HAPPY.belated.VALENTINE'S DAY!

I .L.O.V.E. cookies.  Like LOOOOVE cookies!  I just don't always bake them.  But I love the idea of the basic sugar cookie covered with candy melts instead of that nasty royal icing.  Of course royal icing you can make it thin enough to flood a cookie or thick enough to add details. You can't really do a lot with the candy melts but it sure does taste a lot better!  

So for Valentine's Day, I wanted to make some cookies.  Mainly just to practice with baking and decorating the cookies.  Below are the ones that came out. 

Something else I wanted to try was the brush embroidery technique.  Again something that's so much easier with royal icing than candy melts.  My first attempt was the cookie below on the right side.  It was oooookay but not good.

 This one, I thought, came out pretty good.  I still need to practice it but I really like how it came out...especially when you look at it from far away lol 

.christmas.baking.

This year I decided to bake for all the families in our lives instead of buying gifts (only bought the children gifts).  I made different types of cookies and snacks and packaged them up all pretty.

.sugar.cookies.

All of the sugar cookies were frosted with candy melts instead of that REALLY sweet icing.  It was a bit time consuming but they dried super fast compared to the icing and they taste a lot better!

.caramel.chocolate.pretzels.

For these, I laid out the pretzel squares (single layer) on a cookie sheet and topped each one with a Rolo candy.  I stuck them in the oven for about 4 minutes...just enough time for the Rolo to get soft but not melt.  Then I took them out of the oven and stuck an M&Ms piece in the middle and poked it down.  The original recipe called for a pecan but I didn't want to risk anyone's life that was allergic to the nut. 

.chocolate.crinkle.

This is a really soft chocolate cookie that's rolled up into a ball, covered in confectioner's sugar and baked.  While they bake and spread, they form little cracks and look pretty cool with the white sugar contrast.

.oatmeal.cookies.

.cranberry.white chocolate.oatmeal.cookies.

.m&m's.chocolate chip.cookies.

.the.assembly.line.

.inside.the.box.

.the.outside.

While researching what to do with the outside, instead of having a plain white box, I came across some boxes that had doilies on the outside as a decoration.  I thought it was just too cute and such a delicate touch and perfect for the holidays.