Leave Biscotti to the Italians

Now I love biscotti and always wanted to try making it but I thought it would take forever. Biscotto actually means "twice baked" and that's exactly what you do. Im a fan of butterscotch and that's where my issue was.

To make them, you mix your ingredients and separate the dough into two loaves and bake them for twenty minutes.  I added a bag of butterscotch chips to mine and it may have been too much. I know, crazy talk right?

So far looking good right? Well, as you see below the butterscotch decided to ooze out and stick to the pan. I didn't want it to burn so I pulled it out of the oven and let it rest. Which, you're supposed to do that anyway so it's cool enough to slice into those familiar shapes .

When I pulled it out of the oven I thought it was salvageable. Nothing was burnt and it looked like what I thought it should. Then came the slicing. Let's just say it's not as easy as it looks to make those diamond shapes. Well, making the shapes wasn't the issue, it was the cookie holding onto that shape.

 I was excited because they started to look normal at this point. After slicing I put them back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes or so. The recipe said 10 minutes but they definitely weren't done by then.















At the end of the day, they were very good. Only two made it out looking like actual biscotti but I would definitely try making them again.

Busy Busy Bee

I've gone full-throttle into baking for the holidays and the madness has just begun.

Eggnog is usually a Christmas staple, if you're into that thing. I however, am not a huge fan of it. I like to think I like it, but I can't drink an entire glass, it's too rich. After seeing a recipe for "Melt in Your Mouth Eggnog Cookies" I had to try it. Just a touch of eggnog couldn't hurt, right? 

The recipe calls for rum extract and the first time I made them I didn't have rum extract and didn't feel like trekking out in the snow to get it, so I uses almond. The almond extract worked pretty well, I was pleasantly surprised. Second time around however, I made it with rum extract and it was so much better! Eggnog has a similar flavor to the rum extract which brought it out even more without having to use too much, especially in the frosting. Putting too much liquid will otch your icing so the extract gave the eggnog a little help in standing out. 

It's perfect for the holidays whether you love eggnog or like to think you love it. 

After making these I had some eggnog left and wanted to incorporate into something else. I started making peanut butter cookies, adding some peanut butter chips to the batter and thought maybe some eggnog frosting/glaze would go well. I was nervous about the two flavors mixing but they worked out pretty well. 

The peanut butter and the eggnog complimented each other well. The eggnog balanced out all of the peanut butter and visa versa and they turned out even better than I thought!

Getting A Head Start on Christmas

Last year, I was quite the Scrooge, which is so unlike me. I didn't watch many Christmas movies, didn't listen to Christmas music and was just not feeling it. I even had a binge baking night to get it into my system. I was convinced it was because I was out of the retail world. I had started a new job and I getting Christmas music shoved down my throat for an entire month. Turns out it was a mix of that and well, let's just say a lot of stress at the new, now former job.

Anyway, I tried to get a head start on things this past Sunday with something super simple that's not really baking and well, they aren't square but who cares! I haven't made chocolate covered pretzels since I was a kid and forgot how super easy it is and remembered that almond bark works the best. I was taught to melt the white and dark together and it works out perfectly.

I also decided to actually bake and they say imitation is the best form of flattery. In that case, Macy's should be flattered. I went to the Walnut Room with the boyfriend and fam and had what seemed like the outside of a large Oreo cookie dunked in white chocolate. Well, I had to try it. I panicked once I started because I didn't have eggs and well, wasn't in the mood for a drive. I found some "substitutes" as in oil, water and baking powder but that didn't really do anything. The cookies flat out sunk in the middle but I had already committed so I had to finish the job. Surprisingly, they are quite tasty. 

They're not the prettiest things on earth but I somehow managed to get the perfect crunch of the outside of an Oreo and just melted some more white almond bark and crushed up some candy canes and I got pretty darn close. Definitely worth another shot but next time I'll actually use an egg to save some trouble.  I have a lot of other ideas on my list as well including eggnog cookies. Happy Baking!