Goodies of Christmas Past...

I know it's a little late to be posting Christmas recipes (I was too busy cooking and baking to blog!), but who says these can only be made at Christmas?! These are a few of the goodies that I have made over the past few weeks!

I made goodie boxes for our friends who help us dump our chickens (when we get babies).

The boxes had chocolate covered pretzels...

which is self-explanatory. Just pretzels sticks dipped in melted almond bark. The top picture is covered with sprinkles, and the bottom has crushed M&Ms.

"Peanut Butter Cookie Cups"

1 (17 1/2 oz) package peanut butter cookie mix

36 mini peanut butter cups

Prepare cookie mix according to package directions. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Place in greased mini muffin cups. Press dough evenly onto bottom and sides of each cup. Bake at 350 for 11-13 min. or until set. Immediately place a peanut butter cup in each cup; press down gently. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan.

"Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies"

1 (18 1/4 oz) package devil's food cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

1 (10 oz) package peanut butter chips

In a bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, and oil (batter will be stiff). Stir in chips. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheet; flatten slightly. Bake at 350 for 10 min. or until slightly indentation remains when lightly touched. Cool for 2 min before removing to wire rack.

"Chocolate Pretzel Rings"

48-50 mini pretzels

48-50 chocolate kisses

1/4 cup milk chocolate M&Ms

Place the pretzels on greased baking sheets; place a kiss in the center of each pretzel. Bake at 275 for 2-3 minu or until chocolate is softened. Remove from oven. Place M&M on each, pressing down slightly so chocolate fills the pretzel. Refrigerate for 5-10 min or until chocolate is firm. Store in air tight container.

"Brownie Crackles"

Now, these little suckers are a lot runnier than you think they should be, so instead of rolling them in confectioner's sugar, I just sprinkled it on top.

1 (13x9 inch pan size) package fudge brownie mix

1 cup all purpose flour

1 egg

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

confectioners sugar

In large bowl, beat the brownie mix, flour, egg, water, and oil until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Place confectioner's sugar in shallow dish. Drop dough by tablespoons into sugar; roll to coat. Place 2 inch apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min. or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

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"Decadent Peanut Butter Pie"

This is probably the best peanut butter pie I've ever eaten!!

1 cup creamy peanut butter, plus 2 tbps, divided

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 (12 oz) container cool whip, thawed and divided

1 prepared chocolate pie crust

1 (11.75 oz) jar hot fudge topping

Beat together 1 cup peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar in large bowl until combined. Gently mix in 3 cups cool whip until combined. Spoon mixture into pie crust. Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie. Reserve 2 tbps hot fudge topping in the corner of a ziploc bag; set aside. Microwave remaining topping for 1 minute. Stir. Spread topping over pie, covering entire peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until set. Spread remaining cool whip over hot fudge, being careful not to mix the two layers. Cut a small corner from bag containing topping. Squeeze bag to drizzle topping over pie. Place remaining 2 tbps peanut butter in a ziploc bag and do the same. Refrigerate.

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"Nutty Bar Cheesecake"

24 Nutty Bars

2-8oz packages cream cheese

1-4oz package instant vanilla pudding

2 cups chunky peanut butter

2 cups milk

1 cup whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

Unwrap 12 Nutty bars, chop in blender until crushed (I just used my hands). Pour into bowl. Add butter to bars, and mix well. Press into bottom of 12" springform pan (I used 10"). Set aside. Unwrap remaining Nutty Bars, cut in half. Line rim of pan with bars. In seperate bowl, whip cream cheese, milk, peanut butter, and sugar together until fluffy. Add whipping cream, pudding mix, and vanilla to cream cheese filling. Mix two minutes. Pour filling into crust. Chill overnight.

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These next two recipes are from Pioneer Woman. If you're lucky enough to have her cookbook, they are on pages 216 and 228.

"Flat Apple Pie"

This was so good, I barely got a picture before it was eaten! I actually made this pie sugar free using Splenda, and I actually found some Sweet n Low Brown Sugar. Yummy and healthy, Mmmmm.

5 peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples

2 tbps all purpose flour

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 recipe "Perfect Pie Crust" see below

6 tbps butter

Preheat oven to 375. In large bowl, stir together the apples, flour, lemon juice, sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Set aside. Roll out two pie crusts into large circles. Place the circles on large baking sheets. Place half the apple mixture on one crust and the other half on other crust. Fold over the edge of each crust so that it covers 2-3 inches of the pple mixture. Dot the tops of pies with chunks of butter. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until filling is golden and bubbly. If the crust browns too quickly, cover the edges with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time. Allow to cool slightly, then slice into wedges with pizza cutter

"Perfect Pie Crust"
3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening

1 egg

5 tbps cold water

1 tbps distilled white vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in large bowl. Add in the shortening using a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles tiny pebbles. Lightly beat the egg with a fork, then add it to the mixture. Add the cold water and vinegar. Stir the mixture together until just combined. Remove half of dough from the bowl. Place in large Ziploc bag (do not seal) and slightly flatten with rolling pin. After flattening seal the bag tightly. Repeat with other half of the dough and place bags in freezer until ready to use. Thaw for 20 minutes. (The first time I made this I placed in freezer for only 20 minutes, and it turned out great, but the second time, I put in freezer for a couple of hours and I thought it would never thaw out! Still turned out tasty though. The longer it's in the freezer, the more flaky this crust gets!)

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"Pineapple Upside Down Cake (In An Iron Skillet)"

The 2nd time I made this, I made it sugar free. I don't think it was as good as the regular version. The Sweet n Low brown sugar doesn't taste as good with the pineapples.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups milk

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1-20 oz can sliced pineapple, 2 tbsp juice reserved

1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. To make the cake batter, in a large mixing bowl place the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, 1/2 stick of the butter, the shortening, milk, eggs, vanilla, and reserved pineapple juice. Mix until combined. Set aside. Melt the remaining 1/2 stick butter in 10 or 12 inch iron skillet over medium heat. Swirl to coat the skillet. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Cover entire bottom of skillet. Do not stir. As soon as sugar dissolves, place a layer of pineapple slices over the top. If desired, place cherries in center of slices (I didn't, yuck!). Pour the batter evenly over pineapple slices. Gently spread out. Bake the cake for 30-40 min until a toothpick comes out clean. Immediately run a knife around the edge of the cake, then place a cake plate upside down on top of the skillet. Very carefully invert the skillet so that the cake is turned upside down on the cake plate. It should come out easily. Allow to cool slightly. Serve warm.
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I also gave some family members some sacks of the peanuts that we grew. The tag reads "Planted, Picked, and Parched at Miller Farms"

I parch my peanuts by putting them in a layer on a baking sheet, and cooking them on 350 for 15 minutes. Then I turn the oven off, and let them set in the oven until it is cool.

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If you actually like eating a little bit of real food between desserts, here's some of that...

"Roasted Red Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese"

1/2 cup light ranch dressing

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 cup bacon bits

2 lb small red potatoes, quartered

1 tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dressing, cheese, and bacon bits in large bowl. Add potatoes, toss lightly. Spoon into lightly greased 13x9 baking dish; cover with foil. Bake 40 min. Remove foil; bake 15 min or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle parsley.

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"Sausage Balls"

These are good when you're too excited to eat breakfast on Christmas morning!

1 lb sausage
1 cup grated cheese
2 cups bisquick
1/2 cup water

Scramble sausage in pan and slightly brown. Pour off grease. Mix bisquick and cheese together. Add sausage and mix well. Add water and stir. Make small balls and bake on 400 for 12-15 min. or until lightly brown.
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These last two recipes were gobbled up so fast, I didn't get a picture!

"Santa Fe Soup"

This is good to serve when you invite people over to watch "Christmas Vacation" for the 3,521 time.

2 lb ground chuck
2 packs taco seasoning
2 pack ranch seasoning
2 cans shoepeg corn (drained)
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can rotel
1 can whole tomatoes
1 large onion
2 cups water

Brown meat in skillet with onions. Add meat and all other ingredients to crock pot. Stir. Cook on high heat for 1 hour. Turn down to low heat until ready to serve.
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"Christmas Punch"

1 small frozen orange juice
1 small frozen lemonade
1 can pineapple juice
2 packs strawberry kool aid
1 1/2 cups sugar

Add all ingredients in gallon container. Add enough water to mix ingredients. Then fill the container with water to make a gallon.