christmas cookie/treat exchange | pad patter 12.14.21

My mom's coconut macaroons ...



Holiday Macaroons
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3 cup coconut (or 7 oz. package)
1/8 tsp. lemon extract

Beat eggs slowly until foamy. Slowly add sugar and beat until thickened (about 5 minutes). Fold in flour, baking powder & salt; then fold in butter, vanilla and coconut. Blend in lemon extract. Drop from teaspoon onto greased and floured baking sheets*. Bake at 325° until cookies are brown around edges (approximately 15 minutes)

*I chill baking sheets in fridge while mixing cookie dough, if the baking sheets are too warm the cookies tend to run together! I sometimes chill the dough (in the mixing bowl) if it looks to wet/runny.

 

Puppy Chow is always my go-to

 

Great idea!

Yield: 24 Bars

Seven Layer Cookie Bars

7 Layer Cookie Bars

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (12 full size crackers)
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch morsels
• 1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
• ½ cup pecan chips (or chopped pecans)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9 baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
• Process graham crackers using a food processor to make fine crumbs. Add in melted butter. Mix with a fork until crumbly.
• Press crumbs into the bottom of prepared baking pan.
• Top crust with chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, coconut, and pecans. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.
• Store in airtight container at room temperature or refrigerator (MY CHOICE).

 

I have made these before and they are super easy. And they are Christmas colors too!

 

I wanted to make these around Thanksgiving but still haven't gotten around to it. Let me know if you try it. Are they as delicious as I think they'll be?

Cranberry Lemon Bars
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/cranberry-lemon-bars

 

I have 2 cause I just can't narrow it down-

1. Hot Cocoa Meringues:
Ingredients

• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons Hershey’s™ Special Dark™ cocoa
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons gluten-free vanilla marshmallows bits

Steps

• Heat oven to 275°F. Place oven racks in upper and lower third of oven. Line 2 large cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper.
• In large bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form and sugar is almost dissolved, 5 to 6 minutes, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Do not underbeat.
• In small bowl, place 2 cups of the meringue. Sprinkle cocoa through fine mesh strainer over top; fold cocoa into mixture. Place large piping bag fitted with large star piping tip on its side. Using large icing spatula, spoon half of white meringue so it covers one half of the length of inside of piping bag. Carefully spoon half of the cocoa meringue on top of the white in bag. On cookie sheet, pipe into 2-inch circles. Repeat filling piping bag and piping with remaining meringues.
• Place both cookie sheets in oven. Bake 30 minutes. Turn off oven; leave meringues in oven with door closed 1 hour. Remove from oven, and place pans on cooling racks; continue to cool at room temperature, about 2 hours. Remove from parchment paper; place on cooling racks.
• Place waxed paper or cooking parchment paper under cooling racks. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds, stirring halfway through, until chips can be stirred smooth. Spoon into resealable food-storage plastic bag; partially seal bag. Cut small tip from corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over tops of cookies. Sprinkle mallow bits on tops of cookies. Let stand 1 hour 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store covered in airtight container in single layer.

 

2. Raspberry Thumbprint Ginger Cookies:
Ingredients

• 1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ gingerbread cookie mix (or any gingerbread cookie recipe- I like the betty crocker recipe here )
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon seedless raspberry jam
• 1 cup white vanilla baking chips
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons sparkling sugar

Steps

• Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, softened butter, water and egg until soft dough forms.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Using thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make indentation in center of each cookie. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon jam into each indentation.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack to cool completely.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave baking chips uncovered on High 1 to 2 minutes or until chips can be stirred smooth. Stir in ground ginger. Spoon mixture into small resealable food-storage plastic bag; cut small hole in corner of bag. Squeeze bag gently to drizzle melted chips over cookies. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar.

On red platter Bottom Right of my photo!

 

I have to stick to my German roots:
Lebkuchen recipe - as found here.

 

I had these at my book club party a few years ago and now they are holiday tradition. I LOVE them!


(ETA: this picture is of a different recipe because this recipe doesn't have a drizzle, but you get the general idea. I couldn't find my specific recipe online)

Peppermint Brownies

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil spray, for misting the pan
1 package (about 20 oz) brownie mix
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
1 cup chopped Andes chocolate mint candies (they make bags of Andes chips by chocolate chips)

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly mist the bottom of an 8-inch square metal baking pan with vegetable oil spray and set the pan aside.

2. Place the brownie mix, butter, eggs and peppermint extract in a large mising bowl and stire with a wood spoon until moistened, about 40 strokes. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Scatter the copped mint chocolate candy on top of the batter and place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake the brownies until the edges have set and the center is still a little soft. (press it lightly with a finger), 38 to 42 minutes.

 

If you love mincemeat pies and want something easier - or if you like that molasses and clove spiciness.

Christmas Mincemeat Bars
1 T. soft butter
1 ½ c brown sugar – packed
2 eggs
2 T molasses
1 t vanilla
2 c flour
½ t salt
½ t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
3 T hot water
¼ c almonds, sliced or chopped
¼ c seedless raisins – cut in two
9 oz package. Mincemeat – broken up

Icing:
1 ½ c sifted powdered sugar
3 T hot milk
½ t vanilla
½ t almond favoring

Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, eggs, molasses and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in hot water. Then stir in almonds, raisins, and mincemeat.

Spread thin in 2 greased 13”x9” pans (or one 17”x11” pan with an edge). Dough will puff and fill in any holes as it bakes. Bake until when touched lightly with finger, no imprint remains – about 12-15 minutes in a 400° oven. Remove bars from oven and spread immediately with icing mixture. When cold, cut into 1 ½” by 2” squares.

This recipe calls for dry mincemeat in a package, but you can also use canned mincemeat. Just use 9oz (about 1/3 of a 27oz jar). If you use the canned, you could probably omit the hot water, but I added it anyway to make the batter easier to spread.