My hubby knows me too well.  It isn’t something sparkly, shiny, or even floral I want on a special occasion.  No, not even diamonds are my hearts desire.  If he wants to make me happy he knows all he has to do is pick out pretty much anything from House On The Hill.  It’s a little system we have. 🙂
I love the intricate designs, and I am always amazed at what I find on their website.
The fun thing about these molds is you can use them to make lots of different things, not just the traditional springerle cookies.  House on the Hill has a variety of recipes, which you can find on their recipe section here.  You also get a free recipe booklet when you spend over $35 on their site (I’ve managed to get.. a couple).  🙂

If you can’t wait to try making something with springerle molds, today is your lucky day.  Connie from House on the Hill sent me the “single acorn” mold to play with, and has another one for one of you!  Details at the bottom of this post to enter!

This mold is perfect for fall, and I decided to make spicy gingerbread instead of springerle with it to start.
Tip: Usually you brush your mold with flour or powdered sugar, but for darker cookies like gingerbread lightly spray with non stick spray so they won’t have a floury appearance. 

I also used it to make a cupcake topper using marshmallow fondant, and I got to thinking it would work well for bars of cake or dessert as well.

I used the baroque owl here, and LOVE how it looks.

To make, just roll out your marshmallow fondant (fairly thick, almost 1/2″).
Then brush your mold with powdered sugar or lightly spray with nonstick spray.  Place the mold on the counter and a piece of fondant on top, then push into the mold.  Use a rolling pin to roll over it if needed.  Where the design is especially thick (like the acorn on the single acorn mold, or the body and head of the owl on the baroque owl) I added a piece of fondant to kind of fill in and support that deeper area.
Flip mold and fondant over and slowly separate.  Cut excess off using a cutter or pinking wheel.  I thought about adding some disco dust or coloring it, but I really loved the all white look on these.

I made some walnut cookies with the walnut mold my hubby bought for me last Christmas.  This is so pretty paired with the acorn mold as well I thought.

Walnut Cookies

For the Cookies:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp dried orange zest (or fresh zest of 1 orange)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla

For the filling:
1 1/2 cups ground walnuts
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 T butter, softened
4 oz dark chocolate, melted
2 oz heavy cream

Make cookies: Whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and zest in a small bowl and set aside.  In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese until well combined.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Add the flour mixture slowly and mix well.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
Separate the dough into 4 sections and take one section out of the fridge at a time (the dough will come out of the mold easier if very cold).  Brush walnut mold with confectioners sugar and press a ball of dough into mold.  Scrape excess off back if needed.  Use the point of a knife to help dough out of mold.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

Make filling:  Mix all the filling ingredients together until well mixed.  Place a teaspoon of filling on the back of a cookie and add another, pressing together lightly.

Recipe adapted from House on the Hill

And for a non-food project you can use an air dry clay, such as Paperclay (House on the Hill sells it here) with the mold.  Stay away from Fimo, Sculpey, and such because they can take the finish off the mold.
After the clay was dry, I painted some with an antique gold paint (letting the paint be heavier in some areas, lighter in others, to highlight the details.)

I also painted some dark red, then after drying I highlighted with the antique gold paint.  I glued them to loops of ribbon and they are my new favorite fall napkin rings!

Giveaway Rules: To enter, just leave a comment on this post (with your email so I can contact you if you win).  One entry per person, U.S. Residents only.  You can enter now until October 5th.  Winner will be chosen at random and announced Monday October 7th on this post.
What would you make with this mold?

And the randomly chosen winner is…

Your 1 winners on “Using Springerle Molds (and a giveaway!)” are:

Andie M

Congrats Andie! I’ll be contacting you. 🙂

Walnut Cookies

September 27, 2013

by Holly

Category Cookies Favorite Things & Places Giveaways / Reviews

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp dried orange zest (or fresh zest of 1 orange)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the filling:

• 1 1/2 cups ground walnuts
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 T butter, softened
• 4 oz dark chocolate, melted
• 2 oz heavy cream

Instructions

Make cookies: Whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and zest in a small bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese until well combined. Gradually beat in sugar. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until smooth.

1. Add the flour mixture slowly and mix well. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
2. Separate the dough into 4 sections and take one section out of the fridge at a time (the dough will come out of the mold easier if very cold). Brush walnut mold with confectioners sugar and press a ball of dough into mold. Scrape excess off back if needed. Use the point of a knife to help dough out of mold. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

Make filling: Mix all the filling ingredients together until well mixed. Place a teaspoon of filling on the back of a cookie and add another, pressing together lightly.