Slice & Bake Coconut Cookies (recipe as promised!)

I have been finding so many new recipes on Pinterest.

Yet I never seem to find the TIME to MAKE the recipes!

Well, being Christmas time...and baking season...

I decided it was time to not only make the traditional "stand-bys" but to try a few new things as well.

This one comes from www.bakingbites.com .

As promised by the original blogger, if you enjoy the taste of coconut, you'll love these!

Many people have a thing about the texture of coconut.

They don't like the texture, but like the flavor.

The great thing about these cookies is that you really don't even get the texture of the coconut.

All you get is the wonderful flavor!

So, without further ado...here is the promised recipe from Baking Bites.

Slice & Bake Coconut Cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup butter, soft

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Whisk together flour, paking powder and salt in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then add in the egg and vanilla. Beat until light and well combined, then beat in the coconut. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture.
Once all the flour has been mixed in, divide the dough into two parts, shape into logs (2-inches in diameter) and wrap tightly in parchment or wax paper. Freeze for at least 1-2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice cookies off the frozen logs with a sharp knife, making each cookie no more than 1/4-inch thick. Place on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are just lightly browned.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 2 dozen.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Thanks to Baking Bites for sharing this on your blog!

My family loves it!

Christmas Cookies 2012

I am "FINALLY" done with all of my baking orders for the holiday season!

Now I can concentrate on my family's cookies, LOL!

They've been waiting very patiently for theirs!

Just thought I'd share a sampling of what I've been working on.

The first photo is a cookie pop bouquet that I did for a client's daughter's preschool teacher.

I love doing bouquets!

 

 

This was a snowflake/mitten platter I did as a gift for a client.

I put together platters as gifts for all of my clients this year.

 

Some fun snowmen and snowflakes!

 

The finished platter!

 

A "Silver Bells" theme...

 

This platter was all stockings/candy canes!

 

This platter was a variety of Christmas tree shapes and sizes.

I also used little colored chocolate sprinkles as the lights on these trees.

I don't usually decorate much with "embellishments" but thought these would be a fun addition.

 

These reindeer were all over the internet this year so I had to try them out.

This was a repurposed gingerbread man cutter!

They were a lot of fun!

 

And lastly...I always like to do something non-conventional.

I enjoyed doing these "modern" trees.

Who says Christmas has to be green and red?

I'll probably be adding a few more Christmas goodies before the season ends...stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Cuppies!

I started my baking journey with cake decorating.

Yet somehow...

Last year, I got "sucked into" the COOKIE WORLD as I like to call it.

I have been baking and decorating more cookies than cakes and cupcakes.

So...

When I decided to make these Christmas cupcakes for my son's Christmas party at a friends house, it took a bit for my "cakey"skills to resume!

I did a chocolate cake and a classic buttercream icing.

I have a "bajillion" (is that a word?) Christmas sprinkles, so I had a blast hauling all of those out and decorating with those.

I asked my son how they tasted, and he said, "I don't know, I didn't get one!  They went too fast!"

Well, that made me feel good!

Guess the other kids liked them!  Ha!

Ninja Bread Men

 

This was a fun batch of cookies.

I did these for my nephew's birthday.

He loves Ninjago (did I spell that right?)...

So I decided to haul out the Ninja Bread cookie cutters that I won in a giveaway and had never used yet!

I won these cutters about a year ago or so and I can't believe I hadn't used them yet!

They were so much fun!

I looked up Chinese characters on Google to find some words I wanted to pipe on the cookies.

I hope I got them right!

The red circle cookie on the left is the number "9".

The white circle cookie in the center says, "Happy Birthday".

And the red circle cookie on the right says, "Logan".

...or at least I "HOPE" that's what they say, LOL!

Hope you enjoyed these Logan!

Fall Fun...

This was a fun batch of cookies.

I used my new favorite cookie recipe.
Then I used glaze to flood them.

Next I used royal icing to pipe the intricate details.

I had been wanting to try these fall trees for quite some time and they were much easier than I expected.  I also printed out some "thanksgiving" script to practice on my KopyKake.

"Practice" being the key word.

I'm still not that great at it...but it's fun practicing and learning the ins and outs of the KopyKake.

This batch of cookies brought me joy...mostly because I did them as a gift.

Any time I can give my cookies away...

It makes me happy.

I like to bless people with cookies.

I like to think...Cookies make people happy.

Dirt Bike Themed Birthday Cake!

This order came from a local friend of mine for her little guy's birthday!

I had never done a dirt bike theme, so I was a little nervous!

What I ended up going with was a simple 1/4 sheet cake.

Piped A LOT of green grass...

A dirt path with chocolate buttercream...

And some "hills" with "cake pop" mixture!

(crumbled cake and icing)

And for texture used cookie crumbs!

My friend gave it the finishing touch by adding the two little dirt bikes, as you can see in the first picture.

Happy birthday little one!



Awareness Cookies...

I got some new cookie cutters.

And as all "cookiers" will tell you...

When you get a new cutter...

You get the "itch".

YOU HAVE TO TRY IT OUT...

ASAP!!!

This "cookie" cutter...

Is not really a "cookie" cutter at all!

This is a "toast" cutter that I got from Copper Gifts!

I won a gift card and saw this toast cutter and KNEW I wanted this for...

Not toast...

But...

COOKIES!

I fell in love with the puzzle pieces knowing immediately I could make "Autism Awareness" cookies (like these).

My youngest son also suggested piping "pictures" on the cookies and they would become "puzzle"/picture cookies!

No matter what you use this cutter for, it's sure to find multiple uses in your kitchen!

I am LOVING IT!

I am LOVING this awareness ribbon cutter!

I won this in a giveaway and it will have MANY uses in the future, I just know it!

I used it this month for Breast Cancer Awareness Cookies!

Nothing fancy...I was in the mood for "sugar" sprinkled cookies when I made these and the "Autism Awareness" cookies above.

So I sprinkled sanding sugar on some and sugar crystals on others.

I love the extra "crunch" sugar gives cookies!

Sweet Ivy will now by offering "Awareness" cookies.

If you have a particular cause that you'd like to see cookies made for, let me know!

I'd love to work with you on creating cookies for your event!



Belated Halloween Cookies...

Better late than never!

That has become my motto with blogging lately.

Oh well, it's true!

Here are a few Halloween cookies I pumped out this season!

It's getting tougher and tougher to practice, because my three guys aren't big sugar cookie fans!

So who do I push off lovingly give my sugar cookies to when I practice?

Hehe!

My daycare kiddos LOVE my cookies!

And I LOVE to bake for them!

But...as we all know...one can't give too much sugar to little ones.

They tend to get a little hyper...

And not eat their healthy lunch...

So I have to watch how often I hand them out, LOL!

These I actually made specifically for them as Halloween treats.

We had a Halloween party with the daycare kiddos and I sent goodie bags home with each of them.

Instead of filling bags with candy, I sent a bag with 5 decorated cookies, Halloween pencils, rings, toys, glow bracelets, etc.

I think they were pretty happy.

And when I'm able to give away decorated cookies...

It spreads the word...about my baking...which is good for business!
Woohoo!

Milestone Birthday...For My Hunny!

I made a birthday cake for my hunny.

It was a milestone birthday.

Shhhhh...

I'm not allowed to say "which" milestone it was though, LOL!

But I will tell you the cake was good.

A moist yellow cake with lucious homemade chocolate buttercream.

Ummm...good!

Happy birthday hubby!

 

Lions and Tigers and...COOKIES...oh my!

Lions and Tigers and...COOKIES...oh my!

What a fun-filled sports themed cookie week it's been!

My hubby should be thrilled with the cookies that have been created this week!

His beloved Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers!

Although...none of them were for him, LOL!

The first order...the Detroit Lions football cookies were for a birthday order placed by a friend of mine for her son.

I have attempted the Lion on cakes before and even now that I have a KopyKake...it still creates challenges for me.

I told my hubby, "I think we in Michigan have THE most difficult mascot in the NFL!"

That dang Lion is a stinker to pipe!

I managed and I am by no means a pro, but I think he turned out ok.

I really hope my friend and her son are happy with them.

I always worry to death each time I make cookies for someone.

"Will they be happy with them?"
"Do they think they're pretty?"

"Are they what they expected?"

"Did I disapoint them?"
"Do they taste ok?"

Well...I suppose all one can do is their best...right?

My motto here at Sweet Ivy Confections is:

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Ecclesiastes 9:10

If one is doing their best...God will do the rest.

That's what Pastor Dalaba always told us!

They were a fun cookie to make!

Go Lions!

And...

HOW 'BOUT THOSE TIGERS?!?!

Can I get a holla???

World Series bound, eh?

Oh yeah!

What say you my fellow Michiganders?

Pretty awesome, huh?

These were even MORE fun to make due to the recent win!

We have friends coming up this weekend and they are Tiger fans as well, so I decided to make a platter for them.

I was pretty pleased with these.

Good luck Tigers!

You can do it!

Make us proud!

MSBOA Marching Band Festival Cookies 2012

Ok...so I'm a little behind on this post.

Bad, bad blogger...I know.

But better late than never!

I did these marching band themed cookies a couple weeks ago for my son's high school marching band festival.

The festival was once again hosted by our school and held at our stadium, so we provided a meal for the judges.

When our band director asked for volunteers to make the meal...I couldn't resist donating band themed cookies!

This was the first time I'd ever used these new cookie cutters!

I picked them up at Marshall's in Chicago during our Girl's Weekend Away with my mom, sister, and cousin back in July.

This baby was quite the challenge for me!

This emblem was DIFFICULT...and by no means perfect...but I thought it turned out decent.

A few trumpets and drums...

The whole collection!

...and with the leftover dough and icing...a few just for fun!

Amazing Autumn...

 Nothing excites me more than when the temperatures begin to drop!

I am an Autumn Girl...ALL THE WAY!

I don't like summer...I don't like hot weather.

My make-up runs, my hair goes flat, and I hate sweating.

Ok...enough griping.

I'm happy!

Fall is upon us!

And to celebrate, I HAD to do some autumn leaf cookies!

 If you read my "Awesome Apples" post...you read that we debuted a new recipe for our cookies and icing.  I made these leaves with that recipe as well.

These cookies (along with the apples) were not about "fancy"...I was going for "taste" when I made these.

It was completely about testing out that new recipe...which was a hit!

I can't wait until you try our cookies with this new recipe and hope you enjoy it as much as our family does!

We are running a fall special.

With each 2 dozen decorated cookies (or cake pops) ordered, receive 1/2 dozen FREE!

Sweet Ivy regrets that we cannot ship at this time.

We hope to hear from you soon!