Christmas Goodies

NOTES:

• Working from the top around clockwise....

GINGER COOKIES
(click on link to get recipe)


MINI ALMOND JOYS

NOTES

• Recipe modified from Celebrations at Home blog
• My melted chocolate got a little thick so I googled how to thin melted chocolate and added a tsp or two of vegetable shortening which worked great.

INGREDIENTS

• 7 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 2 1/2 c. unsweetened flaked/shredded coconut
• 50ish almonds
• 20 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Toast almonds over medium low heat in a dry skillet for about 5-7 minutes, shaking the pan every once in awhile until nuts are fragrant and lightly toasted. Remove from heat to cool. Be careful not to burn them.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Stir in the coconut, until combined (it will be thick). Freeze the mixture for about 30 minutes so it will be easier to work with.
3. Remove the coconut from freezer and with clean hands, shape about one tablespoon of coconut into tight little balls and place on a cookie sheet.. You may need to wash hands every so often as they will get sticky. Place 2 almonds on top of each ball, pressing them in lightly. Place the baking sheet in the fridge to chill while you melt the chocolate.
4. Find a heat-proof bowl that will sit nicely over a saucepan with the rim of the bowl sitting on the rim of the pan, bowl part sitting down into the saucepan a bit. Fill the saucepan with a few inches of water (should be about 1 inch below the bottom of the bowl) and bring to a simmer.
5. Place the chocolate chips in the bowl above the simmering water and stir every so often as they melt. Once melted, shut heat off but leave bowl over warm water.
6. Remove the candies from the fridge and place one coconut almond ball on a fork. Use a spoon to scoop a bit of the chocolate over the top and then lower the fork into chocolate and spoon over candy to coat. Lift fork and let the chocolate run off a bit. Place on a lined baking sheet. Repeat with all candies. See my NOTES above if your chocolate gets too thick.
7. Let candy harden in fridge for 45 minutes or so then freeze and remove as desired or let store at room temp in a sealed container.



MAGIC BARS

NOTES

• This is a modified recipe that Luke's grandma always made at Christmas. They are soo soo good. Cut into small squares as they are pretty rich.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c. crushed graham cracker crumbs (put in a zip-lock and use a rolling pin)
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 1.5 c. chocolate chips (or use a mixture of chocolate and butterscotch chips)
• 1 1/3 c. flaked unsweetened coconut
• 1 c. chopped nuts of choice (walnuts, pecans, almonds)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325. Coat a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper and spray lightly.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork or lightly sprayed hands/palms.
3. Bake 15-25 minutes or until just lightly browned. Let cool a few minutes on a cooling rack then loosen from sides of pan while still warm. Finish cooling pan on wire rack then remove entire pan of bars to cutting board when cool. Cut into bars.



SUGAR COOKIES
(click on link to get recipe)



CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES (middle)

NOTES

• These cookies have a brownie-like texture and are best eaten when still warm out of the oven. They do freeze fine.
• A favorite Christmas cookie of mine from childhood.
• Recipe from Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c. plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c. butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted (see steps 4 & 5 from the Mini Almond Joys recipe above for how to melt chocolate on the stove)
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar 

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

2. In another bowl beat butter and sugar well, and then add eggs beating until creamy and smooth.

3. Add vanilla and melted chocolate. Beat well.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just to blend.

5. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.

6. Lightly grease cookie sheets, or line with parchment paper.

7. Shape heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place at least 1 1/2" apart on baking sheets.

8. Bake at 350º (360 for high altitude) for about 10 minutes (8-9 min for high altitude) or JUST until tops are puffed and cracked. Take out earlier than you think you would. Do not over bake!

PEANUT BUTTER CUPS WITH MINI REESE'S

NOTES

• Tried these the first time this Christmas. I was going to make peanut butter blossoms but wanted to try these instead. A very tasty little candy that freezes well!
• Recipe from Land O Lakes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 c.sugar
• 1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 30-40 miniature peanut butter cups, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS

 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray miniature muffin pan with no-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Combine sugar, brown sugar, butter and peanut butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed.

3. Add flour, baking soda and salt; beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.

4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place each ball into prepared miniature muffin cup. Bake just 10-12 minutes or until just a little golden (they will continue to cook when you remove from oven so take out sooner than you think).

5. Remove from oven; press peanut butter cup in center of each cookie. Cool 15 minutes or so. Remove from pan to cooling racks and cool completely.

 

PEPPERMINT FUDGE

NOTES

• This is an easy and delicious fudge that tastes like an Andes mint. Yum!
• My top layer did not "swirl" nice into the green layer like in the original recipe modified from sugarforthebrain.com because my chocolate set too fast. I ended up spreading the dotted chocolate over the green layer and adding some mini chocolate chips on top to make it look prettier.
• Freezes well.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk, divided
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 ounces white chocolate (I used white baking chips)
• 1 tbsp peppermint extract
• few drops of green food coloring
• mini choc chips for topping (optional, see NOTES above)

DIRECTIONS

1. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on both sides.

2. Prepare to do steps 2 & 3 at the same time. In a double boiler (or a make-shift double boiler - see steps 4 & 5 from the Mini Almond Joys recipe above), melt chocolate chips with 1 cup sweetened condensed milk; add vanilla.

3. At the same time, melt the white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water with remaining sweetened condensed milk. Add peppermint extract and green food coloring.

4. For this step, the faster you go the better because the fudge sets very quickly and you won’t be able to do the marble pattern otherwise) Reserve about 4 tablespoons of the dark chocolate mixture and spread the rest into the pan. Add the green peppermint mixture on top. Quickly dollop the remaining dark chocolate mixture over the green and then run a knife at the surface to create a marbled effect (see NOTES above if this is working for you).

5. Chill for 2 hours or until firm. Use the overhang to get the fudge out of the pan. Cut into small bite-size squares. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator or freeze them.