Merry Christmas & Happy New year!

Wishing all my viewers a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday with your family and friends. I hope you can try out some of my recipes over the holidays and please let me know how they turned out. Enjoy from our house to yours!

Newfie Snow Ball`s

Newfie Snow Ball`s

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

 

 

3 cups of granulated sugar                         720ml 

3/4 cup butter                                             180ml

1 1/4 cup milk                                            300ml

3 cups quick rolled oats                             720ml

        1 cup coconut, unsweetened fine               240ml        

12 tbsp cocoa                                             180ml

 

 

 

 

In a large pot combine sugar, butter and milk. On med high heat you want to melt and bring the 3 ingredients  to a boil.

 

When it boils,  remove from heat, don't stir the mixture, pour in the oatmeal, coconut and cocoa, then mix well until all blended together.

 

Allow mixture to cool down so you can roll the mixture into balls with a scoop and roll into coconut.

 

Place on a platter and put in fridge or freezer  till they set.

 

 

I don't like my snowballs to chocolaty so I cut the cocoa in half. These are very easy to make. I love these.

You can also just drop the mixture on platters and not roll into coconut, they are great they way as well.!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

                                                           Mixture all blended.

 

 

 

 

                                                           Snowballs



 

 

 



Mini Pecan Tarts

Mini Pecan Tarts

 

 

 Ingredients

 

Tart Shells

 

 

1/2 cup butter, softened                 125ml

1/2 pkg cream cheese, softened      250g

1 cup all purpose flour                   250ml

 

Filling

 

 

2 tbsp butter                                  30ml

3/4 cup packed brown sugar       175ml

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla                                   5ml

3/4 pecans, chopped                   175ml

 

icing sugar optional 

 

 

 

Baking Directions

 

 

Pre-heat oven to 350F. For tart shells, beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Add flour, mix until a soft dough forms.

 

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls of dough into ungreased cups of mini muffin pan. Dip mini tart shaper in flour, press into dough to form tart shells.

 

For filling; place butter in small bowl, microwave on high for 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in brown sugar,egg and vanilla.

 

Chop pecans then add to the filling and mix.

 

Fill each tart shell with nut filling using a small 1 inch scoop.

 

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Place on cooling rack. Sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

 

 

I turn my oven down to 325F. I find with my oven 350F is to high! These are amazing tarts. Great for any party or occasion.! One of my favourite recipes.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

 

 

 

                                                            liquid mixture

 

 

                                                           dough in tins





 

 

 

                                                           finished tarts 



 



Peanut Butter Blossoms Kisses

Peanut Butter Blossoms Kisses

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

 

48 Hershey chocolate kisses - 1 bag

1/2 cup shorting                                        125ml

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter                   200ml 

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar             80ml

1 egg

2 tbsp milk                                                30ml

1 tsp vanilla extract                                   5ml

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour                    355ml

1 tsp salt                                                     5ml  

   

granulated sugar

 

 

 

Baking Instructions

 

 

Heat Oven to 375F. Remove foil wrappers from the kisses.

 

Beat shortening,and  peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

 

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in a bowl with granulated sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

 

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

 

Make sure you quickly put the kisses on the cookies press down a bit so they will stay on, you wait for them to cool the kisses won`t stay stuck on them.

 

Makes 4 dozen.

 

I always use my kitchen aide mixer to mix all my doughs. Makes it much easier on the hands, These are very easy to make and are great treat parties or Christmas tins. Actually they can be made anytime of the year! I love these. Enjoy!

 

 

                                                           Batter

 

 

                                                         rolled in sugar

 

 

 

                                                           placed on stone

                                                           placed on cooling rack

                                                           topped with kisses



Cake balls's

Cake Ball's

 

 

 

Cake balls are a lot of work, but they are an amazing treat to make for any holiday. You can decorate them with what ever you please, even make faces on them, mine are just simple drizzled chocolate!

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 box of cake mix, 2 layer any kind you want

1 container of icing for 2 layer cake

chocolate melting disks - bulk barn

 

If you make a chocolate cake use chocolate icing, a vanilla cake use vanilla icing. Try and stay with the colour icing as the flavor of cake mix.

 

Baking Directions

 

 

Bake the cake mix as directed on the box. Let the 2 cakes cool completely.

Crumble them in a large bowl, then add container of icing, mix together well.

Roll into 1 inch balls.

Make sure you place them on a platter  so they aren't piled on top of each other.

Place them in the freezer until frozen.

Melt chocolate disks in a double boiler. take so many cake balls out of the freezer and roll them in the melted chocolate and return them back to the freezer. 

Let them harden for an hour then melt another colour chocolate and drizzle with a spoon over top of them. Or you can also make faces depending what holiday it is. Let your creativity go wild.

 

                                                            

 

                                                           Drizzled with white chocolate

 

 

Sorry I was so busy baking I didn't do the step by step pictures, but they are very simple to make.

 

 



Gingerbread Men!

Gingerbread Men

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

1 cup butter,softened                 250 ml

1 cup golden yellow sugar        250ml

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract                   5ml

2 cups all purpose flour            500ml 

1/2 tsp baking powder              2ml

2 tsp ground ginger                  10ml

3/4 tsp cinnamon                      4ml

1/2 ground cardamon               2ml

1/4 tsp nutmeg                          1ml

1/4 tsp salt                                1ml

 

 

 

 

In a large bowl or mixer cream together butter, and sugar till well blended. Add in egg and vanilla mix well. Add remaining ingredients until batter forms.

 

Preheat oven to 375F.


Roll out dough on some flour for easy cutting. Then place on an ungreased baking pan. Make sure they are spread apart.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Then decorate as desired. I use icing and smarties or m&ms for the buttons, this time I sprinkled some coloured sugar on them as well before I baked them.  They look great!

I hope you enjoy!

I really like this recipe, very easy to make are are delicious. If you want them darker then instead of yellow sugar use the brown sugar. I will never go back to buying the ingredients in a box again!

 

                                                            Dough



 

 

 

                                                           cut out on stone

 

 

 

 

                                                           decorated. 

Blueberry and Lemon Tarts

 

 

 

1 can of blueberry or Lemon pie filling

 

Dough for tart shells

 

1/2 cup butter, softened                 125ml

1/2 pkg cream cheese, softened     250g

1 cup flour                                     250ml

 

Preheat oven to 325F.

Beat butter and cream cheese in bowl or mixer until smooth. Add flour, mix until dough forms.

 

Shape into 1 inch balls. Place the balls into mini muffin tin, ungreased. Use mini tart shaper to push down on the balls to form your tart shell.

 

Use a 1 inch scoop and put the pie filling in each tart shell. I can will make  mini 48 tarts. Half a can will make 24.

 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

 

Place on a cooling rack.

 

 

                                                             

                                                           Dough

 

 

                                                           Shells

 

 

                                                           Blueberry

                                                           Lemon

 

 

 



Christmas baking! Short Bread cookies

Short Bread Cookies

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

1/2 cup Corn starch          125ml

1/2 cup icing sugar           125ml

1 cup flour                        250ml

3/4 cup butter, softened    175ml

 

 

Sift together corn starch, icing sugar and flour. Blend butter until soft. smooth dough forms. Shape into 1 inch balls or use what ever cookie cutter you would like. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet spaced out.

Bake on 300F for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Then place on a cooling rack. makes about 24 cookies.

 

If dough is to soft to handle then cover and chill for 30-60 minutes.

 

Decorate as you please.

 

I use maraschino cherries, cut them in half. Place them on your cookies before you bake them. Same as the sugared candy, or nuts. I put them on before I bake them.

You can also dip the ends in melted chocolate as well when they are cooled.

 

There are a few things I do a little different. I use my kitchen aide mixer so the dough is like a whipped shortbread, the dough is fluffy and I used baking stones as well. Makes a big difference to me.

 

 

   Dough with everything mixed

 

 

 

Rolled dough using cookie cutter.

 



                                                      

 

                                                                                                         

 

 

  Cookies on cooling rack.

 

 

Christmas Baking!

I am so sorry, been awhile since I blogged, my bad! Over the next week I will be sharing 9 different recipes I make in my house over the holidays! I hope you enjoy them all. They are very easy to make!