 How's your Christmas shopping going? As for me - I'm about 87% of the way to having all of my gifts bought and wrapped.🎁 Unlike me, my husband thrives on the hustle and bustle of the last minute Christmas shopping scene. He's one of the only people I know who actually really enjoys being out amongst the impatient shoppers in crowded stores with long check out lines during the last couple of days leading up to Christmas.😬 I may never understand it but I do take advantage of his enthusiasm and send him with any last minute gifts that are still on my list every year.📋😅  It's usually the little things that procrastinate buying the longest. The small tokens that I hand out to our faithful delivery drivers, holiday party hosts and our super tolerant neighbors. Typically, these are a combination of purchased and homemade treats. If you're needing a last minute gift and you prefer not to go out and face the crazy holiday traffic and chaos of the stores, do what I'm doing and stay home and bake biscotti.😂 I'll be handing out biscotti to lots of friends this year and for whoever needs to hear this, paired with a coffee shop gift card, it makes a great gift for teachers too.😉
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 3 eggs 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract 3 1/4 cups flour 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup crushed peppermint candies 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Place slices on baking sheet and bake for another 8 minutes. Flip and bake 8 minutes on the other side.  Melt chocolate in a shallow bowl and dip bottoms of biscotti in melted chocolate. Set on foil to set.  Ciao!
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 Friends... you are officially invited to my online cookie exchange! 🍪 What's an online cookie exchange, you ask? The concept is simple. I'll post one of my favorite cookie recipes on my blog today and in return, you can share one of your favorite Christmas cookie recipes in the comments. Just like the old fashioned cookie exchanges that our grandmothers participated in - but without the calories -- or the cookies.😂 I probably should have called it a recipe exchange but that just doesn't have the same pizazz as cookie exchange.😅
I chose a classic snickerdoodle to share on this special cookie exchange edition of the blog because they're one of my most requested cookie flavors. A classic butter cookie coated in sweet cinnamon sugar. A simple cookie that's anything but simple to make. It's actually one of the trickier cookies to get just right. This is the 4th Snickerdoodle cookie recipe that I've posted on my website. (I really should have called this snickerdoodles 4.0.😂) I've experimented with lots of different snickerdoodle recipes. I've played with adjusting the amounts and types of fat like of butter and shortening. I've even tried adding cream of tartar and cream cheese to get better results. At the end of the day, all of my snickerdoodles were all delicious but they produced a less than desirable appearance. One turned out too flat, one was too puffy and another didn't hold the signature cinnamon sugar coating. Turns out - 4th time is a charm.😉 A mixture of butter and coconut oil proved to be the perfect combination to produce the perfect snickerdoodle with a soft, chewy center and a sweet, crispy, cinnamon coated exterior.  Snickerdoodles 2.0 8 Tablespoons butter, room temperature 1/3 cup coconut oil 1 1/2 cups sugar 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 Tablespoon vanilla 1 large egg, cold 2 1/3 cups flour For the Cinnamon Sugar: 1/4 cup sugar 4 teaspoons cinnamon
 Cool 8 minutes on baking sheet. Cool completely on wire racks.
I hope you enjoy and now it's your turn to share your favorite cookie recipe.😉 Ciao!  When was the last time you were this excited about eating your vegetables?😂
I wish I could channel this sweet girls enthusiasm for green vegetables.🥑  My hope is that this sweet girl will keep her love of vegetables as she grows. I'm a big fan of vegetables too but unfortunately my sweet tooth usually trumps my desire to fill my plate with vegetables.😅  I've learned that making vegetables as easy to grab as an apple off the counter is key to me actually consuming them.😬 I prepped 6 of these warm harvest grain bowls and put them in my frig during the week leading up to Thanksgiving this year. I knew that I'd be too busy meal prepping for the holiday to actually make proper meals so these grain bowls were a life saver. They're packed with tons of flavor and loaded with protein and vegetables!  Warm Harvest Grain Bowls 1 cup farro 2 cups spinach, roughly chopped 1 cup brussels sprouts, halved 1 cup sweet potatoes, cubes 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained & rinsed 1 cup roasted chicken, shredded 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved 2 Tablespoons dried cranberries 2 Tablespoons pistachios 1 Tablespoon olive oil Lemon balsamic vinegar
 Sprinkle parmesan cheese, pistachios and cranberries over the top.  Drizzle with lemon vinegar.
Note: I packed the cheese, pistachios and cranberries in a separate bag so I could warm each one and then add my toppings just before I eating my delicious grain bowl.
Ciao!  Yesterday was National Cookie Day. Don't worry if you missed it - it's never too late to grab a cookie and celebrate.🍪 I haven't bake any Christmas cookies yet but you better believe that I'll be snagging one out of my freezer to toast national cookie day right along with you today.😅 I wouldn't call myself a Grinch but I also haven't experienced my normal excitement over Christmas cookie season yet.🤷🏻♀️ By the end of the first week of December, I would normally have stocked at least 2 freezer shelves full of cookies and cookie dough in preparation for the holidays. I blame myself for being too busy to do all the things that get me into the spirit of Christmas: cutting down a Christmas tree, decorating the house and shopping for gifts.🎄 Not to worry, I found my Christmas cookie motivation.😅 Turns out all I needed was to spend an afternoon in the cutest, most Hallmark-esk town in the state of Georgia. This picturesque town would make anyone want to grab a cup of hot chocolate, turn on a cheesy Christmas movie and spend an afternoon baking cookies. 😂  If you find yourself suffering from a lack of motivation like I was, consider this your invitation to bake. I think I just figured out why National Cookie Day is December 5th.😂 I feel like we should all bake a batch of cookies in honor of National Cookie Day. It seems disrespectful NOT to celebrate.😂  If you're looking for a new Christmas cookie to try this year - consider these Peppermint Mocha Slice Cookies. This was a new recipe that I made last year and they were a big hit. And if you want to make these ahead of time, you can prepare the dough, wrap it and freeze it until you're ready to slice and bake. Posting pictures of these minty chocolate cookies reminded me of just how scrumptious they were. Now I'm really ready to get started my Christmas cookie baking.👩🏻🍳😋 Enjoy!
Peppermint Mocha Slice and Bake Cookies 1 3/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 16 Tablespoons butter, melted 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoon peppermint extract 1 1/2 Tablespoons instant espresso powder 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar 1 Tablespoons dry milk powder
Bake 10-12 minutes at 350. Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet.  Ciao!
 Here we are nearly a week after Thanksgiving and for some reason it feels like it was just yesterday that I was serving up our holiday feast.🦃 All of the family, food and fun last week made for some long lasting memories. At the top of that list of Thanksgiving 2025 most memorable moments has to be the oven fire in the midst of all the Thanksgiving dinner prep.🔥😬😮😳 Before I go any further, I feel like I should disclose that the fire was quickly extinguished (thanks to my quick thinking husband) and the fire department did not have to make a house call that day.🧑🏻🚒 With that in mind, you should also be aware that this blog is more than just a delicious roll recipe - it should also serve as a cautionary tale.🤣 These innocent looking rolls just so happen to be the cause of the aforementioned fire. 🤦🏻♀️ I debated about whether or not to even post the recipe but I feel it might help someone else to hear the story. I had timed my rolls so that they would still be warm from the oven when I served them with our Thanksgiving dinner. I prepared the dough according to the recipe from saltnsprinkles.com on Wednesday so that it could rest overnight in the refrigerator. When I pulled it out on Thursday morning, it was perfectly puffed and proofed and I finished up the roll preparation while the turkey cooked on Thanksgiving morning.  Right about now, you're probably wondering where it all went wrong and how in the world I managed to catch my oven on fire. The short answer is - I really don't know.🤷🏻♀️ Things started to go off the rails when I slid my 2 pans of rolls into my 450 degree oven. Despite the fact that I had placed a pan underneath the rolls to catch any oil that might have spilled over during the cooking process, a considerable amount of oil ended up in the bottom of my oven and it didn't take long before my kitchen was filled with smoke. 💨 My keen senses (and watering eyes) clued me into the fact I had to get the rolls out of the smoke filled oven.😂 I pulled them out halfway through the baking process and put them in my second oven to finish baking. To my surprise - the rolls were somewhat unaffected by the disruption and they didn't even taste like smoke.😂 I should have realized that where there's smoke... because when I reopened the oven doors to remove the drip pan that I placed under the muffin tins - the fire ignited. I can't explain the science behind it but I can tell you that the oxygen in the room, the intense heat and the oil in the bottom of the oven proved to be a fiery combination.🧯 The flames didn't extinguish even after closing the oven doors but a thankfully a wet towel did the trick. It's a humbling experience to fill the house with smoke just before guests arrive on Thanksgiving day but it all made for a lasting memory.😅 Lesson learned - just let my mom make the Thanksgiving rolls from now on.😂  Rosemary Garlic Focaccia Rolls 1 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 1 teaspoons honey 1 ¼ cups warm water 2 1/2 cups bread flour 2 teaspoons sea salt ¼ cup olive oil 2 Tablespoons butter, melted 2 Tablespoons sea salt Rosemary Garlic Topping 1/3 cup olive oil 2 fresh sprigs of rosemary, minced 2 garlic cloves, minced
 Brush rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky salt.
The melted butter and flaky salt didn't get added to my warm rolls after baking - I was too busy cleaning my oven at that point.🤣 Ciao! |
