Confetti Caramel Bars

When I was a kid, I loved nothing better than my Betty Crocker cookie book. One of my favourite recipe of all time in it is these Confetti Caramel Bars. I making them with a variety of different candy and nut combinations depending on the season and upcoming holidays.

Makes about 32 Bars

Bars

1 cup	225 g	Butter or Margerine
1 cup	145 g	Packed Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp	8 mL	Vanilla Extract
1	1	Large Egg
2 cups	250 g	All Purpose Flour

Caramel Topping

1/2 cup	240 mL	Light Corn Syrup
2 Tbsp	30 g	Butter or Margerine
1 cup	170 g	Butterscotch Chips
		Assorted Candy and/or Nuts

1. Preheart oven to 350 degrees F (150 degrees Celsius)
2. In a large bowl, mix together butter or margarine, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in flour.
3. Press mixture into a 9"x13" (23 cm x 33 cm) pan. Bake 22 minutes until light brown. Allow to fully cool.
4. In a saucepan, combine corn syrup, butter or margarine, and butterscotch chips. Place over medium heat until mixture boils. Stir occasionally.
5. Spread mixture over cooled cookie layer and immediately sprinkle with candy and nuts. Gently press toppings in place.
6. Cool until butterscotch mixture is firm and cut into bars.

*Note I have occasionally multiplied the caramel topping mixture from 1.5x to 2x. It works fine, but be warned that it does make the bars a little gooey, as once they are cut the caramel will spread over the edges a bit.

Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

There are a number of people in my family who aren't big fans of sweets. However, they all love these brown sugar cookies. They are only lightly sweet and are a bit heavier and crisper than my other sugar cookies.

Makes about 72 cookies

1 cup	225 g	Butter or Margarine
2 cups	290 g	Brown Sugar
2	2	Eggs
1/4 cup	60 mL	Milk
1 tsp	5 mL	Vanilla Extract
5 cups	625 g	All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp	5 g	Baking Soda
1/2 tsp	3g	Salt

1. In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until well blended. Chill dough for 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters and place 1/2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 6 minutes in preheated oven.
6. Remove cookies from pan and cool on wire racks.

Royal Icing

Poodle shaped Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies decorated with Royal Icing

(The poodle cookie cutter I used is available at Amazon)

Royal icing dries smooth and hard like candy. It is ideal for icing cookies, making decorations, and cementing things like gingerbread houses together. I've found two recipes that work well with royal icing, though I personally recommend the one that uses egg whites as opposed to meringue powder as its easier to work with a provides a better finish. Egg whites can now be be bought in a pasteurized form in a carton, so bacteria should not be a concern with using raw egg whites in icing recipes.

Royal Icing Recipe 1

Makes about 3 cups of icing

1/2 tsp	1.6 g	Cream of Tartar
3	3	Egg Whites
4 cups	500 g	Confectioners Sugar

1. Beat all ingredients for 7-10 minutes or until icing forms stiff peaks. If icing is too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
2. Store icing in an airtight container until use.

Royal Icing Recipe 2

Makes about 3 cups of icing

3 tbsp	35 g	Meringue Powder*
6 tbsps	90 mL	Water
4 cups	500 g	Confectioners Sugar

1. Beat all ingredients for 7-10 minutes or until icing forms stiff peaks. If icing is too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
2. Store icing in an airtight container until use.

*Meringue Powder can be purchased at most hobby shops where cake and cookie decorating supplies are found, such as Michaels. It can also be purchased online through dealers such as Amazon, Global Sugar Art, Golda's Kitchen (Canada), and Wilton.

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

Makes about 36 cookies

3/4 cup	170 g	Butter or Margarine
1 1/4 cups	250 g	Granulated Sugar
1	1	Egg
1 1/2 cups	190 g	All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup	65 g	Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp	2 g	Baking Powder
1/8 tsp	0.8g	Salt
		Confectioners Sugar

1. In a large bowl combine butter, sugar and egg and stir until light and fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
3. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until well blended. Chill dough for one hour.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix cocoa powder and confectioners sugar into 50/50 mixture and use mixture to dust dough while rolling. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters and place 1/2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 8 minutes in a preheated oven.
6. Remove cookies from pan and cool on wire racks.

Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

Fresh out of the oven. Yummy!

These sugar cookies are lightly sweet and literally melt in your mouth. The dough is super easy to work with when chilled.

Makes about 60 Cookies

1 cup	225 g	Butter or Margarine
1 cup	200 g	Granulated Sugar
2	2	Eggs
1/2 tsp	3 ml	Vanilla Extract
3 1/4 cups	405 g	All-Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp	1 g	Baking Powder
1/4 tsp	1 g	Baking Soda
1/4 tsp	1.5 g	Salt

1. In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
2. Combine flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
3. Gradually add flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended. Chill dough for 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters and place 1/2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 6 minutes in preheated oven.
6. Remove cookies from pan and cool on wire racks.