Saltine Toffee

This is one everyone knows.. but I've had a few requests for it this year. It's an old old recipe.

Saltine Crackers

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

..................

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line cookie tray (jelly roll type... with edges) with tin foil, and spray with non-stick spray

Lay the bottom of the tray with saltine crackers... closely together, as few gaps as possible.

Melt butter and sugar together over medium heat on the stovetop.

When mixture comes to a rolling boil let boil for 2 minutes, stirring.

Pour mixture over crackers.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes (it will bubble up all nicely)

Remove from oven... let stand for 2 minutes.. then sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Spread the chocolate evenly over the top as they melt.

Sprinkle peanuts, or crushed up saltines on the top.

Put pan in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Break it up and enjoy!

(I might try to get a picture of these as well).

Cappuccino Crinkles

This was a new recipe this year... and I think it's a winner:

1/3 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup cocoa

1 Tbsp instant coffee crystals

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2 egg whites

1/3 low fat vanilla yogurt

1.5 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

................

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter on high speed for 30 secs.

Add brown sugar, cocoa and coffee, baking soda, cinnamon.

Beat until combined.

Beat in eggs and yogurt until combined.

Mix in as much flour as you can with the mixer (might have to do the rest by hand.... my mixer managed to mix it all though).

Place sugar in small bowl.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, til edges are firm. Cool on cooling rack.

Makes about 32 cookies.


Recipe from 100 Best Cookie Recipes 2009

I may get around to posting a picture of these...

Date Pinwheel Cookies

A family favourite at Christmas is Date Pinwheels. We all love them, and they're great to keep in the fridge, and slice and bake as you need them!!

Date Pinwheels

Date Filling:

Combine in a saucepan

2 cups chopped dates

2/3 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup water

Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens to spreading consistency. Stir constantly.
Remove from heat and stir in

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Chill.

Cookie Dough:

Cream thoroughly

1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Add

2 well beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Beat until light and fluffy.

Blend or sift together

2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Add dry ingredient to the creamed mixture and combine thoroughly. CHill dough until firm.

Divide chilled dough into three balls. Roll each to a 8 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread with date filling. Beginning at the narrow edge o each, roll up like jelly rolls. Wrap securely in waxed paper. Chill overnight or until needed.

To bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice off desired number of cookies, making each about 1;4 inch thick. (tip: roll the cookie roll as you cut, to avoid a flattened side) Place on greased baking sheets and bake in oven for 10-12 minutes.

Wrap remaining cookie dough and return to fridge. Because of date filling, all cookies should be baked within a week or 10 days, but you can throw the rolls in the freezer, and pull them out later (great for prepping well before Christmas, just pull out of freezer, and put in fridge for the week of Christmas).

Nanaimo Bars

This morning I made Peppermint Nanaimo Bars for Christmas. I do every year, although we had a mishap with them as well (in continuation of yesterday's baking with a toddler post). This morning we were making Nanaimo Bars, and Paisley fell off her stool just as I was pouring in the peppermint extract. So now they're VERY strong peppermint nanaimo bars.

Several people asked for the recipe, so here we go:

Nanaimo Bars (mom's recipe - shhh, I didn't ask permission)

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbsp Cocoa
1 egg
2 cups crushed graham crackers
1 cup fine coconut

2 cups icing sugar
1/4 cup margarine
3 tbsp custard powder
4 Tbsp milk

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1 Tbsp butter

1. Mix and melt over hot water: 1/2 cup margarine, sugar, cocoa and egg.
2. Add graham cracker crumbs and coconut
3. Pack into a greased 8 x 10 pan, cool 15 minutes
4.Cream 1/4 cup margarine, icing sugar and custard powder until smooth
5. Add milk 1 Tbsp at a time
6. Spread over first layer and let sit 15 min
7. Melt chocolate and butter over hot water
8. Spread over top, Cool and refrigerate

That's the recipe for standard nanaimo bars.

Peppermint Variety
At christmas I swap the middle layer out for peppermint icing (icing sugar, 1/4 cup margarine, milk, green food colouring and peppermint extract)

I've also done:

Cherry Variety
Swap middle layer for cherry icing (cherry flavouring, red food colouring)

Orange Vatiety
Swap middle layer for orange icing (orange flavouring, orange food colouring)..... also adding some orange rind to the base layer is yummy.

Basically you can flavour them anything that goes with chocolate and coconut.

Enjoy! Super yummy.

All caught up!

I'm caught up on orders! Now I just have personal Christmas presents, and Christmas cards to do! :) Will have it all done by Friday, then I can work on organizing the house a little more (it's been busy since I reopened my shop on August 21st, haven't even been able to hang any pictures). I'm looking forward to getting the house set up now!

Yesterday and today Paisley and I made Peppermint Bark! :) First time ever. Paisley enjoyed dumping the bags of chocolate chips on the pan for me, and went crazy for candy canes. She's a super active girl, with a little sugar, she just goes WILD!

Here's the recipe we used. I found it HERE:

Peppermint Bark Recipe

* 24 ounces white chocolate chips

* 24 ounces milk chocolate chips

* 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

* 20 candy canes

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. Pour the milk chocolate chips onto the pan and spread them around. Bake for a couple of minutes until they look a bit melted. Then take the pan from the oven and spread the chocolate around with a spatula. Put the pan in the refrigerator to cool and harden for about 30 minutes.


3. Next open the candy canes, place them on a cookie sheet under a clean dishtowel and crush them with a hammer (this part is fun for kids). Sort the larger candy cane pieces from the candy cane dust.

4. Melt the white chocolate chips in a double boiler (I used a smaller pan in a bigger pan), stirring constantly. Add the peppermint extract and stir in the candy cane dust which will color your chocolate a light shade of pink. Let it cool a bit, then pour it over the top of your milk chocolate layer.

5. Sprinkle with candy cane pieces and press them down gently so that they stick.

6. Refrigerate for several hours, shake off the excess candy pieces, then break the bark into chunks. Best kept refrigerated.


Haven't tasted them yet, but they're being packaged away for now.

Started!

I finally started my Christmas baking!!

Anyone who's friends with me on Facebook, Twitter, or chat regularly with me on online forums, know that I have been suffering the last month or so from some pretty severe insomnia (only 1 night with more than 5 hours of sleep in more than 4 or 5 weeks now).

I've come around to using that time for productivity lately..... so this morning, at 1 am, I started my christmas baking. Yup. It's chilling in the fridge right now.

Today's recipe is a new one! I don't know who linked me this recipe, but it's been open in my browser for more than a week now.

The recipe can be found HERE at Reader's Digest.


Brown Sugar Chocolate Shortbread Dipped in White Chocolate


Ingredients

1 cup (250 mL) salted butter

¾ cup (175 mL) brown sugar

1¾ cup (425 mL) all-purpose flour

½ cup (125 mL) cocoa

Topping:

8 oz (250 g) chopped white chocolate, melted


1. Cream butter and sugar together until light, about 5 minutes. Sift flour with cocoa.

2. Beat into butter mixture. Divide dough into four square pieces. Wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

3. Roll out one piece of dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into 12 squares of about 2 in (5 cm) each. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Arrange cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. (Cookies will not spread too much, if at all, as they bake.)

4. Bake in a preheated 275°F (140°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven then, after 15 minutes, transfer to a cooling rack.

5. Melt chocolate in a 2-cup (500-mL) measuring cup. Dip cookies in the chocolate on the diagonal so that half are covered from one corner to another in white chocolate. Allow excess white chocolate to drain off and arrange cookies on rack. Refrigerate until set.

Makes 48 cookies

I'll post to let you know my review on them once they're baked (later today). One sample (for each of us), then in the deep freeze to prevent over indulgence.


On a somewhat related note... I started a weight loss challenge with some friends to keep us in check over the holidays. We started last week, so yesterday was our first weigh in. I LOST 7 POUNDS IN 1 WEEK!!! Go me!

Watermelon Lemonade

Saw this recipe. I HAVE to try it. Thinking I will for the BBQ this weekend:

Watermelon Lemonade found on Good Life {eats} (photo also from Good Life {eats})


















* 15 cups seeded and cubed watermelon
* 2 (12-ounce) cans frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
* Ice
* Garnishes: watermelon wedges

Process watermelon, in batches, in a blender or food processor until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a large pitcher. Add lemonade concentrate and whisk to combine. Serve chilled and over ice.

Want more recipes?

Here's another favorite recipe, and I keep misplacing it. So I'm putting it here, so I can always find it :)

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups Bisquick
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
sugar (just enough to roll dough balls in)
Hershey's Chocolate Kisses (1 bag)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk until creamy. Add Bisquick and vanilla and stir. Chill in fridge for an hour or more. Roll dough into small balls and roll in sugar. Place balls 2" apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Unwrap Hershey's Kisses and put one Kiss in the middle of each cookie. Let cool.

Another Holiday Recipe

Last year I had candy canes laying around... I never eat them. So I took a ziploc bag, a hammer, and an old pillow case. Tossed the candy canes in the ziploc bag (freezer bag, heavy duty), then put it in the pillow case and started banging them to crush the canes up. Then I made Rice Krispie squares, and added in the crushed candy canes. They were DELICIOUS! I made a tray for at home, and I made a try for Josh's office. At the office, they were gone before 9:30 (there was about 3 squares per person). Good use for candy canes, and a great festive treat. I used the Christmas Rice Krispies too, so it was nice and colourful.

Despite all the thinking I've been doing on Christmas goodies, I still haven't done any Christmas baking. Maybe because I feel I should do my other projects first....

Peppermint Patty Brownies

I first discovered this recipe last Christmas. It was a big hit, and everyone who had some loved them. Lots of requests for the recipe too. Anyway, since York Peppermint Patties are easy to find this time of year, here's the recipe. York patties are the tastiest, people tried cheap brands and weren't as pleased.

Peppermint Patty Brownies

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups margarine
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
24 small peppermint patties

DIRECTIONS
Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs till well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Blend well.
Reserve 2 cups of batter, set aside. Grease 13x9x2 inch pan. Spread remaining batter in prepared pan. Arrange peppermint patties in a single layer over batter about 1/2 inch apart. Spread reserved 2 cups batter over patties. Bake 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50-55 minutes till brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Enjoy!!!

From Cake in a Mug to Pie in a Jar

Found another recipe that looks delicious! Individual pie servings.

Pie in a Jar

Better than M&M's

Josh says my meatloaf is better than M&M's. I even liked it, and I'm not a big fan of beef.

Here's the recipe:

2 lb. (900 g) lean ground beef
1 pkg. (120 g) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup KRAFT Original BarBQ Sauce, divided
PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix all ingredients except 1/4 cup of the barbecue sauce.

SHAPE meat mixture into oval loaf in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with remaining 1/4 cup barbecue sauce.

BAKE 1 hour or until cooked through (160ºF).

I used more BBQ sauce... and it was Hickory flavoured. I didn't measure... just squirted it in, and then on top. I also made it in a loaf pan.

Tasty looking recipe

Most people know how much i LOVE watermelon. Came across this recipe while looking through some christmas gift ideas on a site, and had to save it for future making (next summer?)

Watermelon Jelly
* 4 cups seeded, diced watermelon
* 3 1/2 cups sugar
* 2 tbsp. lemon juice
* 1/2 of a 6-ounce pkg. liquid fruit pectin

Preparation:
Place diced watermelon in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend or process until smooth - you should have 2 cups watermelon puree. In a 6- to 8-quart kettle or Dutch oven combine the watermelon puree, sugar and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that cannot be stirred down) over high heat, stirring constantly with a long-handled wooden spoon. Stir in the pectin all at once. Return mixture to a full rolling boil; boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove kettle or Dutch oven from heat; skim of foam. Ladle jelly into clean hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. Allow to cool completely away from drafts, then store in cool, dark place. Makes 4 half-pints.

Chocolate Cake..... in 5 minutes?

Ever get a hankering for some chocolate cake, but have nothing in the house? Here's a little recipe to make a single portion of chocolate cake in 5 minutes (in you microwave).

Found this while browsing this morning: 5 Minute Chocolate Cake

Here's a photo of it:


I haven't tried it yet, but will be trying it this week, I'll let you know!

Brownies

Apparently these brownies were a big hit at Josh's office. And well they were just delicious... So I thought I'd share the recipe:

Chocolate-Cherry Brownies

1 (18 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs , beaten
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup milk
1 (6 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In mixing bowl combine cake mix, cherry pie filling, almond extract and beaten eggs.
3. In sprayed, floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan, pour batter and bake for 25-30 minute.
4. Icing: in medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, butter and milk, bring to boil and stir constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until smooth and creamy.
5. Remove from oven and pour icing over warm cake.