HELLO! HELLOOOO!!!
GOD, I MISSED MY BLOG SOOOOOO MUCH!
To all my wonderful old blogger friends and dear readers, a big *virtual hug*. To all the new friends who were kind enough to follow and like my blog while I was away on a sabbatical- A big Thankyou and a waving, energetic Hi!!
Update- So, I could meet the deadline of my personal project for which I had taken the time off nicely, and now I will just keep polishing it and re-polishing it at leisure. The important thing was to create an outline without any distractions and that was the main aim of getting away from my blog so that I could concentrate fully on it. That was thankfully achieved and I am moderately happy with myself right now. I hope this project takes a stronger shape quick enough so that I can share it here with you all too then. I dare not right now..but I will soon!
Right, so back to the business at hand. Hey, FYI…………. It’s almost Christmas folks!! ❤
I had aimed that I should get back here in time for Christmas so that I could try my hand at some wonderful Christmas recipes at this awesome time of the year. I mean let’s face it, if I wasn’t blogging, I wouldn’t go to all the trouble of cooking an elaborate Christmas meal (and the little knick-knacks before that) for just me and hubs. So, my blog gives me a reason to try new things on every special day of the year, and I am ecstatic plus fully rejuvenated to get into the spirit of Christmas in my cutesy little kitchen.
I soaked my dried-fruits in Rum yesterday for my Christmas cake and made my first batch of Christmas cookies yesterday evening as well. I had seen these ‘Candy-cane’ cookies a few months back on Instagram and had immediately put them on my ‘to-bake list’ for Christmas. I thought that the idea was just so sweet and the cookies looked simply adorable!
These cookies are super-easy and so right to make at this time of the year. They taste yummy and are sure to be a big hit with young and old people alike.
Give these a go my friend, and enjoy the festive season to the fullest! Ho! Ho! Ho! xx
Ingredients:
– 3 cups All Purpose flour
– 3/4th cup Butter at room temperature
– 2 Eggs
– 1 cup Sugar
– 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
– A few drops of Vanilla Extract
– A few drops of Strawberry Extract
– 2-3 drops of Pink Food Color
Method:
– Firstly, prepare your cookie dough. In a bowl, beat your sugar and butter well until fluffy and creamy.
– Next, add the eggs, vanilla extract and strawberry extract. Beat for another minute.
– Now, to this mix, add your flour and baking powder. With a spatula, mix gently until the mixture is fully uniform with no lumps. I used my hands to form the dough well, as we do in Indian breads but you can do the same in a food-processor or an electric cake mixer.
– Divide your dough in two parts. To one part, add your pink color. Mix well until the dough portion looks uniformly and beautifully Pink.
– Wrap both the portions of the dough individually in cling film and refrigerate for one hour.
– Pre-heat your oven at 190 degrees C. Also, line your baking tray with greased parchment paper.
– Take both portions of the cookie dough out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
– Take little balls of dough from each portion and with your hands, form them into individual ropes.
– Place the differently colored ropes of dough side-by side so that they are sticking to each other and lightly pinch both the ends together.
– Picking up both the ends, twist them carefully so that they twirl. Lastly, place them on the baking tray and curve the tops so they look like candy canes. Prepare all your candy canes this way.
– Bake for 10-15 minutes, until they feel firm to a light touch, and the edges begin looking slightly browned.
– Allow them to cool completely as they will continue to firm up with cold air. Enjoy your lovely candy cane cookies with a hot cup of tea!
*Tips:
– When your cookies bake, the dough will expand in width. My cookies came a bit broader than I had envisioned them to be. Thus, take smaller portions of dough and make smaller cookies, to get the perfect size.
– Substitute the pink color with any other color of your choice. You can also swap the Strawberry flavoring with a different one that you like, for eg. Peppermint or Lemon flavoring!
Lovely recipe………hope to taste it 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thankyou! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay, with candy canes she comes calling! You have been missed and a big hug for the project taking shape. xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
fa la la la la…la la la laaa….. :* :* Thankyou and I missed you too my sweet. Looking frwd to catching up on all of your recent adventures! ❤ Did u get a lot of snow at your end?…we got a fleeting snowfall couple of days back here in Dublin but hoping for a lot more on Christmas! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fleeting snowfall ah. But is there not more of it? The UK seems to have inches of it and we were just talking about the unfairness of it that we did not get that much of snowfall to bask in, in the years we were there. xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yeah this time UK got so much of snow and we too were grumbling as that never happened when we used to live there! hmph! Ireland gets snow just for namesake, if even that. With all the snow falling around the world and water surrounding our country,it is soooooooo cold here already! Some snow will atleast make the cold weather a bit enjoyable! Enjoy hon! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Mallika. Now the snow is behind us for sometime as we go to India next. But I bet when I get back to New Jersey it should get a few spells. We left amidst much snow. Does Ireland need snow with all that bounty of beauty? xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Girl you are killinggg meeee! First Rome and then India!!!!! I just want to curl up and cry!! KIDDING! 😉 ok half-kidding lol ❤ Enjoy loads missy! I am sure you will come back with hundreds of amazing stories to tell us and wonderful time spent with friends and family! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am sending you warm hugs from the streets of Italy for now. The stories! 🙂 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
These candy canes are too beautiful to eat !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanx Megala! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey.. u were missed, was looking forward to your recipes… these candies look so yummy..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awe thanx so much dear! 😀 xx
LikeLike
My Mom used to make these. They were one of my favorites. I will be missing her this Christmas.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nothing can ever match Mum’s cooking isn’t it? Take care Tony! x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Neat idea on making candy canes
LikeLike
Awesome idea to make candy cane cookies…these are looking so adorable and delicious at the same time☺
LikeLike