Saketini Christmas Balls, #CookieWeek

Welcome to #cookieweek my little cookie monsters! Susan of The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen and Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic have joined together this week with 23 of their blog friends to present to you a week of cookie treats! We have every type of cookie you can think of listed this week, including something for our furry friends! Now is the time to bookmark these recipes for the upcoming holidays and cookie swaps or simply visit our Pinterest board! Make sure you enter the giveaway with some fabulous prizes from KitchenAid, King Arthur Flour, OXO, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar to help with your cookie making needs!

Saketini Christmas Balls:
A sake wine laden gift Santa will enjoy on Christmas Eve.

Cookie Week days are chock full of goodies to support scrumptious celebration of the holidays. Sweets are key to any party in Japan. However, no significant celebration is complete without sake rice wine. From ancient times, sake was offered up in gratitude to the gods after a bountiful harvest. Later, the Japanese government actually created a Department of Sake! One of Japan’s samurai leaders also decreed Itami - a region of Japan famous for its sake - as off limits for battle. (Allegedly he wanted to ensure the safety of his favorite sake.) Fast forward several centuries, sake is readily available for even impromptu celebrations like job promotions. At train stations, pop-top cans containing rice wine are sold alongside sodas and water in coin machines.

So, to properly celebrate the start of #CookieWeek, I felt compelled to contribute the Ninja Bakers Saketini Christmas Balls. (Saketini is easily made: 4 ounces of vanilla vodka stirred together with 2 teaspoons of sake rice wine.) Cheers! Or as we say in Japan, “kampai!”

Saketini Christmas Balls

Naughty...but sooo nice. Chocolate, crushed pecans, sake wine and vanilla vodka and cookies combine to create these sensational Christmas treats.

This recipe is adapted from a rum ball recipe at Taste of Home.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups vanilla wafer crumbs plus additional for garnish
1 cup ground pecans
1 cup powdered sugar plus additional for garnish
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cocoa powder (the kind you use for hot chocolate)
¼ cup Saketini
(4 ounces vanilla vodka plus 2 teaspoons sake wine;
you’ll have an extra sip or two for you)
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons water

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the wafer crumbs, pecans, powdered sugar, and cocoa.

Stir together the Saketini, honey and water. Microwave for 33 seconds to allow the honey to melt. Stir again. Pour into the crumb mixture.

Shape into small balls. Roll in additional powdered sugar and/or wafer crumbs. for garnish.

Here are a few more holiday cookies which are sure to please:

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwich Cookies by The Cooking Actress Caramel Apple Cider Cookies by Like Mother Like Daughter
Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookie Bars with Peanut Butter Frosting by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
Chocolate-Filled Christmas Thumbprint Cookies by Food Lust People Love
Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sandwich Cookies by Cravings of a Lunatic
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Cookie Cups by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen Chocolate Peppermint Raisin Cookies from It's Yummi!
Classic Gingersnap Cookies by In The Kitchen With KP
Coffee-Toffee Thumbprint Cookies from Crumb
Dark Chocolate Andes Cookie Cups by Beyond Frosting
Double Chocolate Biscotti by Love and Confections
Eggnog Cookies by Jen's Favorite Cookies
Extra-Chewy Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies from Omeletta
Fruit Coolers by Texana's Kitchen
Gluten-free Elisenlebkuchen cookies by Masala Herb
Iced Molasses Cookies with by i heart eating
Nutella Cookies by Total Noms
Orange Cream Cookies by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
Peanut Butter Cup Sandwich Cookies by Chocolate Moosey
Pumpkin Coconut Macaroons by 52 Kitchen Adventures
Rolo Brownie Cookies from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Saketini Christmas Balls from NinjaBaking.com

Even Santa starts dancing with these naughty but nice Saketini Christmas Balls!

We have an amazing giveaway lined up this week thanks to our fabulous sponsors, KitchenAid, OXO, King Arthur Flour, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane Sugar. Four lucky winners will win one of the following:
Prize #1: 1 (one) KitchenAid 9-Speed Hand Mixer plus 1 (one) 4lb bag of Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
Prize #2: 1 (one) OXO gift set including the following: 1 (one) 3-in-1 Egg Separator, 1(one) Cookie Press, 1(one) Autumn Cookie Disk Set, 1(one) 3 piece Cookie Cutter Set, 1(one) Bowl Scraper, 1(one) 2 Cup Adjustable Measuring Cups
Prize #3: 1 (one) King Arthur Flour gift set including the following: 1(one) King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour -5lb bag, 1(one) Snowflake Cookie Cutter Set, 1(one) King Arthur Flour Pure Vanilla Extract, 1(one) Sparkling Sugar Collection, 1(one) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Wafers - 16oz and 1(one) 4lb bag of Zulka Pure Cane Sugar
Prize #4: 1 (one) Silpat Halfsize Mat and 1(one) 4lb bag Zulka Pure Cane Sugar

Great Giveaways!

This giveaway is open to US residents from November 11, 2013 through November 16, 2013 11:59pm EST and will be picked from random draw. The winners will be notified via email and have 72 hours to respond, if not their prize is forfeited and another winner will be chosen.

How to Enter: Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment with your favorite cookie to bake during the holidays or for cookie swaps. Many more ways to enter in the rafflecopter widget! A little about our sponsors:

The iconic Kitchenaid stand mixer was born in 1919, from there stemmed an entire kitchen of high-performance appliances -all created with the same attention to detail and quality.

OXO’s mission is dedicated to providing innovative consumer products that make everyday living easier.

King Arthur Flour was founded in 1790, as America’s oldest flour company they provided pure, high-quality flour to residents of the newly formed U.S., still going strong, they are the nation’s premier baking resource.

Silpat was founded in 1965 by M Guy Demarle in Northern France. He was an experience baker seeing a better way to bake bread with forms using non-stick silicone coatings. He invented the first non-stick baguete baking trays and a few years later invented and created the original Silpat.

Zulka Pure Cane Sugar is a Non GMO Project Verified “Morena” sugar - a term used to described granulated sugars that do not undergo conventional refining processes. Zulka is perfect for baking, it tastes better, is less processed and is a cup for cup replacement.

Disclaimer: KitchenAid, OXO, King Arthur Flour, Silpat and Zulka Pure Cane are providing the prizes free of charge. All opinions stated are my own.

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Holiday Cheer: Saketini Christmas Balls

Wishing you many reasons to raise your sake cup in good cheer.

The Ninja Baker

The Ninja Baker has guest blogged and contributed recipes to numerous food sites. These additional recipes can be found here.

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