Pampered Chef Party, Part 3

I meant to post this recipe for my friend JanMary days ago, but time got away from me!!

Classic Spritz Cookies (Pampered Chef Recipe) 
       
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine, softened (do not substitute vegetable oil spread)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (14 ounces)
Colored sugar or sprinkles (optional) 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In Classic Batter Bowl, beat butter on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar, egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour, 1 cup at a time; mix well. Dough will be soft; do not refrigerate.

2. Fill Cookie Press, fitted with disk of your choice, with dough using Medium Scoop. Press dough onto flat Baking Stone 1 inch apart. Decorate cookies with colored sugar or sprinkles, if desired.

3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until firm but not brown. Cool 2 minutes on flat Baking Stone; remove to Stackable Cooling Rack. Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: 6-7 dozen cookies. Nutrients per serving: (2 cookies): Calories 120, Total Fat 7 g, Sodium 70 mg, Fiber 0 g

Variation: Chocolate Spritz Cookies: Decrease flour to 3 cups. Increase sugar to 1 1/4 cups. Add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder to flour mixture. Proceed as recipe directs.

Note: this is a great recipe, but personally I use one of my grandma’s recipe’s for spritz cookies, because it is a bit more nostalgic for me :)! I will have to share that one sometime too!! I love the cookie press, I’ve used it many times. They are still selling the same one they had 5 years ago – so it must be perfection :)! The cookies in this photo that were made with the cookie press are the ones around the bottom of the Christmas tree. This photo is of Christmas cookies, but there are all kinds of different shapes that come with the cookie press, so you can use it for year-round cookie making. Hmm, maybe I will have to make some Valentine’s cookies this year!  

Today’s Product Pick:
The Medium Scoop:I use this handy tool every time I make cookies or muffins! It is great for scooping up the perfect amount of cookie dough to make drop cookies. And it is really helpful for adding muffin batter without spilling it all over the pan! And of course, as suggested by the recipe, it is great for loading the spritz cookie dough into the cookie press as well :). There are tons of great uses for this tool - so I highly recommend it!

Update: Thanks for your interest, but my Pampered Chef party is now finished. I hope you enjoyed the recipe :)!

You’re Invited to My Virtual Pampered Chef Party!

Update: Thanks for your interest, but my Pampered Chef party is now finished. I hope you enjoy the following recipe :)!

It’s been a long time since I hosted a Pampered Chef party - I think my last one was in 2004. A lot has changed around Pampered Chef since then, so I thought I was due for another party to stock up on all their awesome kitchen supplies!  One bad thing about not coming to the Pampered Chef Party in person is that you will miss out on the fun cooking show. But I’m going to try to make that up to you by sharing some information, recipes and photos from my own Pampered Chef collection!

Let’s start with a recipe, shall we? Here’s one of my favorites – it’s great for winter get-togethers. Actually, it’s great for anytime! When I told Chris I was planning a Pampered Chef party this was the first thing he thought of and he asked if we could have it soon :)!

Parmesan Rosemary Pinwheels (Wreath)

I shared another version of this recipe on my old blog. I’ve made it a few different ways, but I only have one photo. Sorry for the low quality, but you get the idea :). Once you pull this wreath out of the oven you have to snap a photo quick before the whole thing disappears! I used fresh rosemary and red bell peppers for decorations. It looks super cute and  smells really good too :)! The “berries” were made by cutting fresh bell peppers with the Creative Cutters.  I made the bow out of roasted red peppers (from a jar).

1 can (8 ounces) Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1/2 cup regular cream cheese spread
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
4 teaspoons snipped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon Pantry Rosemary Herb
Seasoning Mix

Preheat oven to 375°F. Separate dough into four rectangles on smooth side of Large Grooved Cutting Board. Press seams to seal.

Place cream cheese in Small Batter Bowl. Grate Parmesan cheese over batter bowl using Deluxe Cheese Grater. Snip rosemary using Kitchen Shears; add to cheese mixture. Mix well using Small Mix ‘N Scraper(R). Using Small Spreader, spread each rectangle with about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture to within 1/4 inch of edges.

Starting at short side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to seal. Cut each roll crosswise into six slices using Serrated Bread Knife for a total of 24 slices. Place slices, cut side down, on Large Round Stone. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack. Serve warm using Mini-Serving Spatula.

Yield: 24 pinwheels

Nutrients per serving: (1 pinwheel): Calories 60, Total Fat 4 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Carbohydrate 4 g, Protein 1 g, Sodium 105 mg, Fiber 0 g

Variation: Holiday Pinwheel Wreath: Double ingredients for pinwheels. Slice each roll into four slices for a total of 32 slices. Arrange 11 slices in a slightly overlapping circular pattern, leaving a 5-inch-diameter opening in center of baking stone. Arrange remaining slices outside of the first ring, slightly overlapping each other but not touching the first ring. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

My Product Picks:

I have many of the Pampered Chef tools used to make this recipe, but if I had to pick my top three favorites, they would be the ones listed below - although the Deluxe Cheese Grater came pretty close :)!

Kitchen Shears – I have the older ones that don’t look like this, and I LOVE them. I can’t imagine how they could have even improved on them, so the new ones must be fantastic! We use them almost every day for chopping Gabe’s food into bite-sized pieces. We also use them for trimming chicken pieces, opening packages – you name it! 

Small Batter Bowl – I use this all the time! I love that it has a handle which makes stirring so much easier, and that it’s clear, with the measure markers on the side. The best part about it is the lid – once you mix up your dip or whatever, you can just put the lid on and keep it in the fridge :)! You can even bake things in the oven with this bowl!

Mini-Serving Spatula - We use this thing constantly – especially for getting things out of the toaster oven. It’s the perfect size! Plus it’s nice enough for serving the wreath to party guests – take another look at the recipe photo :)!