Gingerbread Peeps With A Little Gingy Cheesecake Bite

I baked you some gingerbread today :-)  I burnt the first batch though. The doodle was bopping all over the kitchen trying to snag his after school snack, and a cookie, the phone wouldn't stop ringing and Mr. UPS was delivering some Christmas presents that needed to go into hiding pronto. Poor cookies, never had a chance.  The next batch came out much better.  I decided to split the prepared bag mix up and do smaller portions of two different recipes.  Less work, better portion control, and I got to test a new recipe on a smaller scale to see if I liked it. Like would be an understatement, I am in LOVE with it. I cant wait to share! First though, here are a few gingerbread baking tips.

I start with my go to bag of Betty Crocker cookie mix. This premixed bag is a great way to save a few steps in the kitchen. You just add the wet ingredients and bake. They bake up fantastic and are super yummy. Make sure the butter is at room temp so it blends better, you get a tastier cookie that way too. 

When you have mixed according to bag directions lay two strips of wax paper down on the counter. Sprinkle with flour. Roll the mixed dough into a ball and place on the counter. I flatten it out a little with my hand and sprinkle it with flour then cover with a sheet of wax paper. Then I roll it out. The paper keeps the dough from sticking to the pin and the counter. Pull the wax paper from the dough and use a floured cookie cutter to cut out shapes. I use an off set spatula to lift the cookie from the paper to the cookie sheet. 

Once all of the cookies have been cut out and transferred to the sheet, I brush the cookie with just a wee little bit of water. It makes them bake up nice and fluffy with pretty edges. It also removes the some of the excess flour from rolling. Then you bake @ 375 for 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a cookie rack to cool. Frost when completely cool. My version of Royal Icing goes something like this, 3/4 cup powdered sugar and about 1/4 tsp milk and stir. You want it to be a stiff consistency. Add more milk or sugar to even out the consistency. Then load it into a ziplock, snip off the tip and ice away :-)

While parusing around Pintrest this week, I found some really awesome baking ideas to try out for this years holiday cookie plate. I found this delicious recipe for gingerbread cheesecake bites. They are so, so good! I can't wait to try them with Betty's pumpkin cookie mix too. I love a good pumpkin cheesecake bite. Who am I kidding, I just love a good cheesecake bite period :-)







You start by placing muffin cups into a mini muffin pan and then drop dough by rounded spoonfuls into paper cups.






Then use the back of a tablespoon to make a rounded indent into the dough. Dip it into flour every 3rd or 4th press to keep from sticking.

Squeeze in prepared cheesecake mixture, and then bake @ 375 for about 10-13 minutes or until done.







These gingerbread cheesecake bites are phenominal. They are creamy with a nice touch of spice, and are perfectly little bitty bite size too. I wish you all could taste them! If you are so inclined, give them a try, they are simple to make and are out of this world. Again, here is the link to the recipe.

On Friday I will have some very cool and unique ways to show you how to serve Jello Shots. I also have an delightful holiday cocktail that is a take on a tequila sunrise. It uses the new Smirinoff Whipped Vodka and looks just as good as it tastes :-) Until then,