Pink Peppermint Melt-A-Ways

I love these cookies!  They are a peppermint-y tasting cookie.

I like how they look displayed in the center of the cookie platter.

Pink Peppermint Melt-A-Ways

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
15 drops red food coloring
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, for coating the cookies

1.)  In a medium size bowl, combine the flour and cornstarch, then set the bowl aside.

2.)  In a large bowl cream together until light and fluffy, the butter and the 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

3.)  Mix in the peppermint extract.

4.)  Gradually add the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, and mix well.

5.)  Thoroughly mix the food coloring into the cookie dough.

6.)  At this point, I refrigerate the cookie dough (in a bowl covered with aluminum foil), so the dough firms up enough to shape into dough balls.  This may take anywhere from 1-2 hours.  (I let mine set overnight in the refrigerator, and bake mine the next day when I have the time.)  I then let the dough sit on the counter (in the bowl covered with foil) for about an hour, before making the cookies.

7.)  When ready to bake the cookies, heat your oven to 350º F.   And in a shallow bowl, add the 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar.  Set the bowl aside (Use more powdered sugar if need be.)

8.)  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

9.)  Shape the cookie dough into 1-inch balls.  (I used a small cookie scoop which is equivalent to 1 tablespoon to make each cookie, then shape the cookie dough into 1" balls.)

10.)  Place the dough balls 2-inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheets.

11.)  Place baking sheets in the oven, and bake for about 13 minutes (until the bottoms of cookies are lightly brown) then remove from oven, and let cookies set 2 minutes on baking sheet before removing them to a wire rack.

12.)  Gently roll the warm cookies in the powdered sugar, then place the powdered coated cookies back on the wire racks.

13.)  Once the cookies have cooled slightly, gently roll them again in the powdered sugar, and place them back on the wire racks to finish cooling.

14.)  Makes approximately: 3 dozen cookies.

15.) Note: I had noticed after baking 2 sheets of cookies, the cookie dough was becoming soft, so I place the remaining cookie dough back in the refrigerator, so it could firm up a bit, then finished baking the cookies.  Also, once these cookies had cooled, I then place them in a container (such as Tupperware or Rubbermaid) and in the freezer, as these cookies do keep well if stored in the freezer. I then only take out a few cookies at a time when I want to serve them. 

I added another photo of the Pink Peppermint Melt-A-Ways,
which are surrounded by Snickerdoodle Blossoms,
plus (Red & Green Sugar Coated) Gingersnap Cookies.

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Pink Peppermint Melt-A-Ways | Just A Pinch Recipes

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Snickerdoodle Blossoms

I "love" chocolate and Snickerdoodle Cookies!  I get to combine the
cookie with a bit of chocolate.  Both cookie and chocolate make for
one scrumptious tasting cookie!



Snickerdoodle Blossoms

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
52 chocolate stars

1.)  In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, and the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.  Beat at medium speed until mixture is light and creamy.

2.)  Add the egg, vanilla extract and salt; continue beating until well mixed.

3.)  Add 1 cup of flour and the baking soda to the bowl, and beat on low speed until ingredients have been mixed together well.

4.)  Add the remaining cup of flour; beat on low speed until it has been thoroughly mixed together.

5.)  At this point you will need to refrigerate the dough (in a bowl covered with aluminum foil), so the dough firms up enough to shape into dough balls.  This may take anywhere from 1-2 hours.  (I let mine set overnight in the refrigerator, so I can bake mine the next day, and when I have the time.)  I then let the dough sit on the counter (in the bowl covered with foil) for an hour or two before making it into cookies.

6.)  When ready to bake the cookies, heat your oven to 350º F.  And in a shallow bowl, combine the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, and the Tablespoon of ground cinnamon.

7.)  Shape the cookie dough into 1-inch balls.  (I used a small cookie scoop which is equivalent to 1 tablespoon, to make each cookie, then shape the cookie dough into 1" balls.)

8.)  Roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture, then place them 2-inches apart onto either ungreased baking sheets, or baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  (I prefer to line my baking sheets with the parchment paper.)

9.)  Bake the dough balls for 10 minutes, and after removing baking sheet from the oven, immediately press 1 chocolate star in the center of each cookie.

10.)  Let the cookies sit for 1-minute on the baking sheet, then remove the cookies and place them on a wire rack to cool completely.

11.)  Makes: 52 cookies

12.) To store the cookies: I place the cooled cookies onto clean baking sheets in a single layer, then place the baking sheets in the freezer, until the chocolate star is firm.  I then place the cookies in a cookie tin or in a Tupperware container, and store the cookies in the freezer.  These cookies do keep well for quite sometime in the freezer. When ready to serve, just take out as many cookies as needed, and let them sit for a bit before serving.  (About 5 minutes.  Providing you can wait that long!)

-Snickerdoodle Blossoms | Just A Pinch Recipes-

Ziploc Bag Omelet

I use to prepare omelets in one of those omelet pans, but not anymore!  Preparing them in those quart-size Ziploc Freezer Bags, is so much easier, a lot quicker, and hearty enough for 1-serving.



Ziploc Bag Omelet

1 quart size Ziploc Freezer Bag

2 large eggs

A sprinkle (or two) of black pepper (See *Note)

1-1/2 to 2 slices of bacon, cooked & crumbled (See *Note)

1 Tablespoon diced onion

1 Tablespoon diced green bell peppers

2 or 3 Tablespoons of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

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1.)  Fill a large saucepan (half-way) with water, then bring water to a rolling boil.  (I used a 3-quart saucepan.)


2.)  While waiting for the water to come to a boil, crack the 2 eggs into the quart size Ziploc Freezer Bag.

3.)  Seal the bag, and mush the eggs by squeezing the bag.

4.)  Open the bag, add the black pepper, then add the bacon, onion, green peppers, and the cheese.  Mush the ingredients together.

5.)  Squeeze out as much of the air as you can, then seal the bag.

6.)  Place the bag into the pan of boiling water, and boil exactly for 14 minutes.  (After 7 minutes of cooking, I turn the baggie over.  I do this using a pair of tongs.)

7.)  Use tongs to remove the Ziploc bag from the boiling water, and place the bag onto a plate.

8.)  Unzip the bag, or use a pair of scissors, and carefully cut off the top of the bag.

9.)  Hold the two bottom corners of the baggie up over the plate, and let the omelet slide out onto the plate.  Season the omelet with a bit of the salt, if desired.

10.)  Yields: 1 serving (But if making 2 omelets, read the *Additional Note following the recipe.)

11.) *You can substitute McCormick's Hot Shots!  Black & Red Pepper Blend, or Lawry's Seasoned Pepper, for the black pepper.   Also, you can use a variety of ingredients to make the omelets, such as: Canadian bacon, chopped ham or chopped pepperoni, other cheeses, also diced red, yellow, or orange bell peppers.

12.) *Additional Note:  You can prepare 2 Ziploc Bag Omelets at the same time, but... by boiling them in a larger pot.  (I used a 5-quart Dutch Oven.)  Just be sure the pot you are using, is able to cook both baggies together, side-by-side.


........... A close-up picture of the omelet ...........

Ziploc Bag Omelet | Just A Pinch Recipes

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Caramel Krispie Bars

These are my all-time favorite marshmallow krispie bars!

Caramel Krispie Bars

2 (8 oz.) bags Kraft Jet-Puffed Caramel & Vanilla Swirled Marshmallows
1 stick of butter (8 Tablespoons)
8 cups Kellogg's Rice Krispies Cereal

1.)  Butter the inside of one 13x9x2-inch cake pan, then set the pan aside.

2.)  In a large stock-pot, melt the butter over very low heat.  (Whenever I make rice krispie bars, I use an 8-quart Teflon coated stock-pot.)

3.)  After the butter's melted in the pot, add the marshmallows, and stir until the marshmallows have completely melted.

4.)  Remove pot from the heat, add the cereal, and stir until the cereal is evenly coated with the marshmallow mixture.

5.)  Press the marshmallow/cereal mixture into the buttered pan.

6.)  Let bars sit for 2-3 hours, before cutting them.

7.)  Yields: 24 bars

Caramel Krispie Bars | Just A Pinch Recipes

Strawberry Lemonade 🍓 🍋

This is a great tasting strawberry lemonade!  For this recipe, I used my own strawberries, which I picked, sweetened with sugar, and then froze them to use later.



Strawberry Lemonade 🍓 🍋

1 (12-oz.) can frozen lemonade concentrate

4 -1/2 cups of water

1 (10-oz.) pkg. frozen sweetened strawberries, partially thawed

1.)  In a large pitcher mix together, the lemonade concentrate and the water.

2.)  Stir in the strawberries, then pour the mixture into a blender, and purée until mixture is liquefied.

3.)  Strain the lemonade twice, to remove excess seeds from the strawberries.

4.)  Rinse the pitcher, so there aren't any seeds from the strawberries in it, then pour the strained strawberry lemonade back into the pitcher.

5.)  To serve, pour strawberry lemonade in glasses filled with ice.

6.)  Yields: 56 ounces of delicious strawberry flavored lemonade!

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Strawberry Lemonade | Just A Pinch Recipes

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