Cinnamon Cookies

I love cinnamon, so naturally I am fan of cinnamon hearts. I had a large bag of cinnamon hearts and decided to try and make a cookie out of them for valentines, as I wanted something new and special.

Cinnamon Heart Cookies

¼ + 2 tbsp butter
¾ cup crushed cinnamon hearts
1 egg
¼ tsp vanilla
1 ¼ cup flour
½ tsp baking poweder

powdered sugar
crushed cinnamon hearts

Directions:
1.Cream the butter and then add the crushed cinnamon hearts and continue creaming. Add in the egg and vanilla until well mixed.
2.Add the flour ½ cup at a time and the baking powder until mixed.
3.Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4.Sprinkle the counter top with powdered sugar and roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick.
5.Cut out cookies and place on a cookie sheet, sprinkle the top of the cookies with the remaining crushed candies.
6.Bake at 400F for 6-7 minutes.

Reviews:
I fed these to my students and they all seemed to really enjoy them. Theya re great slightly crispy cookies with a little kick of cinnamon to them. They make a fun and easy Valentines treat, or a great treat for anyone who is a fan of cinnamon hearts!

New Cookbook Trial: Baking, From my home to yours

One week when I was looking for a recipe on something I came across the Tuesdays With Dorie group, and upon looking at some of the recipes they had done, I decided I needed to look into this cookbook (Baking, From my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan). I was at the library before leaving to visit my inlaws, and saw the book there, so I grabbed it and took it with me on my vacation - I mean what says relaxing time better than baking? (Oh and it wouldn't hurt to impress the inlaws a little).

I ended up trying two recipes while I was at the inlaws. The first was the Raspberry Blanc-manger.


I picked this recipe as I was told there were raspberries in the fridge that needed to get used, and it required no baking - keeping the oven off is a bonus when it is 36C outside!

The recipe is great and really easy to make. I didn't have a single problem making it and everyone loved it. It really didn't last long before it was all eaten. It was a great light and creamy dessert, especially for the heat of summer.

The second recipe I tried was the Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake on page 264.

O discovered a picture of this in the book and immediately wanted it - he loves almost anything to due with brownies.



The recipe was fairly easy to make, although it was difficult to tell when the caramel was done and I ended up with a darker caramel than I would have liked. Note, that if it looks like a semi golden colour to take it off the heat Now! It gets too dark really quickly.

The cake got lots of people walking through the kitchen asking when it was going to be done, and lots of people staring at it before it was ready to be served. No one else seemed to care that the caramel was too dark and it quickly disappeared.

I liked the recipes I tried from this book and will hopefully be trying more. My inlaws loved that I brought the book and didn't want me or the book to leave. It is getting added to my cookbook wishlist, so for now I will just keep taking out the library copy and trying a few more recipes.