12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 1

So what do you think of the new look? I'm not sure yet if it's permanant - haven't decided if the red mosaic-y background is too distracting. Let me know what you think in the comments section below or on FB!

I've been musing (hahaha) over ways to be more active on this little bloggy-blog and figured a makeover was a good place to start. Other ideas are bouncing around the cavernous space betwixt my ears like those little, rubber super-balls -- but more on that later.

Moving on to something delicious and festive!

I know - 12 Days of Christmas is supposed to begin on the first of the month. I'm starting today for the following reasons (in no particular order):

Z. I'm a rebel.

4. This most original of ideas occurred to me at the beginning of the week.

e. I've made three batches of cookies already, and sharing them brings more joy to me and is waaaaay funner than jawing about the state of the world!

MCXVII. Since I'm at the tail end of my 5 Day Clean Eating Challenge, I have faith in my strength to take pictures and drool, yet not consume these delicious, delicous confections. Seriously. (Non-sequitur: Is MCXVII is a correct Roman numeral?)

I've shared Christmas cookies in the past, and will repeat those recipes. This means that you don't need to troll the archives for them! Hooray!


Turtle Cookies

I love my gingerbread man tray!

These cookies have been in Ben's family since the dawn of time - if you consider the dawn of time several decades ago. My favorite thing about these cookies is how easy they are to make! Butter, sugar, flour and pecans. Mix, spread in a pan, bake and cut! Doesn't get much easier. I did implement a trick this time 'round (because Ben suggested it) in order to make the crust crisper: bake it for 10 minutes before topping it with the pecans and caramel. He said doing that made a world of difference. Isaac, of course, prefers them with the softer crust. Looks like I'll be yo-yoing between the processes. 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Crust
1/2 c butter (softened)
2 c flour
1 c brown sugar

Caramel
2/3 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar

1c pecans (roughly, more is fine)
1c semi-sweet chocolate chips (roughly, more is fine)

WHAT TO DO

Preaheat oven to 300 (350 if not prebaking the crust).

Mix crust ingredients until everything is combined and the crust is crumbly. Spread into a 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 10 minutes (You can skip this step if you prefer the moister crust.) After removing from oven, bump the temperature up to 350.

For the caramel, put the butter and sugar in a pot. Melt togther, stirring constantly, and boil for 30-60 seconds.

Scatter the pecans on top of the crust, then pour over the caramel. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Sprinkle on the chocolate chips immediately after removing from the oven. The heat will soften them; use a rubber spatula to smear them across the top. Let cool for ten minutes, or so, cut and devour!









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