Chocolate Crackle Cookies

I am so excited to share with you today this recipe for

Chocolate Crackle Cookies!  The basic recipe comes 

from Martha Stewart, but instead of rolling the cookies 

in regular powdered sugar I rolled them in the colored

powdered sugar that I made from Sparkling Sugar!

I've been experimenting with colored powdered sugar 

this week and if you haven't seen my post on

 How to Make Colored Powdered Sugar, please

check it out!

Chocolate Crackles are one of my families favorite

Holiday Cookies. These cookies are made with both

melted chocolate and cocoa powder, so they're nice

and chocolatey! 

To make the colored powder sugar, I put  2 oz Turquoise Sparkling Sugar 

into my food processor and whizzed it until I got a powdery consistency.

I also whizzed the same amount of Pink Sparkling Sugar, and got pretty

pink powdered sugar! 

You could also make some pretty colored powdered sugar  

by sifting together: 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 teaspoon

 powdered food coloring. (or just add powdered food coloring 

until you get the shade you like!) 

My pink colored sugar was really bright, so I ended up with a

nice bright pink powdered sugar!

I like the way this recipe measures out the pieces of

dough. Instead of using a cookie scoop to scoop out all 

the dough, you roll the dough into logs, then slice the logs

into 1-inch pieces which you roll into a ball and toss into

the powdered sugar!

Pop them in the oven for 12-15 minutes, let cool and enjoy!

The Pink & Teal colors would be so pretty on 

a Pastel Christmas Cookie Tray!!

CHOCOLATE CRACKLE COOKIES

Martha Stewart

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar - plain or colored

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop bittersweet chocolate into small bits, and melt over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
• In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk until just combined. Divide the dough into quarters, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
• On a clean countertop, roll each portion of dough into a log approximately 16 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, using confectioners’ sugar to prevent sticking. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and transfer to a baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut each log into 1-inch pieces, and toss in powdered sugar, a few at a time. Using your hands, roll the pieces into a ball shape. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll dough in confectioners’ sugar again to coat completely. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake until cookies have flattened and the sugar splits, 12 to15 minutes.
• Transfer from oven to a wire rack to let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Hope you liked this little tip and use it to create lots of

pretty pastries!! Happy Baking!!

How to Make COLORED POWDERED SUGAR - 4 Ways!

Today I am going to show you how to give your Holiday

Baking some sparkle!!  I'll show you 4 ways to color

powdered sugar, and with this trick you can color your

Mexican Wedding Cookies, Crinkle Cookies, Date Balls, 

Powdered Doughnuts or any other baked confection 

that you roll in or sprinkle with powdered sugar!!

The first way to color powdered sugar is by sifting together

 one teaspoon Petal Dust with one cup powdered sugar. 

Petal Dusts were developed for the Cake Decorating

Industry, are Non-Toxic and come in lots of pretty colors!!

I made 2 colors of powdered sugar for

examples - Cosmos (above) & Lilac (below.)

Below are 3 colors of Petal Dust:  Lime, Cosmos & Lilac.

The second way to color powdered sugar is to sift together

one teaspoon powdered food coloring with one cup powdered

sugar.  For both Petal Dusts and Powdered Food Coloring, 

you can add more or less color, depending on the shade 

you're trying to get. You'll have to sift together several times 

until the color is evenly distributed.

 In the picture below I sifted one teaspoon Emerald Green

powdered food coloring with one cup powdered sugar.

This is the lovely shade I got!

The third way to color powdered sugar is to mix one packet

Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Flavor Mix with one cup

powdered sugar.  These are fun! You not only get pretty

colors, but yummy flavors as well!! Here I made Pink

Lemonade and Mint Chocolate Powdered Sugars!

Just look at all the different flavors below - 

they give me endless recipe ideas!!

Finally, since powdered sugar is made from processing

granulated sugar, I thought I'd try it using colored sugar! 

So I took some pretty pink and aqua colored sugar that I had 

on hand, whizzed it in my food processor for one minute, 

and got the beautiful powdered sugar colors below!! 

Most purchased powdered sugar has a bit of cornstarch added in, 

but that's not really necessary here unless you're going to store yours 

for a while and not use it right away. This link has more helpful

information on how to make your own powdered sugar.

COLORED POWDERED SUGAR

1 cup (sifted) Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Petal Dust 

or 

1 tsp Powdered Food Coloring 

or

1 packet Frostings Creations Flavor Mix

Into a medium sized bowl, sift the ingredients

together several times until color is evenly

distributed.  Use immediately or place into

a jar with a tight fitting lid.

To make colored powdered sugar using

COLORED SUGAR SPRINKLES, simply 

place desired amount of colored sugar sprinkles

into a food processor or blender and blend

at full speed for one minute.  If it's not

powdery yet, blend another 30 seconds or

until it reaches the texture you want.
(1 cup colored sugar will yield 1 cup powdered sugar)

I've already used these ideas with some of my recipes

and will be sharing them soon, including my Pink &

Teal Crackles!

I hope this post inspires you to get creative with your

Holiday baking! I can't wait to get started! So many ideas,

so little time! Happy Baking!!

Easy Christmas Tree Meringues

Today I made some pretty Meringue Christmas Trees to

share with you! Meringues are one of the easiest cookies 

to make and comes together in minutes! The hardest part

about them is waiting for them to "dry" in the oven.

The trick to remember when making meringues is that

you bake them until they are completely dry. After 2

hours, remove one of the meringues from the oven,

let it cool 2 minutes, then try it. If it's nice & crisp, then

you can remove the rest from the oven, let them cool 

on a wire rack, then put them in a ziplock bag until 

you're ready to eat them. If the meringue is still a bit

chewy, then bake the meringues for 30 minutes more.

I piped these using my #864 Ateco Open Star Tip, but any

open star tip - or plain tip will work.  I piped in a circular 

motion, getting smaller as I went and ended with

a star shape on top.  My trees measured just under

2 inches wide at the base.

Right after piping I decorated my trees with

sprinkles - some with white and some multi-colored.

I finished by putting a little snowflake on top.

CHRISTMAS TREE MERINGUE COOKIES

2 EGG WHITES

1/2 CUP SUPER FINE SUGAR 

(SUCH AS DOMINO SUPERFINE SUGAR)

PINCH CREAM OF TARTAR

FOOD COLORING OF CHOICE

SPRINKLES

Preheat oven to 200F.  Line a baking sheet with

parchment paper and set aside.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually

add sugar and beat at medium high speed until

you get stiff peaks and the sugar has dissolved.

Add food coloring and mix well.

Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with an

open star tip and pipe trees using a circular motion.

Decorate with sprinkles. Bake for at least 2 hours

or until crisp. Remove from oven, let cool and place

in an airtight container until ready to serve.

This recipe makes 14 Meringue Trees, and

can be doubled if you want more.

Here's a little tip from DOMINO SUGAR...

Before serving, I dusted the trees with a little powdered 

sugar "snow." These are so fun and are sure to be a hit

at your Holiday Party!! Thanks for stopping by!!