So it has been a really long time since I’ve posted anything here, but we tried this recipe out tonight and it was SO good and SO easy that I wanted to share. It got two big thumbs up from the kids!

Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix
1 can pure pumpkin
1/2 bag mini chocolate chips (12 oz. bag)

Directions:
In a medium size bowl, stir spice cake mix and can of pumpkin together until well mixed. If it is too thick to mix well, you can add just a little splash of milk to help, but it should stay pretty thick. Dump in about half a bag of mini chocolate chips and stir in (half a bag really is enough). Scoop into spoon-size balls onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

You can also easily make these into muffins, just bake a little bit longer.

Ingredients:
½ C margarine
1 pkg (10 oz) regular marshmallows
1 tsp Green food coloring
6 C Corn Flakes cereal
Red cinnamon candies (Red Hots)

Directions:
In a large saucepan, melt margarine over low heat. Add
marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove
from heat. Stir in food coloring. Add corn flakes
cereal. Stir gently until well coated. Drop large spoonfuls
(about ¼ cup) onto waxed paper and quickly shape
into wreaths. Dot with cinnamon candies.
Makes about 1 ½ dozen …. I think.

SIFT TOGETHER:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Cream:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Blend in:
one unbeaten egg
1 tsp. vanilla. Beat well.
Add dry ingredients alternately with 2/3 cups pet milk.
Stir in 1 cup chopped walnuts, one cup
pared apples, and 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips.
Drop onto cookie sheet (greased).
Bake at 300-325 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool
and then frost.

Frosting: Cinnamon glaze
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
add 2-3 tablespoons pet milk.
Store in glass or tin airtight container.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c vanilla chips
1 1/2 c dried cranberries
1 c coconut
1 c chopped pecans
1 can condensed milk

Directions:
Mix butter and crumbs and spread into a 9X13 pan.
Mix everything else and spread on top of crust. Bake
@350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Powdered sugar

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar together. Add salt, vanilla,
flour and nuts. Mix well. Chill. Heat oven to 350 degrees
Fahrenheit. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and
place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15
minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm.
Note: For the holidays, I like to mix decorative colored
sugars with the powdered sugar for little sparkles of
color.

Ingredients:
1 6-ounce package (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate pieces
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon vinegar
¾ cup chopped nuts (English walnuts work well in this
recipe)

Directions:
Melt chocolate in bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, add the salt to the egg whites and beat until foamy. Gradually add sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla and vinegar. Fold in melted chocolate and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove immediately.
Makes three dozen puffs of chocolate meringue cookies.

No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
3 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Wipe 1″ wide band of butter around the rim of a 3 quart pan to prevent boil-over.
Combine milk, sugar, cocoa, butter and peanut butter.
Stir and bring to boil over medium heat. Let boil for 1 1/2 minutes, do not stir.
Remove from heat. Stir in oats and vanilla. Stir until oats evenly distributed.
Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper. Cool. Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

* * * * * * * * * *

Don’t forget to send me your favorite holiday cookie recipe!

Toffee Bars

Ingredients:
1 stick margarine and 1 stick butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 small package slivered almonds
Graham crackers (broken using the lines on the crackers into individual pieces) to cover bottom of 11 x 17 inch pan. (I use a metal cookie sheet but make sure it has a rim around it so syrup stays in the pan.)

Directions:
Combine butter & sugar in saucepan. Bring to boil and boil for 2 minutes. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Pour syrup over crackers & sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from pan & place on waxed paper to cool.

(I use a metal pancake turner & knife to remove from the pan onto the waxed paper. After letting them cool & harden up a bit, I move them to a new sheet of waxed paper so they won’t stick. Also, these make a bit of a mess with the butter seeping through the paper & the syrup is very hot, so either a thick protective dishcloth or even newspapers underneath the waxed paper should be used so your table/countertop doesn’t get damaged.)

* * * * * * * * * *

Don’t forget to send me your favorite holiday cookie recipe!

For Icing mix together the following:
2 C. powdered sugar
2 T. melted butter
½ C. Dr. Pepper
¼ t. vanilla

Directions:
Mix Crumbs, butter, sugar, pecans & Dr. Pepper and from into small balls.(6 doz)
Using a fork, dip cookies in icing and roll in coconut.

For a different taste, you can substitute Orange Juice for the Dr. Pepper. Or you can add a little rum or rum flavoring.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup pecan halves

Topping:
2/3 cup butter
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, beat flour, 1 cup brown sugar and butter for 2-3 minutes. Press firmly into an ungreased 9 X 13 pan.
Arrange pecan halves over crust.
Combine butter and ½ cup brown sugar in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Pour over pecans, making sure to cover all of them.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and let stand for 3 minutes. Spread chocolate evenly.
Cool completely; cut into small squares.