Baking Christmas Cookies with DealDash!

The 2nd best thing about Christmas would have to be egg nogs and Christmas cookies. The 1st being time to spend with family and friends!
Christmas cookies are a longheld tradition with roots tracing back to recipes from Medieval Europe for Christmas biscuits which included cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, almonds and dried fruit.   Do you bake these festive cookies for Santa? It’s ok if you bake them for yourself, but if you’re going to a Christmas party this year be sure to bake a batch to share!
christmas cookies
Bake a batch of these festive and fun Ugly Sweater Christmas Cookies!
First you will need a few tools!
1. Farberware Bakeware, 3-piece cookie pan set will ensure your cookies cook evenly and don’t stick to the bottom of the pan! – Buy it now price is $24. Win it for less on an upcoming auction at DealDash.com.
2. Cuisinart 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set, Stainless Steel. Buy it Now price: $42 on DealDash or win it for less in upcoming penny auction.
3. Cookie Cutters – The ones I found look just like sweaters!
4. A Rolling pin – you’ll want to ensure the cookie dough is even before you cut it.
5. Your favorite sugar cookie recipe & icing. Here’s a basic and easy one that with a little work and care should take 2 hours to make 32 cookies!
 

Basic Sugar Cookies

-Recipe from MarthaStewart.com

Sugar cookies are a buttery classic that make a delicious anytime treat. Try this sugar cookie recipe and enjoy your sugar cookies plain, or decorate them with icing to make them festive.

  • Prep:
  • Total Time:
  • Yield: Makes 32

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Assorted candies, sprinkles, or colored sugars, for decorating (optional)

Directions

  1. In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).
  2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.
  3. Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.

Sugar Cookie Icing from AllRecipes.com

  • PREP15 mins
  • READY IN15 mins

Directions

  1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners’ sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
  2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

You can also use frosting tubes and different shaped tips if you want to get really detailed with your Ugly Sweater Sugar Cookies!
Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie recipe?

Essential DealDash Bidding Tips!

DealDash is not like any other auction site, it’s not even like any other penny auction. DealDash is one of the longest standing penny auction sites in the U.S and what’s even better is that DealDash not only makes it so you can’t lose with buy it now, they have a money back guarantee!
1. No questions asked, 100% back money guarantee on you first bid pack purchase. 
“Bidders on DealDash are entitled to a No Questions Asked 100% Money Back Guarantee on their first Bid Pack purchase. Should a bidder be unsatisfied with the service for any reason, they are entitled to get their entire first Bid Pack purchase fully refunded. Simply email [email protected] within 90 days and request for the refund. The refund will be credited back to you in 7 days. The refund will be granted regardless of if you have won or lost auctions, or whether you have bids left on your account or not. Only 1 refund per person.”
If you have any questions about DealDash and would like a refund on your first bid pack purchase be sure to contact DealDash’s customer service. If you have any questions about how penny auctions or bidding on DealDash works feel free to ask us here!
2. If you’re going to buy it but then –  buy it now if you don’t win!

Like this Color Switch Plus 7.5-Foot Color Switch Spruce Christmas Tree – you can win it for less than the retail price or buy it now for $383! If you bid on it and say you don’t win it you can just click on Buy It Now for the Buy it Now Price of $383 and you will get all of your bids back!
Bid and win it tonight to get it in time for Christmas.
christmas tree deals3. Don’t bid late.
Don’t bid late! If you forget about an auction and then come back to it, or wait until the bidding price is at $5.00 you will have missed out on potentially getting a great deal on an item because at $5 new bidders are locked out in DealDash’s 100% “jumper free” auctions.
4. Don’t bid early.
Ever bid and bid then stop bidding only to realize that tons of users showed up to bid? You were bidding too early and clicking the bid button as soon as someone else placed a bid. Be careful, you could be wasting bids!
What are some of your favorite DealDash bidding tips?

Free Auction Wins This Week on DealDash!

DealDash is an online penny auction site with users winning items and taking home a substantial savings, but did you know that there’s a chance that you could get items for nearly free on DealDash?santa_live2
This week DealDash is hosting their Santa’s Giveaway Sale!
All auction items are free – meaning the final end price of all items will be waived if you win them!
Since you have to still pay for the bids, so would the items really be free?
If you win bid packs for much less than the retail price of bids you can win items for even less, but not completely free – but there really have been amazing deals this week on this penny auction site! Bids are currently reduced to $0.16 down from the standard $0.60 per bid.
What are some of the items you have won on DealDash and what did you end up paying for them?
If you have already won items be sure to snap a photo with them and send it in to DealDash via Facebook and you could be eligible to win 1,000 free bids.
Take a look at some of the items that ended today on DealDash:
LEGO Duplo Creative Play Build and Boat Fun – ended with 38 bids from all bidders and the value is $25
GoPro Hero3+ Silver Edition Camera ended for $50.58 – on the higher end, that means 5,058 bids were placed by all bidders – if all bidders’ bids cost them $0.16 a piece this auction would have received over $800 in bids – valued at $369, but since more than 2 bidders bid the winner did win this for way less than retail.
Perry Ellis Men Cologne valued at $34 sold with only 5 bids from all bidders
$10 Panera Bread gift card (you’ve got to have their tomato soup) sold with 80 bids total from all bidders.
winners
Then a luxury makeup brush set valued at $24 took in 326 bids.
A Hamilton Beach Classic Stand Mixer sold with only 9 bids placed by all bidders – valued at $37
and then a 40 bid pack sold and all bidders placed a total of 11 bids!?
Still not sure how DealDash works? Read more here: DealDash for Newbies
 
 
 

Get Ready for New Years Eve!

Celebrate NYE New Years Eve 2014 in style  with these amazing deals on DealDash! NYE 2014 is less than 3 weeks away. Did you know that even if DealDash doesn’t have what you want, or sparkly and fun items for New Years you can still get deals on almost anything you could want with an Amazon.com gift card? DealDash frequently runs auctions for gift cards to Amazon!
The last 3 auctions for Amazon.com cards: $75 ended for $0.15-15 bids! $100 gift card for $1.94, $200 Amazon gift card $3.97.
amazon
Sparkly shoes! If you could win an Amazon.com gift card you could save a lot of money off of these UGG glitter boots or sparkly Nine West pumps!
ugg
If you stay home for New Years Eve you’ll want to turn the music up!
Purchase a subscription to Spotify and this highly-rated JBL Pulse color changing wireless bluetooth speaker. The colorful lights are customizable and the sound is awesome and powerful!
JBL PulseThe JBL Pulse Bluetooth speaker sells for $190 on Amazon.com. If you were to win 2 Amazon gift cards on DealDash you could get it for significantly less. I just love it!
When the clock strikes 12 you will want to have a champagne toast!

  • Stolzle 4-Pack Classic Flute Crystalline Set, 9-Ounce, Lead-Free Crystalline sells for $19.97 and free shipping on Amazon. New Years Eve Party supplies!

champagne flutes

  • Celebrate New Years Eve in style with these New Years Eve Party supplies!

new years party
Ending tomorrow, 12/8 on DealDash is this Singing Machine Karaoke System with Disco Lights – Buy it Now price: $67!singing machine karaoke machine
You really can bid on everything you could want for New Years and everyday with deals on Amazon.com gift cards!
If you want to go out on New Years Eve, here’s a list  of America’s Best Cities for New Years Eve from Travel + Leisure magazine:
 
 Top cities for New Years Eve:

  • Memphis for music
  • Kansas City for Barbeque
  • Dallas for a Nice Dinner and an early night
  • Santa Fe for a quiet night and warm weather
  • Salt Lake for family-friendly music and festivities
  • LA for luxury hotels and big name restaurants
  • An arts driven celebration in Providence
  • Houston is ranked high for hotels hosting big New Years Eve parties
  • Denver is no. 17 for an evening of celebration with microbrews
  • San Francisco for an annual silent film screening at Grace Cathedral, awesome fireworks and great views
  •  Orlando for Walt Disney World’s fireworks show
  • NYC is famous for the ball drop, big name restaurants and cocktails
  • Nashville for live music and affordability
  • Miami for bars and night clubs
  • Charleston is no. 10 for peace and quiet, charm and friendliness
  • Austin is no. 9 for music and its singles scene
  • San Diego is no. 8 for the climate, nightclubs and romance
  • No. 7 is San Antonio for the most affordable hotels and free music with fireworks
  • No. 6 is Phoenix for luxury hotels and all in one resorts as well as the warm weather
  • No. 5 is Vegas for the wild parties
  • Savannah, GA ranks no. 4 for a pedestrian friendly party with fireworks at Tybee Pier and free music festival at City Market
  • No. 3 is Honolulu for the fireworks over Waikiki beach
  • No. 2 is San Juan, P.R. for warm temps, cocktails and the party hopping scene
  • And finally, the top pick for New Years Eve is New Orleans – the best place for cocktails, singles scene and neighborhood joins – ranking New Orleans the top winner for a memorable New Years Eve with great people watching!

 
What will you do for New Years?