Gingerbread boys and girls

Aww!  These little guys are so cute!  . . . and tasty I might add!  Refrigerating the dough is a must and it's well worth the wait!  This recipe was easy and made almost three dozen cookies.  The frosting was simple too, I piped smileys, hearts and buttons on these guys and they're ready to go! 

http://www.joyofbaking.com/GingerbreadMen.html

Shortbread cookies

Shortbread cookies, I've made these before!  Cut outs with homemade raspberry jam, last year some time?  Those were really good, although almost too sweet with the jam in the middle.  Anyway, this is the same recipe that I used to make those cookies, these were flaky and not too sweet.  This is for sure my "go-to" shortbread recipe!

http://www.joyofbaking.com/shortbreads/shortbreadcookies.html

Melting Moments

These are called melting moments for a reason!  They are so buttery and light, they simply melt in your mouth.  They were really good and easy to make.  I sifted the powdered sugar on top to make them even more extra special! 

http://www.joyofbaking.com/MeltingMoments.html

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot cake, I've never had it before, until this day when I decided to give it a try.  The only way I was going to try it was if it was fresh and homemade.  So I logged on to my favorite baking website, joyofbaking.com and pulled up the carrot cake recipe.  Both the cake and frosting were easy and came out perfect!  It was flavorful without being too rich, and stayed moist for the three days it lasted!  I didn't have time to trim up the sides to make it round, but it's still pretty!  Anyhow, I think carrot cake is now one of my favorites!

http://www.joyofbaking.com/CarrotCake.html

Lemon Bunt Cake

I like lemon things, they are, for the most part very tasty.  Unlike this cake, it looks beautiful, but doesn't taste good at all.  Well, let me correct myself, the cake was good, although not very lemony.  The glaze on the other hand, tasted like lemon dish washing liquid.  I might make the cake again, using a different frosting.  But, it might take me a while before I can get that taste out of my mouth!

http://southernfood.about.com/od/lemoncakes/r/bl50614c.htm

Sundried Tomato Bread

This is by far the best bread I've made so far.  It's the freshest the day or the day after its made because there are no preservatives in it.  Slightly crunchy outside, but light, airy, flavorful inside, because it's risen three times.  Bake shaped freehand, or put in a loaf pan, either way its sooo good!

http://www.cookingbread.com/recipes/savory_bread/sun-dried_tomato_bread_recipe.html

Snickerdoodles

These were pretty tasty snicker doodles!  Unlike chocolate chip cookies, these were best a day later, they seemed to soften up.  The cinnamon was perfectly balanced and these were not too sweet.

Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies

This is a new recipe I've been wanting to try and finally got around to it.  The recipe calls for each recipe to be 1/4 cup big, but I made these smaller.  I made them with peanut butter and chocolate chips.  I will most likely not use this recipe again.  "Mom's chocolate chip cookies" are way better!

Recipe from a cooking book.

Cranberry and chocolate chip biscotti with peanuts

Oh how I love my biscotti!  The dried cranberry, peanut, chocolate chip mixture adds a special touch and looks gorgeous. 

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are quick and easy to whip up while the oven is pre heating.  I used chocolate and peanut butter chips.  These were very good, just like my mom used to make! 

Moms chocolate chip cookies:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Heat oven to 375 F
Large bowl beat sugars, butter until creamy with an electric mixer. Add vanilla, and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake 8-10 mins

Parmesan and Bessemer Cheese Bread

This bread is, again the basic focaccia recipe, but I added 3/4 cup of parm and 3/4 cup of bessemer cheeses. I can't decide if I don't like bessemer cheese, or what, because i didn't love this bread.  I will not make this bread again.

We also ate fresh cheeses and olives that I picked up from the Market District in Robinson (fresh cheese was used for the bread as well). There were Brie, fresh mozzarella, asiago and bessemer cheese, the olives were plain green, asiago and feta stuffed, a green pepper stuffed with prosciutto and feta and purple olives.

Chocolate Chip Biscotti

These are hands down the best biscotti I've ever eaten.  This master recipe can be made any way you prefer.  Today I made it into chocolate chip biscotti, but it can be dipped into melted chocolate, white chocolate chips can be substituted, or even nuts or dried fruit can be added.  When baking these I bake mine about 2 minutes less than the recipe calls for, just because that's how it turns out perfect in my oven.  These are great, low fat cookies by themselves or dipped into hot coffee, either way they are the most delicious biscotti you will ever have!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/american-style-vanilla-biscotti-recipe

Halloween Sugar Cookies

These cookies are so cute and so tasty!  After letting the dough firm up in the fridge for about an hour, I started to roll them out.  The dough was still a little too moist so I had to add a lot more flour to the table and on top of the dough as well as the rolling pin so it wouldn't stick to anything.  After that, it was smooth sailing.  The cookies baked very evenly and had slightly crunchy edges and a softer center.  The egg white icing was very easy to make also, it dried hard but not too hard.  I think i found my new favorite holiday sugar cookie cookies recipe!

http://www.joyofbaking.com/SugarCookie.html

Parmesan bread with fresh herbs and garlic

There is honestly nothing better in the world than biting into a freshly baked piece of bread right out of the oven.  This was so easy to make, its just a basic focaccia recipe with about 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and maybe 4 tbs of fresh parsley, about 1 tsp of fresh sage and basil, and 2 tbs of fresh minced garlic.  i let it rise for about 2 hours then let it rise again about 1 hr on in the pan.  I love having a master recipe that I can manipulate any way I feel like that day.  This was very, very good bread, I will definitely be making it again.

Pumpkin Scones

I decided to make these because I had left over pumpkin.  I still have probably a cup left, which I will be making something else with.  But these were quick to assemble, I didn't even have to get out my hand mixer!  After I brushed on the egg wash, instead of using nuts and raisins, I put chocolate chips on top then lastly, I sprinkled sugar.  These made my kitchen smell so good, like autumn.  I've never even eaten a scone before, let alone bake them.  So I wasn't really sure what to expect when I bit into a piece.  I kind of thought it would be like a crunchy cookie.  But these were soft and kind of dense, it was not too sweet, and the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon fills the nose with a delightful reminder of fall.  I was supposed to cut them into pieces before baking, which I obviously didn't follow that step in the directions.  I will try these again, but cut them before baking and see if the texture changes.

http://joyofbaking.com/PumpkinScones.html

White Butter Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This cake is very airy and moist just like the recipe says.  From now on any time I want to make a cake or cupcakes this is definetly the recipe I'm using.  This is a two layer cake, while it was baking I made the cream cheese icing.  The recipe is a little more complicated and takes a little bit longer than other cake recipes, but it's because of whipping the egg whites then folding that into the batter.  Taking this extra step makes the wait for the cake so worth it.  (this picture was taken around Easter, but I thought it would be a cute picture to put on here even though it's now Halloween!)

http://joyofbaking.com/WhiteCake.html

Shortbread Cookies with Homemade Raspberry Preserves

These cookies took a little big of time before I got to the finished product, but were 100% worth it.  I have never tasted shortbread cookies that almost melt in your mouth like these.  They are very rich and one can only eat a couple because the homemade raspberry jam makes them so sweet. I omitted the white chocolate, I just thought it didn't need it.  I will definitely be making these many times in the future!
http://www.joyofbaking.com/shortbreads/RaspberryWhiteChocolateShortbreads.html

Sun-dried tomato focaccia with fresh herbs

Focaccia was one of the first breads I've ever made.  Its SO simple and quick but tastes so good too!  Another thing I love about it is it can be customized with just about anything that is in the fridge or pantry.  I let the dough rise twice today and next time I won't put sun dried tomato's on the top of the bread, they got burned.  Besides that, this bread came out delicious!  I don't have a link to the recipe for this one because its a recipe I kind of just have in my head.  The master recipe is in one of recipe books, with that, I can make any kind of variation.

Pumpkin Roll

This was surprisingly easy to make.  It came out really pretty and tastes just as good, if not better than how it looks!  I will definitely be making this again.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PumpkinRoll.html

Sun Dried Tomato Bread

Now this bread I have made many times.  Its SO good!  Usually when I make it, I shape it more in a long loaf.  But today i decided to make it in an oval shape because that's what the recipe says to do.  And I didn't have sun dried tomatoes packed in oil (which a tbs of it is needed) so the bread should have a red tint to it.  This time I had to use a tbs of evoo so it's the usual tan/bread color.  But besides that, the bread is very good although not as airy as it is when I shape it in a long loaf.  I will be making this again but make it how I usually do.  I also make a garlic infused evoo with basil to dip this in - so yummy!
http://www.cookingbread.com/recipes/savory_bread/sun-dried_tomato_bread_recipe.html

Whipped Cream Filled Puff Pastries

I decided to make these because they seemed pretty easy and I never really made anything like this before.  The recipe was simple to follow also.  I did not make the whipped cream, its cool whip.  After I filled them with the whipped cream, they looked adorable!  The pastry houses the cream so gently, the top of the pastry looks like a little hat!  They were very tasty too, very light and airy and not too sweet.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/easy-mini-puffs-recipe