Thursday, January 31, 2013

Embossed Valentine Cookies~Hearts Filled With Love!

~Hearts Filled with Love~
I love Valentine's Day! The hearts..the romance..the bright spot right in the middle of a chilly, cold winter!
These cookies are my answer to Lila Loa's Challenge. Maybe I should have incorporated a little more texture..but, they were sure fun to make! Hop on over to her blog and check out all the creative submissions.
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I found something super cool at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, and I've been looking forward to trying it out! A beautiful "linking love words" embossing folder in the scrapbook section.
There are tons of designs, and priced between $5-$6, I thought this was a great deal! 
 I'm also using Wilton's Pearl Dust on my cookies today.
I used several different sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters.

 Sorry for the duplicate photos!
Sweet Success. :o)
All you need is love, love..love is all you need..
Dust cookie cutters with 10 x sugar and cut out fondant hearts. Let dry completely, I let them sit uncovered overnight. Then, using a small paintbrush, lightly dust the sweet hearts with silver pearl dust. I'd like to try these in pink!
 ~I Heart These~




 Pretty little shiny cookies.

I had lots of fun with Lila Loa's "No Color" Challenge!
..so happy with how these embossed cookies turned out..

Cookie Recipe
(slight variation to Lila Loa's recipe)
1 cup salted butter softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 cups flour
Cream, butter and sugar. Add eggs and flavoring, mixing well. Add baking powder and mix again. Gradually add flour on low speed just till combined. I knead the dough a little to make sure the last little bits are flour are fully incorporated. Chill dough. Roll out on lightly floured surface and cut with cookie cutters dusted with flour. Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Chill pan for 10 minutes in frig.
 Bake @ 375 for 7-9 minutes.
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Thank You For Stopping By!
Wishing You A 
Sugartown Sweets
Kind Of Day!
Leaving a comment here will make mine! :o)

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Funny Bones Cookies!

Looks like we are just going to miss the winter storm coming into Atlanta tonight..which is just fine by me. We have a busy & fun weekend planned after having two working weekends in a row! 
Praying for all those that have been and will be affected by this icy storm.
So...I haven't been much in the baking mood lately, then I was out the other day and found this cute little bone cookie cutter at Hobby Lobby..for 45 cents. I had to buy it, I mean 45 cents..I had to. These silly little cookies are my attempt to shake off those wintertime blues. So laugh a little at my lame joke cookies, stay warm and have an awesome weekend everybody!
Today, I am starting with Lila Loa's cookie dough recipe..It smells heavenly, so I stamped it BEST!
 Roll out cookie dough on lightly floured surface and cut with cookie cutter dipped in flour.
 To make "cracked" cookie, I used a crinkle cookie cutter & cut through the center of cookie. 
Just make sure to line it up at the same point on your cookie dough & fondant.
Roll out fondant on surface lightly sprinkled with 10 x sugar, then cut with cookie cutter dipped in the 10 x. 
Let fondant dry. Then attach fondant to cookies with light corn syrup. Let set to dry.
 Break out those awesome food color pens. I have a few, but today I'm using these. I like a bit more of a point on mine, so using sharp scissors, I cut a tiny piece off the tip at an angle. Perfect! 
When ink is TOTALLY dry, using a soft, dry paintbrush, apply pearl dust. 
I used Wilton Pearl Dust in white.
 I found mine at Michael's.
 He he he!!
 Hardee har!
Well, I swan!                           
Funniest thing I ever heard!
LOL!
*This recipe is a slight variation of Lila Loa's awesome End-All Cookie Recipe. Click here for her recipe..and all sorts of other cuteness!*
Roll-Out Cookie Dough Recipe
1 cup salted butter softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 cups flour
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and flavoring, mixing well. Add baking powder and mix again. Gradually add flour on low just till combined. I knead the dough a little to make sure the last bits of flour are fully mixed in. Chill dough. Roll out on lightly floured surface. After cutting cookies, place on parchment lined baking sheets and chill at least 10 minutes. Bake @ 375 for 7-9 minutes.
Wishing You a Warm & Sweet Day From
Sugartown Sweets!
Leave All Funny Comments Below! ;o)

Friday, January 11, 2013

Chocolate Covered Coconut Chocolate Milk Marshmallows


Have you ever wished you could find THE BEST homemade marshmallow EVER?! Yay..you found it here, and I invented it! Ok, so I had some help with the basic recipe. Click here for that delicious recipe. But this Coconut flavored marshmallow, will now be my signature candy! So..I've been thinking about making Coconut marshmallows for a very long time. I was planning on using coconut milk, but when I opened my pantry, I was sad to see (only) coconut chocolate milk. But, I wasn't sad for very long! I made them and let me tell you, they are dreamy! I may have mentioned before, I love coconut flavored sweets. Coconut texture, not so much..unless it's in a Mounds bar. I also used coconut extract and coconut spray oil. Of course you can substitute any non-stick spray if you don't have it on hand.
My kitchen smelled sooo good...like a tropical vacation good!
Making the bloom.
I need to call Hunky Hubby for a Starbucks run!
Adding salt to the above ingredients, you will cook this to the soft ball stage.
Homemade marshmallows are really easy after you've made them a couple times. Just make sure to invest in a good candy thermometer. Once you reach the soft ball stage, remove from heat, add bloom and set aside while you whisk egg whites. Once you've achieved stiff peaks you will slowly add the hot sugar mixture.
Be very careful here! This sugar is HOT!
I pretty much sprayed the entire pan, even all over the top, because marshmallows are a sticky business.
mmmmmmmmm.....let marshmallows set at room temperature overnight..if you can!
I LOVE this stuff, melt some..
And a'dipping we will go! Place dipped candies on parchment paper lined baking sheet to set.
Aforementioned Hunky Hubby loves almonds, and since I love him so..I dipped 'em in chocolate. ;)
I ordered these awesome decorators bottles from Copper Gifts.
 You're gonna love these!
Coconut Chocolate Milk Marshmallows Recipe
2 Tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold coconut chocolate milk
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup hot water (from the tap)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
non-stick spray for pans~I used coconut oil spray

Sprinkle gelatin over a small bowl filled with the cold coconut chocolate milk. Set aside.

In a heavy bottomed, straight sided saucepan, mix together sugar, corn syrup, hot water and salt. (my sweet hubby bought me a couple of All-Clad pots that I use only for candy making)
Cook over medium heat stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Attach candy thermometer to pan, making sure it doesn't touch bottom of pan. Continue cooking, without stirring until candy reaches soft ball stage. 235 to 240 degrees fahrenheit.
Remove from heat, add gelatin and set aside.

In mixer, with whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. With mixer on low speed, carefully pour in hot sugar mixture, and flavor. Turn mixer on high speed and mix for 10 minutes.

Pour candy into your pan prepared with non-stick spray. I used  mini muffin tins. I cut off the corner of a gallon size baggie, filled it with the marshmallow candy and piped it into the muffin tins. Super easy! 
Let stand at room temp overnight.

You will be licking the bowl with this recipe..yum!
All that's left is the fun part..chocolate dipping!

Wishing You All A Sweet Day From
SUGARTOWN SWEETS!

Comments are welcome below. :o)

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Marshmallow Sour Candy Pops

Marshmallow Sour Candy Pops!
Christmas is over, but you wouldn't know it in our house. You see, we still have our big, fat, awesome tree up! Plus, we may also have our stockings (still) hung by the chimney with care..along with a few other decorations. I know it's crazy, but I will take everything down as soon as I'm finished with this post..I'm sure I will! Anyway, making these candy pops was way more fun.
Happy New Year Everybody!
 Along with marshmallows, you will need: sour skittles, airheads xtremes, green sprinkles and corn syrup. Tools are shown below. Begin by painting sides of marshmallows with corn syrup. It helps to let them sit a few minutes and get *tacky* before adhering the airheads xtremes. Then, paint tops and bottoms of marshmallows with more corn syrup and add sprinkles. Insert lollipop stick and let pops dry before filling tops with sour skittles. *oops! i forgot to include the small paintbrush in the photo below*


 Sweet Sour & Easy, cute little candy pops!
Wishing you a 
Sugartown Sweets
kind of day!
Comments are like candy to me! Feel free to leave one below. :)