December Treat Exchange Recipes

Here are the treat recipes from our December meeting. Thanks to everyone who came!

Christmas Dipped Pretzels
Submitted by Jessica Smith
Bag of thick striaght pretzels
Chocolate Almond Bark
Vanilla Almond Bark
Caramel Syrup
Cornstarch

Melt the bark in seperate bowls. (Instructions on the back-- but about 1 minute plus 15 seconds until melted). I use a spatula to gather chocolate onto pretzels. (If you want to use caramel, do it before the chocolate and add just enough cornstarch so it is like pudding that needs to set up. Not as loose as the actual caramel syrup.) Let dry on wax paper. Then drizzle with opposite color. It's really easy to put in cellophane bag with a ribbon at the top! Enjoy!

Holiday Juice
Submitted by Jessica Smith
1 can concentrate (I use welch's grape)
1 2 Liter of soda (lemon-lime)

Mix straight concentrate (no water) with soda.

Easy Microwave Toffee
Courtesy of Yvonne Harman; submitted by Tari McDonald

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you use salted butter, leave this out!)
1/4 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels (I used 1/2 to 3/4 cup, 1 cup was too much for me)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I left these out)

Line and 8"x8" baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Put the butter, sugar, salt, and water in a 2 quart microwave safe casserole dish (I found a glass dish works better than a plastic one). Do not stir. Put the dish in the microwave for 7 minutes. Check to see if the mixture has changed from yellow to a light tan color (you want the entire mixture to be tan, not just part of it). If not, continue cooking a minute at a time (I think I had to do a total of 7 extra minutes, so be patient if it seems like it's taking forever). You need to watch it here to keep it from scorching and remember, don't stir. Once mixture has reached the light tan stage, pour into prepared baking dish. Let sit for one minute. Sprinkle semi-sweet morsels on top and let sit for one more minute, or until morsels have softened. Using a spatula, spread the morsels over the toffee. Top with chopped pecans. Place the baking dish into the refrigerator until the toffee has cooled completely. Lift out the aluminum foil and break the toffee into bite-sized pieces (I just used my hands).

Fast Food Storage Fudge

Submitted by Tari McDonald

1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup butter (one stick, unmelted)
1/4 cup milk (reconstituted powdered milk is fine)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift powdered sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add butter and milk. Do not stir. Microwave 2 minutes on high. Stir. Add vanilla, stir. Pour into 8" square baking dish (I lined mine with foil and sprayed it with cooking spray). Refrigerate 1 hour before cutting and serving. Serves 16.

Variations: I have also added chopped almonds to my fudge, but you could also add any other nut as well- just add it into the fudge when you stir in the vanilla. Or you could add crushed candy canes on top. Yum!

Chocolate Pie
Submitted by Jennifer Lee

1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt (or a dash)
2 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate (or 6 Tbls semi-sweet chocolate chips)
2 cups milk
3 beaten egg yolks
2 Tbls margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 graham cracker pie curst
Cool Whip (optional)

Combine flour, sugar, salt, chocolate, milk, and egg yolks in a pot. Using a wire whisk, stir constantly and vigorously over medium heat until thick. Add the maragrine and vanilla. Mix and pour into crust. Cool and allow to set up, then add Cool Whip on top. Makes 1 pie.

Christmas Cut-Out Butter Cookies

Submitted by Jessica Cedeno

1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla, blending well. Blend in flour and salt. Chill in fridge for 45 minutes. Cutout with cookie cutters to desired shapes. Bake at 400* for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Pavlova

Submitted by Mallory Watkins

6 egg whites

pinch of salt
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. vinegar
2 t. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 450

2. Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.

3. Sprinkle in sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Stir in vinegar and vanilla.

4. Traditionally, you spread the batter in a circle on a cookie sheet, keeping a hole in the middle. I just put it in a bundt pan.

5. Put pavlova in the oven and immediately turn down to 300. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until the top is a light straw color. Turn oven off and open door a little. Close it again and let cool completely in oven with the door closed.

6. Top pavlova generously with whipped cream. Because the pavlova is really sweet, it's not a bad idea to not put any sugar in the whipped cream. I just put in a bit of vanilla.

7. Arrange any of your favorite fruit on top. I put on kiwis and pomegranate seeds, but if you look it up online, a lot of them are decorated with strawberries. You could also sprinkle some coconut on top to get a snowy look.

A little interesting fact: Pavlova was created by a cook in Australia (or New Zealand?) in honor of Anna Pavlova, the famous Russian ballerina, who came to perform. It's supposed to look like a ballet skirt.