#Do not put a sheet of cut out cookie dough shapes on top of a warm oven. They melt and deform.

[teyrnacousland]

Dragon Age: The Sugar Cookies

I also made Illario!

[kaleidoscopewritings19]

Bruce Wayne x Bat!Mom

Title: Please Come Home for Christmas

Warning(s): NONE

Character(s): Bruce Wayne, f!x reader/Batmom, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth

Prompts used are in bold and italicized; italicized paragraphs are flashbacks/memories; song used is Please Come Home For Christmas (words are in red/italicized.)

SONG CAN BE PLAYED AT THIS SYMBOL 🎵 and the song should end about the time the last verse has been typed out. Song will be linked at that music note for your convenience. But here’s the link to song

MY WORKS ARE NOT TO BE TRANSLATED OR POSTED ANYWHERE ELSE! ©️

______

Christmas was your favorite holiday; the Christmas lights, the ambiance, the decorations, and being surrounded by your family made you feel complete.

The boys were in charge of decorating the seven foot Christmas tree. It was the first year you and Bruce had decided to let them take over putting up the tree and decorating it. While the boys decorated the tree in the living room, you were in the kitchen baking sugar cookies with the assistance of Bruce, while Alfred instructed the boys.

Bruce was going through the box of cookie cutters, “Seriously? You have a Batman cookie cutter?” He asked and you smiled, while pouring the two of you a glass of wine. “Of course. I figured we could do a Batman Christmas themed cookie.” Bruce rolled his eyes, and found the ziploc bag full of the normal Christmas cookie cutters.

As the two of you rolled out the cookie dough and began cutting out the festive shapes, the boys could be heard arguing in the living room. You wiped your hands on your apron, and Bruce followed quietly behind you.

Jason and Dick were trying to pull the Christmas tree out of the box, with Damian instructing them. “You have to shimmy it!” He yelled at his two older brothers. “SHIMMY!…. SHIMMY!….. SHIMMY!!”

“SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!” Jason yelled. Alfred walked over to the credenza and poured himself a glass of bourbon before downing it in one gulp. Tim was in the corner testing the lights, and Damian turned to look over at you and Bruce. “Don’t we have people to do this?” He asked and Bruce shook his head.

“No. Since your mom and I got married, we always decorated the interior of the house. You don’t need hired help for everything, Damian.” He said, and Damian flung back on to the couch.

You walked over to the couch and ruffled Damian’s hair, “These type of things take time. Decorating is supposed to be fun, and not a chore. So c’mon. Get up. Dad and I can help get the tree out of the box.”

You and Bruce helped get the tree out of the box and then fluffed out the branches. “There, now all you boys have to do is decorate it.” You stood up from the floor, and the tone in the room seemed more bright.

Alfred walked over to the record player and put on an old Christmas record, “It wouldn’t be Christmas decorating if we didn’t have on a record.”

The boys agreed with him simultaneously, and then got to work sorting out the different ornaments. Bruce followed you back into the kitchen, and continued to cut out and bake the remainder of the cookie dough. When you had placed the last sheet of cookies into the oven, Bruce pressed a kiss to your lips. “I’ll be right back.”

You sipped from your glass of wine, and Bruce brought a smaller record player into the kitchen. He delicately placed a vinyl down, and music filled the kitchen.

The all too familiar tune of Please Come Home for Christmas filled your ears- the voices of the Eagles (one of your favorite bands) sang the first lyric. You smiled at Bruce, and he walked around the kitchen island.

He took the glass of wine from your hands and sat it down on the marble counter top. “May I have this dance, Mrs. Wayne?” He asked and you pulled his body into yours. “Always.”

He held your hips firmly and you wrapped your arms around his neck.

My baby’s gone, I have no friends

To wish me greetings once again..

His forehead leaned against yours, and the two of you swayed to the music. Unbeknownst to you, Alfred and the boys watched from the pass-through window, but the two of you were too lost in each other to notice. “Why are they dancing to a sad song?” Jason asked and Alfred watched the two of you in awe.

“Let me tell you a story.” Alfred started and the boys turned their attention to Alfred. “Your parents had married on December 15th— this year will be their 15th wedding anniversary. Your mum was 22 years of age and your father 25. They had decided they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.” The boys listened intently,

“Your father, had just become the Batman, and didn’t want to take a break from it. Even if it was taking time from them celebrating this new adventure in life. Your mum had left, because he decided that being Batman was far more important than staying home for a couple of weeks.”

You and Bruce had insisted on Alfred taking the night off so the two of you could celebrate your honeymoon, and decorate the Christmas tree alone. Bora Bora was the plan, but you had wanted to celebrate Christmas at home, and Bruce agreed. You were sitting on the floor next to Bruce as he opened a box of Christmas tree lights. “I don’t care what the box says, these lights are definitely not untangled.” Bruce mumbled, and you smiled.

“There’s glitter in my hair, on my clothes, and somehow, in my coffee. This is chaos.” You replied and Bruce pressed a kiss to your temple. “Well, you look hot covered in glitter.”

The two of you helped each other decorate the tree, and shared kisses in between. Wayne Manor was being filled with Christmas music, laughter, and lots of love.

The Christmas tree was big, bright, and beautiful. It lit up the entire room, and the fire crackling set the perfect ambiance. Bruce laid out blankets and pillows in front of the fireplace, and he convinced you that instead of sleeping in the bed, the two of you could sleep in front of the fireplace.

The two of you had fallen asleep in each other’s arms, wrapped up in nothing but the blankets. When you had woken up, your watch read 11:47 PM, and Bruce was no where to be found.

You had checked the bedroom, bathroom, the study, and even the garage. Then it had dawned on you; he was probably down in the batcave. You slipped on your silk robe, and pressed the keys on the piano, and the bookcase had opened, revealing the long, dark cave entrance.

The cool air nipped at your skin, and sure enough, there was Bruce on the platform in the middle of the water. He was pulling on his armor, and you started to walk across the short bridge; the sound of the waterfall covering the sounds of your feet.

“Bruce, what are you doing?” You asked and he jumped a little.

“Well, I decided to patrol. There’s a lot of criminal activity tonight.” He said as he turned around in the chair to face you.

You stepped in front of him; his hands traced up your bare leg, then pulling you closer to his body. You looked down at him, your fingers running through his hair, “I thought we had agreed that you wouldn’t patrol for two weeks. That we would enjoy our honeymoon, and Christmas together.”

He stood up from the chair and he sat his cowl on the desk. “It will just be tonight, baby.” He said as his fingers combed through your hair.

His eyes were your weakness, and he knew you would break underneath his gaze, “I promise it will just be for tonight.“ he whispered, and you loosened the tie to your robe, revealing your naked frame to him. A smirk worked its way across his face, and he pulled you closer to him, “When I get home, I’ll make it up to you Mrs. Wayne.”

Bruce pressed a kiss to your neck, and you sighed while covering up your body. “Fine. But only for tonight.”

But ‘only for tonight’ turned into a week. He went out every night that week, and you had decided enough was enough. One night, when Bruce had left, you packed a suitcase and booked a trip to London. If you were going to spend your honeymoon alone, you were going to have fun alone- in a different country.

“So your mum left the country and went to London. Your father, of course, did not notice she was gone until the afternoon of the next day.” Alfred stated, and he brought the boys to the living room to finish telling the story.

“Master B called me in a panic, and I came home straightaway. I feared that one of the adversaries had figured out who the Batman was, and took Miss Y/N.” Alfred pulled a piece a paper from the display books on the coffee table. “I found this note on this very coffee table, explaining where she was. Your father back then… He could be quite oblivious to these sort of things.”

~~~~~~~~~

Dearest Bruce,

I love you with all of my heart, but spending these nights alone made me realize that maybe I wasn’t meant to be the wife of the Batman. I married you, Bruce. I find it tough to share you with the people of Gotham. Deep down, I know this city needs you- desperately. But I need you too. I am going to London for the remainder of our honeymoon, and I promise I will come back to Gotham so we can sort all of this out.

With love,

Y/N

~~~~~~~~~

The boys passed the letter around, “Why didn’t she just stay and tell him?” Jason asked and Alfred shrugged his shoulders.

“Your father could hear words, but he never truly listened. They were young, Jason. Communicating is something that is learned throughout the course of marriage. It’s not always easy, and it takes two to learn, grow, and adapt with one another. Luckily, your parents worked through it, and learned.” Alfred stated and no one noticed you and Bruce standing in the doorway.

“Well, what happened next?” Tim asked and Bruce answered.

“When Alfred found the note, I read it. I realized I promised to take time off from Batman and spend time with my wife. And I didn’t keep that promise.” Bruce sat down in the recliner, and you sat down on the arm of the chair.

His hand rested on your lower back, “I didn’t know how to distribute my time- she was my girlfriend when I started Batman. She had her own life, and it wasn’t until after she left I realized that she gave up a part of her life to create one with me. She couldn’t do that alone.”

You turned to look at Bruce, “I went after her, and the entire trip there, all I could think about was the promise I made and didn’t keep. Most people wouldn’t see it as a big deal, but I made a commitment to you. A life long commitment- and if I didn’t keep my promise for those two weeks like you had asked, how would you ever trust my future promises, or the promises I made when we exchanged our vows?” He spoke to you directly now.

Bruce stared up into your eyes, and he pulled you down to his lap, and you wrapped your arms around his neck. “Going after you, was the best decision I ever made.” He pressed a kiss to your lips, and the boys made gagging sounds.

“Ew! Please stop!”

“Get a room!”

“Wait- what did them dancing to that sad song have anything to do with their marital problem?” Damian asked, and you turned to look at them.

You looked at Bruce for confirmation to finish the story. Bruce nodded and his cheeks turned red, “Well, I left the 22nd, and he didn’t find out where I was until the afternoon of the 23rd. Then it took him until the 24th to find pilots to fly the Wayne jet, and that night he arrived in London.” You smiled at Bruce. “So on the night of Christmas Eve, I decided to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. I wore my best dress, and strange enough, there was no one else in the dining hall. The lights were dimmed, and the waiter took me to a table in the middle of the room.”

Alfred took a seat on the couch, and smiled. “There was a candle, and two wine glasses and a bottle of my favorite red wine. I turned to the waiter and explained that it was just me, but he pushed my chair in and walked away.”

Bruce hid his face in your hair, “The stage lights turned on, and there was a group of men on the stage, and the opening notes to Please Come Home for Christmas started to play. 🎵

When my eyes had adjusted to these lights, lo and behold, the Eagles, were standing in front of me.”

“Bells will be ringin' the sad, sad news

Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues

My baby's gone, I have no friends

To wish me greetings once again”

You sat there in shock, and then through the corner of your eye, Bruce was standing at the edge of the stage. Slowly, you stood up and Bruce walked over to you; he was wearing his best suit and tie. All you could do was stare at him and then back at the stage, “You did this?” You asked and Bruce nodded.

“May I have this dance?” He asked and you gave him your hand.

Bruce pulled you into his body, his right hand held your waist, and his left hand met your right hand. You stared up into his eyes, and he leaned his forehead against yours. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, as he spun you out away from him, and then he pulled you back into his strong embrace. “I didn’t keep my promise. I feel terrible about it. But I feel even worse that it took you leaving for me to notice the broken promise.”

“Sure as the stars shine above

But this is Christmas, yes, Christmas, my dear

It’s the time of year to be with the one you love.”

“Will you forgive me, Y/N? There is no one else I would rather solve problems with, or experience life with. I only want you. Please come home for Christmas.” He whispered in your ear, and you pulled away from him.

All you could say was “Yes.” And Bruce’s hand held the back of your head as he pressed a kiss to your lips.

“There'll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain

And I'll be happy, happy once again.”

When he pulled away you pulled him back and pressed a long, needed kiss to his lips. “Thank you for coming after me.” You said against his lips, and then you smiled. “I guess there was a less dramatic way to discuss this. I’m sorry.”

Bruce shook his head, “Thank you for leaving. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have realized the error I made. I tend to hear, but not actually listen.” He said as he kissed your forehead.

“Ooh, there'll be no more sorrow, no grief and pain

And I'll be happy, Christmas once again.”

The final piano notes of the song played and you turned to Bruce, “How did you manage to get the Eagles to sing in a hotel restaurant? And why is there no one else here?” You asked and Bruce smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I bought the restaurant. And as for them, I bought out an entire concert to get them here, plus some since it was Christmas.”

Bruce pulled you into a hug, and he waved for the band to play the song again.

_________

“He paid a for an entire concert? To play one song?” Dick asked and you smiled.

“No, they played their whole set list, and we had dinner with them. But it was after all of that, that meant the most to me.” You said as you looked at Bruce.”

“Ew, mom, we don’t want to hear this.” Jason said as he buried his face into a throw pillow. “Not that, Jason.” You stood up and picked up a small Big Ben ornament. Bruce stood up and followed you to tree, and his hand wrapped around yours, and he helped place the ornament on a branch in the middle.

“The clock is set to the time that your father and I kissed at our wedding, after saying I do.” You said and Bruce pulled you into a hug.

The boys surrounded the two of you, and even Alfred joined in on the hug. “So that’s why we take off from December 15th until the 29th.” Tim said and you smiled.

“Unless Gotham is in dire need of its Dark Knight. I too, have learned sometimes the city needs him more than I need him. But he somehow manages to be there for both.” You say, and Bruce pulls you into another breath taking kiss.

“Shall we go ahead and take our annual Christmas photo?” Alfred asks and you smile.

All of you gathered around the tree, and Alfred set the camera’s timer. He raced over and straightened out his suit and tie, “Everyone say SHIMMY!” Alfred shouted and everyone burst into laughter.

“SHIMMY!” Everyone exclaimed and the camera flash went off. In the photo, Damian’s mouth was agape, and he looked over at Jason who was laughing.

Then the fire alarm started blaring in the kitchen, “THE COOKIES!” You and Bruce screamed, and the two of you raced into the kitchen.

Bruce opened the smoke filled oven, and pulled out the cookie sheet with a dish towel. He dropped the pan into the sink, and after the smoke had cleared, everyone had a clear view of the cookies.

They were completely burned. All everyone could do was laugh, “They’re cookies are as hard as hockey pucks!” Jason said as he banged them in the counter. “I wonder if a bullet would go through them?” He asked out loud.

Bruce pulled you into his body and pressed a kiss to your lips. After what Jason had said processed, you looked at him, “Don’t you even think about it! No guns in the kitchen, and not shooting at the cookies!”

That night after cleaning the kitchen, the seven of you sat in the living room enjoying sugar cookies in front of the fireplace, and enjoying the view of the tree, all while playing some Wayne Family Christmas Games.

The End!

Authors Note:

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! Comments, likes, and reblog are always appreciated. Please let me know what you thought!

xoxo

[lvrhughes]

Cookies | F. Minten

pairing: Fraser Minten x fem!reader

word count: 0.98k

summary: Baking cookies with Fraser

warnings: none

requested: no

not my gif!

The house smelt of warm cinnamon, one of the better byproducts of baking. The kitchen was warm, bits of flour covering the counters as you swayed around the kitchen, soft music playing in the background. The door opened quietly, allowing Fraser to slip in unnoticed while you were turned, working on the cookies. 

“What’re you doing, baby?” His arms wrapped around your waist, feeling you jump at the unexpected contact before you relaxed into his hold. 

“Making cookies, you want to help?” 

You turned in his hold, ignoring the mixing bowl of ingredients on the counter for another moment, pressing a chaste kiss to the tip of his nose, watching the way his face scrunched up with a smile at the contact. 

He leaned down quickly, pressing a more urgent kiss to your lips, his hands holding your hips against his as he melted into you, letting your hands thread through his hair as you got lost in the moment. 

“You know, me and baking don’t really mix.” Fraser spoke, his forehead rest against yours as he pulled back, his grip keeping you tight against him. 

“I’ll help, you just do little things.” You smiled, hands grabbing his forearms to pull his grip from you, turning back to the bowl as he stood. 

Your movements were precise, measuring the correct ingredients with amazing accuracy, all whilst Fraser stood behind you, his head resting on your shoulder as you worked. 

“Fras, can you get the flour from the cupboard?” 

He nodded, moving slowly across the kitchen to grab your desired ingredient. Bringing it back to you with ease, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head as he passed the container to you. 

“Thank you baby.” 

He nodded at the words, his head resting against your shoulder again, his hands wrapped around your waist while you worked. Mixing the ingredients slowly, ensuring that none of the ingredients would send a poof of them onto your roof. 

“Do you want to help cut them out?” you turned in his hold again, facing him while the stand mixer did the work for you. 

“What do I do?” 

“Just choose the cookie cutter and use it, I’ll do the rest.” 

He nodded, keeping his hands along your waist as he leaned down to kiss you once more, before you pushed him back with a smile, returning to the cookie dough. 

“I’ll roll it out for you, you just cut the shapes and put them on the pan.” you instructed, showing Fraser where you had the cookie cutters lined up and the ready for use cookie sheet. 

“Got it.” he smiled, a sheepish one as if he were scared of messing up. 

“You got this, Fras.” you smiled back, assuring his confidence. 

You rolled the dough on the counter, keeping an even width for him to work with before signaling for him to come to the dough.

Watching him grab a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter off the counter as he walked over, sliding beside you to work. He moved quickly, pressing the cutter down into the corner of the dough, creating the perfect pumpkin shape before gently picking it up and placing it on the cookie sheet. Slowly you walked around him, grabbing another cookie cutter off the counter before rejoining him, working beside him before you ran out of dough. 

“What now?” 

“Let me roll it again, we can make more.” you spoke softly, gathering the scraps of dough left on the counter into a ball. 

“Or we could eat it?” Fraser suggested, a sly smile on his face as he reached towards the ball you held, stealing a chunk off the top. 

You laughed at his antics, nodding with him before repeating that it could be eaten. Laying the ball down on the counter for Fraser as you moved around him to the oven, sliding the pan in and setting the timer before returning. Watching Fraser shove the dough in his mouth, pulling a piece off for you once he saw your figure approaching again. 

“Let’s go watch a movie while they bake.” 

You led him to the living room, falling down onto the couch after you held the remote, Fraser’s arms wrapping around your torso to pull your body onto his. 

“What should we watch?” 

Fraser shrugged at the question, tugging your body tighter against his instead whilst you looked through the variety of movies that filled Netflix. Picking Gilmore Girls to fill the silence, you melted back against Fraser, letting his body warm yours as you watched. 

The timer went off shortly, urging you to softly move Fraser’s arms from around you, trying to keep the boy asleep as you moved towards the oven. 

“Where’d you go?” Sleep filled his voice as he awoke to your figure being gone, sitting up slowly to rub his eyes as you answered back. 

“Getting the cookies out, Fras, I’ll come right back.” 

You couldn’t see, but he nodded at the words, lying back into the couch, waiting for your body against his again. When you did return, he held his arms out, waiting for you to lay down so he could hold you again. Letting his body fall back into sleep as you laid against him, letting your body follow in suit now that the day's baking was finished. 

By ten o’clock both of you were asleep on the couch, the show playing gently in the background whilst Fraser held your body against his to sleep, the cookies left on the counter to cool. The other treats from earlier in the day, whilst Fraser was at practice, properly put away and the ingredients stored, the dishes filled the sink but that’d be tomorrow’s problem, for now you’d sleep with Fraser on the couch until he’d wake up in the middle of the night, gently moving you to your room whilst shutting off the television and the lights.

[love-takes-work]

Teabag Cookies

Amethyst routinely eats used teabags. This is not good for humans, but if you wanna be like her, how about making your own edible teabags (well, as chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies)? Read on. . . .

See more SU food tutorials!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon tea, any flavor you like

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup fine granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate pieces (to be melted)

Directions:

Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to whip the butter on medium speed until it is fluffy; it will take about 3 minutes. You can use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a little dish, stir together the tea and sugar. (Variation idea: If you want to make different flavors with different tea, you can half the ingredients and make separate batches.)

Whip the sugar mixture into the butter mixture, and once it's fully incorporated, add the vanilla extract.

Then add in the flour and salt. You will want to turn off the mixer, fold it in with the spatula a bit, and then use a low speed to complete mixing it in. Don't overmix; you want this to be evenly mixed together but no more.

Flatten the dough into a disc. Wrap it up in plastic wrap or a reusable refrigerator wrap, and chill it in the fridge for 1 hour or more.

Once the chilling is complete, prepare a clean floured surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin to about half a centimeter/a quarter of an inch. Try to get it into a nice rectangle shape.

Using a nice sharp knife that makes clean cuts (or a pizza cutter), cut into nice little rectangles.

Use a spatula to lift the rectangles onto baking sheets lined with baking parchment. Space them with about a centimeter between them.

Then use the knife to chop two ends off each rectangle so they will be shaped like teabags.

Use a straw to punch a nice hole in each--not too close to the top. Make sure each hole goes all the way through.

Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes. This will help them retain their shape and not let the hole close up too quickly; they will start to harden as they cook in the oven before the butter in them melts if they start cold.

While waiting for the cookies to chill, you can preheat the oven to 340º F / 170º C. When ready to bake, use the middle rack only (do two baking batches). Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes and do not let them get brown--they should remain tan.

Cool on wire racks. Once the cookies are totally cooled, you can dip them. Use a double boiler to melt your chocolate pieces, stirring with a spatula to help combine lumps.

Dip the cookies halfway in to coat them with chocolate, and then put them back on their parchment to settle. You should chill the cookies again to help the chocolate solidify.

Now, for the strings (which really make the effect!), if you are already a tea-drinker you can save up tea strings and tags from other teabags you've used. This is especially cool if you are varying the flavors of the tea in the cookies and you can include matching tags. . . .

But if you don't drink tea, don't want to wait to collect tea strings, or just want to make your own, you can use dental floss for the strings and folded-over address labels as tags.

If you are serving these at a little tea party or at a gathering, you can always decorate these tags with names, symbols, stickers, or messages!

When you're ready to put it all together, just loop each string through the cookie holes and tie them.

It's pretty much required that you serve them on adorable dishware with dainty cups, right? They are perfect for dunking in tea!

Or you could just unceremoniously chomp them down, like a certain Gem we know!

See more SU food tutorials!

[bakingtherapy]

Briella’s Winterfest Baking 6:  Scotch Shortbread Cookies

Sul Sul, Gerbits! I found this recipe in Betty Crocker’s 1979 Version of the Cooky Book. I honestly love that cookbook. Because the recipes are simple and easy to understand. Some of the “newer” cookbooks are hard to understand. But not this one. 

The first thing you are going to do is get your ingredients together. Which are:

butter,

sugar

all-purpose flour

These last two recipes use very basic ingredients and I think because of that people are more inclined to like them. 

*smirks at the camera* Having said that though, you are going to make sure that you are doing some exercises. So the butter doesn’t get to your thighs. But, we will love you any shape you are. I definitely am not a size 2, and I love it.  

Gerbits, mix the butter and sugar thoroughly, measure flour sifting, and you are going to work the flour with your hands. You know you are done, when it looks like a gram cracker crust. You want to chill the dough for a little bit. 

The recipe doesn’t call for any flavoring. However, I chopped up a small peppermint candy and added a little peppermint extract.

Your oven should be on at 350 degrees F. Roll dough, and cut them into fancy shapes. Place the dough on ungreased baking sheets. You should bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.  One thing you should note is the tops do not brown. 

These cookies are rather flavorless, so I decided to put some icing on it. To make the icing, combine powdered sugar and milk. You can add food coloring to make these cookies festive. 

These cookies are going to be very messy. But overall these cookies are good. 

I called over my parents to have them try these cookies. And my dad said that these

were his favorite out of all the cookies that were in the refrigerator. Mom looked at him and said, “Really, Andrew, you like any type of sweets.” We all laughed at that because dad is always the one who needs sugar. 

I will be going to Selvadorada; tomorrow. That does not mean that I am going to stop uploading. The upload time however is going to be different. Not that the upload time is ever the same now, but hey *laughs.” Vadish, Dag Dag!

Show the original author some 💖💖💖 Betty Crocker Cooky Book

Printable version of this recipe: on the blog

Feel free to support me on:

Patreon / Kofi / Facebook / Pinterest

[aheckinmess]

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

(Part 10 of The Snowball Effect)

Read on AO3.

Tags: Enji Todoroki, Endeavor, Female Reader, Endeavor x Reader, Enji Todoroki x Reader, Christmas Special, Soft Enji, Spicy Enji, Baking Cookies Together, Some Innuendo, A Little Flirting, Reader Lets Enji Do Her Grunt Work, It's That Time of the School Year, You Just Want Your Kids to Have a Sweet Treat, Help Them to Make It to Winter Break

Word Count: 747 words

Summary: In the season of holiday cheer, going to school takes a toll when you're anticipating a much needed winter break. So, you decide to make some sugary treats for your family to enjoy when they get home.

Playlist: The Snowball Effect

December 10

With about a week and half left of school, you make the executive decision to help your kids tackle the last leg of the school semester by surprising them with sweet treats for the coming week ahead.

After all, you were a kid once. The smell of peppermint and gingerbread from a small classroom would fill your nostrils with Christmas cheer; your mouth would water in anticipation for candy canes and cupcakes and cookies signaling the impending end of the semester. 

So here you are, mixing together a homemade dough and cutting it in half. One side gets a helping of red food dye while the other remains untouched. Some careful planning and you’ve rolled both doughs together into a candy cane pinwheel. On another baking sheet, you throw in some gingerbread cookies. 

After several moments, Enji’s drawn into the kitchen from the office by the smell of Christmas.

“Gingerbread and…” He sniffs the air once more before carding his fingers through your hair. “Peppermint?”

“Yep! I’m making peppermint pinwheels.”

“Mmm, the kids will enjoy that.” His hands rest on your waist while his head rests on your shoulder. “You’re such a good mother.” He kisses your neck before whispering. “You make me want to put another baby inside you.”

“Enji Todoroki!” You squeal, smacking his arm and going red in the face. Then it hits you: the kids aren’t due home for another hour. So you lean up to whisper back, “Do it, coward.”

Challenge dances in his eyes before the oven beeps and you smirk. 

“Later.” He promises, reluctantly releasing you from his grip to let you take the cookies out of the oven.

“Well, since we’re talking about putting buns in the oven, why don’t you help me make some regular chocolate chip cookies to add to this mix of deliciousness? I had more time than I thought.” You suggest as you set the pans on top of the stove.

“I’ve never made cookies before.” Enji says.

“Well, there’s no better time to learn!” You encourage, before setting out a handful of ingredients after digging out your cookie recipe from the recipe box. While Enji washes his hands, you do the honors of measuring out the ingredients for him. “Add these sugars and the melted butter into this and mix it, hot stuff.”

“Oh? Giving me the grunt work, yeah?” 

“I’ve been mixing ingredients all afternoon. I think I’ve earned a little break.” You crinkle your nose at him. “Now, mix in the eggs and vanilla when you’re done. The worst is yet to come.”

“That’s encouraging.” He huffs, following your instruction.

You scavenge for the cookie cutters while he mixes. Whenever he’s done, you point to the flour. “Five cups of flour and two teaspoons of baking soda. Have fun.”

Enji rolls his eyes. He makes a living lifting and moving things much more difficult that a mixing spoon through thick dough. He makes it look easy. Throw in some chocolate chips and they’re ready to be spooned onto a baking sheet.

“I don’t think I’ve ever made cookies so quickly!” You hug his arm as you pull out the shaped metal. “Now we have to roll out the dough on the sheet for some fun shapes.”

“Shapes? Why not just regular cookie shapes?” 

“Because it’s Christmas time! When else am I going to use my Santa and reindeer cookie cutters?” You snort, reaching up to boop his nose.

“Alright, alright.” Between the two of you, shaping the cookies with the cutters doesn’t take much time. “How long do we put them in for?” 

“About twelve to fifteen minutes. Just long enough to taste one of the gingerbread and peppermint cookies!” You giggle. “Which would you like to try first?”

“The gingerbread, I’d like to end on a mintier flavor.” Enji holds his hand out for the little gingerbread man you offer him without the need to wait for it to cool like you do. “Mmm, Wife, you are an excellent cook.” He kisses the side of your lips just to leave a crummy little mark on the corner of your mouth. He hands you his half of gingerbread while you offer the other half of your peppermint cookie. 

You feed each other and harmonize hums of satisfaction.

Later, when the kids rush in from school and the buzzer goes off for the chocolate chip cookies, Enji sneaks one off the baking sheet so he can be the first one to taste them.

Day 11

Credit to @saradika-graphics for the holiday banner! Thank you so much!

[alex51324]

I'm doing some planning for Baking Week, so I thought this was a good time to remind people about my cookie book.

(It's a a Google doc, but I call it a book to be fancy.)

At Christmas time, I bake 2-3 batches of cookies a day in the week leading up to Christmas, to share at my family's big gathering at my grandmother's house on Christmas.

In 2020, we of course did not have the big gathering, so I wrote up a bunch of my usual recipes to give out virtually. I updated the book a little bit last year, adding one new recipe and correcting a couple of errors. There's nothing new this year, but it's still there, with about two dozen recipes, including a couple for vegan and gluten-free diets, and a couple for dogs.

It says Christmas Cookie Book at the top because that's what my family celebrates and when I bake them, but they're mostly all-occasion cookies. I'm always making them for a crowd--in addition to platters for the party, I also do take-home bags for about 10 or 12 households, depending on who shows up--so I gravitate toward recipes that make a substantial batch and aren't especially fussy.

See below the cut for the recipe for my favorite walnut cookies!

Walnut Balls

This recipe makes a truly massive amount of cookies.  Even when I’m baking for everybody, I usually do a ¾ batch—those amounts are shown in parentheses.  Of course, you can also halve the recipe, but I think you can figure out the math on that one yourself! 

The original recipe for this cookie is a thumbprint cookie: you poke a little depression into the top of each ball before baking, and then after baking, fill it with icing or jam.  You can do that if you want—I make them plain because I like them better that way.

4 sticks butter (3 sticks)

2 cups brown sugar (1 ½ cups)

4 eggs, separated into whites and yolks (3 eggs)

2 teaspoons vanilla (1 ½ tsp)

4 cups flour (3 cups)

1 teaspoon salt (3/4 tsp)

1 pound walnut meats, finely chopped (3/4 pound)

Note:  If you have a food processor, use that to chop the walnuts.  You want them about as finely chopped as you can get them—like, just a little chunkier than cornmeal.

1. In a big mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar. 

2. Add egg yolks and vanilla.  Beat until creamy.  (Put the egg whites in the refrigerator for now.)

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. 

4. Add dry ingredients to the big bowl.  It works best to do it in 3 or 4 batches, mixing after each addition.  (2 or 3 batches if you’re doing a smaller recipe)

5. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for several hours.  (I sometimes shape it into logs first, which makes the shaping step a little easier, but you can also just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge.) 

6. When your dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  The walnut-and-egg-white coating on these can get messy, so it’s a good idea to line the baking sheets with parchment if you have some.   You may also want to put down a dish towel or some plastic wrap/wax paper on your work area. 

7. Get your egg whites back out, and beat them until they start to get a little foamy.  A mixer with a whisk attachment is best for this; any other mixer is second-best.  If you don’t have a mixer, you will get a workout. 

8. Get the dough out.  Shape it into balls about 1 inch in diameter. 

9. Dip each ball into the beaten egg whites, rolling it around to make sure it’s totally covered.  (I usually have the egg whites in a smallish mixing bowl, and I put about half a dozen dough-balls in at a time, and swirl the bowl around to coat them.)

10.                          Roll each ball in the finely-chopped walnuts, pressing firmly to make sure they stick.  (I usually have the walnuts in a shallow dish like a salad plate.  I’ll put several dough-balls in there and heap the walnuts on top of them, then squeeze as I pick them up to put them on the baking sheet.)

11.                         Place the dough balls on your baking sheet.  These don’t spread out much, so they don’t have to be far apart—an inch is plenty.

12.                          Bake for 10-11 minutes, then set out to cool.

[jegaphone]

My dear friend @thievinghippo requested my methods for baking bread, and I will so happily oblige! I jumped on the sourdough wagon in 2020, and honestly it's WAY harder to work with than just regular yeasted dough. If you've struggled with sourdough, try a non-sourdough recipe before getting discouraged. That being said, I love my sourdough starter for a ton of stuff outside of loaves. (Loaves too, but only when I'm in the mood for a big project.)

I do recommend using a stand mixer. You can knead by hand, people have done it for thousands of years, but I personally hate getting sticky dough on my hands, and it's soooo much easier in a mixer. A good one is a bit pricey, but I've had my KitchenAid for over 20 years and it's still as good as new.

In a large bowl mix together 1 tbsp active dry yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp salt, and 2 cups barely-warm water. Let this stand until the yeast is dissolved, just a few minutes.

Gradually add 5 to 6 cups of all purpose flour a half cup at a time to the liquid, while mixing thoroughly. Stop adding flour when the dough is still pliable but becomes less sticky. This is the hardest part I think, it takes some trial and error. Worst case scenario the dough will be a little wet and harder to work with, or a little tough and dense. Still edible! All flours have different hydration levels, and I think yeasted dough in general is a little haunted, so it varies a bit every time.

Knead (using a dough hook if you have a stand mixer) for 5 minutes. Let it rest for a few minutes, then knead again for 5 more minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl, and cover it with a slightly damp towel and keep it warm (I put mine in the oven with the light on) until it doubles in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and briefly knead out any air bubbles. Cut the dough in half and shape it into two oblong loaves on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Alternately, I've also made this in loaf pans (also oiled). It comes out with less of a crust and can be a little dense, but it makes the shape more of a sure thing if you're worried about that. Either way, let the loaves rest and rise for 45 minutes.

Place an oven-safe pan on the bottom of the oven, and fill it a couple inches deep with water. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Lightly slash the tops of the loaves a few times diagonally, and put them in the oven for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 400 and bake for another 10 minutes.

BOOM! You now have delicious fresh bread. But... sometimes I want something bready with a meal and don't want to plan 4 hours ahead. Good news! This is a great time to pull out the sourdough starter, and you won't even need a mixer. Super easy to do fully by hand, and you'll have bread for two or three folks within 15 minutes. This recipe is straight from the King Arthur website, with a couple small adjustments.

Mix 1 cup unfed sourdough starter, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

Heat a pan or griddle to about 300 degrees F, or medium low on your average stovetop. If you have a set of rings like you'd use to make English muffins, you can grease them up and use them, but you can also just do these freeform.

If you use rings, place a small pat of butter (like 1/2 tablespoon) in each. Otherwise, just dot the butter spaced out on your pan/griddle. When it's melted, spoon out a few tablespoons of batter into each ring/spot.

When the tops begin bubbling, usually just a few minutes, remove the rings (if using) and flip. Cook for a couple minutes more.

Astonishingly tasty crumpets. Every time I make these it feels like magic. Chomp right into them or split them to admire the nooks and crannies. Never want for carbs again!

[dandelionsfluff]

Sugar

I did not come up with this recipe; it's from Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network's website (the parentheses are mine).

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon milk

Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat(w/ paddle attachment) until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

1 hour, 50 minutes later....

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

3. Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment(my preference), or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

These cookies are delicious! I make them with my children for my son's birthday. I've forgotten to give myself time for the TWO HOURS of chill time, so I put them in the freezer for, like, 30min and they were good to go; so don't sweat it if you find yourself in that same predicament. I've also adapted them into lemon cookies and orange cookies, but the first time I did it was lemon and either the lemon crystals I used were salty or I messed up on the salt measurement (not the first time THAT'S happened), but I served them to kids who were decorating the cookies themselves, which means LOADS of sugar...so I think that actually worked out in a good balance, and don't sweat it if you find yourself in that same situation, too. I have since used lemon oil and lemon zest, and orange extract and ground dried orange peel to delicious effects - but I don't have any measurements for you, because I'm one of those people who just wing it when I feel like I can get away with doing so. It's just mathematics - the potency of whatever you're adding multiplied by the amount of dish(/dough) it has to flavor equals how much you should put in.

[matthew-gray-gubler-lover]

October 14th: Halloween Cookies

Today, Matthew and I are making cookies for Halloween several different kinds, actually sugar cookies that will be in the shape of ghosts, bats, pumpkins, witches' hats.  along with peanut butter cookies and M&M cookies.

Once again, we're putting on our Halloween aprons and getting ready for another day of Halloween baking, baking has always been a favorite part for me of any holiday being a lover of food, I always look forward to food for any event but especially the cookies.

"OK, we're going to need flour and sugar and lots and lots of flour and sugar, I said with a giggle since flower has puffed up all over me as I was opening the bag. An occupational hazard When it comes with the territory of baking"

Matthew sees the flour that puffed up all over my face comes over with a towel to wipe it off of me. 

"well, at least we got that part out of the way," he says with a chuckle "and your clothes were protected by your cute little apron"

" yes, luckily for that, because this is a very cute Halloween shirt, isn't it?" I said as I look down my shirt saying "Hey Boo" with Casper on it pulling the apron away a little bit so Matthew can see the shirt 

"yes, we would not want to get flour all over that" we gather the rest of the ingredients and mix them together to make the sugar cookies. Matthew rolling out the dough as I started making the peanut butter cookie dough next then moved on to the M&M cookie dough 

"You know, it would be a lot easier if we could just make one dough and then just add the ingredients from that", I said, scooping out more flour to make the peanut butter cookies 

"well, that would definitely be easier, yes, but then the cookie making process would go by so much faster and then we'd be done", Matthew said as he was rolling the sugar cookie dough, preparing it so that we could cut it in the shapes with our Halloween cookie cutters.

"True and also, it gives us more time to be able to enjoy the Halloween festivities together". I said, putting the last scoop of peanut butter into the dough once I was finally done stirring all of the ingredients together for these cookies, I moved on to the M&M ones putting all the ingredients together and stirring them all to make a dough then it was time to start shaping each cookie starting with the sugar cookies, 

Matthew and I had a lot of fun cutting that dough into the shapes for Halloween and we knew that we were going to have just as much fun when it was time to decorate them we cut all of the dough into shapes and place the dough onto our cookie sheets after putting them into the oven, we begin balling up the peanut butter cookie dough 

"you know, I never understood why we had to do that little fork crisscross thing on the top of peanut butter cookies. It never made any sense to me", I said as I started balling another scoop of cookie dough.

I think it's just to give it a nice little design, make them a little prettier to look at matthews said, putting another ball of dough on the cookie sheet

It could be once we were finally done making all of the little dough balls i moved on to the M&M cookies. It was pretty much the same recipe as the sugar cookies. It has topped them with M&M's once all of the cookies had been baked and cooled, Matthew and I began decorating the sugar cookies we had all different color frostings to put under our cookies so they ended up looking like beautiful works of art after a long day of dough making, cookie baking and cookie decorating it was time for the very best part cookie eating.

We tried every type of cookie

These are really good, Matthew said, taking another bite of peanut butter cookie.

Another fun October day with Matthew.

[missgabb]

Delightful sugar cookies with a white chocolate twist, perfect for any occasion. These cookies are soft on the inside, slightly crispy on the edges, and adorned with a creamy white chocolate topping.

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. 1/2 teaspoon salt. 1 cup unsalted butter, softened. 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar. 1 large egg. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. 1 cup white chocolate chips. 1 teaspoon vegetable oil.

Instructions: Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Put away. Put softened butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl and mix them together until they are light and fluffy. Together with the butter, add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix everything together well. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients one at a time until a dough forms. Do not mix too much. Make a disk shape out of each of the two equal pieces of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour. Warm the oven up to 350F 175C and put parchment paper on baking sheets. Use some flour to lightly cover a surface and roll out one disk of dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out the shapes you want with cookie cutters and place them on the baking sheets that have been prepared. After the oven is hot, bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before moving them to a wire rack to cool all the way. In a bowl that can go in the microwave, melt the vegetable oil and white chocolate chips in 20-second bursts, stirring after each burst until the mixture is smooth and melted. You can drizzle or spread the melted white chocolate over the cookies once they are cool. Before you serve or store the cookies, let the white chocolate set.

Amy Castillo

[kedreeva]

#can we ask for a recipe? it looks so tasty (via @elen42564)

Sure!

120g of unbleached flour (1 cup ish though honestly it's probably slightly more or it's packed down maybe, it always seems like more when I compare on my scale)

2 teaspoons of baking powder (I added a little smidge more because they weren't rising the way I wanted)

1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt (you'll have to figure out your to-taste)

113g unsalted butter COLD (1 stick in the US)

227g of sourdough starter DISCARD (it's important it's the discarded starter before it's fed, not fed/active starter) (I think this is also about 1 cup?)

OPTIONAL: shredded cheese

I'll put the rest under a cut

You'll need a mixing bowl, a pastry masher thing, a baking sheet, and some parchment paper (or similar). These will turn out better if you weigh the ingredients. You'll also want an oven-safe bowl or pan you can put water in. It's easier if you have a cookie cutter/biscuit cutter, BUT you can just hand mold them.

Preheat oven to 425F, move your oven rack closer to the top than the bottom

Blend dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt)

Add the cold butter in. Mash it together with a pastry masher thing (what are those even called, they look like brass knuckles but it's curved blades?) until you've got small lumps of butter, doesn't need to be fully blended and the lumps can be different sizes.

Stir in the starter discard until it's all a mixed dough, it's okay if it's a bit clingy still.

If you want to add cheese, you can add shredded cheese here. idk how much I put in, you measure cheese with your heart so just mix a handful or two in. I used thickly-shredded cheddar.

Lightly flour a flat surface and transfer the dough to it. It's easier if you kind of flour the whole outside lightly. Shape it so it's about an inch tall all over.

Using 2.5 inch cookie cutter, start cutting rounds... the dough is REALLY STICKY so I found it makes it easier if I flour the interior of the cutter between cuts. Reform the main dough gently as needed. It should make 6 biscuits or so. You can hand-form balls, but don't use a glass. I thought I could get away with using a glass, and that made them so short, which dried them out. They will flatten out more if you hand form them than if you cutter them, but if you cutter them you still have to kind of pat around the outside or they bake into a weird tower.

Parchment paper on the baking sheet (or grease it), biscuit rounds on the paper.

Put a bowl or pan of water on the lower rack or on the bottom of your oven. Put the baking sheet on the upper rack, and dump some water into the oven, then close the door as quick as possible to keep the steam in. It will vent out, but slower with the door closed and your bowl/pan will refresh it. Since it's a sourdough bake still, the hydration at the start of the bake is important. When I didn't do this, they turned out super dry and hard and it was Very Bad.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or so. I check at 20 and if they look good I stop because I don't like it even close to burnt.

Let them cool a few minutes before eating. They should be soft inside and have a sort of crunch to the outside.

Without cheese, they're great with honey or butter and honey. I ate them plain when there was cheese mixed in. They're fresh but they last a few days. Sark likes to make sausage/egg biscuits with them. It's a really good way to use up starter discard. Since it's a savory recipe, supposedly you can actually save discard up for a few days in the fridge, if your starter doesn't make enough discard in a single day but I haven't tried it.

well they're not pretty, but they are delicious. sourdough cheddar biscuits. I want to experiment with adding some bacon and/or ham to them next, and lowering the amount of salt.

My mom used to make these.... like... ham and cheese biscuit things and send them with us for lunches when I was a little kid, and they were so delicious. It was shredded cheese and little cubes of ham, like some kind of savory chocolate chip cookie except a biscuit and the chips were ham. I don't even like ham. But this was a good combo. self contained sandwich.

[sweater-daddiesdumbdork]

Gingerbread Delights, Ransom's New Favorite Cookies

Summary- 2.7k Ransom x Kitten. The Christmas season is upon them and one of your favorite times of the year. Ransom though... not so much. But your baked goods might just change his mind.

Warnings- Smut. This is an 18+ Only blog.

A/N- So I wrote this last year before I decided to make Ransom x Kitten a thing. It will be set further in their future. I wasn't going to originally post, but I really wanted to post something for the holiday season. This is also my entry for @what-is-your-plan-today 25 Days of CHRIS-mas. Divider made by @firefly-graphics Thank you so much for reading, Happy Holidays.

Masterlist

Ransom could only begin to guess what he would be walking into while he made his way up the steps to his front door. It was Christmas after all and you were in full holiday mode. With one of the holidays he hated the most. He tolerated Halloween because of the parties you loved dragging him to, dressing up in some outfit and halfway through the night you would both be drunk, peeling each other out of it.

Thanksgiving was a joke, one he tolerated for Harlan but you would be right at his side the whole time while with his family, effectively distracting him from the shit show that usually happened with naughty whispers in his ear and teasing him with your hand under the table till he couldn't stand it and announced you two were leaving early.

But Christmas you took to heart, the whole thing. The tree and decorations, watching the ridiculous feel good movies till his brain felt numb from the whole bullshit Christmas cheer, you would play the songs over and over till he would have to escape to his home office to get away from them, and after all of it, he didn't have it in him to completely say no to you about it. It was just a month after all, he could tolerate a month of nonsense to keep his Kitten happy, right? Fuck was it hard, probably the most selfless thing hes ever had to do.

But you were worth it, so what was he gonna do but grin and bear it.

Going inside, Ransom shrugged off his tan jacket and unwrapped his scarf once stepping inside the house, stomping his boots off for a moment while calling out. “Y/N? Are you here yet?” Tilting his head to listen while taking his boots off and sure to put them on the racks you had placed in the entrance way, he tossed his jacket into the nearby closet while following the sound of Christmas music towards his kitchen. Arching a brow, he folded his arms across his chest while leaning against the entrance frame, smirking at the little domestic scene before him.

You had the island scattered with ingredients, rolling pin diligently rolling back and forth before you tossed a spattering of flour against the dough to keep it from sticking. “Well look at this, when did you become a sweet little housewife for me?” He snickered as he pushed from the woodwork and went towards the other side of the kitchen to make himself a drink now that he was home for the evening.

“In your dreams Hugh.” You said cheerily that rewarded you with a warning over his glass of scotch.

“Watch it Kitten. It would be easy enough to change that tune of yours.”

You weren’t too worried as you picked up your cookie cutter and started to cut out the shapes to slide onto a cookie sheet, taking a peek at Ransom. The tops of his cheeks were still a bright pink cause of the cold outside, his hair damp where the falling snow had melted since he came inside. The gold of his pinkie ring glimmered from the bright overhead lights as his hand twirled the glass in his hand. You softened a bit towards him, considering he had yet to make a remark about the state you had his kitchen in. “Thought I would do something nice, it is the holiday after all.” You hummed at him playfully, reshaping the dough together to roll it back out.

Ransom glanced down at the shapes and snorted with a smirk. “Kitten, what are they supposed to be?” He reached to grasp one of the oddly shaped cutters, trying to make some sense of the shape.

“Gingerbread people Ransom.” You slid another cookie on the tray while reaching over to grasp your cookie cutter from him before he could study it to closely. Ransom folded his arms across his chest, watching you ever so diligent knead the dough back together.

“I know this is more your thing, cause you like all this crafty crap.” He leaned forward to dip a finger in one of the bowls of frosting you had pre made. “I will be fucking damned if this is a person shaped.” Smirking at you as you moved the bowl of frosting out of his reach, flashing your own knowing grin at him with a stick out of your tongue.

“Trust me, they are.” You spin with the tray of dough to stick into the oven while Ransom circled the island where you had your decorations spread out. The audacity of the man, he dipped his finger back in your frosting to lick his fingertip.

“Mmh, nice and sweet.” he sucks off the tip while you set the timer on the oven.

“You better not be eating my frosting, it's important for the cookies.” You threaten while he bluntly does it again without hesitation, and you twist to push him away before he can get another swipe and you would have to make another batch.

“But its fucking good and I can think of a better way to use it.” He grinned as you continued to push him backwards towards the exit of the kitchen. His hands danced at your apron, going to pluck the tie loose but you thwarted his wandering hands.

“Don’t you have a zoom meeting now?” you caught his hands from behind you and he easily turned it around to wrap his hands around your wrists and backed you into the wall, sweet sugared lips pressed to yours. Darts of his tongue slid against yours and you fought against it teasing for a moment, knowing that he wanted you to open to him. Nips of teeth and a pull at your mouth finally had you giving into him, curling your fingers in his soft sweater that hid the hard planes of his chest from sight but you could feel them under your palm.

Just as you were getting into the moment, your tongue pressing against his in that addictive taste mixing with your frosting, feeling your heart start to pick up and the heavy warmth blossoming in your lower belly, he yanked away.

“Yup, you're right Kitten. I do.” One final grind against you just to be a pain in the ass, he let you go and walked out the kitchen, laughing as you flipped him off while straightening your apron he had managed to wrinkle up around your hips.

“He’s such a pain in the ass.” You muttered to yourself while going back into the kitchen to check on your cookies, hearing the click of his office door where he shut himself in.

After the cookies baked and cooled, you were careful to follow a picture you had found on pintrest to recreate the gingerbread people. The crispy gingerbread had come out even better than you expected. You slid some onto a Christmas plate, and sang “Santa Baby hurry down my chimney tonight” to yourself while untying the apron. Now to the last part of your little cookie surprise.

Ransom had been half paying attention to his zoom call. He had been focused at the beginning on how enthusiastic the editor had been with Harlan's new book and release date. But he was over it now, he knew it would be a success, that they had to start pumping out copies in the new year. Yada Yada Yada, these fuckers sure knew how to drone on and on. “Listen, I assure you that we're all on the same page with this sh- stuff. Is there anything else we need to cover?” He barely caught himself, trying to be respectful for Harlan’s sake. Walt, who was on one of the screens, gave him a warning look, which Ransom promptly smirked back at him.

“Of course Mr. Drysdale, we are almost finished.” one of the women assured Ransom, which he had to admit being called Mr.Drysdale in a business setting made him feel a bit smug. Especially since Walt has basically been ignored the entire time.

A soft rap on his door drew his attention away from the screen and Ransom hit the mute button on his laptop.

“I got it on mute Kitten, come on in.” He leaned back in his chair to look around the laptop to see you let yourself into the office, his cream-white sweater pooling around your bare thighs and Ransom gave a knowing look while dragging his fingers over his lips. Red and white Christmas stockings adorned your feet and in your hands was a tray he was assuming was your cookies from before. “Got something for me Kitten?”

You paused while on the other side of his desk, keeping the tray slightly out of sight for a moment. “Are you able to step away from your meeting?” You question in a manner that you knew would make Ransom curious. True to your suspicions, Ransom held up a finger for just a moment before he turned back to his laptop to hit the unmute button. You stepped away while the drone of voices filled the room.

“Alright, I think we covered everything” Ransom raised his voice slightly, cutting Walt effectively off, which made this even more satisfying for the both of you. From across the desk, you could see the way Ransom’s eyes flashed and a tug at the corner of his mouth, that he was pleased with the way his uncle must have reacted. You readjusted your cookies for a moment before picking the one you knew Ransom would enjoy.

After their business contacts disconnected, you could hear Walt's voice get high-pitched at Ransom, obviously angry at your boyfriend. Grinning you made your way over back towards the desk, Ransom beckoning you to join him on the other side.

“I have other important matters to attend to right now Walt. So… Eat Shit.” Ransom told Walt off while pulling you into his lap, Walt's gaze darkening when he saw you.

“Ranso-” and that is when Ransom effectively snapped his laptop shut with a cocky laugh, his hands sliding along the inside of your bare thighs.

“That never gets old… Now, what do you have?” He questioned your cookie in your hand and you held it up to see now what you actually were making earlier.

You held up the gingerbread cookie, depicting two gingerbread people in a naughty act that had Ransom tipping his head back with a laugh now that you had the frosting all edged out, showing him the deed they were locked into.

“These were what the fucking cookie cutters were?” He plucked the cookie from your hand and bit off one of the heads.

You gave your own giggles with a nod. “I saw them online and had them shipped overnight because fuck I just wanted them.” You snapped off a leg and slipped it between your lips to chew slowly. Ransom seemed to enjoy it, the darts of his tongue clearing cookie crumbles from his bottom lip. He tossed the remaining part of the cookie on his desk, moving suddenly to a stand while making you go with him.

“They are good Kitten. But I see something I want more.” His hands dug into your hips under his shirt, grinding your ass against him. “Your cookie put that image in my mind. You just bent right over my desk.” His hand pressed against your back between your shoulder blades and you sprawled forward against the clutter of papers and pens.

“It’s been on my mind the whole time I was icing them. Which I barely had enough after you ate part of it.” You purred out now, getting the exact reaction you wanted from him. You could feel Ransom push the sweater to bunch around your hip, your bare ass on display for him which he slid a hand over the curve, and then dipped between your thighs to trace those soft petals while he kissed on your neck with precise knowledge of how to turn you on.

“I still stand on what I said earlier about using that frosting on something other than cookies.” He kept stroking you till you were withering under him, pushing back slightly to rock your hips when his fingers stretched you open. “Baking cookies and then coming in here looking all like a fucking snack yourself.” Your eyes rolled up as he curled his fingers, knowing where that sweet spot was and you started flexing around him,

“Ransom, you are going to make me cum if you keep that up.” you pressed your forehead against the desk, clutching your fingers around the edge to go white-knuckled.

“Do what you want to, but I'm still fucking this pussy afterward.” He informed you while speeding his fingers in you, making you arch your back further and wail softly against the cherry wood top desk when his thumb started to press and circle your clit. The rush was tingling racing up your spine and warmth spread through you to make you sigh in satisfaction. “We’re not done yet, Kitten.”

And you felt him grind in behind you, the telltale zip of his pants and the clank of his buckle. He leaned over against your back, his hand picking up the cookie and stuffing it in your mouth.

“This is to keep you quiet, Kitten.”

Keep you quiet indeed. You would forever think of Ransom pounding into you from behind with the future gingerbread cookies you would let grace your tongue in the future. The sweet spiciness would mimic the flare of arousal blossoming in your stomach while your hips were slammed into the desk, slaps of skin and Ransom grasping his hand around your neck to pull your head back, so he could watch you when you started to come undone. When you did, those flutters in your stomach broke to flood your system with bliss, your eyes rolled back and your jaw dropped. Ransom smirked as he dragged out your orgasm with twists of his fingers against your clit and taunting praises. “Ahh no Kitten, you gave it to me so fucking easy. Just aching for this pussy to be filled with cock, weren't you.”

You couldn't do anything other than mewl your agreement that in fact, that was exactly what you had wanted. Ransom turned sloppy behind you, trying to reach his own ending and when he did, he leaned himself over your back, hot breaths from behind clenched teeth had him hissing when he ground against your ass once more, pumping his seed into you till you were dripping with him.

“Let's go see what other cookies you have for us Kitten.”

It was late into the night when you finally fell into bed exhausted only for you to wake up later to find Ransom missing from bed. Curious as to why how he wasn't as tired as you were made you unwrap the tangled sheet from around you and seek out a piece of clothing to cover you while you went wandering out of the bedroom to go seek Ransom out. Down the stairs, you went to find the kitchen light on. Peeking your head in, you bit your lip to suppress a giggle. Before you Ransom had his hand in the cookie jar, already chewing what looked to be the last bite of one gingerbread couple and going for a second one.

“I just caught someone with their hand in the cookie jar.” You teased and he looked up first in surprise, the flop of his hair out of place bouncing in front of his eyes. But you weren't fooled, not the way they glinted behind his bangs and his smile turned upright almost smirking at being caught.

“Going for the next cookie I'm using on you.” He started and your eyes widened as he pulled out another, this time legs wrapped around the other's waist.

“You are not at all tired?” You accused, starting to count on your fingers the different cookies you two tried out today.

Ransom grinned wickedly as he bit off the head of one gingerbread man. “Not in the slightest.” He started stalking towards you and you gave a squeal, turning to race back up the stairs, Ransom following right behind you, stuffing the rest of your cookie in his mouth.

[hearth-and-veil]

Shortbread Cookie Recipe (Cookie Spells)

Here is my basic shortbread cookie recipe, as well as a few variations you can do in order to jazz up an offering or use the cookie as a spell. Cookies make fantastic vessels for spells -more so than most other desserts in my experience. They also make perfect offerings for your deities, and simplify whole-item offerings to Chthonic deities. 

1-2-3 Method (Drop)

Prep Time: 10 minutes   Inactive time: None   Baking Time: 9-11 minutes

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups salted butter (softened, not melted)

3 cups all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together, then sift in the flour one cup at a time. Combine until smooth. On a baking sheet, put down a layer of parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Drop appx 1.5 inch balls of dough on the cookie sheet roughly 2 inches apart. Bake 9-11 minutes (start at 9, add more if needed). Allow to cool before lifting them off the cookie sheet.

1-2-(3)-4 Method (Drop or Roll)

Prep Time: 30 minutes   Inactive time: 1 hour   Baking Time: 9-11 minutes

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups salted butter (softened, not melted)

3 tsp vanilla (optional)

4 cups all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together, then sift in the flour one cup at a time. Combine until smooth. 

Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight. 

On a flat surface, lightly sprinkle flour to coat. Also coat your hands and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough across the floured surface until 0.5 inch thick. Dip your cookie cutters into the flour and press firmly to cut. 

On a baking sheet, put down a layer of parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Bake 9-11 minutes (start at 9, add more if needed). Allow to cool before lifting them off the cookie sheet.

Tips & Tricks:

For buttery shortbread, use 3 cups of flour. For drier shortbread -or rolled shortbread- use 4 cups of flour. That’s how I like mine. 

Parchment paper likes to roll up on you. When you cut off the amount you need, crumple it up into a ball, then smooth it back out. It won’t roll anymore. Trim the edges around the pan if they’re too big.

Shortbread is a lot like me - it doesn’t tan; it burns. Shortbread isn’t meant to be golden brown on top; it should be approximately the same white color as the dough. A little golden brown on the bottom is ok, but not too much. 

Variations:

When adding ingredients to shortbread for flavor, you don’t need to add more butter unless you go overboard. I would highly recommend sticking with plain shortbread the first one or two times you make it so that you learn what the dough is like and you can gauge for yourself. 

For Wealth: Add vanilla extract to the dough. When the cookie is baked and cooled, dip half of the cookie in melted dark chocolate 

For Love: Add culinary grade rose and hibiscus petals 

For Protection: Add just a pinch of cinnamon, black pepper, and lemon zest. 

For Uplifting & Rejuvenating: Add lemon and/or orange zest

For Peace: Add culinary grade lavender petals (lavender is very strong and can easily overpower your 

Wealth and Abundance offering to Hades, Persephone, and Demeter: Use saffron butter instead of regular butter. I make mine by crushing up saffron with my mortar, softening my butter, taking out a portion of it (like 0.25 cup) and melting that, then letting the crushed saffron infuse into the melted butter. When it is infused, cooled, and beginning to resolidify (about 30 minutes) I add that back to the softened butter, cream them together, then cream in the sugar. 

Reverence Offering to Persephone: Add fresh pomegranate arils into the dough and refrigerate for an hour before baking. If you do this, mix the arils in by hand, not using a machine, to reduce how many of them break. You can amp this up by waiting for the cookies to cool then dipping them into dark chocolate and sprinkling more arils on top. 

Sacrifice to Hestia and/or Demeter: Leave the cookies plain, but bake them into the shape of pigs, which are Hestia and Demeter’s primary sacrificial animal. You can do this with a cookie cutter, or do what I do and use a Piggy Pop pan. Do not do this for Aphrodite, who hates pigs. 

[foxbirdy]

do u have a recipe for the sourdough 👉👈

I DO!!! :)

you will need:

- 1 cup of sourdough starter

- 4 tsp salt

- 4 cups lukewarm water

- 7-9 cups flour

- 1/3 cup olive oil

- 3-4 heaping tablespoons of minced garlic

- 3 heaping tablespoons rosemary leaves

1. The night before the day you want to bake, start by combining the water, sourdough starter, and salt in a BIG bowl. After it's pretty well mixed, add the oil (this is optional, but it will give you fluffier, softer bread), garlic, and rosemary.

2. Start adding the flour to the mixture, 1-2 cups at a time, mixing with a spatula as you go. When it starts to get too thick to manipulate with the spatula, start hand-kneading in the bowl as you add flour. The goal is to add enough flour that you have a soft, stretchy dough that stops sticking to your fingers. Cover up with plastic wrap and go to bed! Let it rise 10-17 hours, or until it has doubled in size. If you want an extra "sour" taste, let it cold-rise in your refrigerator for about 24-32 hours.

3. After your dough has doubled, punch it down and turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead for 5-10 minutes, and add flour if your dough is sticking to the counter or your fingers. After you have a big soft & stretchy dough ball, divide into 3-4 dough balls, depending on how big your breadpans are. (If you don't have bread pans, just shape it into a boule and bake on a cookie sheet!)

4. Shape your loaves, and place them in greased and floured breadpans. Cover and let them rise again for 2-4 hours.

5. You're ready to bake! Fill a cake pan partway with water and place it into the bottom of your oven, and then preheat to 375 F. Score your loaves with a sharp knife (or lame if you are fancy), and then bake for 30-40 minutes! Be careful when you open the hot ovens - there will be steam that comes out because of the water pan.

6. When they're read to come out of the oven, let them cool inside the breadpans for 5-10 minutes before you put them on a cooling rack. If you so please, you can brush the tops with butter. And voila! If you can help it, try not to cut into the loaves until they are very cool, but you must do as your heart demands you to.

[the-world-that-was]

Sumerian Date Pastries (qullupu)

Today, I'm making some date-filled cookies described as being votive religious offerings to the Sumerian deity Inanna (also known as Ishtar - to the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians). It's unknown exactly how these cookies were prepared, being only described as "date-filled parcels of dough" - so I've reconstructed this based on modern Iraqi culinary traditions.

In any case, let's now take a look, at the world that was! Follow along with my YouTube video, above!

Ingredients (for approx. 8 qullupu)

1 cup/150g dates, pitted

honey

water

1 cup white flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cardamom powder

2 tsp ground cumin

100g butter, melted

milk

sesame seeds (for decoration)

Method

1 - Make the dough

To begin with, we need to make a dough. Pour a cup of flour into a large mixing bowl, along with a pinch of salt, a few tablespoons of ground cumin, and a few tablespoons of cardamom powder - you can buy this pre-ground, or you can take the seeds out of cardamom pods yourself and grind them up for a stronger taste! In any case, whisk this together so it's all combined.

Then, pour 100g of melted butter into this, along with a large squeeze of honey. Mix all of this together for a while, until it starts to crumb together into large clumps. If it looks dry, pour in a little bit of milk - about a tablespoon at a time - and mix it through. When you can't mix it any more, knead it by hand in the bowl until it's smooth and can come away from the bowl easily. Put this aside while you work on your filling - the fridge works best! (of course, fridges were not used by Bronze Age Sumerians, it just helps the butter stay solidified here)

2 - Make the Filling

Now we need to make our date filling! Do this by pouring a cup's worth of dates into a saucepan, along with some ground cumin, some more ground cardamom, and another generous squeeze of honey. Top off the pot with some water, so the dates are just about covered by it. Place all of this onto a medium heat, and let it cook away for a few minutes. Depending on your dates, they might break down faster or slower than mine - but it should turn into a smooth, jammy mixture, that is honestly good enough to eat on it's own. When it's done, take it off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

3 - Prepare the qullupu

Next, take your dough and place it on a sheet of baking paper. Roll this out as thin as you can, about as thick as a finger into the shape of a rectangle. Then, place a few dollops of your date jam across the centre of your dough, and spread it out evenly, leaving some space around the edges of the rectangle.

Roll the dough sheet into a log, and place it seam-side down on the baking sheet. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into segments, each about two to three fingers in width. Place your qullupu so the spiral shape is facing up, and sprinkle some sesame seeds across the tops of them. Toss your spirals into the centre of an oven preheated to 180C / 356 F for about 25-30 minutes - or until they turn golden brown.

Take them out when they're done, let them cool down slightly, and dig in!

The finished cookies are amazingly flavourful, and very filling. You can adjust the sweetness of your finished filling by changing how much honey you add. Fennel seeds can also be used here to add a liquorice taste to it too.