Holiday Goodies

I love holiday baking (for others as well as our family) and treasure my time with Cole in the kitchen.  He loves to help and is a great assistant as we mix, chop, stir, and bake.

(He's quite the taste-tester too. . . we haven't found much that doesn't taste yummy off the sides of a mixing bowl or a few beaters :) )

As promised, here are a few recipes of our favorite goodies this season.

Cranberry Pecan Bread:

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

2 eggs

1/2 c. orange juice

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/3 c. cooking oil

1 c. dried cranberries (I use Craisins)

1/2 c. pecans; chopped

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease bottom and sides of loaf pans - set aside.  Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl.  Beat eggs in medium mixing bowl; stir in o.j., brown sugar, and oil.  Add to the flour mixture and stir - just until combined.  Stir in berries and nuts.  Spoon 3/4  - 1 cup of mixture into each pan (more if using larger).  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

I found these cute loaf pans at Le Gourmet (one of my favorite shops in Pigeon Forge) for $1 each and used them for the bread (2 batches for 8 pans).  Along with a few other goodies, they were the perfect gift for my MOPS ladies and Cole's MDO teachers.

Peppermint Bark:

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 lb. white chocolate chips

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

1/2 c. crushed peppermint candy 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil (allowing it to hang over the sides).  Pour semi-sweet chocolate chips in an even layer over foil.  Place in oven for 5 minutes, remove, and spread with spatula to all sides of pan.  Place in fridge and cool until firm.  Melt white chocolate chips over a double boiler (I do mine in the microwave).  Stir in extract.  Let cool a bit so it doesn't melt the semi-sweet chocolate when you pour it on.  Pour, work quickly and spread to cover.  Sprinkle with crushed candy.  Chill until both layers are firm.  Lift foil out of pan and shake off excess candy.  Peel bark and break.  Chill in covered container.

We enjoy making this for our neighbors - tie up with a cute bag and bow and attach a tract/Christmas card.  Great gift!

Sugar Nuts:

1 lb. pecans

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg white

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  Place nuts on a cookie sheet in an even layer.  Beat egg white with 1 Tbsp. water until frothy.  Pour egg white over nuts and stir until coated.  Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon.  Pour mixture over nuts and stir until evenly coated.  Bake for 1 hour; stirring nuts every 15 minutes.

Wassail:

64 oz. apple juice

32 oz. cranberry juice

1 orange; peeled

20-25 whole cloves

3-4 cinnamon sticks

Pour juices in slow cooker.  Stick whole cloves in orange.  Add orange and cinnamon sticks to juice.  Turn on high and simmer 4 hours.  At 4 hours, take out orange and cinnamon sticks; turn to low for serving.  (I like to garnish with orange slices).

Chocolate Peanut Butter Drop Cookies (aka Cow Patties)

1 stick margarine

1/4 c. cocoa

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. peanut butter

2 1/2 c. quick cooking oats

Mix sugar, cocoa, milk, and margarine in a large saucepan.  Heat to boil; let boil for 2 minutes (without stirring) and remove from heat.  Cool 10 minutes.  Stir in peanut butter, flavoring, and oats.  Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper.  Chill in fridge and store in an air-tight container.

These aren't necessarily a 'holiday' treat (we enjoy them all year), but we ALWAYS have a batch present at Christmas.  They don't last long!

One of our final treats for the season will be our Happy Birthday Jesus cake which we'll make on Friday or Saturday.  Happy baking!