12 Treats of Christmas: #7 Brown Sugar Shortbread

Here was the coolest part about making these cookies. Within 2 minutes of finding the recipe, I was making them. I did not have to make a special trip to the store for an ingredient I needed. Yippee!! These cookies appeared in the Taste of Home’s Best-Loved Cookies & Candies 2010 magazine. I had barely had it day before MANY pages were “dog-eared” with recipes I planned to try.

These crisp, buttery cookies have three ingredients: butter, brown sugar, and AP flour (all-purpose, in case you were wondering). How bad can that be? (Did I just sound like Ina Garten? I hope not. She kind of annoys me.)

Anyway—the whole family loved these shortbreads, including my husband, who is not much of a sweets/cookies eater.

BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD

1 cup butter, softened (Yay for the “soften” button on the microwave…best invention ever!)

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour and mix well (I used the KitchenAid for this recipe).

NOTE: The dough will be really crumbly. The magazine did not mention how crumbly it would be, and I was concerned I had made a mistake. Now…Ina Garten (who annoys me) did have something valuable to say the other day, and it totally related to this recipe: sometimes the water content in butter is lower, making dough (like shortbread dough) not come together. She says to add just a touch (droplets, people) of water to help your dough out. Had I watched that episode before I made this recipe, I would have tried the water trick.

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes.

3. Pat (I rolled) into a 1/3” thick rectangle measuring 11” x 8”.

4. Cut into strips 2” x 1” strips. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick with a fork. (NOTE: Instead of strips, I just used a biscuit cutter and made circles.)

5. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

12 Treats of Christmas: #6 Oh Henry Bars

The copy of the recipe I have for these treats came from my choir teacher, in her handwriting--you know--back before blogs, email, google searches, etc. Back when a recipe was shared on a recipe card. Even as far back as high school I was already collecting recipes. I don't remember exactly when or where my choir teacher would have served these to me, but I have held on to that recipe card for about 19 years, so that tells you how good these are.

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I love these, but apparently corn syrup is bad for you. I grew up in the middle of corn fields, so I understand the importance of purchasing and cooking with corn syrup every now and then. It's important to keep the corn farmers in business.

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On the subject of Oh Henry Bars...guessing they're supposed to taste like an Oh Henry! candy bar. I’ve never had one, and have never seen one in real life, so I don’t know if that is true. You can research Oh Henry! bars, because you’ve got too much time on your hands, and you’ll find that they have peanuts in them. No peanuts in this recipe--peanut butter? Yes. Peanuts? No. And that’s just fine with me, because these are perfect just the way they are.

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Now go and make yourself some. Or make your neighbors some. Or make your students some and see if they ask for the recipe…in which case you should write out by hand to make them feel special.

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OH HENRY BARS

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2 cups oatmeal

¼ c. corn syrup

1 stick butter or margarine

½ c. brown sugar

4 oz. chocolate chips

2 tablespoons peanut butter

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1. Cream corn syrup, butter, and brown sugar together.

2. Add oatmeal, mix thoroughly. Try not to eat the whole bowl of batter now…but you definitely should taste it!

3. Spread mixture in 8 x 8 pan…or double every ingredient and throw it in a 9x13.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes—make sure you bake until bubbling around the edges. If you don’t bake it long enough, the bars fall apart. Keep an eye and don’t be afraid to go a minute or two over the 10 minute mark.

5. Cool.

6. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together. If you’re doing it in the microwave, make sure to stir frequently.

7. Spread chocolate/peanut butter mixture over the top of the oatmeal crust.

8. Cool until set.

I like to keep the bars refrigeratated until I’m going to cut them. This helps the bars not fall apart or crumble.

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A nice way to serve them (because they’re kind of gooey when room temperature) would be to cut them up when they’re really cool and place them in individual cupcake papers on a serving tray.

12 Treats of Christmas: #5 Praline-Graham Crackers

Super easy, super yummy—Christmastime or anytime. My mom gave me this recipe—back in June 2007 (not that my memory is so awesome...that's the date of her email). Every time I take these treats to a gathering, they go very quickly!

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For a Christmas treat, break apart in a “rustic” fashion (not every piece the same size, some rough edges, etc) like you would with brittle or bark. Then package the pieces in a holiday back and tie with festive ribbon!

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PRALINE-GRAHAM CRACKERS

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1 box regular graham crackers

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 cups chopped pecans

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a 15x10x1 inch cookie sheet (regular-sized) with aluminum foil. This isn’t mandatory, but will certainly help with clean up. By the way—your cookie sheet needs a lip (jelly roll, sheet cake pan)—NOT the type of cookie sheet that is completely flat with no “edge.”

3. Place graham crackers in a single layer on cookie sheet—as many as will fit.

4. Boil the butter, sugar and pecans for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Spread on crackers. Bake 10 minutes.

6. Allow to cool, break apart.

12 Treats of Christmas: #4 Individual Oreo Cheesecakes

I look forward to receiving the Kraft Food & Family magazine each quarter. While I don’t find the most gourmet of recipes, I certainly have found many that become regulars in my cooking repertoire. The recipes are always family friendly, low prep time and very easy to accomplish—even with a 10 month old climbing on you.

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Not too many people I know don’t like cheesecake. I thought I didn’t for the longest time. But then I tried it, and I do like it the flavor, but it’s so rich that paying $7 for a slice in a restaurant seems foolish if I can only eat a couple of bites. So that’s what makes this recipe perfect—the cheesecakes are only as big as a cupcake. You still only need a couple of bites, but it probably costs about $7 to make the whole recipe--12 individual cheesecakes.

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You could probably make these cupcake-sized cheesecakes into mini-muffin-sized bites, making sure to adjust your cooking time for the smaller size.

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INDIVIDUAL OREO CHEESECAKES

Muffin liners – I prefer the foil ones for this recipe

3 packages (8 oz each) softened cream cheese (regular OR 1/3 less fat)

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs

12 Oreo cookies

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1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Place liners in regular-sized muffin tin.
3. Set an Oreo cookie on the bottom of each liner.
4. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
5. Add the eggs, ONE AT A TIME, and mix until just blended after each addition.
6. Spoon over each cookie, dividing the cheese mixture equally among the 12 spots.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the center is almost set.
8. Cool completely, then refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
9. To decorate: drizzle melted Baker’s chocolate, add a mini-oreo, drizzle with raspberry topping…the possibilities are endless.

12 Treats of Christmas: #3 Mini Peanut Blossoms

Peanut Blossom cookies are probably my all-time favorite cookie. And they seem to make quite a few appearances on Christmas cookie plates--but those appearances quickly turn to DISappearances. They are the first to go if offered along side other cookie varieties. Now, while having been my all time favorite for years, I have always been perplexed by how to eat the regular-sized Peanut Blossom cookie. In order to get a taste of chocolate with each bite, one must be very strategic when taking bites. And eating only part of the Hershey's Kiss (which is not a graceful process) can make it dislodge from its base, fall onto the floor...and well, the whole thing is just problematic. You might try to include the entire kiss with your first bite, but then not only is that quite a mouthful, but subsequent bites are much less appealing-- after all the whole point of the cookie is the combination.

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Did you know? Freda Smith from Gibsonburg, Ohio introduced the world to the first peanut butter blossoms in the 1957 Pillsbury Bakeoff contest. I would like to win that contest.

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Anyway, I was delighted to find the "Hershey's Easy Baking" cookbook while at the Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania. And while I didn't purchase the cookbook because of this recipe, I was also delighted to find that a recipe within has solved all of my Peanut Blossom problems with the MINI Peanut Blossom cookie. Prior to this recipe, I did not know that mini Hershey's Kisses existed. They do! And they're smaller than regular kisses, but larger than chocolate chips. They're tweens. Maybe these should be called Peanut Blossom Tweens.
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Regardless...here ya go! Perfect combo. Perfect-sized bite.
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MINI PEANUT BLOSSOMS

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional granulated sugar
1 package Hershey's MINI kisses
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat peanut butter and shortening in a large bowl until well-combined.
3. Add both sugars; beat well.
4. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
5. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; gradually add to peanut butter mixture, beating until well-blended after each addition.
6. Shape into 1/2-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on cookie sheet.
7. Bake 5-6 minutes or until set. Immediately press Mini Kiss into center of each cookie.
8. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Makes about 14 dozen...that's not a typo: FOURTEEN dozen...but each one is only a bite!

12 Treats of Christmas: #2 Razz-Ma-Tazz Bars

Wow! Each year our cleaning lady brings us Christmas cookies and treats on the last cleaning she does before the holiday. Usually when she comes, I can’t wait to get home to see our house all clean, all at the same time. On Treat Day, however, I can’t wait to get home because I know the treats are waiting! Thankfully, she shares the recipes! You, too, will fall in love with this raspberry-y, almond-y, white chocolate-y concoction!

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RAZZ-MA-TAZZ BARS

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cups ( 12oz pkg.) white chocolate chips - divided

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

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1. Grease and sugar 9" square baking pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Melt butter in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl; stir.

3. Add 1 cup of the white chocolate chips; let stand. Do not stir.

4. Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl until foamy.

5. Add sugar; beat until light lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Note: do NOT skip this step, or even decrease the 5 minutes to 4 or 3. The bars will come out heavier and gooier. I know from experience. While the flavor is not affected, if you follow the directions precisely, the bars taste all the more heavenly!

6. Add the chocolate chip butter mixture to the beaten egg mixture. Stir until combined.

7. Add flour, salt, and almond extract; mix at low speed until combined.

8. Spread 2/3 of batter into prepared pan.

9. Bake 15 to 17 min. or until light gold brown around edges. Don't be afraid to wait until golden brown around edges. Each time I have made this recipe, I have had to increase this cooking time anywhere from 2 – 5 minutes. When done, remove to cooling rack.

10. While you’re waiting, toast the almond slices. I use my toaster oven…but you really have to watch and check—I have allowed the almonds to go beyond toast stage on a couple of occasions…and almonds aren’t cheap! You can also use a dry frying pan—toast the almonds over medium heat, stirring frequently, again keeping a close watch. Set aside.

11. Heat jam in small bowl in microwave for 30 seconds; stir.

12. Spread jam over warm crust.

13. Stir remaining white chocolate chips into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam.

14. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

15. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are brown. Cool. Cut into bars.

16. You can easily make a double batch and use a 9x13" pan!

12 Treats of Christmas: Treat #1 Two-Second Turtles

So it's the Christmas season and you've agreed to be part of a cookie exchange. But you have three kids (OK, you really have two kids plus a husband, but who's counting anyway), a dog, a full-time job, and you haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. This shall be your go-to recipe.

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I've seen many variations and various ingredient substitutions, but this EXACT combo is still my favorite. The most difficult part of this recipe is unwrapping each Rolo candy. And these will freeze very well in a Ziplock bag after they have been cooled completely.

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Ingredients

Equal numbers of the following:

Rolos candies (chocolate covered caramel)

Snyder's Butter Snaps (the square shaped grid-looking pretzels)

Pecan Halves

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Decide the number of treats you wish to make and purchase ingredients accordingly. I wouldn't recommend substituting caramel Hershey's kisses--the caramel is runnier than Rolo. Anyway....

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Instructions

Preheat your oven to a very low temperature --200 - 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Lay out as many pretzels as will fit. Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put pan in oven for just a few minutes. You only want to soften...NOT melt. When the Rolo chocolate starts to glisten, remove from oven and press a pecan half into each Rolo. If the Rolo doesn't "give" easily, toss the cookie sheet back into the oven for one or two more minutes. Allow to cool completely.

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Now, try not to eat them all at once!