Christmas Mice Shortbread Food

WHIPPED CHRISTMAS SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
• Add the butter to a bowl and using a hand-held mixer, whip until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes.
• Add the flour, corn starch, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla. Blend together until fully incorporated - about 2 minutes.
• Portion about 1 tablespoon of the dough (I used a small ice-cream type scoop to get even amounts of dough for each cookie.)
• Roll the dough into small balls and place on the lined baking sheet. Leave a good 2 inches of space between each ball.
• Next, dip a fork into confectioner's sugar to keep the dough from sticking to the fork, and push the fork down onto the ball to flatten the ball to 1/2 inch or so.
• Top the dough with sprinkles, candies, or nuts.
• Bake for 14 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.

CHRISTMAS MICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in 1 cup wafer crumbs and sour cream. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour or until firm enough to shape., Place remaining wafer crumbs in a shallow bowl. For each mouse, roll about 1 tablespoon crumb mixture into a ball; taper one end to resemble a mouse. Roll in wafer crumbs to coat. Attach nonpareils for eyes, sliced almonds for ears and licorice pieces for tails. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

MICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk to combine flour and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in extract, then egg. Reduce speed to low, and add one-third flour mixture. Gradually add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. Halve dough and shape into disks; wrap each in plastic, and chill 2 hours or up to 1 day.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll about 1 tablespoon of chilled dough between your palms to form 1 1/4-inch- to 1 1/2-inch-long oval shapes. Slightly elongate one side to form face. Gently pinch bridge of nose to form eye sockets. With a paring knife, make 2 small slits at top of each shape, for placement of ears. Place 2 sliced almonds into slits. Place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
• Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are light golden brown on bottom and around edges, and tips of ears are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks, and immediately insert a wooden skewer about 1/2 inch into mouse's rounded end. Remove skewer and insert curved length of licorice for tail. It should adhere to the still-warm cookie. Let cookies cool completely on wire racks.
• Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water. Turn off heat; keep chocolate warm until ready to use, stirring occasionally. Place melted chocolate in a parchment cone or a resealable plastic bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner. Pipe chocolate in tiny dots to form eyes and nose. Chill until chocolate is set, about 20 minutes. Cookies can be stored in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

CHRISTMAS MICE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• 1. Cover work area with pieces of waxed paper about 18 inches long.
• 2. Dry the cherries with paper towels being careful not to pull of the stems and set aside.
• 3. Place 2/3 cup of chips and the oil in a 6 ounce custard bowl and microwave uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 10 seconds or until chips are softened;remove from microwave and stir until smooth.
• 4. Hold 1 cherry by stem (mouse tail) and dip into melted chips, covering completely.
• 5. Immediately place them on shortbread triangles, with tail at 45 degree angle.
• 6. Plave 2 sliced almonds against front of cherry to form mouse ears. Repeat with remaining cherries, shortbread and almonds.
• 7. Using the remaining melted chips as glue and a tooth-pick to spread the melted chips, attach the flat side of a whole chip (flat side back) to the base of the almonds to form the mouse head.
• 8. Using melted chips as glue, attach a few shreds of coconut for whiskers and a cinnamon candy for the nose.
• 9. Let cool without moving 50 to 60 minutes or until melted chip mixture is firm and completely set.
• 10. Store in cool place up to one week. Decorate your cheese platter with them by placing them on shortbread triangles. But you can use other purchased or homemade flat-surfaced cookies for the bace of your mice decorations.

CHRISTMAS MOUSE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Cream together the butter and sugar in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
• Add cane sugar syrup and vanilla, mixing well.
• Add salt, cinnamon, flour, and black cocoa then mix into a stiff dough.

CHRISTMAS MICE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Cover work area with piece of waxed paper about 18 inches long. Dry cherries with paper towels.
• Place 2/3 cup chips and the oil in 6-ounce custard cup. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 10 seconds or until chips are softened; stir until smooth.
• Hold 1 cherry by stem (mouse tail), and dip into melted chips, covering completely. Immediately place on shortbread triangle, with tail at 45-degree angle. Place 2 of the sliced almonds against front of cherry to form mouse ears. Repeat with remaining cherries, shortbread and almonds.
• Using the remaining melted chips as glue and a toothpick to spread the melted chips, attach the flat side of a whole chip (flat side back) to the base of the almonds to form the mouse head. Using melted chips as glue, attach a few shreds of coconut for the whiskers and a cinnamon candy for the nose.
• Let cool without moving 50 to 60 minutes or until melted chip mixture is firm and completely set. Store in cool place up to 1 week.

MELT - IN - YOUR - MOUTH SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Whip butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and flour. Beat on low for one minute, then on high for 3 to 4 minutes. Drop cookies by spoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Watch that the edges don't brown too much. Cool on wire racks.

SHORTBREAD CHRISTMAS MICE

Steps:

• Place some waxed paper on your counter so you have a work area for the chaos about to unfold.
• Dry your cherries with a towel. Honestly people, this takes forever and a day.
• If you have bloody strength or patience left after the cherry incident from hell, you can now pop the candy melts in a microwave safe bowl. It takes about a minute to a minute and a half to melt these but check them every 15 seconds one you hit a minute. You've been warned. They go from cute and melty to hard rocks of lead quickly.
• Now if by some miracle you found cherries with stems you can use the stem to dunk them in the candy melts. If not use a spoon to swirl the cherry around in the bowl, then lift it out and transfer to a fork so most of the excess doesn't come with it. Place the covered cherries on the shortbread cookies. Then hope for the bloody best at this point.
• If you lucked out and your cherries were dry, you can now wait about 30 to 60 seconds, then pop the almonds on in a 45 degree angle so they look like ears. This will drive you to drink so have liquor handy while doing this step.
• Now take your white chocolate chips one at a time, dunk them backside really carefully in the extra melts just enough to get a sliver of melt on it, then stick the nose to the front in the middle of the almonds. Good luck, have that liquor handy once again. You'll need copious amounts of it. Ask the kids to leave the room. I can't be responsible for the words that will come out of your mouth at this stage.
• You can put a little red candy on the front for a nose. Good luck. I expect you want to punch me in the throat right about now. You're welcome.

CHRISTMAS MICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In electric mixer, add the butter and whip on high speed until fluffy. Add sugar slowly, then egg and almond extract and continue to mix an additional 2 minutes.
• In a separate bowl mix flour and salt.
• Slow mixer speed to low and slowly add flour mixture 1/3 at a time. Mix until uniform.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill an hour.
• Preheat over to 350 degrees. Roll dough into balls, tapering one end to form mouse shape.
• Pinch tapered end to form mouse's head and insert almonds for ears.
• Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Immediately upon removing from oven poke a hole in the bottom with a skewer or toothpick and insert twizzler "tail." Add mini chocolate chip for nose (it's important to do this when the mice are still very hot as the heat melts the chip to the cookie and adheres the tail as well.)
• Cool on cookie rack. When cookie is completely cook add "eyes" from frosting or melted chocolate with fine tip tip.

WHITE MICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter.
• Add sugar, flour and vanilla.
• Work with clean hands and nails.
• Add nuts.
• Use 1 1/2 teaspoons of dough (about the size of a regular marble) and shape into small mice (teardrop shape).
• Bake in a 350° oven for 10 minutes or until set.
• If you like larger mice, use 1 1/2 Tablespoons of dough (size of walnut or golf ball) Bake for 20 minutes.
• When cool, roll in powdered sugar.
• Baking time will be approximate, according to the size of the mice.
• Please watch your first batch and record the correct minutes for your size mice and oven temperature.

SHORTBREAD CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; with a pastry cutter, chop in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir the rum extract and almond extract into the water in a small bowl. Mix into the dry ingredients, a little bit at a time, until the mixture holds together in a ball when you squeeze it.
• Place the dough onto a floured work surface, and sprinkle with flour; roll out into a sheet 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes with floured cookie cutters, and place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Bake the cookies just until the edges are lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes. Allow to cool on sheets for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to finish cooling. Cool completely before decorating.
• For frosting, whisk the confectioners' sugar and milk in a bowl until smooth. If desired, divide frosting into small bowls, and tint each bowl a desired shade with food coloring. Frost fully cooled cookies, and sprinkle with edible glitter before the frosting sets.

CHOCOLATE CHRISTMAS MICE

Steps:

• Rinse cherries in cold water; pat dry with paper towels.
• Melt chocolate wafers in microwave according to package directions. Stir in vegetable oil to thin chocolate.
• Holding cherries by the stem, dip into melted chocolate; allow excess to drip. Place on one side of Oreo. Place Hershey's kiss on side of chocolate covered cherry opposite the stem. Hold for 10 seconds to allow to set.
• Drizzle a small amount of melted chocolate between Hershey's kiss and cherry. Place two sliced almonds between Hershey's kiss and cherry for the ears; hold for 10 seconds to allow to set.
• Using a toothpick, dab a small amount of melted chocolate on Hershey's kiss to place eyes and nose.
• Draw holly leaves with red berries in center on the other side of the Oreo with the red and green gel. (See Note 2)
• Store in airtight container. Yield 12 Chocolate Christmas Mice.

CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE COOKIES - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Line a cookie sheet with parchment or Silpat.
• Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Sift 1/3 c cocoa powder into the mixture and beat well. Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder, and add to mixture. (Optionally, combine everything in a food processor and mix until combined.).
• Form 1 tbsp sized balls. Place on cookie sheet at least 2" apart, pressing down into fat discs. (The dough will be very sticky; gloves may be a good idea.).
• Bake 15 minutes. The tops will develop a cracked appearance. Cool 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled. (Placing a sheet of newspaper under the rack will help catch drips in the next step.).
• For the topping, combine 2 tbsp cocoa powder with confectioner's sugar, boiling water and vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat and whisk until smooth. Cool 10 minutes.
• Drizzle 1 tbsp of glaze on each cookie, spreading lightly with the back of the spoon, then sprinkle with sprinkles or sanding sugar. Work with 6 cookies at a time so the glaze doesn't dry out before applying the sprinkles.