Cooking Quick & Easy Christmas treats - *UPDATED* - compiled recipes - Page 53

[mickeyluv'r]

These sound like great ideas!
Please, please, please though - I notice that many of these contain nuts and peanuts - if you are giving these for gifts, or holiday parties, etc. PLEASE remember to inform your guests that the items contain nuts and peanuts with bright labels! It could save a life! I can't tell you how many times I've tried a cake, cookie, or other treat that looked safe enough (Like who'd think of peanuts being in fried rice?), only to end up VERY sick!

Christmas is one time that I tend to go all out and make the crazy sugar cookies that take forever to make, but I always like to fill out the tray with colorful simple variations.
I love the pretzel wreaths idea. I also try variations on the basic rice krispies treats (dip in chocolate, colored candies)

For myself, I like simple ways to vary the basic sugar cookie recipe - adding cocoa, making thumbprints (ball, press with thumb, fill with preserves), coat cookies with powdered sugar instead of colored sugars, if you use white icing at all - sprinkle it with white sugar for a cool effect, use cruched candycanes for decoration - esp, with melted chocolate.
Last, try adding a little bit of your favorite liquor to the dough (works best with chocolate cookies or truffles).

 

[fivefordisney]

Another Ritz treat.....add peppermint oil to melted chocolate bark and dip the Ritz in the chocolate. They are similar to the girl scout thin mint cookies.......

I love these! I drip melted white chocolate across them --sometimes I use food coloring to make it green or red.

 

[fivefordisney]

I just want to add..I did the cookies with the crushed candies that melt...they are really beautiful, but no one really ate them because you have this hard chunk in the middle of the soft cookie...

I was wondering if they were really hard on your teeth! LOL!

 

[Earstou]

Where do you find heath brickle bits in the grocery store?

U
Usually they are in the same area as the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, etc.

For those asking about almond bark vs chocolate chips for dipping, I often add some chocolate chips to my bark to get a better flavor.

 

[fivefordisney]

This is the best thread! I wish I had something to contribute. I am going to work on it!

 

[kuusimo]

I just made the girl scout cookie thin mints and used a bag of Wilton Melts. They have a chocolate mint flavor. I got 45 "cookies" from one bag.

 

[MayMom]

I think I made "Turtles" last year, but I can't find my recipe.... Does anyone make these? Pecans, chocolate and caramel - how do you do it?

 

[ckoncurat]

Easiest ever fudge....
1 1/2 cups chocolate (or any other variety chips)
1 can carnation sweetened condensed milk.
Toppings if desired. (like nuts or candy pices)

Stir together chips and milk on the stovetop until melted and glossy. Pur into a 8 by 8 or 9 by 9 pan. Top as desired. Chill until firm. Cut into squares.

So far this year I made butterscotch fudge topped with coconut and chocolate mint fudge (chocolate chips with a drop of mint extract) topped with crushed candy canes. In past years I've also made peanut butter fudge and oreo/white cholcolate fudge.

 

[ckoncurat]

I havn't frozen them, but why not? It should work. They keep a long time in the fridge.

 

[ckoncurat]

These sound mighty tasty. Have you ever made them and then frozen them for later? Do you think they can be frozen? Thanks!

I havn't frozen them, but why not? It should work. They keep a long time in the fridge.

 

[raammartin]

Let share some quick and easy Christmas or other Holiday treat ideas/recipes for those of us who don't have time to make lots of cookies. Please only include ideas/recipes that take less than 30 minutes to make. My favorite is...

Pretzel wreaths
Ingredients
Pretzel rings (round shaped pretzels)
Hershey's Hugs
Christmas M&M's
Easy release aluminum foil

Line a cookie sheet with easy release aluminum foil. Place the prezel rings flat on the cookie sheet. Place one Hershey Hug in the center of each pretzel ring. Put the cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 3 minutes (just until the Hug gets melty). Remove from oven and place an M&M on top of each hug, and press the M&M down so the melted Hug fills the center of the pretzel ring. Let cool for 5 minutes (until the Hug has set up a bit) and remove from pan. Place on wax paper to completely cool.

Yum!!

 

[raammartin]

I love all these ideas and I can't wait to try them. I also thought of another idea that we made a few years ago.

Spread peanut butter in between two Ritz crackers, and then dipped them in melted chocolate almond bark. My sister loves those!

I think I am going to have to make an assortment of these ideas to give out to neighbors and co-workers.

I was going to recommend these - they are one of my favorite! We like to add C'mas sprinkles on top. SO GOOD and great for gifts!

 

[Kteacher]

This first recipe sounds wierd, but trust me, these are good:

Chocolate haystacks

about 1 1/2 cups gently crushed regular ruffles potato chips
about 1 1/2 cups gently crushed mini pretzels ( I like Rold Gold the best )
1 12 oz pkg seisweet choc. chips


Melt choc. chips. Gently fold in pretzels and potato chips . Drop by tablespoon onto wax paper and harden in the fridge ( I use my N.E. walk-in refridgerator in the winter, otherwise known as the back porch )

Homemade onion dip

1 large onion
1 pt. sour cream ( I use low fat or fat free )
olive oil and margarine
salt and pepper to taste

Chop onion and saute at med. low temp in a little olive oil margarine ( about a tablespoon of each ). This should take about 25 minutes-you wan't to cook the onions until they are golden brown and very soft. Let cool, and fold into the sour cream. Season with salt and pepper to taste

 

[raammartin]

Just had this last night(and for breakfast this morning ) it is super yummy!

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

1 (8oz) cream cheese
1/2 c real butter
1/4 t vanilla
3/4 c powdered sugar
2 T brown sugar
3/4 c mini choc chips
3/4 c finely chopped pecans

Mix first 6 ingredients and form ball. Roll in pecans. Chill--serve with chocolate graham crackers--the "stick" kind work good.

Now THIS is good! Highly recommended

 

[kahluacream]

I'm getting really hungry reading this thread. Great ideas!

 

[disneyfanfamily]

Another option for pretzel rods

Pretzel Rods
Caramel
Chocolate Almond Bark

Make a snake out of the caramel. Wrap the caramel around the pretzel like a candy cane. Dip in Chocolate Almond Bark (you could use better chocolate, but everyone likes it with the almond bark too). Then you can leave the chocolate alone, or dip in nuts, sprinkles, crushed candies, etc.

Fruit Dip (My family loves this)

1 Large Jar of marshmallow cream
8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp. Orange Juice.


Charcoal

White Chocolate Almond Bark
Crushed Oreos

Mix together. Pour on aluminum foil or parchment paper. Let dry. Crumble up like charcoal. Great for school parties!

 

[disynut]

Glad you liked it Raamartin! It sounds kind of gross to hear--chocolate chip cheese ball--but when you see the ingredients it's not gross--just extremely good!

 

[shades]

This first recipe sounds wierd, but trust me, these are good:

Chocolate haystacks

about 1 1/2 cups gently crushed regular ruffles potato chips
about 1 1/2 cups gently crushed mini pretzels ( I like Rold Gold the best )
1 12 oz pkg seisweet choc. chips


Melt choc. chips. Gently fold in pretzels and potato chips . Drop by tablespoon onto wax paper and harden in the fridge ( I use my N.E. walk-in refridgerator in the winter, otherwise known as the back porch )

Your "chocolate haystacks" recipe reminds me of what a friend of mine snacks on - plain Lays potato chips & a plain Hershey's chocolate bar. Perfect combo of salty & sweet - and VERY addictive!

 

[zippeedee]

I dip pretzel rods in slightly warm caramel sauce (a jar of Mrs Richardson's is good), then in chopped walnuts, heath brickle bits, chopped peanut butter chips, then drizzle them with melted chocolate chips and sprinkle on holiday sprinkles or colored sugar. The original recipe called for chopping the nuts and pb chips together, that batch led to my roommate naming them "kitty litter sticks". Even when we call them that, people fight over them. Last year I made 12 kinds of cookies and 5 kinds of candies, and these were the one I had to keep making more and more of
I saw these in a catalog this year for about $6 each!.

 

[kpk89]

mmmmm!

Here's mine, though it's ripped off from a Disney treat! Just make rice krispy treats, and melt some chocolate chips. While the treats are still in the pan, spread the melted chocolate over them and add a sprinkle of colored sugar crystals. Once the chocolate is set, cut the treats out.

Yummy!