Friday, February 12, 2010

Oreo Balls


Oreo balls have become a necessity with all the girls in my office. All they want for Christmas is Oreo balls! Actually, any day is a good day to have an Oreo ball. This is probably the easiest recipe I have ever posted. You will not be disappointed!!!!!



1 container of Oreo Cookies
8 oz cream cheese
1 lb of white chocolate or milk chocolate (or buy a package of white candy coating)

Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder. With a mixer, blend cookie powder and cream cheese until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese). Roll into small balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Line cookie sheets with wax paper. In double boiler, melt chocolate. Dip balls and coat thoroughly. Place on wax-paper lined cookie sheet. Let cool in refrigerator. Store in airtight container, in refrigerator. Makes around 36 balls!

Pumpkin Scones


I am really bad at keeping up with my blog. It would have been much nicer if I would have posted this recipe around Thanksgiving, when people were really into pumpkin treats! Better late than never

These scones came from my friend Liesl. (You can check out her blog for more fabulous recipes!)



Pumpkin Spice Scones

1 C. all purpose flour
1 C. cake flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground ginger
6 T. unsalted butter
1/2 C. raisins (optional)
1/3 C. pumpkin puree
1/3 C. heavy cream
6 T. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get out a baking sheet and line with parchment paper (not required but makes cleanup easy!). Cut the butter into small pieces, put it in a small bowl and put it back in the refrigerator. In a medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, salt, and all spices. Whisk together well. Place bowl in freezer (refrigerator is fine if you have no room in freezer).

In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, heavy cream, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk together well. Put this bowl in freezer (or refrigerator) and take the other bowl back out. Get the butter pieces out of the fridge and dump them into the bowl with the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins if you are using them.

Get the liquid mixture out of the freezer and pour into the flour mixture all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is just moistened. The dough will be very crumbly, this is the way it should be. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and push the pile together with your hands. It should stick together fairly well. Knead it just a couple of times until everything is together. Don’t knead it too much or the dough will get too sticky.

Pat the dough out into a rough circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut it like a pie into 8 pieces. Place pieces on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Bake scones for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. They should be light brown on the bottom, the tops will darken as they cool.


Pumpkin Spice Icing
(recipe from Liesl)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
2 Tablespoons milk
Combine all ingredients in a small dish. Brush over cooled scones, allowing some icing to drizzle down the sides.