Christmas Pretzels
I promise, these are the easiest, fastest, most delicious Christmas cookies ever! They’re great to set out for your dinner guests tomorrow, and even better for a post-Christmas snack the rest of the week! Really all you have to do is melt some white chocolate almond bark (it doesn’t really have almonds in it!), drizzle it on some flat pretzel chips, and then sprinkle crushed candy canes on top. How hard was that?
You could also modify these to fit any season by using food coloring to color the white chocolate different colors for Valentine’s Day, Easter, the Fourth of July, or even Halloween. You could also add different colored sprinkles or candies to them to give them some pizzazz! Get creative and have fun with them! 
Happy Holidays everybody!
Peanut Blossoms
We love to give these cookies away as presents because they’re so easy to make and get ready, and they have a really long shelf life. And who wouldn’t want to get a good, home-made peanut butter and chocolate cookie?!?! Well, I guess if you’re allergic to peanuts, you wouldn’t like them…..Ooo….
Anyway, all of you who aren’t allergic to peanuts can enjoy these delicious cookies; and all of you who are can enjoy the peanut-free cookies I’ll post tomorrow! Make these with someone you love and then give them to someone you love even more! Happy Holidays!
Peanut Blossoms (Pillsbury)
- 1 3/4 c flour
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c shortening
- 1/2 c peanut butter
- 2 tbsp. milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg
- sugar
- Hershey kisses
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, shortening, peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg; mix with electric mixer on low speed until stiff dough forms. 2 Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. 3 Bake at 375°F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately top each cookie with 1 milk chocolate candy, pressing down firmly so cookie cracks around edge; remove from cookie sheets.
Makes 36-48 cookies.
Black Bottom Cupcakes
These cupcakes are like little, choclate-y bundles of happiness! They’re so comforting and make you feel like you’re back in your grandma’s kitchen. Plus, who can resist that combination of chocolate and cream cheese? It’s so tangy and sweet at the same time and satisfies all of your holiday cravings. Happy holidays everybody! (P.S. For those of you keeping track, there’s only 5 days until Christmas. 
)
Black Bottoms
Cake:
- 1 1/2 c flour
- 1 c sugar
- 5 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 c water
- 1/3 c oil
- 1 tbsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. vinegar
Filling:
- 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
- 1/3 c sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 c mini chocolate chips
Start by combining the dry ingredients for the cake.
Then add in the oil..
..and the water. The cocoa powder made the water turn brown…I don’t have dirty water. Stir all the ingredients together.
After the ingredients are combined, add the vanilla, baking soda, and vinegar. The baking soda and vinegar make a cool little science experiment in your cupcakes. Mix that in as well.
Then, grab some cute Christmas cupcake liners with penguins on the bottom and line a mini muffin tin.
Fill the cupcakes up about 3/4 of the way full. Make sure to spill a little on the pan, just for good measure.
Then combine all the filling ingredients and put a little dollop on each cupcake. Bake them at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Makes 36 cupcakes.
Auntie’s Lace Cookies
I like this picture because it gives you an idea of just how big these cookies are! They’re super thin and crunchy, and spread out so much when you bake them that they end up 3x bigger than what they started as. I’m not really sure which “auntie” of mine invented these, but they’re irresistible. They’re full of brown sugar, butter, and oatmeal….which if you think about it, is good for you. So it doesn’t make you feel too bad for eating them around the holidays! Enjoy!
Auntie’s Lace Cookies
- 2 1/4 c quick oatmeal
- 2 1/4 c brown sugar
- 5 tbsp. flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 c melted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Stir the ingredients together and bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Only put 5 or 6 on a cookie sheet because they SPREAD out! Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until desired crispness. Let cool on pan for 5-8 minutes then remove to a cooling rack. Store at room temperature.
Peppermint Chocolate Meringues
Hello everyone! I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much these past few weeks, but school has gotten pretty over-whelming these days and I haven’t had time to do much cooking! I also didn’t have time to do much recipe testing for Thanksgiving. 
But don’t worry…I’m going to make up for it with a TON of christmas cookie recipes! We always go all out with the christmas cookies every year, so you’ll be finding a lot of recipes here! The first cookie….Peppermint Chocolate Meringues! The peppermint in these cookies gets everybody ready for Christmas, and the chocolate doesn’t hurt either! Plus, who can resist that crunchy, airy, meringue-y texture?!?!?!?!?! Enjoy these and keep a look out for more cookie recipes to come!
Peppermint Chocolate Meringues
- 2 egg whites
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
- 3/4 c sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 c mini chocolate chips
- 3-4 tbsp. crushed candy cane
Beat the egg whites until they’re foamy. Add the salt and cream of tartar and beat them until soft peaks form. Add the sugar slowly, about 1 tbsp. at a time, until they’re very stiff and shiny.
Like this!
Fold in the candy canes,
the vanilla, and the chocolate chips.
Mix it until it’s just combined, and try not to deflate the meringue.
Using a mini ice cream scoop, but them on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Put as many on a cookie sheet as possible because they don’t spread.
Bake them at 250 degrees for 40 minutes and then let them cool on a wire rack.
Makes about 36 cookies.
