Below is a collection of Cathy’s Mom’s Christmas recipes, at this point mostly cookies, along with her favorite special Christmas bread.
Easy Bars
1 stick margarine or butter
1pkg. butterscotch chips
1 pkg. chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
Melt in the top of a double boiler. Pour over 2 cups of miniature marshmallows in a 9” x 13” pan. Cool. Cut into bars.
Peanut Clusters (this is a double batch)
Melt in double boiler (or microwave)
1 pkg. of chocolate chips
1 pkg. of butterscotch chips
Add 2 cups Chow Mein noodles and 4 cups of peanuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. After they harden, store in a sealed container and refrigerate.
Hershey’s Double Chocolate Mint Bars
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup margarine, softened
1 and 1/2 cups (16 oz. can) Hershey’s Syrup
4 eggs
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9” X 13” pan. In a large mixing bowl beat flour, sugar, eggs and syrup until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. The top may still appear wet. Cool completely in pan. Spread Mint Cream layer on cake (see below). Chill. Pour Chocolate Topping over dessert (see below). Cover and chill.
Mint Cream Layer
In small mixer bowl combine 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ cup butter or margarine, softened, 1 Tbsp. water, ½ tsp. mint extract and 3-4 drops of green food coloring; beat until smooth.
Chocolate Topping
In small microwave-proof bowl melt 6 Tbsp. butter or margarine, and 1 cup Hershey’s Mint Chocolate chips or Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips at high for 1 to 1 ½ minutes or just until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred.
Cornflake wreaths – Cathy couldn’t find mom’s s recipe so here is one she found on-line:
http://candy.about.com/od/christmascandy/r/cornflakewreath.htm
Dessert Bars
1 stick of margarine, melted
1 cup crushed fine graham crackers
1 cup coconut
1 pkg. of chocolate chips
1 pkg. of butterscotch chips
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chopped nuts
Melt the margarine in the 9” X 13” pan in the oven that is preheating to 350 degrees. Sprinkle and mash the graham crackers into the melted margarine so it covers the bottom of the pan. Add the other ingredients in the order listed. With a spoon press the layers down a bit and bake for 25 minutes. Cool. Cut into bars.
Sandies
1 cup butter (must be butter, not margarine), softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsps. Water
2 tsps. Vanilla
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup chopped pecans
Cream butter and sugar; add water and vanilla; mix well. Blend in flour and nuts; chill 4 hours. Shape in balls or fingers. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from pan and roll in powdered sugar.
Spritz
3 sticks of butter (must be butter) softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/ tsp. almond extract
4 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Thoroughly cream butter and sugar. Add egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract; beat well. Sift flour and baking powder; add gradually to creamed mixture, mixing till smooth. Do not chill. Force through cookie press onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes; cool.
Chocolate Peanut butter balls
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
Mix the above ingredients well.
Add:
2 cups chopped dated
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup flaked coconut
Mix these with first ingredients and form into balls. Dip balls into melted (12 oz pkg) chocolate chips and 1/3 cake of paraffin wax. Let balls stand on buttered wax paper. Good to freeze.
Hoot ‘N’ Holler Whiskey Bread
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 lb. golden raisins
2 cups pecans, chopped
1/4 cup whiskey
Cream butter with sugar and eggs. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and add it to the butter mixture. Add the milk. In a measuring cup add the baking soda into the molasses and stir. Add the molasses with the baking soda into the milk mixture. Add raisins, nuts and whiskey. Pour in a greased and floured large loaf pan. Bake 325 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes. After the bread is taken out of the pan and cooled, you can drizzle the bread with a little extra whiskey, allowing it to soak in before wrapping the bread.
She made two other cookies that require special equipment.
Rosettes (uses a rosette flat iron or timbale)
1 egg
1/2 up flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp. of oil
Beat egg slightly; add remaining ingredients and beat smooth. Strain batter.
Heat 3-4 inches of oil to 400 degrees in a small saucepan or deep fat fryer. Heat rosette iron in hot fat. Tap excess fat from iron. Dip iron into batter until 2/3 covered. Fry until golden brown. Remove from fat, inverting iron to drain fat. Gently push rosette from iron and invert on paper towels. Stir batter each time before dipping the heated iron. Sprinkle cookies with powdered sugar. The following link shows you what the Swedish Rosette Timbale set looks like: http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-648873/?affsrcid=Aff0001&mr:referralID=741da819-d1d6-11e0-9e9c-001b2166c62d
Sandbakkel (uses tiny, fluted molds)
These molds are found in a kitchen specialty shop. I have Mom’s set. She would make them plain with no filling or she would make a pecan pie filling to put into these tiny molds. I loved them—they were like eating very small pecan pies.
http://www.squidoo.com/cookie-press-mold-stamp#module12642930
http://www.lefsetime.com/all_about_lefse/sandbakkel_recipe.php