candy cane sugar cookies

hey guys, happy 4th advent.
i already posted a few recipes today and this is the last one for today - i promise haha!

THE CANDY CANE SUGAR COOKIES (recipe serves about 3 batches)

i'm all christmas ready with these now. :)
and it's pretty simple to make these although they look pretty impressive!

all you need is  

•  my favorite sugar cookie recipe
•  red food coloring
•  cocoa

1
just make the cookie batter following this simple recipe for my grandma's favorite sugar cookies.
then divide it in 3 parts (they can be equal or 1-1-2) and color one part (1) red with the red food coloring. mix in some cocoa in the second part (1). leave the third part (2) as it is and refridgerate for at least one hour.

2
take the three batters, a cutting board and some baking sheets (with parchment paper).
preheat you convection oven to 350°F (180°C).
now always take a piece of white batter and a piece of one of the colored batters, roll into 2 different balls with your hands and then roll into two snake-shaped thin and not too long stripes.
not twist both of them and shape into candy canes.

repeat until no batter is left, alternating cocoa-white-batter-canes and red-white-batter canes. 
you can be creative, too, and make some cocoa-red-batter-canes, or whatever comes to your mind! use blue, green, pink, whatever if you don't like red - be creative and get inspired! :)

3
bake for about 10 minutes (if you like them crunchy and not too chewy bake for about 12 min) and let cool.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ENJOY YOUR CANDY CANE SUGAR COOKIES!

xoxo, Vanessa

reindeer and snowman marshmallow chocolate pops {christmas treat}

hey guys!
so a few weeks ago i found a picture like the one above of some chocolate dipped marshmallow treats designed to be reindeer and snowmen - wow, i mean how neat is that?! 
i instantly started to try this out, since there's no recipe... i just got creative and i hope to give you some last minute christmas inspiration because these won't take long to make but will have a huge effect as a treat for the neighbors kids, the nieces and nephews, the cousins and whoever else deserves a little inexpensive christmas treat!

reindeer and snowman marshmallow chocolate pops  {christmas treat}

what you will need

• melted white, milk and dark chocolate
• marshmallows
• long toothpicks or some other stick
• smarties
• little pretzels

1 - for the reindeer

put a marshmallow on a stick and dip in your melted brown (not too hot) chocolate. let dry in a glass (without touching anything!)

meanwhile dip some pretzels in milk (or if you prefer dark) chocolate and let dry hanging an a stick (i put it up between two glasses).

dip two smarties (for the eyes) in white chocolate and let dry, too.

now stick everything together with some chocolate and use a red smartie as a nose. 

paint some eyes with dark chocolate and let dry. TADAAA! that's it!

2 - for the snowman

put three marshmallows on a stick and dip in melted white chocolate. let dry.

then add some brown smarties for the eyes, an orange one for the nose and colored ones for the buttons. add some chocolate dots for the mouth. if you want, carefully add some thin pretzel sticks for arms (that's really difficult and messy so i just left the snowman without arms). TADAAA - a little snowman treat made in no time!

ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

xoxo, Vanessa

sarah's banana bread muffins

hey guys, what's up? 
I'm sorry that it's been a while but as I told you this is an occasional food blog and the past few weeks I've really been busy working and preparing for christmas... although I still tried out some fabulous recipes I had basically no time to post. now that the pictures of all my projects are piling up on my iPhone and my computer I decided to take some time to post all the stuff so that you guys will have some (really) late christmas inspiration (for those who are probably still searching for little gifts or christmas treats)...
so here's what I've tried out 2 weeks ago: Sarah's Banana Bread Muffins from allrecipes.com.
I had tried them before a few moths ago when I wasn't blogging yet and everybody loved them because they're different but really good! they're sweet but have a decent taste of banana to them which makes them really good. yum!
so have fun with trying this all-year-long-recipe and enjoy! :)

sarah's banana bread muffins (serves 10-12 pieces)

- all credits to allrecipes.com -

• 1 cup white sugar (if you like it less sweet try half a cup)
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 3 ripe bananas, diced or mashed
• optional: oats, nuts, chocolate chips, ...

1
Preheat you convenction oven to 350°F (175°-180°C).
Place muffin cups in muffin tin or grease tin with a little butter.


2
Mix sugar, oil, and egg until creamy and light yellow. Add bananas and optinally add oats, nuts or chocolate chips. I used a cup of old fashioned oats in this case. 
Then add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until completely smooth. 


3
Spoon the batter into the muffin tin.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until toothpick poked in center of muffins comes out clean.
Let cool and enjoy! :)




 

xoxo, Vanessa