Christmas treats

Ahh, Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. Everyone seems outwardly happy even though they are probably inwardly stressed to max. But again people seem happier & friendlier. I love all the lights, get togethers and just general Christmas cheer. I don’t love all of the “I want, I want, I want” but the commercialism of Christmas is a whole ‘nother blog, or 2 or 10, and I’m not even going to go there.

One of the other great things about Christmas is all of the yummy treats that creep up and make the lbs creep up as well, but that is what New Year’s Resolutions are for, right?

Here are a couple super treats that I like to make with my kids for Christmas

Christmas Crack

1 package of Chocolate Chips – I use Nestle Toll House ones, I always have them on hand
About 2/3 package of Oreo Cookies – crushed
2-3 teaspoons Peppermint extract

Melt the chocolate chips in a medium to large microwave safe bowl. Stir every 30 seconds or so until melted. It takes about 2-3 minutes total.

Mix in 1 teaspoon at a time of extract until you get the desired taste. Some like more minty flavor, others may like less. I usually use 3 teaspoons

Mix in the crushed Oreo’s. I normally put the cookies in a Ziploc bag and take a rolling pin or meat tenderizer mallet to the bag and crush up into little bits (This is a great reliever for Holiday aggression as well! Chocolate & tension relief – talk about a win-win!!)

Mix thoroughly and then spread thinly and as evenly as you can on a cookie sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Pop in the ‘fridge to harden (or I just stick it outside for a few minutes)

Then break it up into little pieces and TRY not to eat the whole bag. You will have to force yourself not to eat the entire batch, but really don’t - it will make you sick.

The other Christmas baking fun at our house is Cut-Out cookies. I love these cookies, they taste so good and are fun to make. This recipe is a great one and quite easy.

Cut Out Cookies

Preheat oven to 350

6 cups flour
3 teaspoons Baking Powder
2 cups butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or whatever flavor you like Almond is good)
1 teaspoon salt

Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture until flour mixture is completely incorprated and the dough comes together.

Take dough & place a glob between 2 sheets or wax or parchment paper & roll to desired thickness. Place on cookie sheet & put into fridge. Continue to to do this until all dough is rolled out. By then the first piece should be chilled enough and ready to go. Cut out shapes & place on cookie sheet. Keep scraps of leftover dough and repeat the process.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown on edges. I cut this recipe in half because even the half recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies with my cookie cutters.

Once cooled then decorate.

Glace Icing: