12 Days of Christmas: white chocolate gingerbread men

Good morning friends. 'Hope you are following along with the fun. This post is my recipe for the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop over at: Ravenwood Whimzies. So, here we go: we will be baking White Chocolate Gingerbread Men. Let's get started...

Ingredients: * 1 3/4 cup of softened butter
* 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
* (2) 4 oz. bars of pure white chocolate baking bars. Not imitation white chocolate.
* 2 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 cup of flour
* 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
* 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
* 3/4 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
* Assorted holiday sprinkles, and if you want: cinnamon imperials
* Gingerbread man cookie cutter, metal or plastic
~Yields: approximately 12 gingerbread men~

*In a mixing bowl, add softened butter, brown sugar, and eggs. Beat well. Stir these ingredients into the mixing bowl.

*In a another bowl, add the flour, baking soda, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and the ground ginger. Stir into creamed mixture in other bowl. Let chill approx. 45 minutes.

*Roll mixture onto a floured surface, until it is approx. 1/8" thin.

*Cut with decorative gingerbread men cookie cutters. It's easier to work directly from the ungreased floured cookie sheet, carefully spooning the mix into the cutter, one at a time, filling each only half full. Filling too full (like I did) will make them kinda stocky, lol.

*Place (or leave) on ungreased cookie sheet, and cook at 325°F for 15 minutes. We use a gas stove, so if you are using an electric stove you may need to reduce the temperature a bit.

*Carefully remove each gingerbread man from sheet and cool on a wire rack for approx. one hour.

*Break the white chocolate bar into small chunks. Microwave-melt them on lowest setting for 15 seconds. Repeat twice. Remove and stir. Microwave for 10 more seconds on lowest setting. Take care and pay attention to not burn the white chocolate.

*Gently spread the warm melted white chocolate on the fronts of each gingerbread man. Before the white chocolate cools down, decorate the fronts with the cinnamon imperials (for the 2 eyes,optional) and the holiday sprinkles. What a fun time to be creative! The kids could even help with the sprinkles decorating. Plus, the kids get to sample the sweets first, lol.

I hope that you all will try this festive recipe. Our family loves them. And there's more: my Silver Bells Door Hanger tutorial.

Silver Bells Door Hanger

This is an easy-to-make holidays door hanger. There is very little sewing and some glue required. You will need the following supplies:

Supplies: * a 12"X 12" rectangle of snowflake print fabric
* a 6" X 12" piece of medium weight interfacing or fabric stabilizer
* some sewing thread
* some fabric glue
* 3 large silver bells

* Cut 2 rectangles from the snowflake fabric, 5 1/2" X 11" each. Cut one 5 1/2" X 11" rectangle from the interfacing or fabric stabilizer. Place the snowflake fabric pieces right sides together, with the interfacing or fabric stabilizer facing the wrong side of one snowflake print rectangles.
* Center close to the top and mark a circle 3" in diameter, as shown in the photo above.
* Machine sew around the 3" circle. Cut out around the inside of the sewn circle, about 1/4" from the stitching. Clip notches, being careful to not clip through the stitched circle.
* Turn the snowflake fabric rectangle that is not touching the interfacing or fabric stabilizer through the cut circle and press flat. Pin in place.

* Mark and trim the interfacing or fabric stabilizer to a bit smaller than the fabric edges, as shown in the photo above.

* One edge at a time, apply the glue around the edges of the interfacing or stabilizer and fold the fabric up over. Hold for a few seconds to ensure a good bond. See the photo above.
* Measure 3 horizontal marks on the front of the door hanger, from just below the center circle hole to near the door hanger's lower edge.
* Hand-tack the 3 silver bells to the front of the door hanger, and you are all finished! Hang on a door and enjoy the jingle. I hope you all like my holidays recipe and craft idea. Many thanks to Wendy of Ravenwood Whimzies for inviting me to join in on the fun celebration. Be sure to visit her blog to see all of the other fun in the: 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop.



Blessings, Danice G.