During the holidays, you may have a few extra occasions to serve and enjoy some special breakfast treats. Whether you’ll have extra family visiting, or simply your kids home a bit more, a big breakfast with a few special treats is always a welcome site!
This recipe is sure to please, and is much easier to put together than you might imagine!
Utilizing Pepperidge Farm’s Puff Pastry and a few simply ingredients, you’ll have a fancy breakfast treat everyone will love.
Be sure to allow time for the puff pastry to thaw (either over night in the fridge, or at room temperature about 45 minutes), but once your ingredients are ready, the recipe will come together quite quickly.
Blueberry Cheesecake Danish
This fancy treat is easier than you might think, and perfect for a special breakfast.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, sugar
1/3 of an 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. (17.3 ounces) Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup blueberry preserves or strawberry jam
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup sliced almond, toasted
Directions:
Heat oven to 400*F.
Spray baking sheet with cooking spray, or line with parchment.
In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar.
In another bowl, add the remaing 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/3 package of cream cheese. Blend together with a spoon.
Melt butter in a small bowl, and set aside.
Sprinkle your work surface with a bit of flour. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on the work surface. Brush the pastry sheet with half the butter. Sprinkle with half the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
With the short side facing you, cut the pastry sheet lengthwise into 6 strips. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet, making 12 in all (pictured below).
One at a time, twist the pastry strip, and then roll into a coil (as pictured). Tuck the end of the coil under the pastry, and pinch the pastry to keep the end in place.
Use a small spoon to create a crater in the center of the pastry, then add about 1 teaspoon sweetened cream cheese, then about 1 teaspoon jam. Move pastry to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining strips.
Bake danish about 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow pastries to cool on baking sheet a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
While the danish bake, prepare glaze. Add powdered sugar to a bowl, then add milk. Stir and set aside. Drizzle over baked pastries, and top with sliced almonds.
Follow the packaging directions to fully thaw the puff pastry before use. Frozen pastry takes about 45 minutes to thaw at room temperature.
(above) Unfold one sheet of pastry, brush with butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Cut into 6 strips, as shown.
(above) Twist the strips.
(above) Coil each strip into a circle, tuck the end under and pinch to adhere.
(above) Create a small crater with the back of a spoon, then add about 1 teaspoon sweetened cream cheese, and 1 teaspoon jam. Bake as directed in recipe above.
Enjoy the fresh pastries with coffee or milk for a special breakfast treat.
Be sure to visit the Puffection TM tab on the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Facebook page and share your own holiday Puff Pastry recipes, and www.puffpastry.com for more recipes, tips and how-to videos.
Disclosure- Pepperidge Farm has provided me with supplies and/or compensation for time invested in the Pepperidge Farm® Puffection TM Holiday Entertaining challenge. All text, photos and opinions are my own.
Today I’m blog hopping again! Meaghan, over at The Decorated Cookie is about to have baby #2, and I’m filling in for her in the hopes she can rest a bit. I made some fun and simple Rice Krispie Treats Christmas Trees, in line with my Watermelon Slice Treats and Candy Corn Treats from earlier this year. These are easy to make, and a perfect treat that kids can have fun decorating.
So head on over to The Decorated Cookie for all the details on these festive treats!
If you like peanut butter cups, and you like cookies, you’ll LOVE these Peanut Butter Cup Cookies! They are super easy to make, and so delicious! I’m sharing the recipe over on In Katrina’s Kitchen today, where she’s having a cookie party! You heard right, cookie + party… sounds like fun doesn’t it? She’s hosting her second annual ”I’ll bring the cookies” event and sharing a new cookie recipe each day this month!
So head on over to In Katrina’s Kitchen for the chocolte peanut butter goodness!
Candy canes and peppermint candies are a classic Christmas treats. These iconic candies were the inspiration for these “sweet” Christmas cookies. Traditional colors of red, white and green are the only colors needed to create a whole set of peppermint inspired cookies.
I added an extra little “twist” to these cookies, by starting with delicious Chocolate Sugar Cookies.
I used my Chocolate Rollout Cookie Recipe, then decorated the cookies with Peppermint Royal Icing (recipe below).
Peppermint Royal Icing
Peppermint extract adds a delicious twist to traditional royal icing.
Ingredients:
4 cups Powdered Sugar
5 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons warm water (filtered if possible)
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 tablespoon light corn syrup, optional
Directions:
Add powdered sugar to the bowl of your electric mixer. Add meringue powder, then mix for a few seconds on low.
Add warm water, one tablespoon at a time, while the mixer is running.
Add peppermint extract.
Add corn syrup (if desired).
Continue to mix, stoping the mixer to scrap down the sides of the bowl, if necessary.
Increase speed to medium/high and beat icing 1-2 minutes.
This recipe will give you a very thick icing. Add additional water as needed, depending on the project.
Keep icing covered (with plastic wrap) at all times.
Use smaller bowls to color icing, or thin down icing, as needed.
Recipe source- Glorious Treats
Make sure to use peppermint extract, not peppermint oil.
The addition of the corn syrup helps the finished icing from being too hard/crunchy. I have found that if I use Wilton meringue powder the corn sryup is not necessary, but I do like to use the corn syrup with CK brand meringue powder, which seems to dry a bit harder. The difference of using corn syrup or not is quite subtle. Some decorators also use a bit of corn syrup in their icing to increase the sheen in the finished, dry icing. I have never seen any big difference (from using it or not).
For decorating, I use the terms “outline consistency” and “medium/flood consistency”. Outline consistency icing should be thick, but not so thick it hurts your hand to squeeze out of the bag – about the thickness of traditional toothpaste. Medium/flood consistency should be just thin enough that it will flow and flatten, to fill in a given area – about the thickness/consistency of corn syrup.
Candy Cane Cookies ~
1. Using white (outline consistency) icing, outline the candy cane shape, then add stripes as desired. I like to plan that the white areas will be slightly larger than the red areas.
2. Fill in every other space with white (medium/flood consistency) icing.
3. If desired, immediately add a stripe of green icing onto the white areas. If you want you candy canes to only be white and red, simply skip this step.
4. After the white areas have set up a bit (30 minutes or so), fill in the open spaces with red (medium/flood consistency) icing.
Cupcake Cookies ~
1. Outline and fill in the base (the “cupcake liner”) of the cookie with desired color.
2. When the base area has set up a bit (30 minutes or so), fill in the top (“frosting” area) with white icing.
3. Add icing swirls with white (outline consistency) icing.
4. Immediately add sprinkles, by holding the cookie over a paper plate and sprinkle with desired sprinkles. If the bottom half (in this case the red area) is still wet, be careful not to get any sprinkles on that area. Add a large heart sprinkle on top, if desired. Add red detailing on the “cupcake liner” portion of the the cookie, as shown.
Peppermint Candy Cookie ~
1. Outline the design, as shown, using white (outline consistency) icing. I usually add a tiny white dot as I’m working, to remember which area will be white, and which will be red, so I make sure to create the right number of spaces.
2. Fill in every other space (as shown).
3. Immediately add a green stripe in the white areas.
4. After the white areas have set up a bit (30 minutes or so), fill in remaining spaces with red icing. Add a silver dragee in the center of the cookie (if desired).
Wrapped Peppermint Candy Cookie ~
1. Outline and flood cookie with white icing. Immediately, add lines of red, then green icing (as shown).
2.-5. Starting in the center of the cookie, drag a toothpick in a spiral motion, working your way to the outside edge of the “candy” area of the cookie (as shown).
6. When your icing has set a bit (30 minutes or so), add finished details with white icing, by outlining the shape, and adding little lines where the “wrapper” would be cinched together.
Once your cookies are decorated, I have several pretty packaging ideas HERE and HERE.
In additional to these Chocolate Peppermint Cookies, I have an extra treat for you today! I’ve teamed up with a few talented bakers and bloggers, who are also sharing cookie recipes and ideas today!
Follow the links below for more holiday cookies ideas!
Jenn | Hostess with the Mostess
Carrie | Half Baked :: The Cake Blog
Marian | Sweetopia
Kim | The TomKat Studio
Jessica | Pen N’ Paperflowers
This weekend my house was filled with the scent of gingerbread, and the sounds of 10 little girls having fun! We hosted a Gingerbread House Decorating Party for some of my daughter’s friends as a special way to kick off the Christmas season.
I asked each guest to bring a (store bought) gingerbread house to decorate, and we spent the afternoon decorating houses and enjoyed some treats.
Please enjoy our Gingerbread House Party…
I prepared a dessert table in traditional Christmas colors, and filled it with yummy treats.
Desserts included…
Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Gingerbread Cookies
Marshmallow Pops
and little treat boxes (from Tomkat Studio) filled with Hershey’s Kisses.
The party invitations (above) from Tomkat Studio set the theme for the party. I prepared little favor bags for each guest, which included a little notebook (from Michael’s), stickers and a pencil (in striped bags from Tomkat Studio).
I made a banner to hang above the dessert table using custom printables from Tomkat Studio. I added dimension to the banner using folded paper and a technique similar to the idea shown HERE from TomKat Studio.
I baked Chocolate Cupcakes in festive cupcake cups (similar available from Tomkat Studio or Shop Sweet Lulu), and dressed them up with gingerbread themed toppers from Tomkat Studio.
I made yummy Gingerbread Cookies and decorated them in the classic fashion, with red-hots (baked on) and a little accent of Royal Icing.
These Marshmallow Pops are super easy to make (just dip marshallows in chocolate and add sprinkles), and are so festive and delicious! I found the stripped pop sticks at Cost Plus World Market (this year).
Cute little boxes (a printable from Tomkat Studio) were filled with Hershey’s Kisses.
I made hot chocolate and hot apple cider, and had it simmering on the stove. The kid-sized gingerbread man mugs were a recent purchase from Crate and Barrel.
Although most gingerbread kits come with candy, I had lots of other pretty candies ready to choose from as well. Personalized favor bags (above) doubled as place cards.
It was so fun after all the planning and set up to just watch the little girls all have fun! Kids are so creative and are not handicaped by fear of imperfection (as so many of us adults are!). They all jumped right in, and decorated their houses from top to bottom!
They were so proud of their creations!
A few notes for hosting your own gingerbread house party…
In years past I have made gingerbread houses for each guest… that is a silly amount of work! Guests don’t seem to mind at all to be asked to bring their own house. I highly recommend to my guests to purchase a pre-assembed house, so the kids can get right to the decorating. Young children have a hard time paitiently holding up walls and waiting for their house to be set up before getting to the decorating. Costco usually sells pre-assembled houses for the same price as most stores sell the kits.
Although most gingerbread house kits come with frosting, I still make up the frosting myself (before the party), so it’s ready to go. I use my regular Royal Icing Recipe, and mix it to a nice thick consistency. For this party of 10 girls I made 8 or 9 bags of white royal icing, and 2 bags of red, 2 bags of green, and 2 bags of blue. It seemed to be a good amount so the girls didn’t have to wait for icing, and I didn’t have a ton left over either.
Party Details ~
All set up, styling, desserts and photos by (me) Glory Albin/ Glorious Treats
Invitaions and paper details from Tomkat Studio.
All other links to recipes and props are listed within the post.
