Confetti Batter Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

I have modified a recipe that I have used for years. It is my go-to cookie recipe for many occasions.

Easiest recipe ever.

You will need for the cookie part:

2 boxes Betty Crocker Confetti Cake Mix

4 eggs

1 cup vegetable/canola oil

For the filling:

1 250gr/8oz pkg cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup icing sugar

1-2 tsp peppermint extract

optional: food colouring and coloured sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350*F

In a mixing bowl, add both cake mixes, eggs and oil. Use paddle attachment and mix thoroughly; making sure to get all of the mix incorporated. Drop by spoon fulls OR roll gently into small balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Do NOT flatten cookies at this point. They will flatten while baking. The key here is to make them all uniform for even baking.

Put in preheated oven and bake for 8 minutes. Do not overbake. This is critical. Based on your elevation and oven , baking times may vary. When we were at a higher elevation I would bake for 9 minutes. The size of your cookie will also determine baking time. You want to remove the cookies from the oven when they just begin to crack. The will look unbaked but trust me; overbaking will give you crispy/hard cookies and that is not what we’re looking for here.

Leave on pan for about 5 minutes to settle before moving to a cooling rack.

After about an hour or 2 your cookies will be ready to frost.

Mix the cream cheese, butter and enough sugar to your liking. I go light on the icing sugar as I don’t want it too sweet. The cream cheese balances the sweetness of the cookie nicely. Add enough peppermint extract also to your liking. I went heavy on it for Christmas treats.

Spread frosting between to similarly sized cookies and then cut the cookie in half. Dip the cut edge into sprinkles. You may also want to colour your frosting for a more festive presentation.

These cookies passed the taste test of my 16(nearly 17) year old daughter. She would be brutally honest with me if they weren’t good.

These will freeze well for weeks. I leave them out for a day or so but not longer. Keep frozen or refrigerated until a few hours before you plan to serve. Freezing them will actually intensify the flavours.

A great recipe for little time and prep.

**I recommend Betty Crocker cake mixes as they seem to bake up the best. I’ve tried other brands and I’ve been quite disappointed. I have used this recipe for years with Devil’s Food Mix, plain cream cheese(with almond flavouring) or Butter Pecan mix. The possibilities are endless.

Jan 11

The Prairie Girl’s Home Goals

I like thinking about goals. I like making lists and I like the planning. The implementation?? Hmmm. That’s a whole other ball game!

I decided to link up with all these fabulous bloggers on goals for our homes for 2012. Mostly because I just want to have a goal and fulfill it. I want to be intentional this year and clearly, intentionality means accountability.

Last year my home suffered dearly for so many reasons. Walls and cabinets that I intended to paint are still as they were, furniture that I wanted to repurpose is still sitting in the garage, crafts and curtains that were to be made have been left in the “to do” pile once again. I have procrastinated and lost my motivation. Mostly due to the fact that we were supposed to be moving last summer and we still haven’t sold and partly due to the fact that when I feel overwhelmed I freeze up and nothing gets done.

So, goals for this year?

1. BUY a house, move in and get dirty right away. I can’t do much about this house although I am going to paint a couple of walls that no new owner will like and it will help my mood to perk up. But moving is top priority and getting a house that we can all live in again is always number 1 in my thoughts.

2. I want my new house to be the landing pad for my kids and all their friends. We have been many years without having the social revolving door happening and we’re so ready for it. I need to make sure there’s a comfy room with comfy furniture, foosball and ping pong!~ these have long been family goals and now’s the time to make it happen!

This is our current basement with a pool table not being used. Gotta change that!

3. I want to make my master bedroom that room where my husband and I love to go rather than just a place to sleep. I’d love a fireplace if we could make that work somehow(it would have to be a fairly big room). I want a big headboard and I’m also working on my very first handmade patchwork quilt for our bed. Gotta get that done before our anniversary in April!

The beginnings of my master bedroom quilt. I think I'm going to love it when it's done!

4. And one of my must-do goals has got to be to make my kitchen functional and working for me every day. I have slacked off on home cooking and baking and I really want to take back those crafts and bless my family daily with homemade goodness.

5. Every bedroom is in need of a new dresser so my mission is going to be to find older dressers to refinish, paint and re-purpose into what will work for each member of the family. I’m actually really excited about this! And night tables too! I’ve already started to pick up some pieces that will need attention sooner than later.

Picked up this little beauty at a sale in the fall.Hoping to give it some life with a new colour for one of the girls' rooms!

I made a list yesterday of things I need to do to start getting my house in order and stop being consumed by stuff! You can read it here: Clean up and Clean Out!

Okay, I think that’s enough. I have a LOT of work to do!! Gotta get on it ! What’s your home goals for this year?

http://www.eclecticallyvintage.com/4/post/2012/01/imagine-the-impossibilities-challenge.html

Dec 22

Christmas Memories {Pretty Paper}

I don’t know if my sisters read my blog. But they’ll like this post.

I have a couple of things in my possession that are near and dear to all of us.

When we were little, growing up on the farm, yearly traditions were something we looked forward to. For us, Christmas had very little to do with presents and so much more to do with the people we entertained, family gatherings, special foods saved only for this time of year and our favourite colouring pages.

My mom had either copied(by tracing) or ripped a page out of a colouring book at some point and given us each a copy to colour. I’m sure we were 3 or 4 the first year we coloured them. For whatever reason, she held onto the picture and then the next year she simply traced over with a pencil or pen using carbon paper. Do you remember carbon paper? What a cool invention and tool to have in the 70′s when you wanted to provide multiple copies of the same drawing!

So, year after year, when December rolled around, we would ask for the pictures. And year after year, the same one was brought out from its safe storage and we would begin again. It would be cool to go back and see the evolution of our talents over the years. I don’t have those, but I do have the originals. Brittle, thin paper now; they are like precious artifacts saved from certain destruction. Every line following along the same original lines carefully traced by my mother nearly 40 years ago. Lines worn deep into the weave of the paper~ some carved straight through. I can smell the shortbread baking and I can hear Willie Nelson singing “Pretty Paper” on the radio….as we colour. Memories.

~ that song makes me cry every time~

Merry Christmas

Dec 20

Cookies, Cookies and …..did I say {COOKIES!!!!}

Oh yes, it’s happening. Busy baking, but not too busy to stop and snap while I’m at it. I’ve cut way back on what is typically going through my kitchen at this time of year. Mostly because I’m not having anyone in and there’s no need for me to eat it all! But we still have concerts and teachers in need of a little something yummy. Plus my kids and friends who are begging for a treat or two! So, here’s where we’re at as of today: