Last Baking Day and TIME TO EAT!

Made two more recipes yesterday (Dec 23) - Toffee-Pecan Bars and Nanaimo Cookie Bars. Those recipes are below. That was the end of the baking! LOL

Tonight (Christmas Eve), I served a platter of the goodies to my family. Pictured are (starting at 12:00 and going clockwise): Chocolate Mint Thumbprints, Orange Cream Cookies, Fudge-Mint Brownies, Toffee-Pecan Bars, Candy Bar Fudge, Nanaimo Cookie Bars, and in the center - Buckeye Delights. YUM! First gone, surprisingly, were the Orange Cream Cookies.

Toffee-Pecan Bars

A buttery crust holds a rich topping enhanced with pecans and chocolate-caramel chips.

Crust
3/4	cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3	cup packed brown sugar
1	egg
2	cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
Filling
1	cup butter or margarine
3/4	cup packed brown sugar
1/4	cup light corn syrup
2	cups coarsely chopped pecans
1	cup swirled milk chocolate and caramel chips (from 10-oz bag) I could not find these swirled chips, so I used partly semi-sweet chocolate and partly butterscotch chips.

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Grease bottom and sides of 15x10x1-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray (do not use dark pan).
2.	In large bowl, beat 3/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat until well blended. On low speed, beat in flour until dough begins to form. Press dough in pan.
3.	Bake 12 to 17 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar and the corn syrup to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil 2 minutes without stirring.
4.	Quickly stir pecans into corn syrup mixture; spread over partially baked crust. Bake 20 to 23 minutes or until filling is golden brown and bubbly.
5.	Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over hot bars. Let stand 5 minutes to soften. With rubber spatula, gently swirl melted chips over bars. Cool completely, about 1 hour. For bars, cut into 24 squares (6 rows by 4 rows), then cut each square in half to make triangles. Store in refrigerator.

Nanaimo Cookie Bars

Prize-Winning Recipe 2009! Try this easier cookie-mix take on a classic layered chocolate and vanilla bar.

Cookie Base
1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® double chocolate chunk cookie mix
1	cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2	cup chopped nut topping or chopped walnuts
1/2	cup coconut (I left out the coconut)
1	cup butter or margarine, melted
1	egg
Filling
4	cups powdered sugar
4	tablespoons vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
1/3	cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4	cup milk
Topping
1	bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
1/4	cup butter or margarine

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Line bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with foil, leaving foil overhanging at 2 opposite sides of pan. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until well mixed. Spread into pan; press lightly. Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
2.	In another large bowl, stir together powdered sugar and pudding mix. Add 1/3 cup butter and the milk; beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth (filling will be very thick). Spoon over cookie base; press evenly to cover. Refrigerate while making topping.
3.	In small microwaveable bowl, microwave topping ingredients uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Spread over filling. Refrigerate uncovered until set, about 30 minutes.
4.	Use foil to lift bars from pan; pull foil from sides of bars. Cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Oh Fudge!

From 2009-12-17

We were given this fudge kit. I usually make the Marshmallow Creme Fantasy Fudge. I don't remember trying this Carnation recipe before. The recipes aren't too dissimilar, actually, but I am far more likely to have marshmallows in the house than marshmallow creme.

It turned out really well! Pretty easy recipe too! You don't need the kit. The recipe is below and the ingredients are nothing fancy.

I made five kinds of fudge this year - four from this recipe. I made plain chocolate (chocolate chips), chocolate walnut (chopped walnuts added to the plain chocolate recipe), Cherry White Chocolate (1 cup cherry baking morsels and 1 cup white chocolate baking morsels), and Butterscotch (substituted butterscotch morsels for the chocolate chips). I bought the cherry morsels at Walmart, I think.

Here it is.
Carnation Famous Fudge

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (note, I used a regular size package of chocolate chips, which I think is 12 oz.)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

LINE 8-inch-square baking pan with foil.

COMBINE sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

STIR in marshmallows, morsels, nuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan; refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces.

FOR MILK CHOCOLATE FUDGE:
SUBSTITUTE 1 3/4 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.

FOR BUTTERSCOTCH FUDGE:
SUBSTITUTE 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels for Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels.

FOR PEANUTTY CHOCOLATE FUDGE:
SUBSTITUTE 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels and 1/2 cup chopped peanuts for pecans or walnuts.

Pretty easy! I divided up the results for gift-giving to my family and reports are favorable!

I forgot to take pictures of the fudge before I packaged it up, but I did save some for my family so I will try to remember to photograph it before it is consumed.

From 2009-12-17

The other fudge I made is Candy Bar fudge.

Ingredients:

6 (2.07 ounce) bars Snickers ® candy 3 cups sugar 3/4 cup butter (no substitutes) 2/3 cup evaporated milk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.

Line a 9-in. square pan with foil. Butter the foil and set pan aside. Cut candy bars into 1/2-in. slices; set aside.

2.

In a heavy saucepan, bring sugar, butter and milk to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until a candy thermometer reads 234 degrees F (soft-ball stage), about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in chocolate chips, marshmallow creme and vanilla until smooth. Pour half into prepared pan. Sprinkle with candy bar slices. Top with remaining chocolate mixture and spread evenly. Let stand at room temperature to cool. Lift out of pan and remove foil. Cut into squares.

Next time I make this, I think I'll try a bigger pan. Not sure if 9x13 would be too big, but this filled the 8x8 pan really full and made the fudge pieces rather thick. Of course, that's not necessarily a BAD thing. lol

Go make some fudge! It's easy and yummy and festive. And if you need a gift idea, this is a good one!

Kids Coloring Cookbook

Kids Coloring Cookbook from Taste of Home - FREE!

Featuring a yummy recipe and food picture to color on each page. A new page every month.

6 pages are on the site right now, as well as a cover.

Try-It Tuesday - Autumn Candy Making

Candy Corn
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup white corn syrup
1/3 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup powdered milk
food coloring (optional)

Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup in pan and bring to a boil stirring Constantly. Turn heat low and boil 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and add vanilla. In a separate dish, combine powdered sugar, salt, and powdered milk. Add all at once to the mixture in the pan. Add food coloring if desired. Stir until cool enough to handle. Shape into creative pieces.

Suzy made the pumpkin. David made the rose - for me! How sweet is THAT from a thirteen-year-old boy? They all were very creative! This recipe makes a LOT. Plenty for all four of mine to be happy creating for a while.

Magic Milk Shake

Are you trying to save money on your grocery bill? Tonight for dessert, James and I made Magic Milk Shakes from the Hillbilly Housewife website. Yum! No ice cream in them, so they're inexpensive. I have all the ingredients on hand. Everyone slurped them up!

If you are interested in spending less on groceries, poke around on her site a little. Especially check out:

• Homemade Convenience Foods

• $45 Emergency Menu

• $70 Low Cost Menu

I did notice that food costs more now than it did when she made up these menus, even though it wasn't very long ago. But, I do think I'll be making use of a lot of recipes on this site!