Saturday, February 7, 2015

How to Make LEMON TEABAG COOKIES & DIY TEA TAGS


I've been wanting to make Teabag Cookies for a while now
after seeing them on Pinterest, and since I didn't see a tutorial
for them I thought I'd make one for you.

They're really easy to make and if you were going to have
a little girl's Birthday Tea Party, this would be a fun activity!
You could have the cookies already made and have the girls
decorate them and make the tea tags.
Just roll out the dough and cut out teabag shapes. I got mine 
from cheapcookiecutters.com. I used the small end of a 
Wilton #12 tip to make the hole for the ribbon.
For the frosting I used Wilton Candy Melts! They worked really 
well for this project! Just melt them in your microwave and you're
ready to decorate!
Spread the frosting on the cookies - or dip them - whichever 
you prefer, and decorate with pretty sprinkles! To speed up the 
cooling/hardening of the chocolate I actually put my decorated 
cookies in the freezer for 5 minutes!  
(Because I just hate waiting!! LOL!)
I bought some Wilton Sprinkles that had these little lips
in them! So cute!!
These Teabag Cookies tasted as good as they looked! I used
a lemon shortbread recipe that I've used many times before.
So yummy!!

LEMON SHORTBREAD TEABAGS

Cookie Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest (zest from 1 lemon)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Frosting Ingredients

1 bag Wilton Pink Candy Melts
Assorted sprinkles to decorate

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Cream butter & sugar in a large bowl. (I used my stand mixer)
Add lemon zest and blend well. With mixer on low speed, 
add flour a little at a time. Dough will be crumbly, so dump
it out onto a counter top or pastry board and work it
together by hand until smooth. Pat or roll dough out into
a rectangle that is about 1/2" thick. Cut into teabag shapes.
Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 
20-25 minutes until bottom edges are just starting to
brown. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove cookies
to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes approx 28 
cookies (using a 3" cookie cutter.)

To Decorate

Melt pink candy melts in a microwave on 50% power
until soft, then stir to combine, (or use a water bath.)
Using a palette knife, spread some "frosting" on lower
 half of cookies. Decorate with sprinkles of choice.
Let frosting set before attaching the Tea Tag.

I thought this tutorial for DIY Teabag Cookie Cutters
was interesting!
The PDF for these sweet little Tea Tags are a free printable from
Everyday Dishes & DIY. I just printed the PDF onto some pretty 
pink polka dot paper that I had and - Instant Tea Tags!!

I've never really done a craft project on the blog, but I'm going
to attempt to show you how to attach the Tea Tag to the Cookie...
(using my daughter Abbie as a hand model! LOL!)
First, print your tags out onto some pretty paper.
Cut out the tags and punch a hole in the top
with a hole punch.
Next take a 16" length of pink ribbon, fold it in half,
and thread the loop end through the hole in the cookie -
(coming in from the back of the cookie.)
Holding the loop end of the ribbon with your left hand,
bring the loose end of the ribbon through the loop with
your right hand.
Catch the loose end of the ribbon with your left hand
and pull the ribbon up to tighten.
Thread the end of the ribbon through your tea tag and
tie a knot near the end of the ribbon!
Easy Peasy!!
I thought these turned out so pretty!
The perfect project for your next
Tea Party!! 






Monday, February 2, 2015

Give Me A Kiss Tarts


I have a fantastic mini tart recipe to share with you today!
I call them Give Me A Kiss Tarts! As the name implies, the
tarts do have a Kiss inside - a Hershey's Kiss which makes 
them perfect for Valentine's Day!

These tarts are super simple and only require 2 packs of Mini Fillo Shells,
a bag of Hershey's Kisses, a can of good Cherry Pie Filling and some
whipped cream!

First you put one Hershey's Kiss in each Fillo Shell. You 
may need to press the kiss down into the shell a little to
flatten the base.

Bake for 5 minutes. When you remove the tarts from
the oven, press the chocolate kiss down with the back 
of a spoon.

Then spoon one cherry with a little sauce on top of the 
chocolate kiss.

Top that with some pink whipped cream and some
chocolate curls or sprinkles and you're ready to serve!!



BLACK FOREST TARTS
Adapted from Family Circle


Ingredients:

2 Packages mini fillo pastry shells (15 per package)
31 foil wrapped milk chocolate kisses
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can (7oz) refrigerated whipped topping 
or
1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup powdered
sugar (or to taste), pink food color

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place mini fillo shells
on a baking sheet. Unwrap 30 chocolate kisses,
place one in each cup.

Bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven. With the
back of a spoon, gently press down the point 
of the kiss into each cup.

Open the can of pie filling. With a small spoon,
scoop out one cherry with a little sauce and place
in fillo cup on top of the chocolate kiss.
(Do not refrigerate or the chocolate kiss will
harden)

Immediately before serving, top each mini
cup with whipped topping - or make homemade
whipped cream by beating together the 1 cup
heavy cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar and the
pink food coloring in a chilled bowl with chilled
beaters until stiff. Then place in a piping bag
fitted with a tip of choice (I used a Wilton 1M)
and pipe onto tarts.  Top with chocolate curls,
chocolate sprinkles, or grate the last chocolate 
kiss over the whipped cream. 


What's not to love about chocolate and cherries and
whipped cream?!

These tarts are so addictive!! 
Betcha can't stop at one!!