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Ball Canning

Mixed Berry Jam and Butter Cookies

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Is there anything better than the smell of cookies baking in the oven? One of my favorites is my Mixed Berry Jam and Butter cookies. The butter cookie literally melts in your mouth and then the jam follows with a burst of berry flavor… Oh my, it’s soooo good!! What makes these cookies extra special is the homemade mixed berry jam. It’s a must for sure, no cutting corners here. Come and learn how to make this beautiful jam along with my scrumptious mixed berry jam and butter cookies.

+ This post is brought to you by Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products +

Is there anything better than the smell of cookies baking in the oven? On of my favorites is my Mixed Berry Jam and Butter cookies. The butter cookie literally melts in your mouth and then the jam follows with a burst of berry flavor in your mouth... Oh my, it's soooo good!! Come on over to WhipperBerry to learn how to make these tasty treats!

A few months ago, some of you may remember, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to the Ball® Canning headquarters at Newell Brands in Indiana. I learned all kinds of fun stuff about how to preserve all of those scrumptious summer treats that we love like peaches & berries so that we can enjoy them all year long.

Is there anything better than the smell of cookies baking in the oven? On of my favorites is my Mixed Berry Jam and Butter cookies. The butter cookie literally melts in your mouth and then the jam follows with a burst of berry flavor in your mouth... Oh my, it's soooo good!! Come on over to WhipperBerry to learn how to make these tasty treats!

I had a hands-on lesson that we filmed on how to make my favorite mixed berry jam that I am using for the cookies. I’ve come home and made more jam and my family LOVES it! They love it so much on toast, peanut butter & jam sandwiches, even on top of vanilla yogurt. I thought I would make some of our favorite butter cookies and add some of the jam to make a Mixed Berry Jam and Butter Cookie. I would call it a thumbprint cookie but, I actually didn’t use my thumb… But more on that in a bit.

Mixed Berry Jam Recipe

First off, you need to make your jam. For that you can head over to the Ball® Fresh Preserving site so that you can follow there step-by-step directions. You know, it’s really important to follow a tested and proven recipe when it comes to preserving food. It would be horrible to make your family sick by using untested recipes that create opportunities for bacteria to grow in your preserved food.

Is there anything better than the smell of cookies baking in the oven? On of my favorites is my Mixed Berry Jam and Butter cookies. The butter cookie literally melts in your mouth and then the jam follows with a burst of berry flavor in your mouth... Oh my, it's soooo good!! Come on over to WhipperBerry to learn how to make these tasty treats!

Ball® Jars in the Pantry

I have found that it’s really quite handy to use Ball® jars for canning and preserving food and also use them to store dry goods in my pantry. Check it out…

Here's a great way to store your dry goods in your pantry with Ball® Jars from WhipperBerry

I always keep some Ball® Jars on hand, so when I do have a fresh batch of berries, peaches, beets, you name it, I can easily preserve a batch and have it ready in no time. I especially like to keep some of the BALL® REGULAR MOUTH HALF-PINT 8 OZ. GLASS MASON JARS in the pantry so I’m ready when I have fruit or veggies ready to can. If you have to stop and run to the store to grab your Ball® Jars, thats makes the process even longer. I also use the BALL® SUPER WIDE MOUTH GALLON 128 OZ. COMMEMORATIVE GLASS JAR to store my flour, sugar and other dry goods that I use often and the BALL® WIDE MOUTH HALF-GALLON 64 OZ. GLASS MASON JARS for other dry goods that I use while cooking. LOVE THEM!!

Is there anything better than the smell of cookies baking in the oven? On of my favorites is my Mixed Berry Jam and Butter cookies. The butter cookie literally melts in your mouth and then the jam follows with a burst of berry flavor in your mouth... Oh my, it's soooo good!! Come on over to WhipperBerry to learn how to make these tasty treats!

Mixed Berry Jam and Butter Cookies Recipe

Now that you’ve made your mixed berry jam, we can get started on this SIMPLE recipe! I love that it is easy to whip-up and doesn’t have too many ingredients. Here’s a quick video to show you how to make them.

Butter and Jam Cookies from WhipperBerry from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

Isn’t that fun? I made these quickly with my daughter and the whole family almost died with delight. The cookies totally melt in your mouth and then the sweet tanginess of the jam really makes them extra special. You’ll notice a few things that may be a little different that your normal thumbprint cookie. We didn’t use our thumbs, nor did we refrigerate the dough before we baked them. I tend to like a more uniform cookie, so we use a cookie scoop and then a 1/2 a teaspoon measuring spoon to make the “thumbprints” in the cookie. Again, more for uniformity than anything. Here’s the recipe…

Is there anything better than the smell of cookies baking in the oven? On of my favorites is my Mixed Berry Jam and Butter cookies. The butter cookie literally melts in your mouth and then the jam follows with a burst of berry flavor in your mouth... Oh my, it's soooo good!! Come on over to WhipperBerry to learn how to make these tasty treats!
Print

Mixed Berry Jam and Butter Cookies

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 25 cookies

These melt in your mouth delights are perfect for after school or for sharing with neighbors. The homemade Mixed Berry Jam from Ball® Fresh Preserving is really the star of the show!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup {2 sticks} unsalted butter, softened 
  • ½ cup powdered sugar, plus ¼ cup more for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ⅛ tsp table salt
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup of Ball® Fresh Preserving Mixed Berry Jam

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F with rack on middle position. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on high speed, beat butter and sugar until creamy and light, 2-3 minutes. This is where the magic happens, make sure to take the time to beat the butter and sugar until it's nice and fluffy.
  3. Add vanilla and salt, scraping down bowl as needed. Switch to low and slowly mix in flour, just until combined. Dough should be somewhat sticky. 
  4. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop dough on to a parchment-lined baking sheets. Take a 1/2 teaspoon dip it in a bowl of flour and press down the center of each ball, making a deep well in the middle.
  5. Fill cookie centers generously with Mixed Berry Jam. I use the the same 1/2 teaspoon that use to make the wells in the cookie to add the jam
  6. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Let cool 5 min. on baking sheet, then gently transfer to finish cooling on wire rack.
  7. When cookies are completely cooled, dust with confectioners' sugar. Cookies can be kept in airtight container at room temp for a few days.

Pro Tips

  • This cookie dough is less sweet than others, making space for the very sweet mixed berry jam and the generous dusting of powdered sugar at the end. 
  • These cookies are not intended too brown much, as they're more of a shortbread color so keep and eye on them. 

Disclosure +  I am a paid partner for Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

Tailgate in Style with Beefy Jalapeño Bites

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Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Come learn how to make these tasty treats.

Disclaimer • This post is brought to you by Old El Paso & Walmart. All thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own.

Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Created by WhipperBerry

Tailgating season is upon us and the age old question remains… What to make to share with our football loving friends? You know you want it to be fabulous, full of flavor but, easy to make. We live in Lincoln, Nebraska where football is the state religion (yea, not kidding.) People take football & Tailgating VERY SERIOUSLY here! I have no room for error when it comes to game day treats.

The problem is, you don’t want to spend all of your time in the kitchen or stuck at the grill when you have tailgating to do & games to watch. One of my secrets is to create elements that you can make ahead that really take your tasty bites up a level. Another secret, find elements that make serving and eating the food easy. No one wants to be weighed down with messing plates and hands. They want to grab and go without any fuss.

With that challenge in mind, I headed to Walmart to grab some of my favorites to create a new tasty treat for game day. First stop, the Old El Paso Section where I grabbed some of their Mini Taco Boats along with an Soft Taco Kit. These gems are perfect for creating easy and tasty treats that anyone can eat in 2-3 bites. The Taco Boats are flat on the bottom.  That means they are easy to fill, serve and eat all in one. Touchdown!

Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Created by WhipperBerry

Next, I grabbed some thin sliced beef. The kind you would use for fajitas. Some sliced Gouda cheese, Jalapeños, red onion and a few more ingredients that I’ll share in my recipe. Now, the secret to this recipe is the homemade pickled jalapeños and onions. This is what takes a normal tailgate small bite dish and kicks it up several notches and turns it into MAGIC!

Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Created by WhipperBerry

Here’s a quick video to show you how to make these Beefy Jalapeño Bites…

Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Created by WhipperBerry
Print

Beefy Jalapeno Bites

Prep

Cook

Inactive

Total

Yield 12 taco boats

Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Created by WhipperBerry 

Ingredients

Pickled Jalapeños and Onions

  • 5-6 medium to large jalapeños
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup distilled white vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • juice from 2 large limes

Pickled Jalapeño Dip

Beefy Jalapeño Bites

Instructions

Pickled Jalapeños & Onions

  1. Sterilize your jar in the dishwasher and hand wash the lid and ring.
  2. Wash and slice the jalapeños into rings. Don't make them too thin.
  3. Thinly slice the red onion.
  4. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, add water, vinegar, sugar, oregano, salt, lime juice and garlic. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Make sure the salt and sugar fully dissolve.
  5. Layer the jalapeños and onion in the sterilized jar.
  6. Pour pickling brine over the jalapeños and onions.
  7. Place lid on jar and put into refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Preferably, overnight or longer.
  8. These pickled jalapeños and onions will last in the refrigerator for 2 months.

Pickled Jalapeño Dip

  1. Place room temperature cream cheese into the mixing bowl.
  2. Dice the pickled jalapeños and onions and add to the cream cheese along with the sour cream, Old El Paso Taco Seasoning and Taco Sauce.
  3. Whip mixture until nice and light for about 1-2 minutes.
  4. Place in an air tight container and store for up to a week.

Beefy Jalapeno Bites

  1. Slice your thinly sliced beef into strips.
  2. Place beef strips into a non-stick skillet on Medium heat.
  3. Add the remaining Old El Paso Taco Seasoning and brown the meat.
  4. Once meat is browned remove from the heat and start to build your beefy jalapeño bites.
  5. Fold one slice of gouda in half and place the entire slice into the Old El Paso Mini Taco Boat.
  6. Fill the mini taco boat with beef mixture and top with a couple of the pickled jalapeños and onion strips.
  7. Place in a toaster oven or under the broiler in your oven and toast for 2 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Be careful not to burn the edges of your mini taco boat.
  8. Remove from the oven and place on a serving tray.
  9. Serve with the Pickled Jalapeño Dip

Notes

Make your pickled jalapeños and onion along with the dip a few days before hand, then all you have to do on game day is brown your meat and build your tasty bites. Super easy and oh, so good!

Notes

Th

Courses appetizer

Preserving Inspiration in Indiana with Newell Brands Makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products

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With a rich history of canning in my family, preserving the history of canning has become a new passion of mine. Come learn about what I learned on a quick visit Indiana with Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products, a few weeks ago…

This post brought to you by the folks at Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

 

I grew-up watching my Mom and Dad in the kitchen during the late summer, toiling over the stove and sink where they were preserving our family’s favorite peaches. It was always an all-day affair with the kitchen loaded with boxes of fresh Colorado peaches straight from the orchards on the western slope of Colorado. My Dad spent some of his youth in Palisade, Colorado, a small town on the western slope that is famous for its peaches. He had family members that owned orchards and he spent many summers working the trees and hauling in the fuzzy fruit. He would talk about that peach fuzz and how awful it was to get all that fuzz stuck up your nose as you worked in the orchard all day. That just makes me squirm even thinking about it.

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

Every year, the first item on our canning list was to can peaches. Peaches, peaches and more peaches. Our family could never have enough. My parents would also preserve pears, and make jelly and jam from the elderberry bush in our yard and from the crabapple tree in the front. My Dad put in a huge garden and they would pickle cucumbers and beets. All such amazing memories. We had a small storage room in our basement where my Dad built rough shelves out of wood planks and cinderblocks. That is where the summer’s harvest would live until my Mom would send one of us girls down to the basement to grab a bottle of peaches, pickles or whatever her fancy was for our meal.

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

 

As a child, I never knew how special it was to have such traditions in our home. As we got older and busier, my Mom went back to work and sadly some of those traditions took a back seat and the skills didn’t quite make the jump to my kitchen. What a sad state really, for years, I have let the bounty of Summer be just that, the bounty of SUMMER. I haven’t had those days of canning in my kitchen with my kiddos, teaching them how to preserve the flavors of Summer for another most likely cooler day.

Well, all of that is about to change! The passion is back in a big way and I can’t wait to share. I was approached by the lovely folks at Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products to come to Indiana, the home of the brand, and learn from their experts how to can for this year’s #CanItForward day. Of course, I was thrilled to learn more and couldn’t wait to travel to Indiana to learn more about their passion for preserving.

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

 

We learned about the history of the brand and we had the opportunity to tour their warehouse and packing facility.

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

Later, we met with Jessica Piper, the canning expert in the beautiful brand test kitchen to learn how to safely preserve some of our favorite fruits and vegetables.

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

With a rich history of canning in our country come learn how Ball Canning is preserving the art of preserving for years to come!

Jessica and I actually filmed a great segment for Can-It Forward Day on the basics of canning. We made some simple Mixed Berry Jam. I learned sooooo much, you should check it out on their Facebook page.

whipperberry-filming-at-ball-canning

A couple of things that I took away from that experience…

•Canning is so much easier than I thought

•You don’t have to can super large amounts of fruits and vegetables, you can preserve small batches

•Preserving needs to be precise

I’ll share more about those along with other gems I learned in the coming months. I’ve loaded up my pantry with all kinds of fun Ball® jars and I’ve purchased the official Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products, cookbooks and I’m ready to start to #CanItForward!

For more great videos to learn canning basics OR to brush up on your canning knowledge visit their Facebook page for more videos from other bloggers that are a part of the Fresh Preservers program like Garden Betty, COOKIE + Kate and Food in Jars.

Disclosure +  I am a paid partner for Newell Brands, makers of Ball® Fresh Preserving Products. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.