White Chocolate Peppermint Covered Pretzels

Sweet...salty...minty...yummy..I have to say I love chocolate covered pretzels. White chocolate is my favorite. Ask my mom. Out of 7 children for Easter the "Easter Bunny" brought me a white chocolate lamb. Whenever I eat white chocolate I think back on those Easters with such fond memories. But now this is Christmas. Peppermint....so without further ado here is the recipe.....
Ingredients:


24 oz white chocolate (use whatever variety you prefer; chips or block)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
One bag of pretzels traditional pretzels that are thick and large, pretzels rods would be fine too.
1 box of red and white Candy Canes, unwrapped and crushed. You could use red green and white too.

 Directions:

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler on the stove.  Once chocolate is melted, stir in peppermint extract.  Dip pretzels in and cover with white chocolate.  Place chocolate covered pretzels on wax paper, and sprinkle with crushed candy canes.

Halloween Candy Corn Popcorn Balls

Halloween is almost upon us. For the next few days I am going to be looking for Halloween treats to make for you and your family. This is the first recipe I have made.
Makes 24 balls

¾ stick butter or margarine
2 containers Solo Marshmallow Creme (7 oz each)
1 small pkg (4 serving size) orange gelatin dessert
few drops of orange or red and yellow  food coloring (optional)
14 cups popped popcorn (3-1/2 quarts)
2 cups candy corn

Combine popcorn and candy corn in large bowl.  Set aside.

Combine butter and marshmallow creme in saucepan over low heat, stirring till blended.  Mix in gelatin and food coloring to increase orange color (optional) until blended thoroughly.

Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn and candy corn in bowl and mix lightly until well coated.  Wait 5 minutes and with buttered or wet hands, firmly shape into 24 balls, approximately 5” in diameter.  Refrigerate an hour until set.  Serve immediately or wrap each ball in plastic wrap or bags.

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

I love baking cookies. These are very good with a nice cup of coffee in the morning or at night.

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 3/4 c. oats (old-fashioned or quick-cooking)
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/8 t. salt
• Nutella

1. Beat the butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat an additional minute.

2. Pour the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the mixing. Beat just until well combined.

3. Roll, a teaspoon of dough at a time, into balls. Evenly space the balls on a cookie. With a glass bottom, press down on the cookies to flatten them into circles. Try to get them all roughly the same size.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

5. Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a layer of Nutella on the bottoms of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies to make sandwiches. You can also sprinkle coarse sugar ontop before you bake the cookie part too.

This makes about 2 1/2 – 3 dozen sandwiches.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

I have a favorite dessert.( Well...I have many lol )  If I go to an Italian restaurant I just have to have Tiramisu after dinner. It is so good. If you like cream and coffee you will love it. This recipe is an easier version made with vanilla wafers instead of lady fingers. Some stores don't carry lady fingers so this is a pretty good substitute.

Ingredients

1 pkg	nilla waters, (about 88), divided
5 tsp	instant coffee, divided
3 Tbsp	hot water, divided
4 pkg	cream cheese, (8 oz.) each
1 c	sugar
1 c	sour cream
4	eggs
1 c	cool whip whipped topping, thawed
2 Tbsp	unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with foil, with the edges of the foil extending over the sides.

Line half the wafers into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Add 2 tsp. coffee granules to 2 Tbsp. hot water, stir until dissolved.

Brush half of it onto the wafers in the pan. Set aside the remaining instant coffee.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until well blended.

Add the sour cream and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each egg.

Remove 3 1/2 cups of batter and place it in a medium bowl.

Dissolve remaining coffee granules in remaining hot water. Stir into the removed batter and spread over the wafers in the pan.

Top with the remaining wafers and brush with the remaining dissolved coffee.

Cover with the remaining plain batter.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate for 3 hours.

Use the foil as handles to lift the cheesecake out from the pan.

Frost with the Cool Whip just before serving. Sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Green Bean Gratin

Most of us have tried the traditional Green Bean Casserole. You know the one with the Durkee Fried Onions in a can. Don't get me wrong I loooove that casserole. But sometimes it's nice to change things up a bit and this maybe the new green bean dish to serve for the holidays.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb	fresh green beans cleaned
3 oz	of blue cheese
1 pt	heavy cream
1/2 c	plain bread crumbs
1/4 c	melted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring salted water to a boil and add the green beans and boil for 6 mins.

Drain in a colander lined with a paper towel.

Mix butter and bread crumbs together until crumbley.

In a casserole dish sprinkle about a third of the bread crumb mixture on the bottom of the dish.

Then place the beans on top.

Crumble the blue cheese and add that next.

Pour the cream over the beans and cheese.

Sprinkle the remaining bread crumbs over the top and bake for 15 mins. When you take it out of the oven let it rest until the cream settles. 

For those who just love blue cheese this is a wonderful dish.

Iced Ricotta Cookies

I do love cheese cake and on a trip to Disney World I ate at Alfredos in Epcot in Italy. After dragging myself away from the Capodimonte they had at the shop there I was delighted at the ricotta cheese cake they served us for dessert. I have never had such a wonderful cheese cake before.I had tried to make it a few times but failed.
I found the recipe for these cookies and though its not quite the same they are delicious and reminded me of the nice time I had at Disney.

Ingredients: 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 2 eggs 3/4 cup ricotta cheese 1 tsp. vanilla 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup lightly salted pistachios, chopped 1/3 dried currants, or golden raisins 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 1-2 tbsp. whole milk Directions: Preheat oven to 350˚. In a large bowl, beat butter for 1-2 minutes. If using a hand-mixer, beat for about 30 seconds on a medium setting. Add sugar, baking soda and salt. Once combined, beat in eggs, ricotta and vanilla. If well incorporated, mixture will appear lumpy. Using a mixer, slowly add in flour. Once thoroughly combined, stir in 1/2 cup pistachios and currants or raisins. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until bottoms are slightly brown. Cool on wire rack. Icing: Combine powdered sugar with enough milk for a consistency to drizzle. Drizzle icing over cookies. Makes 48 cookies.