Spice Ornaments and Banana Cupcakes

I've been busy this weekend, it felt good to be baking again. Yesterday I made spice ornaments. They smell heavenly, I'm going to have a hard time giving them away! Mostly I made gingerbread men but threw in a few gingerbread girls and snowmen.

Spice Ornament Recipe & Instructions
1 cup cinnamon
1 tbsp cloves, ground
1 tbsp nutmeg
1 cup applesauce, drained
2 tbsp white glue

Drain the applesauce with a fine strainer (about 1 1/2 cups makes 1 cup drained). Combine all ingredients with a spoon until it starts to form a ball. Knead for a few minutes until it is smooth but slightly sticky. Use flour on the dough and a cutting board to prevent sticking, then roll out 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters for desired shapes. Before removing cutter from dough make a small hole in the top with a toothpick for the ribbon to go through. Dry cutouts on stackable screens for several days until completely dry and hard, flipping over each day so they dry evenly. Then decorate as desired, I use royal icing if I want them to look like frosted cookies. You can use glue, glitter, buttons, candies, etc. You can spray or dip with varnish or shellac to seal and add gloss, but it would probably affect the scent. DO NOT EAT THE ORNAMENTS.

I also made banana cupcakes with lemon frosting. Very lemony, just how I like it! I'll take them to work tomorrow along with my huge bowl of leftover halloween candy to share.

Have a sweet day!