Candy

Chewy Gingerbread (and/or) Butter Rum Caramels

It’s been a while since I posted…. Egads! Almost a month. The cookie baking was in full swing in November (we’ll come back to that) and then I was traveling for a couple of weeks. But I am back. Never fear. And it’s getting to be Christmas and as some of you know, in addition to the Cookie Maddens, I try to make some candy or truffles every year. This year, I’ve made these lovely semi-soft and chewy caramel candies — melt in your mouth good! There are two variations: gingerbread (love!) and butter rum. Each batch makes about 50 caramels. Great stocking stuffers!
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Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Cinnamon Cranberry Walnut Granola Bars

Things have been a little quiet on the blogging front these days, but I have been hard at work in the kitchen. Tis the season (at least for me) to work on the masses of Christmas cookies that I make. More on that later. For now, I thought that I would sneak in a quick recipe for something healthy and fall like, and good to kep the munchies at bay while you are doing all your holiday food prep. These granola bars are great — very harvest like. Yummy.
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Appetizers/Starters, Savory Snacks

Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Cheddar Pumpkin Crackers

It’s been a crazy week in the life of the Cup of Sugar :: Pinch of Salt Girl, and it is the first time that I have gotten around to baking all week. Shame on me. Baking is my stress relief from “real life” so you can imagine that I was really craving a baking session. And what did I end up making this morning? These lovely Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Cheddar Pumpkin Crackers. In the spirit of fall, and with Thanksgiving coming up, I thought that I would make something that could be used as a snack or appetizer for Thanksgiving. These are lovely. A little sweet from the brown sugar and maple syrup, quite spicy as well. And cheese … goes without saying that they would be delicious made mostly of cheddar.
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Desserts

Black and White (and Orange) Cupcakes:
Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Spiced Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Sometimes I am just in a cupcake kind of mood. It was a spur of the moment thing that I decided to make these — I realized that a friend has a birthday tomorrow (on Halloween) so it was an impromptu thing. I didn’t have much in the house, but I did jazz up the flavors in these otherwise rather “black and white” cupcakes: vanilla bean paste in the cupcakes themselves and both cinnamon and chili powder in the chocolate frosting.
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