Candy Cane Crunch

You have to try these if you like Rice Krispie treats and peppermint!  The base recipe for this is from Buns In My Oven.  I saw it last summer and thought it looked so pretty, but thought it could really use some peppermint!  Because I added candy canes, I changed the name to Candy Cane Crunch.  I also added vanilla extract to the marshmallow mixture (something I always do with Rice Krispie treats) and a slightly larger pan so they wouldn't be so incredibly thick.

  

They turned out really nicely.  My husband is not a huge peppermint fan, but he liked them anyway.  These are a great little break from all the cookies at Christmastime.  I made them for the first time last year, but I'm sure we will have them again many times in the future.

   

If you want them super pepperminty, buy mint M&Ms.  That's what I used this time and they were really good, but I think next time I will try plain Christmas colored ones.  You could even add 1/2 tsp or so of peppermint extract to the marshmallow mixture and use mint M&Ms if you really want a peppermint blast, but I thought my beloved would complain about eating toothpaste if I did that.  As is, it was really nice having the mintyness offset by the vanilla and cereal flavors.

  

Quick Note: Chop the candy canes roughly.  They don't need to be obliterated into candy cane dust, but you don't want giant chunks that will be unpleasant to bite into.

  

Candy Cane Crunch

  

1/4 C salted butter

10 oz mini marshmallows

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 C Rice Chex

3/4 C Christmas colored M&Ms, divided

8 crushed mini candy canes, divided

2 Tbsp Christmas colored round sprinkles, divided

  

Line a 7 by 11 pan with parchment paper.  Get your cereal, candies, and sprinkles measured out.

  

Place butter in a large pot and heat over medium-low until melted.  Add marshmallows and stir constantly until they're completely melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, then stir in the cereal until it's well coated.  Add 1/2 C of the M&Ms, 3/4 of the crushed candy cane, and 1 Tbsp of the sprinkles.  Stir until the candy and sprinkles is evenly distributed.  Immediately press the cereal mixture into the parchment paper lined pan.  Sprinkle with the reserved candy and sprinkles, then press the toppings down firmly with your hands, keeping a layer of parchment paper between the bars and your hands so it doesn't stick.

  

Let the bars sit for 2 hours before cutting them into bars.

  

Yield: About 20 bars

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Tortellini Soup aka Christmas Soup

This is one of our favorite soups and I've made it several times, usually 2-3 times a year, which is a lot for me.  We call it Christmas Soup in December because of the colors and my fondness for holiday themed everything, but we love eating it the rest of the year, too.  The soup is rich and delicious, easy to make, and makes a ton!  It is originally from Cooking Classy, but I've changed it some by leaving out the sugar, increasing the amount of cream slightly (what am I going to do with 1/4 C leftover cream?), and using beef broth because that tastes better.  Feel free to use vegetable broth if you're a vegetarian, though.  I also choose to cook the tortellini separately so they don't get soggy when you have the leftovers. You can also toss in a parmesan rind if you have one (remove it before blending!) and garnish the individual bowls of soup with grated parmesan.

 
If you're really in a hurry, you could use baby carrots, a quartered onion, whole peeled garlic cloves, and skip the step where you saute the vegetables.  You could also use 2 or 3 tsp dried basil added at the beginning instead of fresh at the end, but of course the fresh basil is pretty tasty. 
  

I have frozen it quite successfully as well, just add the tortellini right before the individual bowls go into the freezer.

   
Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Tortellini Soup 
    

2 Tbsp butter

2 C peeled, roughly chopped carrots

1 onion, roughly chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped

3 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, undrained

1 quart beef broth

1 tsp pepper

4 bay leaves
parmesan rind (optional)

salt to taste (I didn't have to add any)

1 C cream

1 lb refrigerated tortellini

1 bunch fresh basil, cut chiffonade
   

Melt butter in a skillet.  Add carrots and onion, and saute for a few minutes until they start getting a little golden.  Add garlic and saute another minute or two, don't let the garlic change color. Transfer the vegetable mixture to your slow cooker. Add tomatoes, beef broth, pepper, and bay leaves.Cover and slow about 7 hours, until vegetables are tender.  This isn't really a recipe that can be overcooked, so let it just keep doing its thing until you're ready to eat if the vegetables get soft before you expect!
   

When it's dinner time, remove bay leaves (and parmesan rind if you added on) and puree soup with immersion blender.  Stir in cream.  Taste and add salt if necessary.  Let it continue to cook while you prepare the tortellini.
   

In a separate pot, cook the tortellini according to the package directions.  Drain them and return them to the pot.  Do not mix them into the soup!
   

When ready to serve, ladle soup into individual bowls, and top with a few tortellini and a sprinkle of basil.
  

Yield:  About 10 large servings

Cranberry Salsa

How?  How have I not posted my recipe for cranberry salsa yet?  It's so, so good.  The original came from a friend's sister about 8 years ago, but I have tinkered with it substantially over the years to make it just right.  I make it almost every Thanksgiving/Christmas. 
 

This salsa is really good, and rather unique.  It's sweet and tart, but also a little spicy and on the savory side.  It's actually kind of hard to describe, but I love it, and most of the women who have tried it love it as well.  For some reason most guys don't like it, but I did bring it to a potluck the other day and one guy came up to me to tell me that he loved it, so there are obviously exceptions!

 

I always serve this salsa with tortilla chips, but think it would also be great served over cream cheese with crackers, in the style of the traditional low effort but mind blowingly tasty cream cheese and jalapeno jelly appetizer.  It would also be an interesting alternative to cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving or on turkey sandwiches.  It would also be a good appetizer recipe to make if you expect vegan guests and want something different from regular salsa.

 

Quick Note:  The onion can get very overwhelming in this salsa, you really do not want very much.  A quarter of a small onion doesn't sound like a lot, but stick with that amount, at least the first time you make it!  Also, don't just dump everything into the food processor at once or you risk over processing the cilantro and cranberries.

 

Cranberry Salsa

 

leafy parts of 1 bunch of cilantro

12 oz cranberries, rinsed and any icky ones picked out

1 granny smith apple

1/4 small red onion (take the "small" part to heart!)

1 jalapeno, veins and seeds removed

3 Tbsp lime juice

2/3 C sugar

 

Pulse cilantro in a food processor and then dump it into a large bowl.  Add cranberries to food processor and pulse until they're finely chopped.  Add to the bowl with the cilantro.  Cut apple, onion, and jalapeno into large chunks and place in food processor with lime juice.  Pulse until as chopped up as you'd like.  Add to bowl with the cilantro and cranberries, then stir in sugar.

 

Let salsa sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving so the flavors can marry, then serve with tortilla chips.

 

Yield: about 3 cups of salsa

Creamy Orange Jell-o Mold

Ah, the Jell-o mold!  So weird looking, so full of weird ingredients!  Jell-o molds have always intrigued me, but many of them have ingredients I'd prefer to avoid.  I found a recipe for Under the Sea Jell-o on the Joys of Jell-o blog, which thankfully does NOT feature fish or anything ocean based.  It has lime jell-o on top with a creamy layer underneath, full of pears.  I made it a few months ago and enjoyed it, but my husband didn't like the pears and thought the creamy part needed to be sweeter, so I experimented and made an orange version that was a big hit.  Usually I don't like orange Jell-o (lifelong aversion to certain orange flavors, thanks to a medicine I had to take as a small child!), but this one is really good.  I made it for Thanksgiving and it was a great addition.

  

I've listed the cinnamon as optional.  The original has ginger mixed in with the pears, but I thought cinnamon would go better with oranges.  My husband and in-laws all really liked the cinnamon, and I did, too, but could see it not appealing to some people.  Don't worry about the little cinnamon clumps in my photo.  I made the mistake of mixing the cinnamon in with the oranges, and that didn't go so well.  In the directions below, I have you mix the cinnamon in with the actual Jell-o powder, so it should dissolve better.  When you whisk the Jell-o with the cream cheese, it should end up being very well dispersed.

  

  

Creamy Orange Jell-o Mold

  

6 oz package orange Jell-o powder

3 oz package orange Jell-o Powder

2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

2 15 oz cans mandarin oranges, with juice

12 oz cream cheese

  

Grease a 2 quart Jell-o mold with a little canola oil on a paper towel (I used a bundt pan) and set aside.

  

Bring 2 C water to boil, then mix with the large packet of Jell-o until smooth.  Pour juice from canned oranges into a measuring cup and add water to make 1 1/2 C liquid.  Add 2 Tbsp of the lemon juice.  Stir into the hot Jell-o.  Measure out 2 1/2 C of the Jell-o mixture and pour into the greased Jell-o mold and set the rest aside.  Refrigerate until set but not firm, about 45 minutes.

  

Immediately after placing the mold in the fridge, bring 1 C water to a boil and stir in the small packet of orange Jell-o and cinnamon (if using) until completely dissolved.  Stir in remaining 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice.  Add this to the reserved Jell-o mixture and let sit on the counter.

  

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, then whisk smooth.  Whisk in the reserved Jell-o mixture 3 Tbsp at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth.  Stir in drained mandarin oranges.  Spoon gently over set Jell-o in refrigerator.  Let set over night.

  

When you're ready to serve the Jell-o, simply place a plate over the top of the mold and quickly flip the two over so the plate is on the bottom.  If the Jell-o doesn't release, dip the mold into hot water for 5-10 seconds, dry it off, and try again.  Don't let it sit in the hot water too long, or you'll have a real mess on your hands when you unmold it!

   

Yield: 10 servings

Grandmother's Corn Pudding

Here's another family recipe, and definitely among my most treasured.  I have no explanation for why it's taken so long for me to share it.  This is from my paternal grandmother, a remarkable woman who was born in Kentucky in the 1920s and lived there her entire life.  She was a fantastic cook, and my personal favorite thing that she would make was corn pudding.  My parents got divorced (amicably, thankfully) when I was a teenager, and my mom likes to joke that the three most treasured things she got from her marriage were her two children and my grandmother's recipe for corn pudding.  My parents aren't married anymore and the four members of our nuclear family are spread in 3 states thousands of miles apart, but we all make corn pudding for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas.  You can see from all the cream that it is very far from being a healthy veggie dish, but some things are just special and worth it and this is one of them! 

Quick Note:  You can very easily halve this recipe, just use an 8 by 8 baking dish and reduce the baking time some.  For Christmas I made a full recipe, but baked part in a 7 by 11 dish and part in a loaf pan, which is what you see in the photo.
 

Grandmother's Corn Pudding

4 C corn (frozen or freshly cut from cobs)
8 eggs
4 C cream
2/3 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 baking dish.  Evenly spread corn in bottom of dish.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs until smooth.  Whisk in remaining ingredients until evenly mixed.  Pour carefully into the baking dish with the corn.  Bake until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Yield:  About 12 servings

Brown Sugar & Cloves Baked Ham

This is the ham recipe I've used for Christmas the past two years, and I plan to stick with it indefinitely.  It's not as pretty as the pineapple and cherry studded hams, but it tastes amazing, so I'm sticking with it!  The recipe comes from Our Best Bites, which is a blog just bursting with great recipes.  Usually I'm not a huge meat eater, but I really love this ham, and so does my husband, who suggested we make it at Thanksgiving instead of turkey.  The glaze and the sauce it's served with are just great.  I've used a 9 lb Private Selection (Kroger brand) spiral cut ham wrapped in foil both years, and it's turned out great each time.  The leftover ham is perfect reheated or made into sandwiches, and the serving sauce goes well on sandwiches, too.  I put the ham bone in the freezer to make into pinto beans or hoppin' john.

  

 
Brown Sugar & Cloves Baked Ham

 

for serving sauce:

1/2 C mayo

1/4 C dijon mustard

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

 

for glaze:

2 Tbsp melted bacon grease

1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard

3 Tbsp thawed, frozen orange juice concentrate

3/4 C dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp ground cloves

 

If possible, make the serving sauce the night before so the flavors have time to meld.  Just stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and stash it in the fridge.

 

When you're ready to bake your ham, preheat oven to 325, lower the oven rack to the second lowest position, and line an approximately 8 by 12 inch baking dish with foil.  Place the ham in the dish fat side up.  Insert an oven safe thermometer probe into the thickest part of the ham (in the non-sliced region).  Cover the ham with foil.  Bake until temperature of ham reaches 110 degrees.

 

While the ham bakes, make the glaze by stirring together all of the glaze ingredients.  Remove ham from oven and generously brush the glaze all over, on the outside as well as between the slices.  It can be a little tricky to get the glaze between the slices, but it's worth it, just try not to tear the slices off the bone.

 

Return ham to oven and continue to bake to the temperature recommended on the package, or 145 degrees.  It will probably take about 3-3 1/2 hours for the ham to get up to temperature.  Check on it occasionally and cover again with foil if it starts getting over browned.  Remove ham from oven, tent with foil, and let rest for at least 10 minutes before serving with the sauce on the side.

Slow Cooker Honey Carrots

I made these carrots for both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner in 2015.  They couldn't be any easier and are quite tasty!  Usually we eat steamed carrots either completely plain (not even salt added), with a little butter and dill, or we have Rosemary Roasted Carrots.  Adding sugar and lots of butter to carrots isn't something I'd do usually, but I figure the holidays are the time to do it!  There are lots of different versions of these carrots to be found on the internet, and I made up my own proportions anyway, so I'm not going to link to a source recipe.

  

 
Slow Cooker Honey Carrots

2 lbs baby carrots

1/2 stick salted butter

1/4 C brown sugar

2 Tbsp honey

Place all ingredients in small brown crock pot, cook on high 2 hours, stir, cook on high 2 hours more, or until as tender as you'd like.
 
Yield: 6-8 servings

Secret Recipe Club: Coconut Oatmeal Cake

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the blog A Taste of Madness.  It's written by a Canadian woman named Cathleen.  Cathleen is a math teacher (how cool!) and enjoys doing yoga and traveling, in addition to making- and eating- desserts.  Sounds like we have a lot in common!

I'm not sure I'd seen A Taste of Madness before, but believe me, I'll be back frequently to try new recipes.  There were about 25 looking awesome ones that I bookmarked, and I didn't even go through her whole blog.  I actually made two recipes of hers this month, the Cottage Cheese Pancakes (which I added a smidge of vanilla to, they were amazing), and Coconut Oatmeal Cake.  My husband and I both really wanted to make her crumpet recipe but ran out of time, it's one we plan to make soon, though!  Cathleen is originally from the UK, so we figure she would know a good crumpet recipe!

This Coconut Oatmeal Cake was great.  I've seen recipes that called for a broiled coconut-pecan topping and always wanted to try it. I brought it to a friend's get together where we got to paint, and it got rave reviews from everyone.  It's so moist and the topping is delightfully sweet, crunchy, and a little chewy from the caramelization.  This is a perfect cake for winter because of the spices, oats, and rich topping!  I can picture it perfectly on a Thanksgiving or Christmas table.

My only change was to decrease the salt in the cake (I worried it would be too salty with 1 1/2 tsp), and for the topping, there was a difference between the types of sugar mentioned in the ingredients list and the recipe itself.  I decided to go with what the ingredient list said, and it turned out wonderfully!

Coconut Oatmeal Cake

for cake:
1 1/4 C boiling water
1 C quick cooking oats
1 1/3 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 C packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs

for topping:
1/4 C milk
1/2 C salted butter
1/4 C packed dark brown sugar
1 C sweetened coconut flakes
1 C shopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 pan.

In a heat safe bowl, pour boiling water over oats and stir to combine.  Set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the batter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.

Cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar, then stir in eggs until smooth.  Mix in the dry ingredients a little at a time, until smooth.  The mixture will be thick.  Mix in cooked oats.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

When cake is almost done baking, prepare the topping.  Place the milk, butter, and brown sugar into a medium sauce pan and cook over medium until everything is melted and well combined.  Remove from heat and stir in coconut and pecans.

When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately top with the topping mixture.  Spread the topping as smoothly as possible so no bits of coconut or pecan sticks up, this will help prevent burning.

Place an oven rack at the highest setting, turn the oven to broil, and place the cake on the top rack.  Watch it very carefully (don't walk away!) and remove the cake immediately when the topping turns golden.  This will only take about 2 minutes.

Let cake cool, and serve.  It's great both warm and at room temperature.

Yield:  about 10 servings

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Secret Recipe Club: Orange Poppy Seed Waffles with Cranberry Syrup

This month's Secret Recipe Club recipe comes from the blog Adventures in All Things Food!  This blog is written by a lady named Andrea who has a very busy life with her husband, 3 truly adorable children, and a farm.  She is very talented and covers all kinds of topics on her blog, including, of course, food.  There are lots of great looking recipes on her blog, and I chose Orange Poppy Seed Waffles with Cranberry Syrup.  They seemed like the perfect breakfast for a lazy autumn day!  Other awesome looking recipes include Roasted Red Pepper and Tortellini Soup, and Chocolate Chip Malt Cookies.

The waffles and syrup both turned out great.  My only change was to add the juice of half a navel orange to the waffle batter instead of just 1 tablespoon.  This is the only time I can remember making waffles good and flavorful enough to eat without syrup or toppings of any sort!  They're delicious and the orange flavor comes through nicely.  I love poppy seeds so would probably double the amount next time.  In the future I will also experiment with making the batter into pancakes because the waffles turned out very fluffy and I think would do nicely as pancakes.

We loved the syrup, too, and it was perfect exactly as written.  Mine didn't have the beautiful jewel tone of Andrea's- you should have seen the color of the cranberries after cooking for 10 hours!- but it tasted great.  The orange flavor in the syrup is subtle and easy to miss, but it's still wonderful.  Usually I have a strong preference for regular maple syrup on waffles and pancakes, but I really enjoyed this cranberry syrup and didn't put normal syrup on mine at all.  A first!  In the future, I will experiment with cooking the syrup entirely on the stove so it will have a prettier color, but that's minor.  The recipe also made a lot more syrup than needed for the single batch of waffles, so I'm going to try it with plain pancakes as well.

All in all, a great breakfast treat that really tasted (and smelled!) like autumn/winter!  This would make a great Thanksgiving or Christmas breakfast.  Thank you for the great recipes, Andrea!  These waffles will definitely be on my table again!

Cranberry Syrup

1 1/2 C fresh cranberries, rinsed
1 C sugar
2 C water
zest of one large orange
2 Tbsp cornstarch

In a slow cooker, stir together all ingredients except cornstarch.  Cook overnight, 8-10 hours.  Strain liquid through a fine meshed sieve into a medium pan and press the berries against the sieve with a spoon to extract as much juice as possible.  Discard cranberries.

Bring the liquid to a boil.  While you wait for it to boil, stir together 1/4 C cold water and the 2 Tbsp cornstarch.  Use one hand to stir boiling liquid while you pour the cornstarch slurry in a small stream.  Continue to simmer until syrup thickens, then cook for another minute or two.  Remove pan from heat, pour into a small pitcher (you can let it cool a bit in the pan first if you're worried the pitcher will shatter), and set aside while you prepare the waffles.

Yield: About 3 cups

Orange Poppy Seed Waffles

1 3/4 C flour
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp poppy seeds (do 2 if you love poppy seeds like I do)
3 large eggs
1 1/2 C buttermilk
zest of one large orange
juice of 1/2 of a large orange
1 stick salted butter, melted

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until smooth.  Whisk in buttermilk, zest, and orange juice.  Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.  Stir in melted butter.  Let batter rest for 20 minutes.

While the batter rests, preheat and grease your waffle iron.  Cook waffles according to manufacturer's instructions.  Place an oven safe plate in your oven set to warm and add the finished waffles as they cook.  Serve waffles with butter and the cranberry orange syrup.

Yield:  This recipe made 4 large waffles on my Black & Decker iron, which makes for 4 servings.  How many waffles it makes will depend on your waffle iron.

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Secret Recipe Club: 30 Minute Dinner Rolls

This month's SRC recipe comes from the blog Hun... What's for Dinner?, which is written by a very nice sounding young stay-at-home mom of two adorable children.  She is a very busy cook and makes all kinds of things!  I really want to try her Stuffed Savory Ham and Cheese French Toast and Old Fashioned Tomato Noodle Soup (I feel these two would be really good paired together), but ended up choosing her 30 Minute Dinner Rolls.  The idea of rolls in 30 minutes really intrigued me and the picture she posted looked really good, so I gave it a go.

Lucky I did, too, because the rolls are so good!  They're quick, yes, but believe me when I say the quality does not suffer.  They're soft, puffy, and very, very tasty.  I have no idea how they're so good when they take so little effort, but you won't hear me complaining!  The main advantage to these I think is that without all of the kneading and rising, the guesswork of how long it will take to make the rolls is completely gone.  You can't really rush rising dough and it doesn't always cooperate with the other things you're trying to get on the table, but that's not really a problem with this recipe since the times are so predictable.

30 Minute Dinner Rolls

1/4 C sugar
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 C plus 2 Tbsp warm water
2 Tbsp yeast
4 C flour, divided
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together sugar, oil, water, and yeast until yeast dissolves.  Let sit for 15 minutes.  The yeast should look creamy and have grown some.

Add 2 C of the flour, the salt, and the egg, then stir it in.  Stir in additional flour in 1/2 C increments until it's too difficult, then attach the dough hook and knead until the dough comes together and looks uniform.  It's okay if it's sticky and don't worry about kneading it past when the dough comes together.

Grease a 9 by 13 baking dish, grease your hands, and then form the dough into 12 equal sized balls and arrange them evenly in the dish.  Place the dish in the oven and let the rolls rise for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes have passed, turn the oven to 400.  Set your timer for 10 minutes once the oven finishes preheating.  The rolls are done baking when they're golden brown.

Yield: 12 large rolls

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Bubble Breakfast Bake

Regrettably, I'm not sure who to credit with this recipe.  A friend shared the recipe on Facebook a few months ago and I saved it.  I've seen a decent number of recipes like this before though and it's not all that unique, so I'm not sure one specific person can be credited with it, anyway.  Maybe the Pillsbury company since it uses canned biscuits?

Anyway, I made this breakfast casserole a couple of months ago when my husband's parents were staying with us.  I figure it deserves to be on my blog since it's the one thing I've made for my in-laws in 9 years that my mother-in-law has requested the recipe for!  She doesn't enjoy cooking very often, so I was flattered that she wanted to make it.  We liked it enough that I'm strongly considering making it for Christmas breakfast since it's so easy and yummy.

The recipe is pretty self explanatory, but I want to specifically mention that you can't judge whether the casserole is done or not just by looking at how browned the biscuits are!  Raw biscuit dough is gross, so either cut into a biscuit in the center to make sure it's done (just sticking in a toothpick isn't enough), or use a digital probe thermometer stuck into a center biscuit and take the casserole out when it hits 190-200.

You can also supposedly refrigerate the mixing bowl of ingredients over night before pouring it in the baking dish and baking it in the morning, but I didn't do that.  It sure would be handy for Christmas morning, though!

 

 

Bubble Breakfast Bake

 

10 eggs

1/2 milk

1/2 tsp salt

4 green onions, sliced

2 C shredded cheddar cheese

1-2 C chopped cooked ham, bacon, or sausage

1  16 oz can flaky layer biscuits, cut into quarters

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 baking dish.
 
Whisk together eggs, milk, and salt, then stir in remaining ingredients except for biscuits.  Gently fold in biscuits.  Pour into greased baking dish and bake until biscuits are cooked through (cut one near the center with a knife to check) and eggs are set.  I cooked mine for 25 minutes, covered the top with foil so the biscuits wouldn't brown too much, then baked 10 minutes more.
 
Yield: 8 servings

Orange Muffins

These muffins from Taste of Home knocked our socks off!  A lot of supposedly orange flavored baked goods barely taste like orange, but not these.  Tender, buttery, lots of orange flavor... Yum!  These are so sweet and tasty that I'm not entirely sure they aren't cupcakes without frosting.  They also stay good for several days, we enjoyed the last of the batch a good 5 or 6 days later and they were still really good.  I'm going to experiment with substituting half of the butter with half a cup of applesauce (so 1/2 C butter and 1/2 C applesauce) just so they're a little less heart attack-y, but definitely no complaints in the flavor department as the recipe is written.

 
Orange Muffins

1 C butter, softened

1 C sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 T orange zest

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 C orange juice

2 t orange extract

1 t vanilla extract

2 C flour
 

Preheat oven to 375 and either line a muffin tin with muffin papers or grease the muffin tin.  You will need about 18 prepared muffin cups, but you may want to start with only greasing/lining 15 because there's some variation in the capacity of muffin tins.

Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in egg yolks.  Stir in orange zest, baking powder, and salt.  In a measuring cup, stir together orange juice and extracts. 

Alternate stirring the orange juice mixture and flour into the creamed butter mixture, just until everything is incorporated.  Don't over mix!

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the muffin batter by hand, just until no white streaks remain. 

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.  You want each cup to be about 2/3 full so they don't overflow.

Bake until they turn golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Yield: About 18 muffins

Yeast Waffles

I came upon this recipe on the Ben & Birdy blog a couple of weeks ago, and was so intrigued that I made the batter that night so we could have waffles the next morning.  They were so good that we had waffles again this morning, too!
 

This is a very old recipe and was first published in the Fannie Farmer Cookbook in 1896.  This is an amazing cook book (read more about it here), and I've actually owned it since I was a teenager, but hadn't made these waffles until now!  What makes this recipe unique is that the batter has yeast in it.  You mix most of the ingredients up the night before (very quick and simple), cover it, let it sit out all night, then just stir in a couple more ingredients in the morning and get waffling.  What's even better is that you can keep the batter in the fridge for several days.  I haven't tried this yet and have cooked all of the batter each time (the leftovers are great heated in the toaster), but definitely will at some point.  These will probably become a Christmas morning tradition because the prep time in the morning is so minimal, and the waffles themselves are amazing!
 

I had what I considered to be the best waffle recipe before, but plan to only make raised waffles from now on unless we're suddenly facing a waffle craving and don't have time to let the batter rise.  The other waffle recipe is very good, but this one undoubtedly blows it out of the water.  It's even dethroned pancakes as my favorite breakfast food.  These waffles have a thin, crisp crust that softens very quickly.  My husband prefers his waffles very anemic and floppy, but likes the delicate crust on these.  Inside, they are very light, airy, and soft, not unlike the inside of a really fluffy, fresh from the oven roll.  The smell while they cook is incredible if you're a fan of yeast breads, and the waffles themselves have a bit of a yeast flavor.  The waffles actually remind us a tiny bit of french toast.  If you're at all fond of waffles and have a waffle iron, you really should try this recipe once!
 

This recipe is very slightly changed from the original, in that 1/4 C butter is used instead of 1/2 C.  That's how it's written on the Ben & Birdy blog, and we have absolutely no complaints about it this way.  I'll probably try the full amount of butter at some point, just because.  Also, when I made the waffles this time, I waited to add the salt with the eggs and baking soda because salt kills yeast.  There was no noticeable difference in the outcome, so I didn't change the recipe.
 

Quick Note:  I used a regular waffle iron for this, not a Belgian waffle iron.  No promises on how the recipe turns out with a Belgian iron!  Also, because the waffles lose their crisp exterior very quickly, I suggest putting the waffle iron right on the breakfast table and serving the waffles as they come out of the iron.  You can also add a little (1/2-1 tsp) cinnamon to the batter if you want something extra special.

 

 It's a miracle, I managed to take a non-disgusting photo!  Thanks, natural light!
 

Yeast Waffles

1/2 C warm water

1 packet yeast

2 C warm milk

1/4 C butter, melted

2 C flour

1 t sugar

3/4 t salt
 

later:

2 eggs

1/4 t baking soda
 

In a very large bowl (must be large so the batter doesn't overflow as it rises!), dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Stir in the warm milk and melted butter, making sure they aren't hot enough to kill the yeast.  Add the flour, sugar, and salt, and whisk until well combined.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature over night.

In the morning, preheat your waffle iron.  Whisk the eggs and baking soda into batter, until smooth.  Grease waffle iron and pour on batter.  The amount will entirely depend on your waffle iron, best to start out with just a little batter so it doesn't overflow!  Close waffle iron and cook until waffle is golden.  Repeat with remaining batter.
 

Yield: About 6 full size waffles (so 24 small ones when torn apart), or enough to feed about 4 people.

Bizcochitos

Bizcochitos are the official state cookie of New Mexico and have been around in different versions for hundreds of years.  They're traditionally made with lard, always seem to have anise and some type of alcohol (like brandy or wine) or juice in the dough, and are sprinkled with or rolled in cinnamon sugar.  I've been wanting to make them for years and finally did it!  No regrets, these cookies are delicious.  They have a crunchy, shortbread texture to them and the anise is delightful.  It's definitely there, but is not too strong at all.  Even my husband liked these quite a bit.
 
This time around I used shortening and orange juice, but in the future I would like to experiment with butter, solid coconut oil, and MAYBE even lard for the fat, and brandy and wine for the liquid.  We liked these so much that I plan to make these every Christmas, so I will have many opportunities to experiment!
  
I got this recipe from a blog called The Nickel and Dime Ranch.  The blog owner, Bridget, says the recipe came from a New Mexican cookbook called License to Cook.  After I made the recipe, I found basically the same recipe on AllRecipes!  I wonder if the recipe submitter got it from the same cookbook as Bridget.

Tip:  After you've pressed the cookie cutter down into the rolled out dough, wiggle it around a bit so the cut out will be sufficiently separated from the surrounding dough.  This will make it easier to remove the excess cookie dough.
 

Bizcochitos
 
1 C vegetable shortening
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp anise seeds, lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle
1 egg
1/4 C orange juice
3 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

topping:
1/4 C sugar
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

With an electric mixer, cream together shortening, sugar, and anise.  Beat in egg, then orange juice.  Scrape down sides of bowl.  In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to shortening mixture and stir just until the dough comes together.  Do not over work the dough.  The dough should be fairly soft and not sticky.  Gently form the dough into a ball.

Lightly flour a clean, flat surface.  Place the dough ball on the middle of the rolling surface and pat it down a bit with your hands so it's flat.  Dust lightly with flour and brush the flour around with your hand.  Roll the dough out carefully with a rolling pin, so it's about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick- whichever you prefer.  I did both and they were all great!  Add a little more flour if the dough starts to stick to the rolling pin.
 
Cut the dough out with cookie cutters and carefully move the cut outs to the prepared baking sheets with a very thin pancake turner.  The shapes won't really spread in the oven, so you can space them 1 inch apart. Repeat rolling out the dough until it's all used up.
 
When the cookie sheet is full, stir together the 1/4 C sugar and 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon and sprinkle it generously over each cookie.  Bake until cookies are light golden around the edges, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on how thinly you rolled the dough and how big your cookie cutters are.

Optional:  You can gently roll the cookies through the cinnamon sugar again when they come out of the oven (before they cool) if you want.  I didn't do this because we liked the cookies just fine as they were, but I'm sure it would be good this way!

In either case, let the cookies cool until you can handle them without them breaking, then remove them to wire cooling racks.  When they've cooled completely, you can store them in a tin or an airtight cookie jar.

Yield: 25-50 cookies, depending on how thin you roll the dough and the size of your cookie cutters.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

This is another recipe from Making Memories With Your Kids!  Thanks for being such a great source of Christmas treats this year, Erin :)
 
I've always liked coconut macaroons, but my husband didn't finally give in and start liking coconut until recently.  He loved these, and so did I!  The almond extract is just perfect in them.  They're so dense, chewy, rich, crunchy around the edges, and just perfect.  I'm not sure if they should be classified as a cookie or a candy, but they can definitely be classified as amazing and a recipe to make again next Christmas!
 
My only changes for next time are that I would make them a little smaller because they're so rich (I used a cookie scoop and only got 15 out of this recipe), and I would dip them in melted semisweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate.  I have a definite preference for milk chocolate if I'm just eating it, but it's so sweet and the chocolate flavor was kind of lost here.  Normally I don't post a recipe on my blog if I have changes to make, but the chocolate thing is pretty minor and I'm 100% sure the semisweet chocolate will work.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
14 oz bag sweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 C flour
1 1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together condensed milk and extracts.  Break up the coconut with your hands and sprinkle it over the condensed milk, then sprinkle the flour evenly over that.  Stir together until everything is well combined.  Use 2 spoons or a small cookie scoop to scoop up the mixture and make little balls on the prepared cookie sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.  These don't spread or grow in the oven, so keep that in mind when you shape the macaroons!  I chose to squash mine down slightly so they wouldn't be rounded.

Bake until the macaroons are light golden and the stray coconut bits are browned.  How long this takes will depend on your oven and the size of the macaroons, but somewhere between 10 and 16 minutes will probably work.
 
Let macaroons cool on the cookie sheets until you can handle them, then put them on a plate and refrigerate until very cold.  Save the parchment paper.
 
Melt chocolate chips.  I used the microwave and heated them in 15 second increments at 50% power, stirring between each cooking burst, but use whatever method you prefer. 

When you're ready to dip the macaroons, remove them from the refrigerator and set your parchment paper lined cookie sheets nearby (you can use the same parchment paper they were baked on).  Dip the bottoms into the chocolate.  Set dipped macaroons on the parchment paper lined cookie sheets and refrigerate them until the chocolate is set.  You can store the finished macaroons in a tin at room temperature.

Yield:  Depends on how big you make them.  About 15 big ones or 30 small ones.

Snickerdoodles

December is always full of baking cookies and other treats, and I have 3 great recipes to share over the next few days.

The first is Snickerdoodles.  How well known are these cookies?  I'd never even heard of them until I was 10 and I met a new friend with a super cute bunny named Snickerdoodle, my husband had never heard of them until I made these, and a friend of mine didn't know what they were either.  Although I have eaten Snickerdoodles (and knew they were amazing), for some reason this was my first time making them, and they were incredible.  As in, my husband, who has a HUGE preference for chocolate chip cookies, said they give his CCC recipe a run for its money!  Wow! 
 
The recipe is from Erin over at Making Memories With Your Kids.  I was assigned her blog for Secret Recipe Club last week and made White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies for that, but went on to make these a few days later, and then just yesterday I made another of her cookie recipes (which will be posted here soon!).
 
Erin, you may get a kick out of this- when I was ready to make these, I asked my husband to pull up the recipe on his computer and he typed into Google "making memories with your Snickerdoodles."  That did lead to the correct recipe!

These cookies are fantastic as they are, but next time I may experiment with using 2 t cream of tartar because a lot of other recipes I looked at use that much for this amount of flour.

 Snickerdoodles
 

1 C butter, softened

1 C white sugar

2/3 C brown sugar

1 t vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 t salt

1/2 t cream of tartar

1 t baking soda

3 C flour
 

topping:

1/4 C white sugar

1 T cinnamon
 

Cream together butter and sugars for 1 minute.  Beat in vanilla extract and eggs, then salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  Mix in flour, being careful not to over mix.  Refrigerate cookie dough for 1 hour.

 

Preheat oven to 300 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 C sugar and 1 T cinnamon.  Roll dough into walnut sized balls and roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.  Space 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake cookies just until starting to turn golden.  This was 17 minutes in my oven, but yours may take more or less time!  I'd suggest checking on them after 10 minutes.
 

Yield: I got 30 cookies from this recipe.

Sparkling Chai Sables

I can't remember how I stumbled across this recipe from The Naptime Chef, but immediately decided to make it when I saw it!  The cardamom intrigued me and I liked the look of the sugar on the edges.  It was a good decision, because the cookies turned out great.  Deliciously crisp and buttery, surprisingly light with a melt in your mouth texture, and the perfect proportion of spices.  Definitely a good choice for anyone who enjoys warm, sweet spices and shortbread cookies.  Also, I made these cookies over a week ago and they've held up wonderfully!

Quick Note:  The original recipe calls for unsalted butter and then table salt.  I only had salted butter and planned to leave out the additional salt to compensate, but made the recipe by memory and forgot to leave it out.  We liked the cookies just fine as they were and did not find them salty, but you may want to either use unsalted butter or leave out the added salt if you're worried.

Sparkling Chai Sables

3 sticks salted butter, softened
1 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 egg
3 C flour
1/2 t salt
2 t ground cinnamon
2 t ground cardamom
1 t ground ginger
egg white for sugar crust
coarse white sugar for crust

Beat together butter and powdered sugar until fluffy.  Beat in vanilla extract and egg.  Add the flour, salt, and spices, and mix in thoroughly without overworking the dough.  Form dough into two approximately 9 inch logs on pieces of plastic wrap, and wrap them tightly.  Chill in the refrigerator between 6 and 24 hours. 

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Beat the egg white with a fork in a small bowl, then brush the egg white on a dough log.  Sprinkle generously with the coarse sugar.  Cut the dough into approximately 1/3 inch slices and arrange 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets (they won't spread much).  Chill cookie sheets until ready to go in the oven.  Bake until very light golden, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Cool completely before storing in an air tight container. 

Yield:  This recipe produced 55 cookies for me.

Cheese Straws

Okay, yesterday I said I'd sit on this recipe until I make them again next year since I didn't have the cayenne pepper amount quite right.  They turned out less hot than I wanted (though extremely flavorful!) so I sprinkled cayenne pepper on some of them before baking.  My plan was to up the amount of cayenne pepper in the actual dough next year and then post the recipe here with that amount included.  However, many of the cheese straws went to work with my husband and he returned home with feedback that his coworkers (all guys who usually like spicy stuff) preferred the cheese straws without the extra cayenne on top.  Also, I'm pretty sure the ones without extra pepper would be fine for kids and people who don't like hot things.  Decided to just go on ahead and post the recipe as is with the recommendation to either add more cayenne pepper in the dough or sprinkle some extra on top if you want them hotter.  My in-laws are visiting for Christmas and I'm actually glad I made the cheese straws as I did, because they'll be able to enjoy the less spicy ones while my husband and I eat the ones with extra cayenne.

Until I made these the other day, I'd only had cheese straws once in my life.  On one of the Christmases I spent with my dad in Louisiana as a teenager, lots of neighbors and friends gave him tins of treats.  One of those tins contained cheese straws!  Neither my dad nor I have all that much of a sweet tooth, and the cookies all went neglected because we only had eyes for the cheese straws.  They were so cheesy, crunchy, and very spicy.  I don't have an especially high tolerance for hot things, but loved those cheese straws.  Yum. 

A few nights ago, I got to thinking about how good they were, and decided to try to make some myself!  Basically picked this recipe from the Food Network because it had the highest cheese to flour ratio of all the recipes I saw, and cheese is of course what it's all about.  I then halved the recipe but kept the amount of cayenne and black pepper the same and added some other spices.  I also used my cookie press with a flat extruder plate to make long, rectangular crackers, then cut them in half down the middle and slightly separated them on the cookie sheet, but you could roll the dough out and cut it into long, skinny strips instead.  Lucky for me, the cheese straws turned out extremely well and basically just like I remember, especially the ones with the extra cayenne sprinkled on top!  My husband loved them just as much, if not more.  They're very similar to a cheese cracker, but richer, cheesier, and just all around better.  I can't promise these will be made every Christmas from now on because there are so many other recipes we love and still others I want to try, but they will definitely appear frequently.

Update: I made these again for Christmas 2014, and we somehow forgot about them after a few days.  The tin was in the pantry for a solid month and the cheese straws were still very good and quickly eaten!

Cheese straws with extra cayenne on top, and plain on the bottom!  This is a very small tin.



Cheese Straws

15 oz sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated, then covered and allowed to sit out until it reaches room temperature (not the bagged, shredded cheese, it won't combine with the butter properly- also 15 oz is an odd amount, but you can just take care of that extra ounce by having a little snack!)
1 stick salted butter, at room temperature (needs to be quite soft)
1 1/2 cup white flour, plus a bit more
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you could try 1/4 t cayenne if you want them spicier!)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat your oven to 325 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the cheese and butter.  Attach the paddle and beat on low until the mixture is very soft, about 15 minutes (you could try this with a hand mixer as well, make sure your ingredients are very soft to start with).  You'll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently.  While that's happening, whisk together 1 1/2 cup flour and the spices.  Add to the cheese mixture about 1/3 cup at a time and beat in each flour addition thoroughly.  When all the flour has been added, add more flour 2 or 3 tablespoons at a time- up to 1/2 cup total- until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky, but still pretty soft.  I only needed about 3 tablespoons more.

If you're going to use a cookie press, fill the press according to the manufacturer's instructions and choose an extruder plate that will allow you to make long, skinny crackers.  If they're still fairly wide (mine were about an inch wide), cut them in half down the center and separate slightly.  The dough doesn't spread much, so you can put them fairly close together.  If you don't have a cookie press, you could just roll the dough out directly on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet, cut into skinny strips, and separate them.  If you'd like, you can sprinkle extra cayenne pepper on top of the cheese straws, but remember that a little goes a long way!

Bake the cheese straws until they turn light golden and are crunchy, about 20 minutes.  I confirmed they were done by taking one out of the oven and sticking it in the freezer so it would cool quickly.  They're good while still soft, but are more like a cheese cookie than a cracker!  Let the cheese straws cool completely, then store them in an air tight container. 

Yield:  Lots!  I failed to count, but got 3 large cookie sheets full.  Guessing about 100 cheese straws.

Chocolate Almond Spritz Cookies

Long, LONG time without a post!  I've still been using my little blog to look up recipes I made, just haven't had the right recipe to post.  Plus I was sick for a couple of months and had surgery, so didn't end up cooking during that time.  My little blog has not been forgotten, I'm just very sporadic with my additions to it :)

Anyway, Chocolate Almond Spritz Cookies!  My mom has made Spritz cookies since I was a kid, but they were of the standard, non-chocolate variety.  She always made red poinsettias sprinkled with red sugar and green Christmas trees sprinkled with colored sugar.  They're my grandpa's favorite cookie, but they've just never wowed me.  Blah.  Sorry to those that love the traditional recipe!  Yesterday I made cheese straws for the first time (that recipe is for next year, I need to tweak the amount of cayenne pepper before sharing it- they're fantastic, though!) and needed a cookie press. 

I've actually had a cookie press for about 7 years but only used it once to make some cheddar crackers.  It's survived many a kitchen purging because I always think HEY!  I'll surely use this one day!  That day was yesterday, with the cheese straws.  And today, with the Chocolate Almond Spritz!  I found this basic Chocolate Spritz recipe on the Wilton website, halved it (still got 72 cookies from half a recipe), and used almond extract instead of vanilla.  If I may say, these little cookies are wonderful.  Crunchy, chocolaty, almondy, and the sugar on top makes them even better.  Admittedly I am particular about cookies, but I think these are infinitely tastier than the regular kind.  Sorry, Grandpa!

Chocolate Almond Spritz

10 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1/2 C white sugar
1/3 C brown sugar
1/2 t almond extract
1 egg
1 1/4 C flour
1/3 C cocoa
1/4 t baking soda
1/8 t salt

Preheat oven to 375 and get out a couple of cookie sheets (do NOT grease them or use parchment paper or the dough won't come out of the cookie press properly).  Beat together butter and sugars, then beat in almond extract and egg.  Whisk together dry ingredients, and stir it into the butter mixture about 1/3 cup at a time, until everything is well combined.  Do not over mix.  Put the dough in the cookie press however the instruction manual says and pick whichever extruder disk you want.  Follow the cookie press directions to get the cookies on the cookie sheet, then decorate with sugar and sprinkles in whatever way you want and lightly press the toppings on.  Bake until set, about 10-12 minutes.  If you decorate them with crushed candy canes (yum!), don't sprinkle on the candy canes before baking!  Instead, sprinkle it on right after the cookies come out of the oven and gently press it into the tops of the cookies.  Let cool completely, then store in a tightly sealed container.

Yield:  About 72 cookies

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

I absolutely love making all kinds of cookies and treats during the Christmas season, and this is the recipe I picked to kick things off!  It is from AllRecipes and is virtually unchanged.  Only difference is I did not make the glaze.  Mine may not have turned out super pretty, but they taste like they were sent down from cookie heaven.  The tart, sweet, kind of gooey (but not wet) jelly in the middle of the cookie goes perfectly with the sweet, mild, slightly almond flavored cookie.  They are proof that simple things are often the best as they only have 5 ingredients and are really quick and easy to make!  Also, to my surprise, the cookies are still fantastic several days after they were baked.  The jelly center has not made the cookie soggy at all and the cookie part is still wonderfully crisp.  If you like crunchy shortbread, these are a surefire hit!  My husband is a purist when it comes to cookies, pretty much only likes his family's recipe for chocolate chip cookies, AND hates crunchy cookies, but he still liked these.  Oh and they are an even tastier version of Pepperidge Farm Verona Cookies.

If you make these, my one tip is to use more jelly in the center than you think you will need.  It will melt down in the oven and some of the liquid will boil off, so you need enough jelly.  Other reviewers cautioned about making the thumb print too deep, but I did not run into any problems at all, and to make sure to bake the cookies until light golden so that the bottoms are cooked enough to stand up to the jelly.

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints

1 C salted butter, softened
2/3 C sugar
1/2 t almond extract (can use more if you want them really almondy but we liked them as is)
2 C flour
about 1/2 C seedless raspberry jam or jelly (or another flavor if you prefer)
optional: about 1/4 C sugar to roll the dough balls in

Preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper (the parchment paper is important in case you have jelly overflow!).  Cream together the butter, sugar, and almond extract, then stir in the flour, being careful not to over mix.  Form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, roll balls in granulated sugar if desired, and place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.  Carefully make a large thumb print (not too deep!) on each dough ball and fill the thumbprint with jelly.  Bake until cookies are light golden and center is bubbling, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Let cool completely before tasting as that jelly is molten!  When cookies have cooled, stack them in an airtight container.  They will stay fresh for at least several days.

Yield: About 28 to 36 cookies (I got 28, the original recipe says 36)