.:Holiday Baking:.

Here's what I made this year:

** Homemade Thin Mints **

I've already done a tutorial/recipe for these before on my other blog (probably put them on here, too!), so just check out the link. They are super easy and really quite tasty!

** Peppermint Bark **

I used the recipe and directions found over at The Idea Room.

12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (you could also use baking chips, bark, etc.)

1 pound white chocolate (I just used one bag of white chocolate chips - close enough to a pound!)

Candy canes

Peppermint extract

Pre-heat your oven to 250.

Line your cookie sheet with foil and spray it. (She used a 9x13 dish, which I'll talk about later in the post.)

Cover the lining evenly with your semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Bake for about 5 minutes or until they look melted.

Use a spatula to spread out your chocolate evenly. Place in the fridge to harden.

You can melt your white chocolate however you want. I always brave the microwave! I melted my chips for about 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between intervals.

Add your peppermint extract (to taste).

Pour over your hardened chocolate, and spread evenly - and quickly! It starts to harden up quickly!

Sprinkle your crushed up candy canes over the top. Place in fridge to harden.

Remove the foil from the cookie sheet and shake off the excess candy. Cut your bark however you'd like.

Sooo....I didn't do so well with my first batch of bark. I didn't spread my white chocolate quickly enough, so not a lot of candy stuck to it. (As you can see!) I decided to give it another try doing it with 9x13 dishes.

This worked great. I also put my candy in a strainer and let the powder go through into my melted white chocolate, along with the peppermint extract. I like the look and the taste this gave my bark. Then the larger pieces are what I sprinkled on top.

Now, I had a problem with both of my batches. When I cut the bark, almost always my two layers of chocolate would separate. I know the white layer alone will taste delicious, and I also know that people can just hold the two layers together as they eat it. But why would it not stick together??? Can someone help me out? I was so frustrated that I about swore off ever making bark again!

** Chocolate Candy Cane Whoopie Pies:.

My mom posted this recipe on her blog a week or two ago, and I decided to put my own spin on it.

I decided to make cake mix cookies instead of cookies from scratch. Call me lazy if you want (I also used canned frosting!) but I also really love cake mix cookies.

So here's what you need:

Cake mix

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

frosting

crushed candy canes

peppermint extract

Andes baking bits (optional)

Pre- heat your oven to 350.

Mix your cake mix, oil, and eggs.

Stir in your baking bits. (I LOVE these candy cane bits!)

Put scoops of dough on your cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Let your cookies cool completely before adding frosting!

I mixed peppermint extract and red food coloring into my canned vanilla frosting. I just add extract to taste.

Frost one cookie and then roll the edges in the crushed candy canes. My mom's recipe says to frost the cookie and place the other cookie on top to make a sandwich before rolling the edges, but I found it easier to roll the edges before the second cookie was added.

Add your other cookie on top.

DONE! And delicious!

I also made another batch with just regular Andes baking bits - not the candy cane ones, but the chocolate and mint ones. For those, I used chocolate frosting instead of the peppermint frosting, and still rolled the edges in candy canes. Yum!

.:White Chocolate Cheesecake Cookies:.

I saw this recipe on a local T.V. program the other day, and visiting teaching gave me the perfect excuse to try it out!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup shortening
• ¼ cup butter or margarine softened
• ¼ cup white chocolate chips melted
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups white chocolate chips

• 8 oz package cream cheese softened
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 Tbsp milk

• 1 can cherry pie filling (I used raspberry because I'm not a fan of cherry pie filling)
  

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine sugars, shortening, butter, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until it is blended well.

Melt 1/4 cup white chocolate chips in the microwave.

Add to the bowl and beat until creamy.

Add flour, soda, and salt. Beat until a soft dough forms.

Hand stir in 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips.

In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy.

Stir in milk until it is absorbed.

Drop spoonfuls of dough on to cookie sheet.

Make an indention with the tip of your finger or a spoon.

Drop a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture into each indention.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. (Mine were more on the 12 side).

Let the cookies cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

Allow cookies to cool and spoon on your filling.

Store in the fridge!

.:Chocolate Chip Cookies:.

I'm sure everyone has their own chocolate chip cookie recipe, but my husband swears this one is the best! It's a recipe I got from my mom, and they are always a hit! Delicious!

MRS. FIELDS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 1/2 c sugar
2 c brown sugar
1 lb butter
4 eggs
2 t vanilla
5 1/2-6 c flour (I usually use 5 1/2)
1 t salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 large package chocolate chips

Mix all of the ingredients together.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. My oven usually does 10 minutes and they are perfect!
They come out looking like they are not done, but they are!
After they have cooled, they look like this - perfect!

Cookies To Make When You Can't Decide What Kind You Want

Yummy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sorry, I'm a little lazy when it comes to posting on two blogs at once...I'm sure you'll forgive me though.

.:Cadbury Creme Cookies:.

I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs, so I was beside myself when I found this recipe online. So simple, and so tasty!

.:Cadbury Creme Cookies:.

- I box of cake mix (I used Devil's food cake)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c. oil
- mini Cadbury Creme Eggs
- 1/2 bag mini chocolate chips



* Mix together cake mix, eggs, chips, and oil. This is a cake mix cookie recipe.

* Drop spoonfuls on cookie sheet.
* Press unwrapped mini Cadbury Egg into dough.

* Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes


My creme eggs exploded a little on some of my cookies, all over the cookie sheet. Maybe I didn't have very good spoonfuls?

If you don't like the mini cream eggs, you could really put anything else in there that you want! I saw another recipe online that crushed up the mini Cadbury eggs (not the cream ones) and put those in a cookie. Also, I was thinking that peanut butter chips would be pretty tasty. Because chocolate + peanut butter = celestial.

They were so tasty, and we ended up giving some away to some of our friends so that we didn't end up eating them all by ourselves!

.:Cupcakes & Homemade Thin Mints:.

Okay, so this didn't really require a ton of baking, but there was some involved. I found this idea on a cupcake blog, and decided to try it. We are having a ward auction/fundraiser in a couple of weeks, and we are supposed to bring desserts to auction off. So I wanted to make sure it would work out! The blog I got it off of made everything from scratch. I do not have the patience for this, especially when you can just buy a cake mix and a can of frosting! :) I'm not necessarily lazy, just cheap. My sister did a tutorial of how she made her Easter wreath, so I thought it would be fun to do a tutorial of my cupcakes!

The ingredients: Devil's food cake mix, eggs, oil, strawberry frosting, chocolate chips for the coating
Put cupcake liners in your cupcake tin, and fill 2/3 full with the cake batter.
Bake!
My friend Sarah gave me this tip for frosting when you don't have the real frosting bags/tools. Just cut the end off a Ziplock! (I'm sure everyone in the world knew that but me.)
Frost the cupcakes once they are cooled. I put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the fridge so that the frosting would harden.
Melt your chocolate chips in the microwave, and dip the frosting part of the cupcakes in it.
The finished product:
This is what they look like, cut in half.
VERDICT: They were delicious!


I also made some homemade Thin Mints. You use Ritz crackers, peppermint extract, half of a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips, and half of a bag of milk chocolate chips. Melt the chips in the microwave, add the extract to your liking, and dip your Ritz in them. I haven't tried them yet, but they look tasty!