A very Sweet Christmas (With Recipes)

Happy Christmas all!

I can finally take a breather, all my Christmas baking is finally complete. Three days of solid baking made me so very sleepy, but the responses are always worth it.

What did I bake? From Left to Right:

1. (Not pictured) Caramel Butter Bars
2. Spicy Gingerbread
3. Chocolate Crinkles
4. Snickerdoodles
5. Baileys Cake Balls
6. Turtles
7. Peppermint Patties
9. Scottish Shortbread
10. (Not Pictured - see below) Gluten Free fudge Cookies


Over the next couple of days I'd like to get my recipes up so you can enjoy them. Please be patient with me for the time being. I'll try to get one up every couple of days.

Some of the articles are missing because a lazy-bum decided to take a picture before they were boxed up. If you scroll down, you'll see the Gluten Free cookies.



Making gift-baking-boxes is the most wonderful thing, and the most stressful. I love baking delicious treats, but find that three days of baking straight is totally exhausting. Yesterday, I was practically a zombie (which those who know me will think is awesome) trying to get everything packaged and ready for delivery. Today, I played Santa with my wonderful Blue Recycle bag delivering boxes of treats to all my close friends. I believe that between the 25 small boxes and the two large, I baked somewhere between 20-30 dozen cookies. I kept telling myself that I was totally running low on baked goodies, and that I needed more. That was a joke! I have tones of leftovers.

The best part of baking this year was making something new. This recipe I found on Pinterest: Gluten-Free Chocolate Fudge Cookies (also pictured in the box are the Peppermint Patties, which are also gluten-free).


This is a recipe I just had to Share! Even though they are gluten free, they are more like Brownie Cookies, very chewy and sweet.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies
Originally posted from Chocolate and Carrots


3 c Powdered Sugar (Beware of additives in this! Cornstarch is okay)
2/3c dark cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/8 tsp salt
2 to 4 large egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla
1c chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment, and spray parchment with non-stick coating (this is necessary)

2. In a large bowl, mix powdered sugar and cocoa. Whisk in vanilla, salt and egg-whites, starting with just two, you can add more if necessary.
IMPORTANT: The batter should be just moist, and thick like brownie batter. It should not flow like water, but should be thick but a little runny. If it is not this way, add another egg white or two if necessary.

3. Add in chocolate Chips. Stir, and use a teaspoon to place batter on the cookie sheet. Space them well, as they spread.

Bake 9-12 minutes, remove and let cool completely. (Yield 30 cookies).

THESE ARE AMAZING. Seriously, you do not need to have a gluten problem to enjoy them.

Now, here's my favorite part. I promised a while back that I would post up a picture of my tree. It is finally done. I had to pick up some new bulbs and a few extra flowers to fill it in, but I finally feel comfortable showing it off.


Here's wishing you all the very best of the season. It may seem trivial, but it gives me great joy to know that this blog has people who read it; to me, the greatest gift is your patronage. Thank you all so much for making Domestic Sugar what it is.

Cheers!

Lemon Shortbread Bar

I think I've made it known that I LOVE PIE!

That's why I decided to combine two of my favorite things, Cookies and PIE into one delicious bar. This elegant treat comes without the crust, and is has a wonderful texture. The end result is lemony heaven!


So, how does one make these delicious treats. Actually, it's very easy!

Lemon Shortbread Bars

For the Crust:
1/2 lb. salted butter room temp
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbs vanilla
2 cups AP flour

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter, sugar and powder sugar. Add vanilla and flour until smooth.

Press crust into a lightly greased 9X13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes (or until edges are brown).
Set to cool.

Filling

**if you want to use box, I hear that works too, make to directions and pour over crust.

Home-Made filling YAY!

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water
5 tablespoons cornstarch
5 large egg yolks
dash salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For filling, whisk sugar, water, and cornstarch in a pot. Whisk in egg yolks and salt and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly.
Increase heat to medium and, still whisking, cook filling until it begins to bubble just a touch - when it does, remove.
Remove and strain. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice and dissolve in butter .
Pour mix into cooled shell, let cool before sticking it into the fridge to set (or it will crack).

This elegant bar holds its own on the table, and is quite delicious. No really, it is!
And it's simple too. I say this having made it two days ago before my cold set in. I am currently typing while having two nice kleenex balls shoved up my horribly red nose! Paints a nice picture doesn't it? But really, being sick is the worst. These, are the best!

I love the contrasting ideas of my sickness with these lovely photos. As a blogger, I feel that interesting photography is super important, but living inside a building with very little light (most of which is yellow light) makes photography very difficult. I am always looking for interesting ways to take photos (using whatever props I have). I have found that the best photos are taken at night when I can control the flash on my camera (rather than the indirect sunlight of an afternoon shoot on a north-east facing building). Do I use enough parenthesis (yes)?

Okay, when the typing is bad, it is time for bed. Night everyone. ENJOY!

Recipe Snipe: Salted Caramel Shorbread Bars

Cookies and Cups posted a recipe a while back: Salted Caramel Shorbread Bars! They are as amazing as they sound! Well, she calls them Salted Caramel Butter Bars... but I would like to ignore the butter part :)

Again, being the "Baked From Scratch" person that I am, I didn't want to buy the caramels, so, I used the recipe for the caramel that I used on the Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars. It's just Sweet Condensed milk, butter and corn syrup, microwaved for some time (in short spurts) in a safe dish. I placed that in the middle. Not as clean as the originals - I think I'd use less butter in the caramel next time.

Still, it was a great recipe snipe. You all should try it.

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

For the Crust:
1 lb. salted butter room temp
1 cup sugar
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs vanilla
4 cups AP flour

For the Filling:
1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
⅓ cup cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 T. coarse sea salt


To make the crust:

Preheat to 325F.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Using mixer on medium speed, beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms.

Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Press one-third of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust.

Bake until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown approx 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.

While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place the unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.

Pour the caramel filling over the crust. If you are going to salt the caramel sprinkle it on caramel layer now.

Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel.

Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 - 30 minutes.

Thanks Cookies N Cups!

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars

WARNING: THIS DESSERT IS EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE! BAKE AND STORE WITH EXTREME CAUTION AND CONTROL!

I recently found this great blog: My Baking Addiction and became obsessed with the recipe for their Chocolate Caramel Shortbread Bars. They looked soooo good that I just had to do a piggy-back recipe and try them out myself. Let me tell you, they work in stages, so they take a while, but they are sooooo worth it!

The finished product... their picture looks a little nicer :)

So, how do you do it?

Pulse together (in a food processor) 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and 12 tbsp unsalted butter. It should come out crumbly, like my picture.

Next, press it into a 9" square pan (well greased) and poke with a fork. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 30 degrees or until golden brown on the edges. (Below) Let Cool.


Next, for the caramel filling:

Mix 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk and 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, stir until incorporated.

Take caramel mix and put into the microwave. In sets of 30 seconds (stirring between each set) cook for 6 minutes... that's right, stand by the microwave and watch it. Be careful though, this will bubble over if you are not careful. Use a deep dish to prevent spills.

BUBBLY!

After 6 min, it should look like this, a golden colour and it should be thicker.

Place over already cooled shortbread... cool that in the fridge for a few, then go to the chocolate phase.

In the microwave again, melt 12 ounces semisweet chocolate and one tbsp unsalted butter. Stir then spread over cooled shortbread/caramel mix.

Pretty! ♥

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon vanilla fleur de sel (sea salt) if you wish (DO IT!) and chill.
The picture given by My Baking Addiction:

I love their presentation. For the full recipe, click here!