Rocky Road Fudge

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and Santa brought you everything you wished for this year.  I made this fudge for yet another holiday party last week – and I was tired of baking cookies – so I wanted something quick, easy and delicious.  Well, I found it in this fudge – it doesn’t get much simpler than melting chocolate, butter and sweetened condensed milk in the microwave and then mixing in nuts, marshmallows and more chocolate chips. 

Santa really enjoyed his plate – and so did I!   

Ingredients

• 1 bag (12 oz.) bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• pinch salt
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or peanuts
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Combine the bittersweet chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, butter and salt in a glass bowl and melt in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals.

2. Once chocolate mixture is completely melted, immediately stir in marshmallows, nuts and additional chips.

3. Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 8 dish and press down to spread out evenly.

4. Cover and refrigerate at least one to two hours, until completely firm.

5. Cut fudge into squares and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Source: adapted from The Sweets Life

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Candy Cane Cookies

Merry Christmas! 

I hope this day is filled with wonderful memories and time with you closest friends and family.  Relax and enjoy this special time of year! 

I made these cookies for my annual co-worker cookie exchange – and they were definitely time consuming but totally worth it in the end.  I love how cute they turned out – and the cookie was perfect – not too soft but not too crisp either.    They are also a fun cookie to make with kids – they can help to roll out the dough and twist into canes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp. peppermint or almond extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• Red food coloring 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for topping)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy.

3. Then add the egg and extracts.  Beat until smooth. 

4. Add in salt and then stir in the flour, beating on low speed just until the flour is blended.

5. Divide the cookie dough in half.  Take one half of the dough and knead red food coloring into it until the dough is tinted red. 

6. To assemble each cookie: Take one rounded teaspoon of red dough & one rounded teaspoon of white dough and roll each into a ball.

7. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 4-inch long rope.   Place 1 red and 1 white rope side by side on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Press the 2 ropes together lightly, twist them together, and then curve the top of the cookie down to form the handle of a candy cane.

8. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes.  Immediately after taking them out of the oven, sprinkle the cookies with the granulated sugar.  Cool slightly on the pan, and then remove them from the cookie sheet to cool completely.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Source: Cooking with Karen

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La Cuisine Chocolate Cookies

I made a double batch of the Oreo Cheesecake cookies – with the hopes that I would have enough for me to bring to work and for my husband to bring with him to a group he was working with.   Well, I may have made my cookies too big – since I didn’t get the amount I was hoping for.  Since I didn’t have enough cream cheese to make another batch – I went searching around to find another recipe to make very quickly.  The first recipe I found required a 2 hour chill – which I definitely did not have time for.  Then I found these – and I had all of the ingredients and they were super simple to mix up together. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Over a double boiler in a heatproof bowl melt together butter, chocolate chips, and sweetened condensed milk.

2. Remove from heat and stir in flour, nuts and vanilla.

3. Drop tablespoon’s of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until the tops are crackly.

Source: adapted from The Sweets Life and Eat Well. Love Life.

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Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

It was a really good thing that I made these cookies.  There was one (of many) holiday party at work that said it was optional to bring something.  Well, I refuse to show up empty handed – and since I am an obsessive baker, I will use any opportunity to try something from my ‘to-bake’ list.  It turns out I must be the only person that feels this way – because I was the only person to bring anything at all.  Luckily the pizza and wings were provided – but I saved the day with these cookies for dessert.  

I was skeptical of them though – since they had no egg, no baking soda or powder either.  But they came out perfectly – what was I thinking – you can’t go wrong with Oreos or cheesecake.  

O-R-E-O   C-H-E-E-S-E-C-A-K-E   C-O-O-K-I-E-S! 

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 cup Oreo cookie sandwich crumbs (from about 8 Oreos)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, cream cheese and salt on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy.

3. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, and then add the flour and mix on low just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

4. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Drop the dough balls into a bowl of oreo cookie crumbs and roll to coat. Arrange the dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

5. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until the edges just start to brown and the tops are set. Cool for a minute or two on the sheets, then transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles

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Caramel Corn

I have made a resolution and its not even New Years yet – I need to make more ‘real’ popcorn.  And by ‘real’ I mean the type in my air popper and not in the microwave. I have forgotten how fresh it tastes and you control exactly what goes into it.  And this caramel corn is about as far from healthy as you get – but it is amazing!  I had no idea how simple it was to make – and that means I plan on making this many more times in the future. At first I was concerned when I stirred the caramel in the popcorn and it started to seize up – but when this is cooked in the oven at a low temperature – the caramel softens again and you thoroughly coat the popcorn with it.  If you don’t believe me – try it – it is out of this world good! 

And if you can manage to share just a little bit of this amazingness – it does make some really great gifts.  Perfect for someone you forgot at the last minute!   

Ingredients

• 1 cup popcorn kernels, unpopped
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Pop popcorn using whichever method you wish.  Place the popped popcorn into two large bowls (plastic works better).

2. Preheat the oven to 250° F. 

3. To make the caramel, melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan set over medium heat.  Once the butter is melted, mix in the corn syrup, brown sugar and salt.  Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently.

4. Once the mixture reaches a boil, let the mixture continue to boil for 5 more minutes without stirring. 

5. Remove the mixture from the heat, stir in the baking soda and vanilla extract.  The mixture will bubble up and become frothy. 

6. Pour the caramel sauce over the popcorn in the bowls and toss to coat thoroughly. 

7. Spread the popcorn evenly onto two large baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, removing from the oven to toss/stir every 10 minutes.  After 40 minutes, test a cooled piece of popcorn.  If it is not completely crispy (i.e. still slightly mushy when you bite it), bake for 10 minutes more.

8. Remove the baking sheets to a wire rack and allow popcorn to cool completely before breaking apart for serving or packaging.

Source: Annie’s Eats who adapted from Christie’s Corner

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