1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. cocoa
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

100 grams. milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
12 Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Freeze chocolates overnight, unwrap and place into a Ziploc bag and smash into small or medium sized pieces. I like to use my baking hammer☺

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugars and butter; blend until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla; mix well. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients and whisk or sift together until thoroughly combined.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture; stir until combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate and Ferrero Rocher’s.

For better handling let the dough cool in the fridge for a few minutes. Roll 1-inch of the dough into a ball place on a lined cookie sheet and flatten slightly with your fingers. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.

Let cool and store in an air-tight container. Happy Baking!!

RECIPE-"CHRISTMAS WAS CHEAPER WHEN I WAS SINGLE BUTTERSCOTCH SHORTBREAD"

INGREDIENTS:
27 fingers or about 300grams of Shortbread FIngers




2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butterscotch chipits
1 1/4 cups sem-sweet chipits

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place a piece of parchment paper in an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish let it hang over the sides;grease. Place the shortbread fingers to fill the bottom of the pan.




In a medium saucepan over medium heat bring the butter and sugar to a boil;stirring often. Continue to boil for 5 minutes stirring occasionally; the mixture will thicken up.





Pour overtop of the shortbread and spread evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven evenly distribute the chipits and place back in the turned OFF oven for a few minutes until the chipits soften.

Using the back of a spoon spread evenly. Some butterscotch chipits may not melt that is AOK they still taste yummy. Once cooled store in the fridge.

Remove the squares by lifting the parchment and cut into bite size squares and make sure you have a good ticker before you eat this stuff it may have a lot of butter in it!!

Since I mainly live in Toronto my family out in the boonies will ask me to help them with buying presents. After just spending two months living in the country I was reminded as to how hard it was to get anything. The closest big grocery store is 25 minutes away and my beloved HomeSense is 45 minutes. I am really spoiled living in the big city having the convenience of 24 grocery stores and malls 5 minutes from my condo.

As I was touring around one of my favourite outlet malls looking for gifts I ventured into Tommy Hilfiger. I am not a huge fan of his stuff but at this particular outlet store I have great luck. This time I was not shopping for myself though I was looking for gifts. Before when I was single I would buy a gift for my brother and then buy a gift for me … buy a gift for my mom and buy another gift for me. Of course this is when you find the best deals when you are shopping for someone else. And it didn’t matter I had just my family and myself to buy for.

But now after being in a relationship for the past year it takes Christmas to a whole new level not only do I have another family to share the holidays with but I also have to buy more gifts especially for my beau. Last year I got away with one gift for him but not this year now it’s about having a pile of gifts under the tree, waking up on Christmas morning together with over-flowing stockings. My budget did not allow for the “buy one buy one for yourself deal”.

Of course I see the perfect casual dark teal satin-ish dress for me. Perfect to pair with tights and knee high boots and my nice wide black leather belt I bought there last summer. I did not see the gift I was looking for but I did see some for me. I carried the dress around on my arm while I checked out the rest of the store. Keep in mind this dress was only $20 bucks super cheap but again it was not in my budget. I had another Christmas dinner to think about which equals more booze more food more desserts and more booze.

With a major fight with my inner self and onlookers thinking I was crazy as I put the dress back and picked it up again. I finally put the dress down and quickly left the store. I thought hey maybe ill get some money from Santa and ill pick it up after the Holidays? Of course at that price it just might be gone.

I may not have a nice shiny new dress to wear to Christmas but I do have a nice shiny new extended family to share the Holidays with. I would trade all the clothes in the world for them☺

PS. Santa here’s a link to the dress size medium and it’s cheaper at the outlet store (and is more teal in person) … hopefully your sleigh can fit in the parking lot. Erin's Little Teal Dress

Well the candy & chocolates should be rolling in now from holiday gifts. One thing I tend to get every year but I am not a huge fan of them on their own is thin chocolate peppermints. I thought what can I do to take these chocolates to the next level ... put them in fudge!!

This recipe has a shot of peppermint liquor and some candy canes to finish it off. A perfect recipe to enjoy with the season!





PEPPERMINT FESTIVE FUDGE

1 cup butter
8 1oz semi-sweet squares, chopped

4 cups icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
200 grams peppermint chocolate thin mints, cut into small chunks
1 shot of crème de menthe
6 candy canes, crushed



METHOD:
In a medium saucepan melt the chocolate and butter; stirring often. Remove from the heat and add the shot of crème de menthe.

Gradually add the icing sugar 1 cup at a time; mixture will become thick. Stir in the chopped chocolate mints.

Put fudge into an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish. You can put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom and let the sides hang over the edge to easily remove the fudge.
Smooth down top of fudge evenly and the sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Let set in the fridge and cut into small squares. Store leftover fudge in the fridge.

Happy Festive Baking Everyone!!