If you have a love for sweet and salty together, you’ll love Butterscotch Haystacks. Image courtesy of verybestbaking.com
This is part 4 from the series Get Ready for the Christmas Baking to Begin! This is the final installment in the series, where you’ll find the recipes for Butterscotch Haystacks, Coconut Balls, and a Truffle recipe that can be used in many variations.
Italian Chocolate Balls that appear to have chocolate frosting instead of white in our family recipe. Image courtesy of Applecrumbs.com
This is part 2 of Get Ready for the Christmas Baking to Begin.Today, I’ll be adding three more recipes:
Italian Chocolate Balls (our own family recipe), Peanut Butter Balls (some call them buckeyes, but they really taste like a Reese cup), and
Almond Sugar Cookie Cutouts (my very own recipe that has been acclaimed by many).
Italian Chocolate Balls
*This batter takes a fork and a strong arm for mixing or a heavy duty mixer. Yet, the results are so worth it.
S’more image courtesy of FlickrCC 76454756 at N00/2987530248.
It’s like a rite of summer passage: Having get-togethers, building a fire and making S’mores. But building a fire isn’t always possible. Below are indoor recipes that will squelch anyone’s craving for a real S’more without lighting a match.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay cracker squares on a cookie sheet. Place 1 marshmallow on each cracker. Bake approximately 6 minutes or until marshmallow is softened. Pull sheet out of oven, add chocolate squares and top with another graham cracker.
S’more Trifle
1 Dark Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Box Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 Large Container of Marshmallow Cream (Like Fluff)
1 Cup Crushed Graham Crackers
1 bag Milk Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chips
1 Large Whipped Cream Tub
Chocolate Bars
1) Make the cake and pudding following their box directions.
2) As the pudding is setting in the fridge, slice the cake into small cubes (1-2 inches) and break up your chocolate bars into small pieces.
3) In a large bowl, work in layers by placing cake cubes on bottom, marshmallow cream on top of cubes, add a layer of pudding, crushed crackers, chocolate bar pieces, and whipped cream. Repeat, except you’ll alternate the chocolate bar pieces with chips. Top off the last layer with the rest of the chocolate chips/bar leftovers.
It’s only the first week of January and I’m already looking ahead to the next holiday – Valentine’s Day. I usually make tasty treats to give out, especially since my bank account has been drained with the past Christmas shopping spree. Yet, for all the people on my love list, I still give them individualized attention to what their tastes are.
This will be 3-part post series in these food categories: Sugar Addicts, Hot and Spicy Addicts, and Drinker’s Delights.
For The Sugar Addicts:
Cookies on a Stick
If time is a factor, I’d suggest buying the packaged sugar cookie mix. Otherwise, The Decorated Cookie has a sugar cookie recipe with many other clever cookie ideas.
Image courtesy of FlickrCC 61365821-at-n07-6872600665.jpg
After cookies are cooled and decorated, get a Valentine coffee mug (a Dollar Store buy) and fill it half way with Styrofoam. Push your cookie sticks into the foam, add some confetti or gift bag filler to cover the foam.Tuck in any loose pieces or use a mini hot glue gun to secure small pieces. Optional: add ribbon to the handle or on the sticks themselves.
Homemade Peanut Butter Balls: If your valentine really digs peanut butter cups, this is the recipe for you. Since they are so tasty, I use them for Halloween(as eyeballs) and Christmas too. You’ll find the recipe in my post An Eye For All Seasons.