Here is a recipe for those of us who can't go on a trip down south to shake off the winter blues this year ... I may be stuck in the cold but this hot chocolate warms me up.

Makes 2 cups.



1 heaping tbsp.of cocoa
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. sugar



2 cups milk (I used 1%)
marshmallows

Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Over medium heat whisk and heat the mixture until thoroughly combined and heated all the way through. Do not boil.



Pour into a mug and top it off with a yummy marshmallow.

Toffifee Smores

Base:
2 cups app. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Filling:
12 x Toffifee
12 milk chocolate squares (app. 40 grams) i.e. Jersey Milk, PC milk chocolate bar

Topping:
24 x jumbo marshmallows

Cupcake Tin; makes 12.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter; stir in the brown sugar. Gradually add the graham crumbs until the consistency is crumbly yet still sticky. Evenly distribute the crumbs into the tin pat down allowing some of the crumbs to come up the sides.

Place one Toffifee and one square of chocolate on top. Split the marshmallows in 2 and stick on top.

Bake in the preheated oven until the marshmallows puff up and are golden brown 7-10 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy! Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to a week.

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!!

TOP 5 GUILTY PLEASURES

Now of course my guilty pleasures are generally sweets and with an abundance of chocolate with the exception of In Touch Magazine (that will be my 6th guilty pleasure). I have had the pleasure of enjoying the items below more than once. I couldn’t pass them up even if my trainer was with me and giving me the “evil stare”. Because trust me as a guilty pleasure I have no desire in learning the fat and calorie content.

1) Garrett’s Chicago Mix Popcorn - It is the cheesiest most caramel popcorn I have had in my life. My first time in Chicago I didn’t need directions to the shop I just followed my nose. The whole day you could see people with orange stained hands from the cheese and you just smiled at them as they were part of the Chicago Mix Club. If you can’t get to one of their shops you can order it online. GARRETT POPCORN



2) Soma’s Chocolate Covered Salted Corn Nuts, Toronto – The Soma Chocolate shop is located in The Distillery in Toronto. It is my favourite chocolate shop. I love treats with a twist and they have no short supply of them. When I first came across these I thought … odd but awesome. It’s a great chocolate shop complete with spicy thick rich mayan hot chocolate churning on the counter! SOMA CHOCOLATE

3) Thorntons Chocolate Covered Toffee, England – I have an obsession with British chocolate. I always need to make lots of room in my suitcase to fill it up with some sweet treats and I make lots of room for Thorntons! My absolute fav is the chocolate covered toffee I could replace my meals with this and be a happy woman although my jeans would beg to differ. THORNTONS

4) Pierre Hermes Macaroons, Paris- The first time your going to have a macaroon it should be in Paris. I went on hunt to find this shop and it did not disappoint. I was quite surprised that one of my fav macaroons was a passion fruit one (weird for me) of course the chocolate one was way up there too. Macaroons are fabulous and finish off a Parisienne experience! PIERRE HERME

5) Milsean Demerara Butter Crunch Bars, Aldergrove British Columbia – I first had this bar at the One Of A Kind Show in Toronto. Wowza! It’s so buttery and rich one bite and it takes me back to the motherland. My favourite is the milk chocolate with hazelnuts! MILSEAN

Mmmmmm I hope you enjoy my list everyone!!


PASSION FRUIT MACAROON

YOU ARE NOT AS SWEET AS MY SUGAR COOKIES - RECIPE

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar

Juice of 1 lemon, remove seeds
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

1¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
Coconut to roll dough in.

✪ Preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C)
✪ Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt: set aside.
✪ In a medium mixing bowl; cream together the butter and sugars.
✪ Mix in lemon juice, egg, and vanilla.
✪ Add dry ingredients. Wrap dough in plastic and put in the refrigerator until easy to handle.
✪ Roll dough into a 1-inch ball and then roll in coconut. Place ball on a lined cookie sheet and flatten with your fingers.
✪ Bake for 12-15 minutes, until slightly golden. Let cool on wire cooling racks.




Photo by Jason Hervey, Prop styling Eden Bluestein

It’s time to get your Festivus Bake On! If you are a baker this is probably one of your favourite times of the year. Time to create and time to sample some yummy and sinfully delicious recipes. Of course these calories don’t count either … or so I think ... It just may be time to bring out the stretchy pants!

I put together a top 10 list of my all-time favourite recipes for this time of year. Some of them my own and some from our favourite bakers.

Happy Baking Everyone!!




PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

1) PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

I am a huge fan of fudge I have spent a ton of time playing around with my candy thermometer and creating perfectly yummy smooth fudge. I created this recipe for Christmas last year and it was pretty much devoured in record time!

2)MARTHA STEWART’S ALMOND- ORANGE BISCOTTI

Almonds are my favourite nut! Pair them with oranges and you have a fabulous recipe from Martha Stewart. Biscotti is great to share easy to store and easy to freeze. I love adding a plate of biscotti to family brunches.

3) RICE KRISPIE SQUARES REINDEER

Rice Krispie Squares bring out the kid in me. I just bought my first huge box of festive Rice Krispies which I'm sure won't last too long ... especially if I make them into cute reindeers.

4) OLD SCHOOL RUMBALLS

Check out this video of me making my famous rum ball recipe "You Are Lucky I Didn't Rip Your Rum Balls Off!"

5) ROSE CHAMPAGNE TRUFFLES

Truffles are not as hard to make as they seem. They store well and will satisfy the sweetest tooth.

6) LEMON SUGAR COOKIES

My favourite sugar cookie recipe from my cookbook The Happy Baker. Lemon gives these classic cookies a refreshing twist.

7) SANDRA LEE'S GINGERCAKE MEN

Nothing is more festive then gingerbread. Enjoy this recipe from Sandra Lee with a twist on the original gingerbread men.

8) MINI EGGS SHORTBREAD

A huge hit at Easter but I hear y'all like to bake them for the holidays too. Mini Eggs & Shortbread ... need I say more?!

9) OCEAN SPRAY'S OATMEAL CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Cranberry & white chocolate make a perfect combo visually and for our taste buds!

10) TRISH MAGWOOD’S PEPPERMINT CRUNCH BARK
Another recipe that gets easily devoured. It keeps you coming back for more!

I will be one busy little baker in the kitchen the next month. Hopefully it will be full of recipe fabulousness!

Have a fantastic baking season!


ROSE CHAMPAGNE TRUFFLES

Nothing brings me more joy then Halloween! The costumes the candy and of course the Halloween inspired recipes!

Here is another fun recipe to do with the kiddies. You can add shoe string licorice to hang the critters or also make some on a candy stick. I tweaked a recipe in my cookbook The Happy Baker-A Dater's Guide To Emotional Baking. I used my Speed Dating Quickies recipe (an old school one my mom used to make) and I added less oatmeal and more coconut and of course eyes and legs.

CHOCOLATE QUICKIE CRITTERS

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup milk (I used 1%)

1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 cups coconut (do not use finely shredded, more course coconut will give a better texture for the critters)

Pretzel sticks for critter legs
White chocolate chips for eyes
Wilton Black glitter gel icing tube for eyes

In a medium heavy bottom saucepan combine the butter, sugars and milk. Over medium heat bring to a boil; stirring often.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla

Add the chocolate chips; stir until melted. Stir in the coconut and oats.

On a lined cookie sheet break 3 pretzels in half place them in a critter leg type pattern. Spoon a tbsp. of the mixture on the pretzels. Place two white chocolate chips in as eyes and use a small amount of the black glitter gel for eyes. Let set in the fridge. Store in the fridge in an air-tight container.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Who knew something so yummy was so good for you?! Not everyone likes to scoop out the insides of a pumpkin when making your jack o' lantern but at least you are rewarded with some fab pumpkin seeds. Here is a yummy and simple recipe to dress up your seeds.

Wash your seeds thoroughly and remove all the pumpkin goop.




Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Toss the seeds with a Tbsp. of olive oil, sea salt, pepper (to taste) and a dash of cayenne pepper.





Roast the seeds in your oven for about 30 minutes until toasty and browned; stirring every 10 minutes.

Store in an air-tight container and enjoy!

Thanks so much to everyone who attended Canada's first ever Baking & Sweets Show in Toronto. The event was a huge success. There were amazing vendors selling everything from sassy aprons to organic ice cream to the fabulous Girl Guide Cookies!







There were also baking demos and baking competitions and celebrity appearances by Buddy The Cake Boss and the Cupcake Girls! To check out all the photos please visit my Facebook Fan Page

Pumpkin Spice Cake Balls

1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup white sugar
1 ¼ cups fresh roasted pumpkin, pureed

3 eggs

2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves
pinch of nutmeg

½ cup warm milk

Preheat oven to 350*

Grease and flour a 9 X 13 baking dish.

In a large bowl mix together the sugars and butter; mix until light and fluffy. Mix in pumpkin puree until thoroughly combined.

Add the eggs one at a time on low speed of hand mixer; mix until combined.

In a medium sized bowl sift or whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.

Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Stir until just combined. Gradually stir in the warm milk.

Pour into prepared dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Caramel Cream Cheese Icing & Filling

½ cup butter, softened
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
3 cups icing/confectioners sugar
3 tbsp. caramel sauce or caramel liqueur

Crushed walnuts/pecans for decorating

Using a hand mixer; mix the cream cheese and butter together until light & fluffy. Add ½ cup of icing sugar; mix. Add 1 Tbsp. caramel sauce or liqueur; mix. Alternate until you get a smooth and creamy icing. When the cake is cool enough to touch mix the icing and the cake together until combined; using your hands works best. Roll the cake mixture into 1-inch balls. Freeze overnight. The cake balls stay together better when dipped if they have been frozen.

Using a double boiler melt white chocolate melting wafers. Let the cake balls thaw slightly because the cake will expand when thawed causing the chocolate to crack. Stick a candy stick in the cake ball. Dip and swirl in the chocolate and then sprinkle with crushed pecans or walnuts.

Since these pops have cream cheese in them I store them in the fridge I know this is not ideal for the chocolate and the chocolate will lose it’s gleam but I sleep better at night doing it☺

The journey of my melons has come to an end .. this year! I used my largest melon weighing in at 13 pounds for my recipes. Below is a recipe for sangria that even non watermelon lovers enjoyed!



1 1.5 litre bottle of dry white table wine
4 cups watermelon chunks, seeded & then pureed
3/4 cup Brandy
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup instant dissolving sugar
1 1/2 cups sparkling water
Apple slices
Grapes ... or cut of fruit of your choice

watermelon ice cubes (using a melon baller make watermelon balls and then spread out on a cookie sheet;freeze)





Using a hand held blender or a blender puree the watermelon. In a large serving jug pour in the bottle of wine. Add the brandy, pieces of fruit & pureed watermelon;stir. Gradually add the sugar until you reach the desired sweetness.

When ready to serve add the watermelon ice cubes and sparkling water.

Enjoy & do the Watermelon Crawl

I am a sucker for a fresh baked cookie and what's more fabulous than adding some ice cream to it?!

I can still remember when my brother and I were younger and if we were sick my mom would bring us ice cream sandwiches. For some reason they would make us feel better. To this day if my stomach is upset or I am seriously hungover from some crazy night of Toronto partying I will crave ice cream ...

If I could replace all meals with this and still be healthy I would!



RECIPE:

This is a cookie recipe from my cookbook The Happy Baker-A Dater's Guide To Emotional Baking. It pretty much has a little bit of everything and is great to bake when your emotional and don't know why all you know is you have to bake something NOW! I added vanilla bean ice cream in between cookies to make a sandwich you can also use frozen yogurt...get crafty people!

ERIN'S GO-TO COOKIE:

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

½ cup smooth peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup rolled oats
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup coconut

Preheat oven to 375 F (175*C)

In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter, vanilla, and egg ; mix well. Blend in flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips and coconut.
Drop by tablespoon on a lined cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Flatten with fingers.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely. Remove ice cream from freezer and let soften slightly. Add a generous scoop between two cookies and gently press cookies to form a sandwich. Wrap in plastic wrap or a sandwich baggie and store in the freezer until ready to eat!