The entire Orange Boot bake crew is hunkering down for a busy December. We've got a huge selection of new Christmas treats planned and will be rolling them out in the next few days.
This week we welcome back two old friends and a new sweet treat. Star sugar cookies, Gingerbread men with the Mona Lisa smile, and a new Chocolate Peppermint Candy Cane Cookie. With real crushed up candy canes, no less.
As an aside, there are days when I wonder what is wrong with us that we can't cope with over-processed ingredients. These candy cane cookies are a good example. Who knew that pre-crushed candy canes are too powdery? Couldn't we just live with them? Nope! We've gotta buy whole candy canes, unwrap each one, and crush them ourselves so they are just right. We think it makes a better cookie, so that's what we do.
As a second aside, who knew you could buy pre-crushed candy canes? Not me, until we opened a bakery that is. There's an entire cavalcade of pre-crushed this and pre-mixed that available to 'the bakery industry.' I can even buy my Christmas cookies pre-made and pre-baked, ready to unbox and put in the display case (no kidding! I have a whole catalogue of the stuff!)
But we don't do that here. We think home made and hand made tastes better. No mixes, no bases, no pre-mades. And, it turns out, no pre-crushed candy canes either.