Cooking With Kathryn

Recipes and Tips for Everyday Food Lovers

Gingerbread Cookies

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My favorite holiday in the entire world is Christmas.  I have so many amazing memories attached of family and friends.  And one of my favorite things to make around the holidays is gingerbread cookies.  They’re a lot of fun, delicious and can be super cute! So I’ve decided to share this version for you to make your own Christmas memories with.  Also, excuse the sloppy icing.  I have a cat who enjoys getting in the way of everything. 🙂

Gingerbread Cookies

Every year since I was probably two or three, my dad and I decorated the Christmas tree together.  We turned on the same Manheim Steamroller Christmas CD, drank hot chocolate, and hung up the myriad of decorations that we collected.  And, at the end, we would turn off all the lights in the house and just look at the beautiful tree.

This was the first year that I haven’t done that.  And, honestly, it was bittersweet.  There was something special about decorating the Christmas tree (my first live one!) with my husband for the first time.  And, of course, it had to be the most difficult experience ever.  The following things went wrong:

  1. We barely got the tree home.  It slid about four feet down the back of my car and, by the time we pulled into the parking lot of our apartment complex, was hanging on by only a couple of branches.
  2. The tree stand that we bought was broken, so we had to go back out in the rain and get a new one.
  3. The night after we decorated the tree, it fell down, breaking several of the ornaments.

One redecoration, several magazines propping up the tree stand and ten pounds of rice hidden to keep the tree from toppling over again later, our tree is up for good!  It sure turned out good after all of that, didn’t it?  And we concluded by turning off all the light and just looking at the tree 🙂

Christmas Tree

So I hope you enjoy my gingerbread cookies and that they warm up your day!  I wish you a Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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Gingerbread Cookies

Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Yield: 12 cookies

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup butter or butter substitute (such as Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbs. molasses
  • 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • For the icing:
  • 3 tbs. corn syrup
  • 2/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tbs. almond or soy milk

Instructions

  1. Cream room temperature butter and add brown sugar. If you don't have time to let the butter site out, microwave for 5 seconds at a time until just soft. Continue to beat until fluffy.
  2. Add egg and molasses. Then add in flour, baking soda, all the spices, and salt.
  3. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour. Otherwise, you won't be able to roll it out.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  5. Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface, also flouring the rolling pin. Using your cookie cutters, make your shapes and space them out on the cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 min or until firm. The longer you leave them in the harder they will get.
  6. Let them cool before icing.
  7. To make the icing, mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, adding more powdered sugar if it needs to thicken.
  8. Add the icing to an icing bag with a very think tip and decorate however you want! Feel free to add food coloring if you like.

Notes

Original recipe from InspiredByFamilyMag.com.

http://cookingwithkathryn.net/gingerbread-cookies/

Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

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So, it’s Fall.  And it’s finally starting to feel like Fall outside.  I love it.  Fall is probably my favorite season.  I love bundling up in sweaters, curling up in front of the fire, drinking warm things, and eating good food.   So, to celebrate cooler weather, I made my first quickbread of the season – cinnamon swirl coffee cake!

Now, another thing that comes with Fall is Halloween.  And, interestingly enough, the holiday hasn’t ever really been a big part of my life.  Growing up, my mom would never let me go trick or treating.  So, I actually went trick or treating for the FIRST time last year, at the age of 21!  All of the cousins and their kids in my family dressed up as the minions from Despicable Me (you know, the little, adorable yellow things).  And I love my cousins.  It was just a blast to run around the neighborhood making minion noises, all of the kids and adults dressed up alike.  I can’t wait to start trick or treating with my own kids.

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Coffee cake is one of those things that just warms you from the inside out.  It makes a great breakfast, snack or dessert!  Try it warmed up with a little bit of melted butter and cinnamon sugar on top.

The difficult thing about coffee cake for those of us that are lactose intolerant is that most coffee cake requires buttermilk.  And I have yet to find lactose-free buttermilk in any store.  The good news is that it’s incredibly easy to make!  All you need is your favorite lactose-free milk and some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.  For each cup of buttermilk, mix in 2 tbs. or lemon juice or apple cider vinegar and let sit for 5-10 minutes until the milk begins to curdle.  It works beautifully and makes a delicious, moist coffee cake.

Coffee Cake

I hope you enjoy this delicious, cinnamon-y coffee cake!  Happy Fall!

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Cinnamon Coffee Cake Quickbread

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, divided
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup soy/almond milk + 2 tsp. lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons butter or lactose-free substitute such as Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread, melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x5in. loaf pan.
  2. In one bowl, mix together flour, 1 cup brown sugar, baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and salt.
  3. In a second bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla.
  4. Stir into dry ingredients until smooth. Pour half the batter into the loaf pan.
  5. In a third bowl, mix together butter and the remaining sugar and cinnamon. Swirl half of this mixture into the batter with a knife.
  6. Top with remaining batter and swirl in remaining cinnamon mixture.
  7. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
  8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Notes

** This cake is VERY moist. Which makes it delicious :) Try not to overcook. ** ** Adapted from Food.com. **

http://cookingwithkathryn.net/cinnamon-swirl-coffee-cake/