Christmas Treats

• These are the candies and cookies I made for the holiday festivities.

Waffle Pretzels With Peanut Butter Spread on them and Dipped in Almond Bark

We Make a Train Every Year - This Year I Used Chocolate Roll Out Cookies to Make ThemSnowmen Sugar Cookies - The Carrot Noses are 1/2 a Baking M&M
A Pill Cutter Was Used to Cut the M&M's

Fruit Slices Dipped in White Almond Bark

Gingerbread MenA Plate of Cookies
There's No Way We're Eating All of These, But They Are Soooo CUTE!

Cheep Cookie Cutters

• My Organized Chaos is giving away a cookie cutter at Cheep Cookie Cutters under the value of $10.
  
• I love having different cookie cutters.
• My pick: The Submarine! How fun it would be to make Mica who LOVES The Yellow Submarine movie these cookies for birthday treats!
  

Chocolate Roll Out Cookies

• I made these and they were pretty good.
• They sort of taste like brownies.
• I wanted to make something that could be decorated, but was different from sugar cookies.
• Overall I like them, but I have to admit they are a bit sticky when rolling them out. I sprayed my hand and the roller with flour spray. That seemed to help.
  

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 10 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

1. Cream butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Mix in the vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa powder and baking powder; add and mix well. Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Divide dough in half. Roll out each half to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with desired shaped cookie cutters. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Duncan Hines Giveaway!

• Two of my favorite sites Go Graham Go and Jolly Mom are giving away a Duncan Hines Prize Pack!
• I spotted these cute Gingerbread cookies on the Duncan Hines site.

Ingredients Baking Instructions

1. 21 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice cupcakes baked in brown paper liners
2. 1 cup Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting
3. 1 can (16 ounces each) Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Milk Chocolate Frosting
4. 3 each red, green and yellow spice drops
5. 6 green candy coated chocolates (e. g. M&M’s)

Baking Instructions

1. Spoon the vanilla frosting into a ziplock bag. Spoon the chocolate frosting into a 2 cup microwave safe glass bowl or measuring cup. Microwave the chocolate frosting in the measuring cup, stirring frequently, until frosting is the texture of slightly whipped cream -- about 20 to 30 seconds. Hold cupcakes by the paper liner and dip the tops, one at a time, into the thinned chocolate frosting just up to the paper liner. Allow the excess frosting to dip off. Invert and let stand. Reheat the frosting for several seconds in the microwave, stirring well, if it begins to thicken.
2. Arrange a group of 7 cupcakes each to make 3 gingerbread boys. Make sure the cupcakes are lightly touching each other (see photo) on a serving platter or cookie sheet (3 cupcakes placed in a vertical row to make the head and body, 2 on either side of bottom cupcake to make the feet, and a cupcake on either side of the second cupcake to make the hands).
3. Snip a small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe the outline of the gingerbread boy along the outer edge of each the cupcake group. Pipe 3 dots of vanilla frosting down the center of body cupcakes and add the spice drops to make the buttons. Add the green candies for the eyes. Pipe a vanilla frosting mouth.