VGP #25 Country Sausage and Cheese Muffins

I don't know what you're having for Christmas breakfast but we're having these! And grog, and hard-boiled eggs, and Aunt Janet's coffee cake, and Jenny's Christmas bread if Ed follows through and makes it like he says he's going to.

These muffins are amazing - a true meal-in-a-muffin! You got your cheese, your sausage, your onion & peppers, your egg and your buttermilk. And the other stuff (necessary details.) I got this from the muffin contest in Cook's Country magazine last year. There is a lot of prep involved, but I do it in stages the day before making them so I can throw it together easily at once. Then I usually freeze the muffins and microwave them for quick or on-the-go breakfast, but today we are having them hot and fresh from the oven. Yum-oh.

Happy Present-Opening-in-Your-Pajamas
and Merry Christmas!!!

8 oz. bulk sausage meat
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 oz. cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1/2 red onion, chopped fine
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. Cook sausage in nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up meat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate and cool.

2. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, cheese, bell pepper, onion and cooled sausage in food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal; transfer to bowl. Whisk egg and buttermilk in measuring cup; stir into flour mixture until combined.

3. Spoon into prepared muffin tin and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to rack. Cool 10 minutes longer; serve. Or cool completely and freeze for later.

Makes 12 muffins

VGP #24 Kari-Can't-Stop-Eating-This Bark

One year like around 2003 my friend in Boulder, Michelle Blimes, brought me a pretty cellophane bag of this stuff. It was sooo good and I think I ate it for dinner that night. Then I needed some more to keep in my desk at work. It's the addictive stuff like this that causes me a real problem; I seriously can't stop eating it! Never having really made any kind of candy before, I asked Michelle for detailed instructions. Here they are:

A bag of chocolate chips
A bag of pretzels
A can of cocktail peanuts

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, just until melted. Stir in some pretzels and peanuts. Spread out on wax paper and chill until firm. Break into bark.

Thanks, Michelle. You are a GENIUS!!!

VGP #23 Magi's Turbans

Here's a new take on two classics:
the gingersnap meets the peanut butter blossom.

And gets a really cool name in the process.

It's really just a molasses gingersnap cookie with a Hershey's Hug plopped in the middle. The recipe here is pretty good but your favorite gingersnap recipe will do just as well. They smell awesome, they look striking, and the flavors of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, milk and white chocolate are a pleasure to partake of.

Remember to let them cool all the way before touching or storing. When you press the candy into the hot cookie, the heat travels all the way up the chocolate and melts it pretty good. But it will hold its shape if you let it sit for an hour or two to cool off.

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp each ground cinnamon and ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup light molasses
1 large egg
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
56 Hershey's Hugs (from a 13 oz. bag), unwrapped

1. Beat butter, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until well blended and paler in color. Beat in molasses and egg. Reduce speed to low and gradually add in flour just until blended. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.

2. Heat oven to 350. Have baking sheets ready. Put granulated sugar in a small bowl. Roll tablespoons of dough into 1-1/4 inch balls; roll in sugar to coat. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until tops crack but cookies are still soft to touch. Place baking sheet on wire rack. Immediately press a Hugs in center of each cookie. Transfer cookies from baking sheet to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container at cool room temperature up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 3 months.

Recipe from Woman's Day Holiday Cookies magazine

VGP #22 Peppermint Bonbon Cookies

I am SO in love with these cookies! They are only for the real chocolate lovers out there. I'm not talking about some token portion of cocoa powder; no, these start out with a hefty combo of melted bittersweet and unsweetened chocolates. Then later you add in some semisweet chocolate chips for good measure. Throw in crushed peppermint candy and peppermint extract and we have got a very serious confection. The kind that gave my eyes a minty tingle when I opened the oven, similar to the effect of walking into the peppermint room at Celestial Seasonings.

The chocolate is dark, the mint is sweet and fresh.
Merry Christmas to me.

8 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup finely crushed hard peppermint candies*
6 T sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Additional coarsely crushed hard peppermint candies, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar, optional
2 1/2 tsp milk, optional
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted, optional

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in large saucepan - this is the pan all the batter will be mixed in so make sure it is at least 2 quarts. Cook over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies and 6 T sugar. Let cool 30 minutes.

2. Add eggs to melted chocolate, 1 at a time, stirring well. Stir in extracts.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to chocolate mixture, stirring until combined. Stir in chocolate morsels. Cover and chill dough 2 hours or until firm enough to shape.

4. Heat oven to 325. Shape dough into balls (I kept them small to make them more like bonbons); place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and cracked on top. Sprinkle coarsely crushed peppermints onto cookies; press candy lightly into cookies. Let cookies cool 5 minutes on baking sheets. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

5. Optional glazing: Whisk together powdered sugar and milk; drizzle over cooled cookies. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Sprinkle cookies again with chopped peppermint. Let cookies stand until glaze and chocolate are firm.

Makes about 4 dozen of the size in the picture

*The food processor trumps all as the best way to chop candies - thanks for the tip, Kat!

Recipe from Oxmoor House magazine, June 2007

VGP #21 Coconut Toffee Bars

Happy Birthday, Tona!!!

Here's the story behind this one: I had a recipe for "Crunchy Sesame Cookies" I was going to try. It called for sesame oil and tahini (sesame seed paste used in middle eastern dishes like hummus.) It was one of those recipes that could go either way but I was too curious and wanted to try it. So I hunted down tahini in the grocery store - it only came in a huge jar and was $8, but I was determined. I brought it home and, while talking to my sister Maren on the phone, promptly dropped it on the kitchen floor where it broke and spilled and made a huge mess. So, knowing Maren as the mostly likely person I know to have tahini on hand, and unwilling to buy another jar myself, I gave her the recipe and asked her to make them and report.

The report was that they just taste like sesame oil, which is pretty strong stuff, and not the most likely "cookie flavor." Quinn didn't like them and they came home uneaten in the kids' lunchboxes, a sure indication they were not VGP-worthy. Maren felt unnecessarily bad that her "guest baker" reputation might be tarnished, so she whipped up these tried-and-true Coconut Toffee bars that she makes every Christmas, and that her family adores, and sent me the recipe and picture. Super-Maren saves the day!!! Oh, and check out her latest blog post on her give-away goody plates: Sharing the Love. (What are the little white things in the middle of her picture, you may ask? HOMEMADE BUTTER MINTS!!! Amazing.)

But here are the Coconut Toffee Bars:

Base:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup flour
A few drops almond extract, optional

Coconut-Almond Topping:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped almonds

Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix base ingredients together and press into 9x13 inch pan. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix topping ingredients together. Remove pan from the oven and spread topping on top of base. Bake till golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly, cut into bars. Makes about 3 dozen 1x3 inch bars.

VGP #20 Chocolate Surprise Muffins

This is one of the few recipes this month that was not a first try. I've made these lots of times and I just love them. They come from The Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn. You make a devil's food cupcake, drop a cheesecakey filling in the middle, and bake. The original makes regular size muffins, but I make minis.

In Colorado my filling sank to the bottom. Here, it only sinks in slightly and is still visible on the top:...unless I do a batter-filling-batter routine like I did for these pictures, but that's not really necessary.

SURPRISE!

Another option is to coat them with Shiny Chocolate Glaze (recipe below) but I've never tried that. After all, the difference between a muffin and a cupcake is frosting, and you can eat muffins for breakfast!

Filling:
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (though you could experiment with other flavors!)
1 large egg
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Muffins:
Paper liners for muffin pans
1 pkg devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add vanilla and egg; stir until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins with paper liners. In electric mixer bowl place cake mix, water, oil and eggs and blend on low for 1 minute. Stop, scrape down sides and mix on medium speed for 2 more minutes. Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling about 2/3 full.

3. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of each muffin. Bake for 23 to 27 minutes. Cool in pans on wire rack for about 5 minutes, then remove from pans to cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen regular muffins or about 6 dozen minis.

Shiny Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 T butter
2 1/2 T light corn syrup
1 1/4 tsp water

1. Place chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until melted, 2 minutes. Add the water, 1/2 tsp at a time, until glaze is pouring consistency. Spoon over muffins.

This is the end of SURPRISE! Week (I hope you liked it), but hardly time to despair. There are eleven more glorious days of your virtual goody plate to look forward to!

VGP #19 Lemony Bonbon Cookies

Ah, lemon! I love it so much. These cookies are so delicate they melt in your mouth like powder, or in your hand if you squeeze too tight. One of them spontaneously combusted when I was frosting it because of my tight grip. Careful!

Aren't they lovely?

SURPRISE!

Cookies:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 T lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
18 to 24 pecan halves

Icing:
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp butter, softened
3 to 4 tsp lemon juice

1. In a small bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in lemon juice. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and chill 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place pecan halves on two ungreased baking sheets. Top each pecan with a ball of dough; flatten with the bottom of a glass.

3. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

4. For icing, combine powdered sugar, butter and enough lemon juice to achieve a spreading consistency. Spread over cookies. Let stand until set. Recipe claims to make 2 dozen but it made 18 for me.

Recipe from Linda of Palatka, Florida in Taste of Home Christmas Cookies & Candies

VGP #18 Chocolate Marshmallow Meltaways

WARNING: These cookies may be dangerous, even fatal, to any
diet trying to make it through the holidays.

Seriously. My will of steel is cracking, and these cookies were my downfall last week. First of all, they're beautiful. Second, they have marshmallows and frosting. Third, I was really excited about something one night and called my sister Maren to talk about it. Quinn said she was putting the baby to bed and he would have her call me back. This late-night, high-emotional-state put me at high risk levels for stuffing my face while I waited.

I might have chosen an apple or glass of milk if my freezer hadn't been so chock-full of cookies that there wasn't room for these beauts so they were sitting on my counter in clear-view Ziploc bags. I had no chance, no chance at all. I downed six in a row without even thinking, and man were they good. They also gave me a mean stomachache the next morning - they're quite rich - so I recommend moderation if you can manage it. But it didn't stop me from eating four more the next day. Even Ed, who doesn't like frosting, said they were "delicious." And of course the kids like to eat them from top down. Mmm...It's true the marshmallow is not exactly a hidden surprise - it just peeks out from under a chocolate frosting cap. But you've never had such a mouthful of love in all your life. Enjoy!

1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
15 to 18 large marshmallows, halved

Frosting:
3 T butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
3 T baking cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
4 to 6 T milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 minutes. Press a marshmallow half, cut side down, onto each cookie; bake 2 minutes longer. Remove to wire racks to cool.

3. In a small bowl beat frosting ingredients until smooth. Add enough milk to achieve a spreading consistency. Frost cookies. Makes about 30 cookies.

VGP #17 Chocolate-Filled Snowballs

This recipe was kind of an experiment in that it's made with store-bought dough. My Woman's Day Holiday Cookie issue had a "1 Dough, 20 Ways" piece, in which you start with store-bought sugar cookie dough and doctor it up to make 20 different cookies, including Pistachio Swirls, Chocolate-Sesame-Orange Thins, Pineapple-Pecan-Coconut Drops, Toffee Stripes and these Chocolate-Filled Snowballs. So I bought the dough to give it a try, and while there's nothing bad to say about an almond cinnamon cookie with a dark chocolate Hershey's kiss in the middle (!!!), I still think it would have been better with dough from scratch. After I'd made the cookies, and looked closer at the magazine to type up the recipe, I see that they thought of that, too, and included a sugar cookie dough recipe in case you want to make your own.

Either way, it's an oh-so-pleasant...
SURPRISE!

3/4 cup finely ground almonds
2 T all purpose flour (omit if using Basic Sugar Cookie Dough from scratch)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 pkg (18 oz.) refrigerated sugar cookie dough (or half of Basic Sugar Cookie Dough, recipe below)
16 to 18 chocolate kisses (I used dark chocolate; hugs would probably be good too)
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

1. Heat oven to 350. In medium bowl combine almonds, four, cinnamon and cookie dough. I gave up using a wooden spoon and just kneaded it all together with my hands.

2. Form dough into about 16 to 18 balls. Push one chocolate kiss into center of each ball, pressing dough around kiss to keep ball shape. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

3. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to wire racks. While still warm, dust generously with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Store in airtight container up to 1 week or freeze up to 6 months.

Basic Sugar Cookie Dough Recipe:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Cream butter 1 minute until pale and fluffy. Add sugars and beat well.

2. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add flour; beat until incorporated. Form dough into a ball.

VGP #16 Buried-Cherry Cookies

I think these are some of the prettiest cookies I've made all month, and I LOVE the flavors. You make an almond cookie (Kat, you could do vanilla), put a maraschino cherry on top, then "bury" the cherry under a bake-able chocolate frosting! Mmm...

But, have you ever actually bought maraschino cherries? I never had before, so imagine my frustration when they weren't by the canned fruit, the baking stuff, nor the ice cream toppings! And I had a crying kid in my cart. And the two workers I asked didn't speak enough English to know what a maraschino cherry was. And I sure as heck was not going to another store just for one thing, and the clock was ticking towards preschool pick-up time. Amazingly I finally found them on a shelf of mixed drink ingredients in the back of the wine section. Geez.

Anyway...SURPRISE!

1 10-oz jar maraschino cherries

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (could use semisweet, I used a combination)

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (fat-free works just as well!)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Drain cherries, reserving juice, and take the stems off. Count the cherries and if necessary, halve enough to make 36 pieces. In a large bowl beat butter on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat in egg and almond extract until combined. Beat in flour.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Lightly press thumb into each ball and place a cherry in each center.

3. For frosting: In a small saucepan combine chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Stir in 4 tsp of the reserved cherry juice. Spool 1 slightly rounded teaspoon of the frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover. OR what I did was put the frosting in a large ziploc bag and cut off one corner like a piping bag. Squeeze the bag, piping the frosting in a circular motion over each cherry piece to cover.

4. Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are firm and just start to brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Cookies

VGP #15 Peanut Butter Bites

Here's your second SURPRISE! cookie.

I think we all know from the Blow-Outs that I looove peanut butter & chocolate. And we also know I had a half a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups left after making them (that's right folks - I didn't eat them!) So imagine my thrill at finding these little treats in yet another Better Homes and Gardens cookie magazine. It's like a more refined (and self-controlled) version of the Blow-Outs. Lovely cocoa-dusted peanut butter bites...

with a super SURPRISE! inside.Honestly, I don't know why anyone would ever make plain peanut butter cookies again.

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

About 17 to 20 miniature chocolate-covered peanut butter cups, halved

Unsweetened cocoa powder, optional

1. Preheat oven to 375. In large bowl combine butter and peanut butter - beat with electric mixer for about 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour. If necessary, cover and chill about 30 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.

2. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Press a peanut butter cup half into each ball and shape dough around peanut butter cup to enclose. Place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms very lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. If desired, sprinkle with cocoa powder. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

VGP #14 SURPRISE!

Everyone loves a surprise, and this is the season for big ones! I bet everybody reading this has a surprise in store for someone else - and you may even get one yourself. So this is SURPRISE Week on your virtual goody plate. You're just eating along, thinking it's a regular cookie, and SURPRISE! There is something inside you weren't expecting. These recipes were pretty fun to find, and even more fun to make.

It all started when I was talking to my Mom about the virtual goody plate a few weeks ago - I needed help prioritizing the 60+ recipes I wanted to try. Mom said, "Well, you're going to do Barbru's Surprise Mint Cookies, right?" As if it was the most natural and expected thing in the world and I was supposed to know what she was talking about. Barbru Nielson is an old family friend so I understood that part, but I returned on the offensive, "Why are there Surprise Mint Cookies I've never heard of before?!" We both rolled our eyes and Mom went hunting in her brittle, yellowing recipe binder for the handwritten card from decades ago.Indeed they are a surprise, and a delicious one. It's a basic dough much like chocolate chip cookie dough, but instead of stirring in chips you chill it, then make small balls of dough and tuck a Junior Mint inside each one! While they cook, the cookies spread and the Junior Mint melts. The chocolate kind of stays in the middle but the minty part seeps out and makes a sticky minty candy area and kind of infuses the whole cookie with mint. The outside was a little too plain for me so I just melted some chocolate chips and drizzled on top but you could decorate any way you like.

Barbru's Surprise Mint Cookies

a.k.a. Junior Mint Meltaways

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

A large box of Junior Mints (movie theater size)

1. Sift together the flour, soda and salt. In a separate bowl cream the sugar, brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla and combine well. Add the flour mixture a little at a time and beat until well combined. Chill dough for 2 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Roll the dough into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls. Make a slight indentation with your thumb and place a Junior mint in it. Use your fingers and thumb to cover the mint with dough. Keep the mint as close to the top of the cookie as you can, just enough to cover with dough. The minty filling will seep down and make the bottom super sticky if it's too low. Even though there is plenty of butter in the dough you should lightly coat your baking sheets with cooking spray in case the bottoms become sticky from the candy.

3. Bake for about 12 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool for about 4-5 minutes on sheets before moving to a cooling rack. Decorate cookies any way you like or leave plain. Enjoy!

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

Congratulations Therese!

I drew names from a hat - my favorite technique - and my old mission companion Therese (T-baby) won the pumpkin mix. Of course I picked the one in England and now have to go to the post office and figure out how to send overseas. I do feel sorry for the rest of you and will consider the cd pleas, though I am a scattered mess around here so you never know.

Is anyone making the cookies? I want to hear about it!