Saltine Bark

 How have I never made this addictive recipe? I know a friend that makes it regularly and one of my relatives really likes it so I gave it a try and didn't disappoint. Hard to stop eating this. I kind of bunched up the almonds on one side since said relative said he didn't like them then proceeded to change his mind.

 

NOTE: I  toasted the almonds first.

Almond Saltine Bark

35 Saltine crackers (less than one sleeve), unsalted if butter is salted

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 to 2 cups chocolate chips, milk or semi sweet 

Almonds

Line cookie sheet with foil. Layer saltines in single layer. 

Boil sugar and butter for 5 minutes stirring constantly to avoid scorching. Pour 

mixture over crackers. Bake in 375F oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle 

with chocolate chips. When they are shiny spread with a knife. 

Cool and break into pieces. Keep in Refrigerator. 

Christmas Baking 2021

•  Last year, I didn't bake a single cookie. This year seemed more promising with some small gatherings planned but now with another variant circulating, maybe there will be some more cancellations. On the plus side, I was able to have my neighbours over for a short Open House and I think they all enjoyed getting together as we are a very diverse neighbourhood. Anyway, I digress. 

 

Here is the list of cookies that I made this year (almost all of them tried and true favourites and most of the recipes can be found on this blog....

• Nainamo bars
• Pink ladies
• Butterscotch Marshmallow squares
• Chipit Cherry Jewel bars
• Peanut Butter Blossoms
• Traditional Shortbread
• Peanut Butter Balls 
• Mennonite Shortbread (iced)
  
• Almond Tree cookies (a rare fail, they were too thick for the Cookie press)
• Mini Chip Shortbread
• Whipped Shortbread 
• Caramilk cookies
  

I exchanged some shortbread for some date balls with a friend of mine to round out the lineup.

I might still roll out some sugar cookies to use up my leftover buttercream frosting. Merry Christmas everyone!
 

Christmas Baking 2019

Every year I say I'm not going to go to all the time and expense to do all the Christmas baking. The cost of ingredients has really skyrocketed but I seem to enjoy it so much (both the baking and the eating) so I guess I'll keep doing it until I don't.

Baking 2019
Traditional Shortbread
Whipped Shortbread
Almond cookies
Mini Chip Shortbread
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Peanut Butter Balls
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares
Chocolate Marshmallow Squares
Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
Cadbury Caramilk Cookies
Nainamo Bars
Chipit Cherry Jewel Bars
Cherry Shortbread Squares
M and M cookies

This year I got together with my cousin and her boys as is our annual tradition and our family friend and her daughter joined us. We made 3 types of cookies. It was a fun afternoon.

My friend Keri and I got together and had a mini exchange. We were exchanging 3 types but she wanted peanut brittle as one of my selections so I was happy to oblige. I made a lot of Peanut Brittle also.

I also make my old favourites and I always try to make at least one new type. This year it was the Hot Cocoa cookies and they were really good.

So we will see what next year brings. Maybe I'll continue the baking or maybe not. I'll put my money on YES!

KISSES Hot Cocoa Cookies

It's been so long since I logged onto the Blog, I almost forgot my password. There always seems to be something more pressing to do than sitting down and typing out a post. I DO know there are still a few people that like to look up recipes, myself being one of them so I'm going to keep putting out my hopefully more frequent posts.

I was scrolling through Instagram(another time waster) and spotted this recipe. Every year I do a lot of Christmas baking and I always like to try a new recipe or two. Well I had a helper coming over to hang out for the day (Thanks Kate) and since this recipe involved a few more steps, it was the perfect time to try it.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips
36 Kisses (approx)
18 marshmallows
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cut each marshmallow in half. Set aside. Take wrappers off Kisses. Preheat oven to 350F

Beat butter and sugars,add eggs and vanilla, then dry ingredients. Chill dough.(They suggested 10 min in Freezer but I would chill it longer in fridge)
Roll dough into balls about an inch and a half. Flatten slightly.
Bake 6-7 min: top with marshmallow half and bake an additional 3-4 min( I didn't think the marshmallow was cooking so I went with 4 but I think I would bake slightly less next time)
Remove from oven. Cool one minute and top with KISS.
Allow cookies to cool completely.

These cookies were delicious! and the dough even better!  They are a soft cookie and the topping was yummy. A great addition to your cookie tray

Almond Cookies

When I was down in Florida, I wanted to check out the Sam's Club because we no longer have one here in Ontario. BOO! I don't know what possessed me but I ended up buying a Club pack of Almonds with the brown edges. I'm not sure what they are called but they are sometimes hard to find here and nuts are so expensive right now. So of course, I had to find some way to start using up this large package of almonds. I found this recipe on the Internet and even though glazing takes a bit of extra time, it's worth it and the little nut rosette on top looks so pretty on your Christmas platter. And the extra almond flavour is delish!

Glazed Almond Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp almond extract
3 tsp water

Cream butter and sugar and extract. Add dry ingredients.
Roll in to balls and bake at 350F.  10 minutes or so
When cookies are slightly warm, cover with glaze and decorative nut arrangement.
Freezes well.

Cherry Shortbread Squares

I thought I would post another Christmas staple even though I'm sure everyone is into NO SUGAR mode as it is Jan 1st. This was a later addition to my Christmas baking repertoire and now I have to make it every year. It doesn't always look the best (the condensed milk goes brown) and the bottom sometimes separates from the top but it's so good, I have to make them. Another fun fact - well not really fun is I always buy candied cherries at the start of the baking season thinking I need them for this recipe, when actually its maraschino cherries that I need. The recipe calls for red and green but you can get away with just red. (How long do cherries last anyway??? They're not a high demand item)

Cherry Shortbread Squares
1 cup butter
2 cups all purpose flour (or slightly less as mixture is dry)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup coconut
2/3 cup red and green maraschino cherries, cut up fine
1 can condensed milk

Butter an 8inch pan. Cream butter and sugar together. Add flour. Pat dough evenly into prepared pan.
Pierce with a fork every half inch. Bake 30 min at 350F.
Combine remaining ingredients. Spread evenly over shortbread. Bake 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan and cut into squares. *I cut the edges off so it looks nicer but they're still yummy!

If you want to see the process I posted this recipe in 2012. Whoops!

Mennonite Shortbread

This recipe is such a favourite of mine, I knew I needed to add it to the blog in case it goes missing. I make it every year without fail at Christmas. It's shortbread with the added sweetness of buttercream frosting. A little fussier to ice each one but well worth it. On the front end, you can make the dough and roll into into logs and throw it in the freezer until you're ready to slice and bake.

Mennonite Shortbread
1 cup butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups flour minus 2 Tbsp
2 Tbsp corn starch

Cream butter and sugar. Add dry ingredients. Blend in with your
hands if needed. Roll into cylinders and chill or keep in freezer until you're ready.
Slice into 1/3 inch slices. Bake at 300F, 15 to 20 min.
When cool ice with your favourite frosting. Makes about 3 dozen.

Chewy Sugar Cookies

I love sugar cookies. I always make the traditonal type with just a pinch of nutmeg and roll them out and frost them with buttercream icing. I came upon a recipe on Pinterest for Chewy Sugar Cookies that looked good.
I tried to upload a photo of them but I couldn't get it to work, it's from http://bakingaway.blogspot.ca/2009/10/chewy-sugar-cookies.html
Anyway, my cookies didn't look anything like theirs but they were soft pillows of perfection. I tried rolling the balls in plain sugar, then in coloured sugar to see how that worked. You could use red for Valentine's, green for St. Patricks day etc.

Chewy Sugar Cookies
I cup butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350F.
Beat together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and roll in sugar
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let stand and remove to cool.

Peanut Butter Balls

Need a last minute Christmas treat? These are a sure hit, very popular and no-bake. I always used to dread making them because they were so time consuming to dip in chocolate and tap off each ball to remove the excess chocolate. Now I just hold them and dip and let the chocolate run down the sides once they are on the waxed paper trays. They don't need to be perfect. Most people just pop them in their mouths, they don't stop to examine them. They are especially useful if you re-organize your kitchen cupboards and realize you have 11 sweetened condensed milks on hand. I usually double this recipe.

Peanut Butter Chip Balls
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together, shape into balls. Place on waxed paper. Chill to set.
Melt chocolate chips and 1 tsp. shortening either in small saucepan over low heat or in microwave.
Dip balls in chocolate and chill to set.

Microwave Peanut Brittle

A friend of mine at work really likes peanut brittle. I gave her some last year for Christmas and this year I didn't get around to it so I decided to whip up a batch for her last week. It turned out perfectly as it always does despite the fact that I got a new microwave and its much hotter then my old one. Didn't seem to matter. I must confess that I bought a glass measuring cup (large) just for peanut brittle. I guess I figure I'll be making it a time or two from now on.
Give it a try, just make sure you are wearing oven mitts. Not kidding!

Microwave Peanut Brittle
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 cup salted peanuts
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

Butter a cookie sheet. Combine sugar and corn syrup in a 2 quart glass bowl and microwave on high for 4 minutes.
Stir in peanuts and microwave 3 1/2 minutes more.
Stir in butter and vanilla and microwave 1 1/2 minutes more.
Stir in baking soda and quickly pour onto cookie sheet.
Let harden and break into pieces.
So GOOD!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

The Christmas cookie tray is not complete until these guys make an appearance. They always look so festive and seem to be the first to go. Unfortunately, this year, I made a mistake and quadrupled the shortening and only doubled the other ingredients. I was able to go back and amend the recipe but ended up with 11 dozen of these beauties which meant I had to unwrap 11 dozen Hershey kisses.
I made 37 dozen cookies for my Bake Sale and they went like wildfire.
Here's the recipe in case you decide to make them yourself. Just pay attention when you're adding the ingredients. LOL!

Peanut Blossom Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk (or less)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
white sugar for rolling

Beat shortening and sugars. Add peanut butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately press unwrapped Hershey Kiss into cookie. Let cool completely until chocolate has hardened. Cookies will crack.

I am entering this in the Sassy Cheryl's Show Me Thursday post because that's what I've been up to this past week.

Orange Cranberry Slice and Bake cookies

I love these cookies. Citrus and cranberry with a shortbread base. These would be ideal for a Christmas cookie plate. The best thing is you can pop them in the freezer and bake them up freshly as needed. I am a firm believer in fresh baking. Just never seems to come out the same once it's been in the freezer for a bit. So these are great for convenience and you can mix them up ahead of time.
The ingredients are simple also:

Just 5 ingredients plus 2 add-ins. Here they are rolled into a log, ready to be wrapped in wax paper and stored in the freezer....

 They taste just like the scones at Dana Shortt Gourmet foods.

 

 

Orange Cranberry Slice and Bake cookies

 

1 cup butter, unsalted at room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

Mix and add in the following:

zest of 2 oranges

1/2 cup dried cranberries (crasins)

 

Mix and mold into 2 logs, roll in waxed paper and place in Ziploc in freezer. Thaw to room temperature. Slice and bake at 350 F, 15 to 20 min or until edges are slightly golden. Keep well.

 

You can also chill them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and bake right away if you can't wait.



Traditional Shortbread

This is my favourite Christmas cookie. I like ALL kinds of shortbread, but this one is the best and has the simplest of ingredients. The recipe comes from a church cookbook "Coffee Hour Favourites" printed in 1982. I say printed not published because I'm pretty sure somebody typed it and then they photocopied the recipes. These are the best recipes. I'm sure they were made many times by the lady who submitted it. This recipe is called Etta Sawyer's Shortbread cookies. I'm pretty sure Etta knew what she was talking about.

Etta Sawyer's Shortbread Cookies

1 lb. unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
4 cups flour
pinch salt
Mix and refrigerate for 3 hours. Let warm up a bit, knead briefly and roll out to 1/2 inch.
Bake for 20 min at 300F, then turn off oven for 5 minutes. Then remove.

That is the recipe as it was typed. I bake them around 325F (I have a convection oven) and just take them out when they have a very slight tinge of brown around the edges. They freeze really well too. If they last that long.

Easy Gingerbread cookies

Every year I like to try a couple new recipes even though there would be a mutiny if I didn't make the old favourites. I found this recipe on the Internet and it called for Hershey kisses. Well, who are we kidding? Nobody likes unwrapping those foiled pieces especially when you're in a hurry. I don't even particularly like gingerbread but I have it on good authority, that these little morsels are out of this world! And it's so much easier to pop on a Merken's chocolate wafer. (I used white and dark chocolate) then to use the kisses but it's up to you.

It's worth baking these just to get the fragrance wafting through your house. A soft, chewy gingerbread cookie without all the work of rolling and icing. Try it, you'll like it....

Gingerbread Kiss Cookies
3/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

For rolling: 1/4 cup sugar
Mix butter, sugar, molasses. Add egg and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, then combine with moist.
Roll into small balls and then roll in sugar.
Bake at 350F approx. 10 minutes or until tops crinkle. Immediately press in a chocolate wafer
and wait until completely cooled to store. If you can wait that is.

FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO DON'T READ through the recipe "Should be
chilled at least one hour before rolling!)

Whipped Shortbread

Soft pillows of buttery perfection! I love Christmas baking. I get to make all my old favourites and give them away. People seem to enjoy receiving a homemade gift and I enjoy making them.
This is a classic, I'm sure you've made it before but in case you haven't here's my tried and true recipe.....

Whipped Shortbread
 1 lb. of butter (softened)
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 cups of flour
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Cream butter, sift dry ingredients and then add them along with the vanilla in a electric mixer and beat until the consistency of whipped cream.
Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet. May be decorated with sprinkles or red/green cherries.
Bake at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Stores well in covered tin.

Well, I'm off to make some peanut brittle.

Snickerdoodles

In all my years of baking, I have never made a Snickerdoodle!  Maybe it's more of an American creation. I've never heard of anyone making them in my circle. Anyway, I'm sorry I waited. These cookies are simple and delicious. As much as I love shortbread, I found using this recipe with shortening makes them just a little different and yummy enough to put on your tray of Christmas goodies. They also send a delightful fragrance of cinnamon and baking to add a festive feeling to your home.

Earlier this week, I got together with my much younger first cousin J, for our Annual baking session. It's always a fun time to get together, share a few laughs and pass down some baking tips to the next generation. I hope we get to do it for many years to come.

The weather has been gloomy here in Southern Ontario so I had to use this picture fresh from the oven. They still look great. Just passed my 5000th pageview and 100th post in 2012. Thanks to my readers. Hope you continue to enjoy my posts.

SNICKERDOODLES

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

For rolling:
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Cream shortening, sugar and eggs. Sift dry ingredients and stir into moist.  Chill dough until firm, at least one hour. Roll dough into small balls and roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture. Bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes until cookies are flattened and crinkly.

Christmas Shortbread Squares

The calendar has turned to December and I have started my Christmas baking. I always start with shortbread and then progress to the other items that I prefer to refrigerate rather then freeze. I find so often that you need the items well before actual Christmas day if you want to take them to various events. Every year I swear I will start earlier but it never seems to pan out that way. Regardless, this is one part of Christmas preparations that I particularly enjoy even when I'm pressed for time.

I won't lie, these squares can be a little tricky. They have to be watched carefully in the oven to avoid over-browning and they are very sensitive when you are cutting them. The bottom can get a little crumbly and separate from the topping. I'm going to try a little less flour in the base, next time I make them but these ones turned out pretty well.

It starts with a shortbread base (can't go wrong with that)...

Then you add a topping off sweetened condensed milk, raisins,coconut and cherries (I usually put nuts in everything so this is a nice change)...

Don't they look festive? I didn't have green cherries but I think they look good anyway.
 Happy Christmas baking!

Christmas Shortbread Squares
Base: 1 cup butter
1/4 cup white sugar
2 cups all purpose flour

Topping:
1/2 cup raisins
2/3 cup coconut
2/3 cup red and green maraschino cherries, chopped fine
1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x9 baking pan
Cream butter and sugar together. Blend in flour, pat dough into pan and pierce with a fork every half inch. Bake 30 minutes.
Combine remaining ingredients. Spread evenly on shortbread. Bake 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan, Cut into squares. Sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.