My Cooking Spot

When Girl Meets Kitchen



Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies

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Happy National Cookie Day! That is right, it is all about the cookies today! Here is a yummy cookie from Wendy over at The Monday Box that is perfect for the upcoming holidays, or just to eat anytime because mint and chocolate are a pair made in heaven.

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These Chocolate Peppermint shortbread cookies  are made extra delicious and crunchy using “de-chipping” by which baking chips (chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, mint chips, etc.) are chopped to smithereens in the food processor before adding them to the cookie dough. These tiny morsels of flavor disperse throughout the dough, boosting flavor and texture.

I baked these Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies using the  Nestle’s Winter Mix baking chips (dark chocolate and mint chips). Mint chips seem to be a Christmas season item. If you aren’t a chip hoarder like I am, and find yourself in the middle of July without access to mint baking chips, use chocolate chips and add ¼ teaspoon of peppermint extract to the dough.

To get the entire recipe, go over to see what Wendy has in store at her blog: The Monday Box: Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies.

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Peppermint White Chocolate Popcorn

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You know those giant 8-pound tubs of popcorn kernels you can get at Costco? My family can go through one of those in a month.

A bowl of buttered popcorn and a movie rental are just about all we need to enjoy our weekend.

Lately, though, we’ve been going through popcorn withdrawals. Our son had his wisdom teeth out, and the doctor said he could only eat soft foods, and definitely no popcorn. I thought it would just be cruel to make popcorn and eat it in front of him, so the rest of us went without.

Then we got sick, all of us, really sick. We had a lot of chicken soup and applesauce, and none of us really wanted to eat popcorn. We didn’t want to make it either.

So we have probably been popcorn-free for about 3 weeks now.

Today I decided enough was enough, and started making a big bowl of our favorite snack. Then the season got the better of me. I started imagining how the popcorn would taste with peppermint mixed in, and I remembered the white chocolate in my pantry, and well… it didn’t take long for me to convince myself that what we really needed today was white chocolate peppermint popcorn.

YUM.

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Cranberry Cheese Danish

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With Thanksgiving now behind us, it’s time to take full advantage of the best this holiday has to offer…the leftovers! I have the best memories of raiding the fridge the morning after the big day. All of the stress and commotion have died down, and somehow the food tastes just a little better when you sneak a bite or two straight out of the container as you hover over an open fridge (am I right?).

If you’ve got a houseful of lingering guests, or, heck, if you’re just looking for a little indulgence yourself, this recipe is a great way to use up any of your leftover cranberry sauce. With the use of ready-made puff pastry dough, these Cranberry Cheese Danishes are ready in no time.

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Puff pastry is one of my favorite tools of trickery in the kitchen. For some reason, whenever anything is made with puff pastry, people think it’s pretty fancy and complicated. The reality is, though, the frozen packages of dough couldn’t be easier to use. The most difficult part is remembering to take it out of the freezer far enough in advance so that it thaws.

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The cranberry is combined with cream cheese and powdered sugar, and the result is tart and luscious. I’m always a huge fan of homemade cranberry sauce, but no judging here if you opt to bust a can out of the cupboard.

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After toasting up in the oven, you’ll see the edges pop up to create a nice border around the cheese…hence the “puff” of puff pastry.

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To finish off, a fancy little drizzle of glaze is literally the icing on top. I like to use a pastry bag, squeeze bottle, or ziploc bag with the corner snipped off to create a pretty zig zag effect, but a spoon would certainly work as well.

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Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes

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Up until about two years ago, I could not make good mashed potatoes for the life of me. I always either undercooked or overcooked them. After countless mishaps, I have finally gotten it down!

I think people have a lot of different opinions about which potatoes are best for making mashed potatoes, but I prefer red potatoes. The potatoes become so amazingly creamy and fluffy when mashed. I have tried this recipe with other potatoes and I always come back to red potatoes. Though it’s not just the red potatoes that make these mashed potatoes so perfectly creamy, it’s also the addition of sour cream. My husband isn’t typically a fan of sour cream, but he loves it in these potatoes!

If you are still trying to finalize your Thanksgiving menu, you simply must add these sour cream mashed potatoes! And if not Thanksgiving, any holiday!

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