Christmas Cookie Platters 2011

Did you receive a Christmas cookie platter or goodie bag? Interested in knowing what the heck all those treats are in them? Well, here ya go! I decided the best thing to do was to list all the recipes I used for my treats so that the recipients can see exactly what's in the cookies, and they can make them for their family if they like them. Hope you enjoyed the gift! I sure did enjoy making it!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Below are links to the recipes I used. I hope to eventually post these recipes individually on my recipe page. We'll see. ;-)

All recipes (not mixes) were made with unbleached flour, real butter, fresh eggs from my own chickens, kosher salt, pure vanilla extract, and flavored oils.

Double Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies
This is a huge recipe. I halved it, and it still made alot! I used red & green sprinkles for Christmas cheer. You can find the recipe here.

Colorful Candy Bar Cookies
Mine didn't turn out like the picture. They spread alot. But they still taste yummy! Some of my cookies have snickers, some have three musketeers, and some have milky ways inside. Anyway you have it, it's chocolicious! You can find the recipe here, from Taste of Home recipe books.

Sugared Cherry Jewels
These are a nice, light, crispy sugar cookie with the added flavor & color of maraschino cherries. I'm not a fan of sugar cookies, but my son sure enjoyed eating all the broken ones! You can find the recipe here, from Taste of Home recipe magazine.

Snickerdoodle
I will admit I cheated here. I had a box of this laying around, and decided to try them out. I made them as the package states, and didn't use any of the variations. Quite easy.

Butter Cookie Snowmen
These were an easy way of making 'cut-outs. I am too lazy to roll out dough, and use cookie cutters, so I tried this. So much easier, and they turned out just as cute! You can find the recipe here, from Taste of Home magazine.

Peanut Butter Mice
From the Taste of Home magazine. Been making these for a few years. They are quite addicting, cute, and not too hard to make. You can find the recipe here.

Bavarian Mints
Oh my goodness, these things are to die for! So, so good. This is the first year I made these, and I'm so happy I did! You can find the recipe here, at All Recipes.

English Toffee
This stuff is just so good. You do have to make sure your candy thermometer is working correctly, and that your toffee reaches the soft crack stage. Mine was just under because I was bad, and didn't test my thermometer before cooking. But it still came out yummy. Just like the stuff you pay $15 a pound for. Here is the recipe if you want to give it a shot.

Rum Fruitcake Cookies
I know. Fruitcake. Blech. But really, these are good. Honestly. They have a nice rum flavor, the candied fruit aren't too intense, and their moist. If you'd like to try the recipe, you can find it here.

Mincemeat Cookies
Mincemeat. The yummy pie filling made with apples and raisins work well in this cookie. Moist & flavorful. Very addicting. You can find the recipe here, on All Recipes.

Bourbon (or Rum) Balls
I've been making these every Christmas for about four years. I usually make two batches, but this year, I couldn't just run out to the store to grab another box of nilla wafers, so I could only make one batch. These get much better the longer they sit. Give them a week or two to soak in the flavor. You can find the recipe here, at Recipezaar.

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie
Here's another one where I cheated. I used a mix. Yep. But, I gotta tell ya, these taste really chewy & chocolaty I really like them...even though they are a mix.







Melt-in-your-Mouth Christmas Marbles
I couldn't find an online recipe for this one. It comes out of Favorite Brand Name 100 Best Holiday Cookies cookbook. I will try to put up the recipe soon. I love this book. A great find at the thrift store!


Cappucino Fudge Brownie - Coming soon
Chocolate Chip Kiss - Coming soon
Mexican Wedding Cakes - Coming soon

Christmas Cookie Baking Marathon

Okay. I was really bad at Halloween. I started posting about the Halloween treats, and the recipes, and then, got side-tracked. I'm going to try not to for Christmas.

I have started baking. Three days total. I have made over 900 cookies and some confections. Tomorrow is the kid's last day before winter break so I've made goodie bags for the teachers & staff at my daughter's school. I hope they like them!

My goal is to post on here all the recipes of the goodies I bake. Why? Because I give all these treats away, and I want the recipient to be able to see what it is they are eating. I also want to make sure it doesn't have anything they may be allergic to. Most importantly, if they like the treat, they have the recipe so they can make themselves it if they wish.

Sound good? Great. Tomorrow morning I'm going to be taking a break from baking while the kidlets are in school & get coding; Posting those recipes!

Hope everyone enjoys their Christmas goodie bags and cookie platters!

Candy Corn Crispy Treats

Candy Corn-Marshmallow Crispy Treats
From: Kraft


TOTAL TIME: 10 min
PREP TIME: 10 min
SERVINGS: 24 servings


Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
6 cups  JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows
12 drops yellow food coloring
4 drops  red food coloring
6 cups crisp rice cereal
2 cups  candy corn


Directions

1. MICROWAVE butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 45 sec. or until melted. Add marshmallows; toss to coat. Microwave 1-1/2 min. or until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring in food colorings after 45 sec.
2. ADD cereal and candy corn; mix well. Press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. COOL completely before cutting into bars. Cut each bar diagonally in half.

Use Your Stove

1. Melt butter in large saucepan on low heat.
2. Add marshmallows; cook until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Add remaining ingredients; continue as directed.

How to Press Cereal Mixture into Pan:  Use waxed paper to press marshmallow mixture into prepared pan.
How to Store: Store in airtight container at room temperature.


My Comments: I have to be honest, I didn't follow the recipe. I just used the idea. I didn't use the food coloring, though I wish I had. I just made normal Rice Crispy Treats with some modifications. I used 3/4 bag of regular mini marshmallows, and 1/4 bag Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows. After adding cereal, I added the candy corn.

Frightening Witch's Fingers

Frightening Witch's Fingers

From: Kraft Foods Online

TOTAL TIME: 35 min

PREP TIME: 15 min

SERVINGS: 20 servings, 2 cookies each

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups PLANTERS Sliced Almonds, divided

4 oz.  (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup  powdered sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp.  salt

1-1/2 cups flour

Directions

1. HEAT oven to 325ºF.
2. RESERVE 40 nuts for later use; process remaining nuts in food processor until finely ground. Beat next 5 ingredients in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in ground nuts. (Dough will be stiff.)
3. ROLL dough into 40 (3-inch) "fingers," using 1 Tbsp. dough for each. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray. Press 1 reserved nut into end of each dough finger for the fingernail. Use sharp knife to make 3 crosswise slits in top of each finger for the knuckles.
4. BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 3 min. on baking sheet; carefully transfer to wire racks. Cool completely. 

My Comments: As with other recipes I have tried for my Witch's Fingers, these too fall short. Although they are not as bland as the shortbread recipes I have used in the past, they are not going to be my final shot either. I will try yet another recipe for my fingers next Halloween. One of these days, I will find just the right one for me.

Chewy Granola Drops

Chewy Granola Drops
From: Betty Crocker 'Fall Baking' 2011 Pg 45

PREP TIME: 40 Min

TOTAL TIME: 40 Min

SERVINGS: 24

Ingredients

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix 

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted 

1 egg 

1 cup coconut 

3/4 cup dried cranberries 

1 can (6 oz) honey-roasted almonds (1 1/4 cups), coarsely chopped 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, melted butter and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in coconut, cranberries and almonds.
2. Using small cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Press with fingers to slightly flatten.
3. Bake 11 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to wire rack. Cool completely. Store covered at room temperature.

My comments: These were OK. Not fantabulistic or anything. I probably wont make them again. They seemed quite bland, and had no character. Although I didn't bake these EXACTLY as stated, I don't think they would have turned out better if I had.

First of the Halloween Season

I sent my hubby off with the first Halloween platter of the season tonight. I was really hoping to get alot more done, but we had things that took up my baking time. The firehouse only has training on the first & second Tues, and second Sat. every month. Since hubby will be at Drill this Saturday, tonight was the last opportunity to send out my goodies before Halloween. It is what it is. All in all, I was pleased. There are only about nine volunteers, so the platter didn't have to be very big. I just wanted to give something to those that work real hard in our emergency services out here in rural Chaparral. I will be posting (and linking) the recipes I used for these Halloween goodies shortly.

This platter consisted of:

• A large Chocolate Rat (Ghirardelli chocolate) which was filled with lime gummy innards.
• Candycorn Pinwheel Cookies
• Frightening Witch's Fingers
• Chewy Granola Drops
• Brownies (Ghirardelli brand)
• Chocolate Fondant Eyeballs
• Chocolate candies (molded)
• Candy Corn Crispy Treats
• Misc store-bought candies

Halloween is in Full Swing!

My treats menu is planned....not that I'll stick to it. I always change things. My intention was to start baking Friday. Uh-um....three days ago. I still haven't started. Bad me. Happens all the time though. I really couldn't figure out what I wanted to bake this year. I've done pretty much the same treats for the last three years, and I wanted something different. It took me a little more time than normal to make my menu. But honestly, I work better under pressure. Really, I do. ;-)

This year I am going to be sending treat platters in, again with my hubby at work. I love to. I love how they ask if I'm baking yet. Plus, I will also be making another giant Haunted Gingerbread House, and he'll be taking that in as a decoration....if he still has a job. :-\ But that's another story.

Hubby is also part of the Volunteer Fire Dept. here in Chaparral, and I'll be sending in some cookie platters with him on the two nights he trains. It'll be a first for that since we just moved here.

Since moving here, we've met a few of our 'neighbors'. I say that in quotes as the neighbors are one or two miles away....which is a different concept than most have of neighbors. But since our neighbors have been so nice, I've decided to start the "You've Been Boo'd" tradition here. It'll be my way to share my goodies with our new friends. It would be great if it actually got going, but.....people are busy, and many wouldn't have the time. If it continues, it's be great, if not, that's OK...I just want an excuse to share my treats. ;-)

On the menu this year is:
Chewy Granola Drops
Pretzel Owls - They didn't look right.
Candy Corn Pinwheels
Eyeballs
Rocky Road Popcorn Balls
Caramel Apples
Candy Corn Crispy Treats
Marshmallow Pumpkins
Witch's Fingers
Frosted Sugar Cookie Cutouts
Chocolate Spiders
Molded Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Rats
Chocolate Pumpkin Pops

I'm sure I'll make some sort of brownie, bread, or cupcake too. I just haven't decided.

I'll post pictures as I bake and when I'm finished.