a slice, and you are good to go!  This recipe makes two large loaves of bread.

German Chocolate Truffles

I don't what the weather is like where you are, but here in Idaho, we've had snow dumped on us this past week.

Our dog, Cooper, absolutely loves snow.

He acts like it is a new experience each time he goes outside, and loves rolling around in it, eating it, and zipping through it at breakneck speeds.  It is a lot of fun to watch, as long as I am safely and snugly perched inside the house,

I am less than a fan of being out in the snow due to the frigid temperatures, but I do think it is beautiful to look at from someplace warm.

This past week, my someplace warm has been my kitchen.  I have baked batches of cookies, seared some delicious ham, made tasty pastas, and rolled numerous little truffles to be dipped.

As a huge fan of coconut, today's post brings me immense amounts of joy, these truffles are reminiscent of German Chocolate Cake frosting, which is always the best part of the cake in my opinion (which is saying something, as I typically do not enjoy frosting).  Full of sweet coconut and crunchy pecans, these truffles are a true delight if you even remotely enjoy coconut, and are begging to be part of your holiday treat-making routine!

Rocky Road Truffles

Life is good.

My husband and I have recently completed a whirlwind of an adventure...we bought our first house!  It all happened so quickly, it's almost hard to believe that we really made this leap, but I have awoken each morning for the last 5 days in this beautiful house that he and I get to call home.

At times, we felt like we were going crazy, trying to pack, sign documents, work, do school, and somehow not lose our minds in the whole process.  And while our new home still has boxes all over the place, and not a shred of Christmas decor to be found, we feel very blessed to be together and beginning this next phase of our lives.

To celebrate the end of our road to home ownership, and because I also needed to make a dessert for a Christmas party we are attending tomorrow, I decided to whip up these heavenly Rocky Road Truffles.

OMG... these beauties are so incredibly divine...the recipe will make about 80 truffles, but you are destined to eat one...or three...who am I to judge?  Okay fine, I ate four of them, I confess!  Salty roasted almonds in a silky chocolate and marshmallow pillow covered in yet more chocolate...it is ecstasy!

Mint Chocolate Dips

Hello Blogger-verse!

It has been a long time...and it's all on me.  This past year proved to be hectic, and at times, more than I could handle.  Which is why I have been radio-silent since February.  

I promise that I still love you, and that I should be able to devote more time to this hobby of mine in the coming months.  I have still continued to cook and bake, and think up some fun recipes to share, but I didn't get around to photographing and posting them, with all the craziness in these parts.

My hubby and I are in the process of purchasing our first house, and once all the moving and unpacking is done, I will be able to spend more time with you all, and as a bonus, it'll be Christmastime, which is my favorite time of year, and there will be plenty of delicious goodies for me to share with you!

If you are hankering for something slightly Christmassy already, you HAVE to make these adorable and tasty Mint Chocolate Dips!

They are a light, minty cookie that is super soft, and dipped in additional mint chocolate.  I drizzled these with some white chocolate, just for fun, but you can leave them plain, or add sprinkles!  They are a perfect addition to any Christmas cookie plate, or you can enjoy them any time you want.  You can use plain milk chocolate if you aren't a mint fan too!

Bruce and I enjoyed ours with some steaming mugs of mint hot chocolate, because we are mint fanatics!

Andes Mint Cookie Dough Truffles

I love when the holiday Andes mints go on sale, because it means that Christmas is almost here. I bought a box of the peppermint crunch variety, and the regular mint variety back in November, and have been snacking on them for a while, but not before I whipped up some of these tasty truffles.

I love mint truffles, but you really can't go wrong with cookie dough, so I decided that a mint cookie dough truffle was certainly in order.

I love how the flecks of red and white pop through the dark, chocolatey cookie dough, don't you?

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

Sometimes you just need to shake things up a bit.  And apparently at Christmas, that means making chocolate variations of things that aren't typically chocolate.

Bruce wanted to give plates of cookies so some of our friends and neighbors this year, and we needed one more addition to the festive cookie plate.  I had been tinkering with this recipe for a few months, but had never quite succeeded, but thankfully, they finally came together in a way that I loved!

These cookies are soft, even if you roll out the dough thinly, and they pair wonderfully with festive frostings or glazes, like my Eggnog Frosting or Peppermint Frosting.

Hot Chocolate Rice Pudding

Again with the rice pudding, I know, I have an addiction...

My name is Lisa, and I am a rice pudding addict.

But really, it is such a simple and tasty treat, that I can't help but make it often, and tinker with it to make different variations, like this festive Hot Chocolate Rice Pudding, which is perfect for your holiday merrymaking.

Chocolate Peppermint Rolls

Sometime last year, my husband and I were sitting in church, and as is often the case (sadly), we were thinking about food.  I guess that happens when you forget to eat before heading into 3 hours of church meetings.

The topic of Cinnamon Rolls came up, and Bruce asked me if I could make a Christmas-time cinnamon roll...with chocolate dough.  Me, being the food-optimist, assured him that I could.

And this year, I delivered with these delicious Chocolate Peppermint Rolls!  The dough is soft, fragrant, and chocolatey, while bits of peppermint and chocolate (either white or semi-sweet) burst from within, and a gooey peppermint cream cheese frosting melds everything together in a way that is truly providential.

These would be a fabulous Christmas Eve treat, or accompaniment to an indulgent Christmas breakfast!

Peppermint Snowballs

The holiday season has come upon us like a whirlwind!

I apologize for my absence recently.  I just started my Master's program, and it has been consuming a good chunk of my free-time.

But, I am here today to bring you a tasty, snowy treat!

I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, I always loved the snow.  It may have had something to do with the fact that we didn't get a ton of it where I grew up, and so we would often pray for it to snow on Christmas Eve so we could have a white Christmas (it's true, we actually prayed for it).

One of my favorite parts about the snow was making snowballs, snowmen, and eating the fresh, powdery flakes that fell.

I recently found out that my husband has never eaten snow in his life (WhAt?!), and isn't in any hurry to either (he has no idea what he is missing).

So, to compensate for that tragic loss, I made him some snowball cookies.  But not just any snowball cookies...Peppermint Snowball cookies!  Don't get me wrong, I love the buttery little cookies, rolled in powdered sugar just as much as anyone, but when you dip these little beauties in a thick peppermint glaze, they are out of this world!

You can change the type of extract you use in both the cookie, and the glaze to customize it to your preference, but I chose almond extract for the cookie, and it pairs nicely with the peppermint.

Eggnog Muffins

When contemplating what to make for Christmas morning breakfast, it didn't take me long to decide upon eggnog muffins.

I had made some blueberry eggnog muffins a couple months ago, and while those were amazing, I decided to go with a "plain Jane" version for Christmas (honestly, you can't call these "plain Jane", because they are heavenly, but I digress).

These muffins are fluffy, with a kick of nutmeg and a lovely streusel topping that takes these muffins to the next level!

Julian's Fudge

When I was a pre-teen, I started reading these culinary murder mystery novels by Diane Mott Davidson.

The stories featured a caterer who solved various murders that happened around her friends and family.  The books also always feature some of the recipes that she uses as a caterer.

One menu item always stood out to me, and that was a fudge made by her young apprentice Julian Teller.  Here is an excerpt from the book describing the fudge:

                              

                              "The smooth, silky combination of bittersweet and milk chocolate 

                               combined with tart, chewy cherries and crunchy, toasted hazelnuts 

                               made my spine tingle."

That sentence just made my mouth water.

Unfortunately, the recipe for the fudge never appeared in any of the books, even though it was mentioned multiple times!

Which only left one option.  Make my own!

This fudge is rich, nutty, and dotted with those tart cherries just like the book mentions.  Heaven!

Chocolate Mint Linzer Cookies

Holy moley.

These cookies...

First off, they are adorable.  What better way to show off your Christmas spirit than by encasing white chocolate mint ganache, dyed festive colors, within their own little window of a chocolate mint cookie?

I must say that I am very excited to share these cookies with you, because they are just so festive, adorable, and delicious to boot!

Candy Cane Cookies

It's not Christmas until the candy cane cookies are made.

Which officially makes it Christmas!

These peppermint cookies are soft and fluffy with a charmingly minty glaze.  You can even add crushed candy canes to sprinkle over the glaze for an added peppermint kick!  And what a fun, festive cookie for the kids to help make.  Perfect to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve!

Scandinavian Almond Bars

These almond bars were a holiday staple in our house growing up, and I always loved them.

It may have something to do with the fact that I think almond flavoring is the bomb-diggity, but I digress.

These are light, crisp, and have the perfect almond taste!

Holiday Spice Curls

I love rolled wafer cookies.

They don't even have to be filled with anything (like Pirouette's), just the plain rolled wafer cookie suits me just fine.

These cookies are similar in theory to those.  They are light, crispy, and perfect with a cup of cocoa.

I recommend only baking two cookies at a time, this will allow you time to roll the cookies before they harden.

Apricot Twists

Mmmm...it finally started snowing here this past weekend, so now it really feels like Christmastime.

The weather is perfect for curling up in a blanket with a book and a hot cup of cider.  And you can't have a cup of cider without a cookie or two...well, I suppose you can, but why would you want to?

These cookies are light, and almost more like a pastry than a typical cookie, with just enough apricot and nutmeg to give you a pleasant warm feeling when you bite into it.  I like dunking them in my cider for a little extra zip.

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are sometimes the best part of a meal.

I know people who would only eat mashed potatoes, if it were socially acceptable, that is.

The first time I made homemade mashed potatoes, it turned out to be a disaster...I overcooked the potatoes, then over whipped them, causing them to become a thick, starchy mess...much like a thick paste.  It was less than delicious.

But, I have learned my lesson!

These potatoes are so light, creamy, and fluffy, I may just die and go to potato heaven.

This recipe makes a batch big enough for two people who LOVE mashed potatoes, so if you need more than that, just adjust as necessary.

Buried Cherry Cookies

Making Christmas cookies is one of those great past times that quickly conjures memories of Christmases past.

For me, it's putting on "A Carpenter's Christmas" while baking.  It always reminds me of the times when my sister would come home from college for the holidays and made Christmas goodies.  It didn't even happen every year, but it is forever the memory that I have.

These Christmas cookies are from the cookbook we had growing up, and they are delish!  Like a chocolate covered cherry without the nasty cream filling!  And that is a win in my book!

Savory Herb Roasted Chicken

Need a delicious Christmas dinner for two?

Look no further!  While turkey or ham are the traditional Christmas dinner favorites, it is just Bruce and I, so we don't need an entire turkey, though, you could use this recipe for your turkey as well, just adjust the amounts and cooking time accordingly.

This chicken is flavorful, juicy, and smells divine while it is roasting in your oven.

A Christmas miracle in your mouth!