PEEK-A-BOO SHORTBREAD LINZER COOKIES

The Best Shortbread Linzer Cookie Recipe

It's not always easy to keep up financially with the holidays. Although I love giving people gifts and putting a smile on my friends and family members faces, my thoughtful nature can get quiet expensive if I'm buying everyone gifts. That is why during the holidays I love to bake! Putting your efforts towards spreading holiday cheer through making something can often be the perfect gift to share with loved ones. One of my go - to holiday gifts this year are these super cute peek-a-boo shortbread snowflakes. I filled mine with my favourite jam, Bonne Maman but you can use Nutella, Dulce De Leche, or whatever filling you like! Enjoy!

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Peek a boo jam filled shortbread snowflakes

INGREDIENTS FOR SHORTBREAD LINZER COOKIES:

1 CUP of unsalted softened butter
3/4 Cup of Icing Sugar
1/2 TSP of Vanilla Extract
1/4 TSP of Salt
2 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup of your favorite jam!

*you can dust the cookies with icing sugar at the end for extra effect!

STRAWBERRY JAM

LOOKING TO DO SOME HOLIDAY BAKING? CHECK OUT THESE OTHER FUN RECIPES!

HOW TO MAKE SHORTBREAD LINZER COOKIES:

In a mixer or by hand place softened butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl and mix until well incorporated. 

Add in your all-purpose flour bit by bit till a dough starts to form. (TIP: If it is too sticky you can always add a little bit more flour at the end)

Once the dough is formed wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Once ready, preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Roll out dough between two pieces of wax paper! Use snowflake cut out to make your desired shape and place on a baking tray lined with a cookie sheet or wax paper. Half of these will become 'Peek-A-Boo' tops to the cookie (TIP: Once on the baking tray it is easier to make the smaller inside 'Peek-A-Boo' cut-outs using a smaller snowflake and extracting the inside cut out with a toothpick!)

When ready place in the oven for 20 minutes or until cookies become golden on the edges. Rotate the trays halfway (about 10 minutes).

Let cool before sandwiching a layer of jam between the bottom full shortbread cookie and the 'peek-a-boo' cut out top shortbread cookie!

Enjoy!

If you like this Shortbread Linzer Cookie recipe or have any comments/questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!

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A GOOD CUP OF COFFEE - MY INSPIRATION FOR A TIRAMISU RECIPE #SPONSORED

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Having recently witnessed my first Japanese tea ceremony I learned that the beauty behind the  ceremony is not only drinking tea and sharing the tea with others, but the consciousness of every action, movement in preparation, presentation, and enjoyment. The ceremony in fact is much more about reflection, meditation, and living in the moment than just drinking tea.

Although I am not much of a tea drinker I too am a creature of routine and morning meditation. Much like the Japanese tea ceremony, I have a series of actions, movements, and preparations I do to get ready for my day. One such action that must always occur is my morning coffee. When all is still dark and silent I sneak downstairs quietly to my kitchen, turn my stove on until I hear the familiar clicks of my gas stove and wait for the kettle to boil. During this time of patiently waiting for the water to boil I meditate and reflect on how I am feeling, how I slept, and let both my body and mind consciously connect while taking deep breaths and listening to the background sounds of slowly bubbling water.

With the whistles of my kettle I am brought back to the moment and like a dance I have performed hundreds of thousands of times previously, a series of moments I can practically do with my eyes closed, I gather all the instruments and ingredients I need to make my first cup of coffee. With each deliberate movement I am now focused and have only one goal - to achieve the perfect cup of coffee.

French Bulldog Sophie

With the help of my Melitta ‘Pour Over Coffee Brewing Cone’, I am in control of how much coffee I want to make and how strong I want to make it. Usually for my morning coffee I use 4 tablespoons of coffee and make two cups - one I like to drink when it’s fresh and hot and the second I let cool for an ice coffee later. No matter what your coffee preference, weather you like your coffee flavoured, bold, dark roast, organic or even on the go - you can make coffee your way every morning with Melitta Pour Over Coffee.  

Once ready and when the rich aroma of my perfect cup of coffee hits my nose I like to move to the couch, cuddle up to my little Frenchie who is often still snoozing and take a moment to enjoy what I have created. With each sip my mind turns on and I am able to reflect and focus on what I want to accomplish in my day ahead. Believe it or not sometimes great inspiration is born in these still moments of reflection. Today as I was sipping my morning coffee I reflected on a cooking class I did on my recent trip to Italy. Inspired by both the memory and my morning cup of coffee I decided to turn that second cup of coffee into a delicious Tiramisu dessert I learned. And with that memory and inspiration I here leave you with a recipe for creating your own delicious Tiramisu and encourage you to find the joy and inspiration hiding in your own perfect cup of coffee. Enjoy.

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Tiramisu Recipe

Good for 4 people

INGREDIENTS:

4 Egg Yolks
4 TBSP of granulated sugar
400g or 1 3/4 Cups of Mascarpone cheese
1 Box of Ladyfingers Biscuits
Coco Powder
1 Cup of Melitta Pour Over Coffee - room temperature
*Optional - Add some almond extract or rum (just a few drops) to the cream to add another layer of aroma

DIRECTIONS:

Making the Cream

Mix the egg yolks with the sugar using a whisk until a soft cream starts to form.

Add the Mascapone cheese in bit by bit being careful not to dissolve the texture.

Once a nice cream base is formed if you want, you can now add in a couple drops of your almond extract or rum for additional aroma.

Making the Tiramisu

Fill the bottom of an individual sized mason jar, teacup or if you only want to make one large one for a group, cake pan with a layer of cream.

Next dip the lady finger (you may need to break it in half depending on what you are using to hold your tiramisu) into the coffee quickly so it gets submerged but doesn’t crumble from holding to much liquid. Place a lady finger layer on top of cream layer.

Repeat alternating these two processes of cream and ladyfinger until individual mason jar, teacup or cake pan is full. Add final layer of cream to the top if you did not end with cream and sprinkle sifted coco powder over top. Store in fridge until ready to serve.

If you like this recipe or have any comments/questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!

Although this post has been generously sponsored by Melitta Canada, the opinions and language are my own, and do not reflect Melitta Canada.

 

Find out more about Melitta at Melitta.ca

ITALIAN CROSTATA RECIPE - MEMORIES FROM ITALY

Having recently received a package of Bonne Maman jams (best surprise ever!) I decided that I would put them to good use and make some delicious Italian breakfast tarts known as Crostatas. If you ever find that you have lots of jam in your fridge and you are looking for ways to use them up this is a great idea. The recipe is really easy and forgiving, and can be a fun activity to do with kids. Although Italians typically serve this tart with breakfast it can easily transition to an after dinner dessert with the help of a scoop of ice cream. Buon appetito!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups of flour
1/2 Cup of granulated sugar
1/2 Teaspoon of baking powder
1 Egg + 1 Egg yoke (throw out whites for just one egg)
1/2 Cup of butter (softened!)
3/4 Cup of jam of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

Using a large bowl add in your flour, sugar, and baking powder - whisk until fully incorporated together.

Make a well and add in your eggs and butter, and start to incorporate it all together. I like to start with my whisk and then move to using my hands as it gets more clumpy.

Kneed the clumps together until they form a dough (this may take some time but the butter will eventually spread and help form the dough).

Once dough is formed wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Take dough out of fridge after 30 minutes and roll out using a rolling pin to about 1/8 of an inch thickness.

Spread the dough out over your pie dish and get rid of any excess dough. You can kneed the excess dough together again and roll it out again to create strips of dough which are equal in thickness to decorate the top of the crostata with a lattice later if you want.

Add in your jam and spread out evenly. You want just enough jam where you don't see the crust below.

Add your decorative stripes of dough to the top now. I like to form a lattice but some people cut out shapes instead. You can turn down the edges of the pie to hold the lattice strips in place.

Place in oven for 30 - 35 minutes or until top is golden.

Once ready remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

If you like this recipe or have any comments/questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!

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MAPLE PUMPKIN PIE

MAPLE PUMPKIN PIE

Although the fall means an end to summer, there is always something about the crisp fresh air of fall that brings a warm reminder of cozy sweaters, wood burning fires, and of course pumpkin flavored beverages and foods. This pumpkin pie dessert recipe I made over the Thanksgiving long weekend is definitely a crowd pleaser. The maple syrup sweetening base contributes to the pie's rich texture and flavorful filling. If you are asked to a dinner party this fall and you are looking for something to bring (other than wine) as a thank you to the host - this is it!

*Pie crust recipe is not included - any pie crust recipe will work.

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PUMPKIN PIE INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups of pure pumpkin pureé
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
1/8 teaspoon of all spice
1/2teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup of maple syrup
1 cup of cream
1 teaspoon of all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 unbaked pie shell or use any pie crush recipe you have (9 inches)

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DIRECTIONS FOR MY MAPLE PUMPKIN PIE FILLING:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees

Mix pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt in a large bowl. You can use a hand beater on medium/low speed. Blend until smooth, then stir in your maple syrup, cream, and flour.

Mix in one egg at a time using the blender until well incorporated.

Pour pumpkin pie filling into unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove and let cool before serving!

ENJOY!!!

 

I hope you enjoy this pumpkin pie dessert recipe as much as we all did. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Bon Appetite!!!

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maple pumpkin pie filling recipe

 

NUTELLA CHOCOLATE WONTON POPPERS

Oh my I think this is one of my favorite recipes yet! These wonton poppers are super quick and easy to make and are a great dessert option. The varieties of what you can add as filling is endless - all you need is a little imagination. Think icing, caramel, marshmallow, or even jam. Any fruit combination works well too - just have fun with it!

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INGREDIENTS:

Wonton Wrappers (I recommend 3 per person)
1 Bar of Chocolate (I used Lindt Milk Chocolate)
Jar of Nutella
Fruit (I used banana slices 1/4 inch thick and strawberries)
1 Egg (whipped)
2 Cups of Vegetable Oil
Icing Sugar (garnish)

DIRECTIONS:

Cover a baking sheet in wax paper and lay out your wonton wrappers.

Add your chocolate/Nutella and fruit fillings.

Brush whisked egg along the edges of each wonton wrapper to help seal it shut.

Fold wonton wrappers over and press down the corners with a fork to seal the edges.

Place vegetable oil in a deep pan on the stove and allow to heat up for 4 minutes on medium.

Once ready drop poppers into the frying pan and let to cook for 2 minutes before flipping them over.

Once nicely golden remove from oil and place on a plate covered in paper towel.

When poppers have cooled slightly, plate and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

ENJOY!!!!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Bon Appetite!!!