I found two new recipes for Christmas treats this year. One is ridiculous and the other is sublime. *S*
The sublime cookie is a shortbread based treat. You make shortbread from scratch. The recipe makes 48 triangles of shortbread. We discussed it, and feel that we could actually get more cookies from the recipe because it makes such a big cookie.
When the shortbread has cooled, you finely chop pecans, melt 24 caramels, and in a separate bowl melt half a cup chocolate chips with two teaspoons shortening. For each cookie, you dip one side in the caramel, and then in the nuts. When you've finished that step, you drizzle the chocolate over the cookies, and chill to set the chocolate. It's a lot of work, but it makes a lot of cookies. They look and taste wonderful. The hardest part is melting the caramel.
My family says they've heard the other recipe called "Haystacks." You melt chocolate chips and mix them with chow mien noodles and peanuts. It sounds odd, but tastes great!
Chocolate and nuts, how can you go wrong??
Comments (4)
Oh my those shortbread treats sound absolutely luscious....I will have to try them. I am such a baking fool during the holidays, I have taken plates and plates of goodies to local shelters and homes in order to ATTEMPT (notice i said attempt, not succeed) to stick to my diet while still indulging in my love of baking...The house smells so divine that it simply wouldn't be Solstice without the scent of spices and sweets permeating the air and mixing with the sharp scent of the Grand Fir resting agasint the wall awaiting decoration. (Drilling tiny holes in all those seashells is darn time consuming lol)
Posted by Jessica | December 22, 2005 9:34 AM
Posted on December 22, 2005 09:34
We've passed on the Fraiser fir this year, but it's made me all the more aware of the evergreen scent from the wreaths in the house. Like you, I bake a lot, but we also do a cinnamon dough ornament that fills the air with a spicy scent. I used them to decorate the fake tree in the office.
Where in the world do you get all your energy!??
Posted by buffy | December 22, 2005 10:37 PM
Posted on December 22, 2005 22:37
OOOOHHHH, that sounds so good! Fortunately, there are a whole bunch of steps that go into making it, so I probably won't. Not that I don't want to taste them, but I don't think I would stop at just one, or 5, or 10!
I'm pretty sure that I've had Haystacks before and thought that they were good too.
Posted by bogie | December 24, 2005 7:29 AM
Posted on December 24, 2005 07:29
Bogie, those shortbread cookies ARE wonderful. I'm trying to get myself back into diet mode, and having them around is a terrible temptation. Cookies are a holiday tradition here, but I need to do what Jessica does and share the wealth so that they don't go to waste.
Posted by buffy | December 30, 2005 8:11 AM
Posted on December 30, 2005 08:11