.: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!

.:Pumpkin Muffins:.

My sister gave me this recipe a couple of falls ago, and it has become a traditional favorite at our house! This recipe makes a TON, so I usually do half of it with butterscotch chips and the other half with chocolate chips. They are a great visiting teaching or neighbor gift, or even just to freeze for later, and believe me, you'll have plenty to go around!

INGREDIENTS

3 c pumpkin (be sure not to get the pie filling!)
1 1/2 c vegetable oil
4 c sugar
6 eggs
4 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 1/2 t nutmeg
1 1/2 t cloves
1 pkg. butterscotch chips (or chocolate chips - or both!)

Pre-heat your oven to 350.

Mix the pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (except the chips) and mix.

Stir in with the pumpkin mix.

Stir in chips. (Be sure to set aside half of your batter if you are choosing to do half butterscotch chips and half chocolate chips.)

Line your muffin tin (if you are a liner sort of baker - I despise cleaning out muffin tins, so I always have to line mine!) Fill 2/3 full with batter.

Bake 18-20 minutes. (My oven is more on the 25 minute side, and they were still very moist and soft!)

.:Fluffy French Toast:.

We are having this for dinner tonite so I thought I would share!

FLUFFY FRENCH TOAST

1/4 c flour
1 c milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T white sugar
12 thick slices of bread (Texas Toast works great, but we're using Grandma Sycamore bread tonite)

* Mix all ingredients together

* Soak both sides of bread

* Cook on griddle on medium heat

.: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!

.:Squash Spaghetti:.

Our friends gave us a squash from their garden, and we really are not the biggest squash eaters. Luckily my friend gave me a tip on how to make spaghetti from squash, so we decided to give it a try last nite.

What you need:
- squash
- olive oil
- salt/pepper
- foil

The first thing you need to do is cut the top off of your squash, and then cut it down the middle. Our squash was really really hard - I had to have my husband cut it! Even he struggled with it!

Then you want to scoop out all of the seeds and guts.

Brush a layer of olive oil over each half.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I cut my foil to be long so that I would be able to wrap it around my squash halves.

Wrap your foil loosely around your squash halves.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, un-cover your squash and bake it again for 10-15 more minutes. Our squash was really hard, so we popped it in for an extra 8 minutes.

Use a fork to shred your squash into 'noodles'.

Top with sauce and serve!

My husband and I both agreed that there was really no taste to the squash, so it is a much healthier alternative to traditional noodles. The problem I had was that the squash was still pretty crunchy, which I struggled with. (Blame it on those pregnancy hormones I guess!) But if you like your pasta al dente, then this might be perfect for you!