2011 Christmas Baking

Cindy & I did some baking the other day. Christmas baking. Yum! Here are 2 of the things we made.


I *heart* the Christmas smores. Seriously LOVE them! I made them with the chocolate graham crackers once but didn't like them near as well as when I used the Honey Graham Crackers. So...I recommend using Honey Graham Crackers. Seriously amazing. In my opinion anyway!


The cookies are super cute and yummy as well.


Both of these recipes are oh-so-easy! My kind of baking! :)




Christmas S'mores

12 chocolate graham crackers (I used the Honey graham crackers and liked them MUCH better than the chocolate!)
3/4 cup butter
3/4 firmly packed brown sugar
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup red and green M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 15x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil leaving a 1-inch overhang on ends; spray foil with no-stick cooking spray. Place graham crackers onto foil so sides touch.

Melt butter and brown sugar in 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and mixture just comes to a boil (4 to 6 minutes). Pour evenly over crackers. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes or until bubbly.

Remove pan from oven; sprinkle with marshmallows.

Continue baking until marshmallows begin to soften (2 to 3 minutes). Sprinkle with M&Ms. Cool completely. Lift from pan using foil and cut into bars.

Source: Land O' Lakes Recipe Collection: Holiday Cookies, 2006.
Printed From: Bakergirl.

Candy Cane Blossoms
recipe from Hershey's

1 bag Hershey;s Kisses brand Candy Cane Kisses

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons milk

Red and Green colored sugar

Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove wrappers from candies (approx. 35)

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in large bowl until well blended. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add alternatively with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red and/or green colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 - 1o minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Yields approximately 35 cookies.

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops

Super easy & well liked by the family!

recipe from crockpotgirls.com

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops

6 pork chops (I used 4 which was plenty for our family.)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pkg ranch dressing (dry)

Put pork chops in crock pot. Sprinkle about 1/3 of ranch pkg over pork chops and mix the rest in with soup. Pour soup over chops and let cook for 6hrs on low or 4hrs on high. Serve over rice.

Chicken Soft Tacos

This can be eaten in tortillas as tacos, or do it as Chris & Gracie first did....put in a bowl with chips & cheese (sour cream for Chris) and eat it similar to a Taco Soup. Can't get much easier than this one!

recipe from CrockPotGirls.com

Chicken Soft Tacos

2 pkgs taco seasoning (low sodium)

1 can rotel
1 can black beans
1 cup frozen corn
Chicken broth

Put first five ingredients in crock pot and pour in enough chicken broth to cover everything. Cook on low approx. 5 hours or until chicken is cooked through and the house smells AMAZING! Shred chicken and return to pot. Serve with warm corn tortillas, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, etc…

Super delicious and so easy! Enjoy!

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bread

I found this recipe online today. It wasn't actually on a Paula Deen site, but whoever posted it credited one of her cookbooks. I found this to be very good & moist. I love when a recipe makes 2 loaves. 1 loaf is supposed to be for a new neighbor. It's still up for debate on whether or not they'll actually get it!

Pumpkin Bread
from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula H. Deen

Yields 2 loaves

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Mix sugar and oil with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add pumpkin and blend. Add water and blend. Combine remaining ingredients and add slowly. Fill pans equally and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown.

VARIATIONS:

For the oil, substitute 1/2 cup oil and add 1/2 cup applesauce. For banana bread, substitute 2 cups mashed, ripe bananas for pumpkin and omit nutmeg.

Buttermilk Pie

I loooooove buttermilk pie, and Chris does, too. This is so good!

Buttermilk Pie
from The Southern Living Cookbook, pg. 362

1/2 c butter or margarine, softened
2 c sugar
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 c buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9 inch pastry shell

Cream butter at high speed of an electric mixer; gradually add sugar , beating well. Add flour, and beat until smooth. Add eggs; beat until blended. Add buttermilk and vanilla; beat well. Pour filling into pastry shell.

Bake at 400 for 5 minutes; reduce heat to 350, and back an additional 45 minutes or until set. Cool to room temperature; then chill.

Yield; one 9 inch pie

Parmesan Knots

Our family loves these little 'rolls,' and can put away quite a few during a meal! I especially like to serve them with another of our favorites: Chicken Spaghetti!

Parmesan Knots
from Quick Cooking magazine

1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 c parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
dash pepper
3 cans (12 oz. each) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

In a small bowl, combine oil, cheese, parsley, oregano, garlic powder, & pepper. Set aside. Cut each biscuit in half. Roll each portion into a 6 in. rope; tie in a loose knot. Place on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 450 for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately brush with the Parmesan mixture, then brush again. Serve warm or freeze for up to 2 months.

TO USE FROZEN ROLLS: Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 5 dozen

Chocolate Fudge Pie

This is a definite favorite in our family!!!! It's like a big brownie in a pie crust!

Chocolate Fudge Pie

1 stick butter
1/4 c cocoa
1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
pinch salt
2 eggs
1 unbaked pie shell

Mix all filling ingredients together. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 350 for ??? minutes.

I say ??? because what I have written down says 25 minutes, but I've never been able to get it to be done in that short of a time. It usually goes 45 minutes or more; it's quite dense.