Festive Fudge Brownies for the Holidays

As promised, I'm sharing with you today a simple way of making fudge brownies into festive holiday gifts for anyone on your list! It's very easy and fun to make...and such a wonderful activity with the kids! They will love making these delicious treats and you'll definitely see the glow in their eyes as they put on the sprinkles, nuts and crushed peppermints! :)

Whether you're making it for gifts or just for personal consumption, I'm pretty sure you'll have a great time! Try it and let me know what you think... 

Ensaymada

Christmas is just around the corner and I'm pretty sure that some of you will be doing a lot of baking for the holidays. For my family, baking has been part of our Christmas tradition since Clarise (my eldest daughter) was 3. It all started in 2005 when she thought that helping bake cookies for Santa would be a good way to say thank you for the gifts she will get from him. Cherlin (my youngest) was only 2 months old then. Clarise is 10 now, and Cherlin is 7, and the love of holiday baking is one thing that the three of us share. Now it's not just about baking cookies for Santa...it's more of our bonding time as we help each other make something special for our own holiday feast or to share with our close friends. We've baked all sorts of goodies together for the past 7 years...and I always see joy and excitement in their eyes as they add and mix the ingredients or mold the dough into fancy shapes. It's true that baking with kids can be messy, but I love it! When the baked goodies come out of the oven, seeing the pride on my daughters' faces as they say "We helped make that!" is priceless!

This year, just like the previous ones, we'll be making peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies for Christmas. We'll also be baking a chocolate cake and these lovely treats as per Clarise's request. We call these Ensaymadas in the Philippines. 

Ensaymada is one of those delicious baked goodies that we Filipinos got from our Spanish colonizers. Known as Ensaimada in Spanish, it is a pastry that originated in Mallorca, Spain and is made with flour, water, sugar, eggs, and lard. The Filipino version however is made with butter instead of lard. Some are topped with just butter and sugar, and some have grated cheese (usually aged cheese locally known as keso de bola) and butter cream in addition to the sugar. Ensaymada is popular as an afternoon snack and during the Christmas season, it is considered to be the best match for hot chocolate.

This Ensaymada recipe that I am sharing with you is from the Goldilocks Bakebook which was authored by the founders of Goldilocks (one of the leading bakeshop chains in the Philippines),  Milagros Leelin-Yee and Clarita Leelin-Go. This is really a good recipe. I must say that the ensaymadas came out almost like that of Goldilocks. Though I didn't used the exact kind of cheese because I couldn't find it here, the ensaimadas were awesome. I also added more sugar to the dough and used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour...and I guess that made the ensaymadas even better for my family's taste buds! :)

You should try this recipe! If you have kids, I'm sure they will be happy to help. Kneading, rolling and twirling the dough will definitely be fun! 

Shaped Dinner Rolls

Thanksgiving Day is almost here...and because one of the favorites parts of every holiday feast is homemade dinner rolls, our host for this month's Baking Partners Challenge, Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen chose Shaped Dinner Rolls as our theme.  Part of the challenge is making at least 3 shapes of rolls. We were given 7 shapes and two recipes to choose from...and I chose Lion House Rolls Recipe. I decided to make 4 shapes out of it which include small braid, rosette or kasier, clover leaf and lion house rolls. I was also able to make a small loaf pan of pull-apart garlic parmesan rolls.

I'm sure that to many of you, making dinner rolls from scratch is very intimidating (just as much as it was to me before)....but I have to tell you that it is way easier than one usually thinks. The best part is, they are much tastier and healthier than store bought ones.

It was actually my first time to make shaped dinner rolls and I'm glad to tell you how happy I was with the outcome. Though I was kinda disappointed that the shape of the rosette rolls didn't come out fully defined, everything else was good! These rolls have the perfect taste, texture and softness, and the secret is simple --- giving the dough enough time to rise. Now, I just have to practice my dough shaping skills so the that the next time I make shaped dinner rolls, I can really say it's PERFECT!

If you have time, you should try this! I tell you, homemade buttery dinner rolls are worth the time and effort and they'll surely make Thanksgiving dinner and other holiday meals even more special! Making dinner rolls is also a perfect way to spend time with the kids. You know how they love to get their hands in the dough! They will definitely enjoy helping out and creating their own shapes! :)

Holiday Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I can't believe 2011 has flown by so fast! It seems like only yesterday when I started Pinay In Texas Cooking Corner...but 11 months have actually gone by. In my first months of blogging, I did all sorts of things to promote my blog like joining linky parties, entering in giveaways and participating in recipe contests. I can still remember how happy and excited I was when I won in A Latte with OTT,A's CLABBER GIRL IRON CHEF CHALLENGE with the Filipino Inipit as my entry. It is a pastry that originated in Malolos, Bulacan where I was born, and is basically two slices of sponge cake with custard "pressed" or "inipit" in between them. Clabber Girl’s Culinary Classroom Chef April Osburn, who was the judge of the challenge said that she chose my recipe because it was unique and my post was well written. It was such a joy for me to be chosen Iron Chef Challenge winner for the month of April. Not only did I love my gourmet basket prize, it also helped me gain confidence to keep doing two of the things that I love to do, which is cooking and blogging! :)

Now that 2011 is coming to an end, Amy of A Latte With OTT,A is hosting a Bake Off between the 10 Iron Chef Challenge winners with Taste of Home as the contest sponsor and judge. Such a great end-of-year challenge, don't you think??! It is different from the  previous challenges because this time, we are asked to bake the exact same thing. Yes, you read it right! The contestants will all be making the same recipe given by Taste of Home and from there, must create something else with it. We will be judged based on what creative ideas we come up with. Can you imagine how excited I am to be part of this! Even the busy Holiday season won't stop me from joining the fun!

Taste of Home chose Cinnamon Raisin Bread to be our base recipe. I must honestly say that I had a hard time deciding what to do with it. I thought of making pudding...trifle...cinnamon raisin bars...but after looking up on the web, I realized those are the common twists people make with Cinnamon Raisin Bread recipe. So I decided to make something uncommon...something that will let me and my family enjoy Cinnamon Raisin Bread as it is but with added goodness, and a festive look that will make it more perfect for the coming Holidays. I call my creation Holiday Cinnamon Raisin Bread...

I baked the Cinnamon Raisin Bread based on the exact recipe from Taste of Home, then I cover it with Cream Cheese Glaze and topped it with Pecan Crumble. To make it more Holiday-ish, I added some green and red edible confettis. I must say it looks festive enough to fit it's name...but wait 'til you try it. The creamy sweetness of Cream Cheese Glaze and the crunch of the Pecan Crumble will definitely bring the already delicious Cinnamon Raisin Bread to a new level!

The winner of the 2011 Iron Chef Champions Edition will receive a Taste of Home Baking Book. This is something that I really want to have so I hope I'll win! That would be a good Christmas and birthday present for me...so wish me luck everyone! :)

I would like to thank A Latte With OTT,A for hosting this amazing challenge, and of course, Taste of Home for being the sponsor. Don't forget to check out Taste of Home for lots of amazing recipes that will surely be wonderful additions to your everyday and Holiday menu!

Holiday Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches with Nutella Filling

Just 18 days to go before Christmas...how exciting could that be! One of the things I enjoy about the Christmas season is baking cookies with my girls. It is actually something we love doing together all year round, but we find it such a perfect thing to do during the cold holiday break. Not only does baking help heat up our home, it is always fun to knead, shape and smell the goodness of cookies baking in the oven. Of course, eating the cookies we baked with a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of milk during cold nights is what we love the most. Sharing them with our friends is another thing!

Every year, we make an assortment of cookies which include Peanut Butter Cookies (Clarise and Ryan's favorite), Pecan Sandies (my favorite), Chocolate Chip Cookies (Cherlin's favorite), Snickerdoodle cookies for Santa, our family's favorite Chocolate Crinkles, and the very simple but delicious, Shortbread Cookies. 

Making Shortbread Cookies is so much fun! Not only are they so easy to make, they also require minimal ingredients. With just butter, flour and sugar, you'll have delicious treats in no time. You can shape and design them as festive as you want or you can just leave them plain and simple.

Clarise and Cherlin love shortbread cookies so much. Regardless of the flavor, shape and design, they just enjoy making and eating them! But do you want to know how they enjoy these delicious cookies the most??? They make cookie sandwiches with them...filled with their favorite Nutella. Does that sound yummy to you???

I love Nutella and I must tell you that Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches with Nutella Filling taste perfect! And if you make your Shortbread Cookies in fancy holiday shapes and dust them with confectioners' sugar, you'll have such easy-to-make but festive addition to your Holiday table!

Cherlin and I made these last Monday afternoon...

 

I love how Holiday-ish these Star Shaped Shortbread Cookies with Christmas tree cut out in the middle look. The design is actually Cherlin's idea. We made these yummy treats together while Clarise was at choir practice...and we all had fun eating them after dinner. Oh well, Cherlin & I actually had one each just after taking pictures. You can't blame us - they're so good!!! :)

I'm sharing these Holiday Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches with Nutella Filling on Food Frenzy's "Holiday Cookies" Challenge. Voting runs the 15th through the 24th...please do vote for it! ;)

Chocolate Pecan Crinkles

As the girls and I were wrapping Christmas presents yesterday, I suddenly felt a tinge of sadness welling up inside me...and it was because I terribly miss my mom. You see, gift wrapping was one of those many things I enjoyed doing with her. I can still remember how much fun we had wrapping presents together. But I must admit that it was actually the after-gift-wrapping snacks that I enjoyed the most. After every gift wrapping session, my mom would serve chocolate crinkles and hot chocolate(which during my time was either Milo or Ovaltine). I'm sure you all know what Chocolate Crinkles are. They are those yummy chocolate cookies coated with confectioners sugar that "crinkles" or "cracks" as the cookies bake. I love them since I was a kid until now, not just because they are delicious but much more because they remind me of the fun times I had with my mother.

To brighten up my mood, I thought of baking Chocolate Crinkles. Clarise and Cherlin both love these soft, fudge-like chocolate cookies, and they enjoy helping me make them too. So instead of finishing the gift wrapping task, the three of us headed to the kitchen and made these delicious treats instead.

I'm sure my mom would love this version with ground pecans. It adds a bit of flavor but keeps the cookies smooth and soft.

Check it out! They are so easy to make and such perfect holiday treats for you and your family. These delightful cookies are good  Christmas presents too!