Tis the Season....for baking!!!

This is a baker's favorite time of year (well at least mine)! I have been so busy baking, that I forgot about blogging! One of the things I love most about all this baking is passing along my creations for others to enjoy. Although everything is homemade, today I am going to focus on the decorating. That's the fun part after all! A lot of the recipes I used for the cake and cookies, I have used in previous blogs. You can use any of your favorite recipes, or mixes if you prefer!

First up - Rudolph cake pops! One of my co-workers gave me the Bakerella cake pop book and they had the idea in there. You can also find it on the Bakerella website. You can use any cake recipe you like. For these, I used a red velvet cake recipe I found with my Babycake maker. If you don't have a cake pop maker, check out my past blog post that shows you here.


Ingredients:
Cooled cake pops
Chocolate, melted in bowl
M&M's or other round candy (brown and red)
Pretzels cut into antler shapes
White and regular chocolate, melted and in pastry bag (or plastic bag with hole)

Dip cake pop in melted chocolate to cover.
Place M & M or other candy on cake pop where you would like the reindeer nose. 

Before chocolate dries, place pretzel antlers on the top.
Add melted white chocolate for eyes.
You can include a small dot of chocolate for the eyeballs as well. 

Next up - Melted Snowman cookies!! These are fun and so easy to make! Use your favorite sugar cookie and icing (or your favorite cookie mix and store bought icing). I used my favorite cookie and icing recipe that you can find here. 


Ingredients:
Sugar cookies
White icing
Large Marshmallows
Melted chocolate - various colors or icing with food coloring in desired colors

After making your cookies, let them cook and then ice them.

Spray a plate with cooking spray and then load up the plate with marshmallows.
Microwave the marshmallows for a few seconds, until they start to expand. 

Place marshmallow on one end of cookies. This will be your snowman's head.

Use your melted chocolate/icing in baggies to decorate your snowman as you choose!
Decorate the marshmallows as the face, and the rest of the cookie with arms. 

Add scarves, bow ties, buttons, and bows! 

So cute! And a hit with children and adults :) 

Now on to - Chocolate peppermint cupcakes! I got the idea from my favorite cooking blog, We Are Not Martha. I used a different chocolate cupcake recipe, but the same icing recipe. Use whatever chocolate cupcake recipe you please. I used this Ghirardelli recipe you can find here. 

Ingredients:

12 chocolate cupcakes, cooled

1 cup of butter, softened

Powdered sugar, 3-4 cups

2 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp peppermint extract

Cream butter until fluffy.
Add powdered sugar until desired consistency.
Add milk and peppermint extract, blend until combined.

Crush candy canes for decoration. 

Cut cooled cupcakes in half.
Layer peppermint icing on bottom half with a spoon.
Press top back on so icing comes through on sides.
You can roll the cupcake in crushed candy canes to garnish. 

Pipe icing on the top of the cupcake and garnish with candy canes.
Delicious! 

Last, but not least - Steelers Santa hats. These did not come out as neat and pretty as I had hoped, but they are still adorable. Instead of making them as cake pops, like I saw in the Bakerella cake pop book, I made them as Oreo truffles. Yum!


Ingredients:
1 package Oreo cookies
8oz cream cheese, softened
Colored chocolate, melted 
Round white candy, or cut up marshmallow for top

Crush Oreos, including cream center into fine pieces.
Mix with softened cream cheese to form a dough. 

Roll Oreo dough into cone shapes and place on wax paper. 

Dip bottom of the Santa hat into melted white chocolate.
Give them a few minutes to harden.
Dip the other half of the Oreo truffle into melted chocolate color of your choice,
being sure to not overlap with the white.
Add small piece of marshmallow, or round white candy, as the top of hat. 

Decorate with your favorite player's numbers, or team name.
Then share with other fans!

If you can't think of what to buy someone this year, bake them something delicious from my blog! It is one of the best presents you can give ;) 

One more week of baking, then I might need to take a break. 

Until then, Merry Christmas and happy baking!