A very merry everything from all of us here at Clio & Phin, where the herd is somewhat patiently awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus.
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| Merry Christmas! |
I know. Santa wears a suit, not a cape. I tried to tell Dragon this, but he made a compelling case that Santa is, in fact, a superhero. Since I've never seen Santa, who was I to argue? Maybe he does wear a cape for dashing across rooftops.
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| Cookies for Santa. |
Dragon has been asking for me to make him a Santa costume since Thanksgiving so he could have adventures with Milkshake the Elf and a herd of reindeer elephants. So, I whipped up some antlers from craft felt and an online
template that I shrunk down to Trample Herd size. The Santa and Elf hats are made from scraps of fabric with trim that I knit from faux fur yarn.
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| Reindeer Elephant |
Anyway, since the real Santa comes tonight, I thought we'd share our cookie recipe. This is from
The Baking Sheet, which is a bakers' newsletter put out by King Arthur Flour. Let me tell you: this cookie is right on! It's rather unique - loaded with vanilla and complimented by peanuts, white chocolate chips and oatmeal. These flavors really go together better than you'd ever guess.
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| Good enough to get us on the nice list? |
Vanilla Salted Peanut Cookies from KAF's Baking Sheet
1/2c butter (4oz, 1 stick)
1/4c veg shortening (1 3/4 oz)
2c brown sugar (15 oz)
2c old-fashioned rolled oats (7oz)
2 large eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract (1oz)
1 tsp baking soda
2c AP flour (8 1/2 oz)
1 1/4c salted peanuts (6 1/4oz)
1 1/3c white chocolate chips (8oz)
Cream shortening, butter and brown sugar. Mix in the oats, eggs and vanilla. Whisk flour and baking soda and add to butter/oat mixture, stopping to scrape bowl. Mix in peanuts and chips. Scoop by tbsp onto parchment lined or greased baking sheets and bake at 350 for 11-13min until golden at edges. Cool on pan for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes 4 1/2 dozen.
I've never really been into white chocolate, but this chewy cookie breaks the mold. The only thing I might do differently in future batches is replace the shortening with butter. It would mean the cookies would spread more, but I like the flavor and texture of all-butter cookies better than shortening.
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| Waiting for Santa |
Now if I could just get the herd to go to bed. Like all overexcited children on Christmas Eve, they are determined to wait for Santa.
Merry and Bright to you and yours!
