Christmas Cookies, better late than never!

Man oh man - talk about tardiness! I meant to post these recipes before Christmas, and here it is the 6th of January! In my defense, December was chock full of wonderful family visiting, an ice storm, Jason's seminary graduation, home insurance adjusters and estimators (did I mention our kitchen ceiling fell in on Thanksgiving?), and general Christmas/New Year merriment... so I'm going to cut myself a little slack and pointedly ignore the calendar for the next hour.

Speaking of merriment, we traditionally like to make goodies for our next door neighbors at Christmas. Gracie was extremely helpful this year:

Ain't she cute?

Last year I made seven pans of homemade cinnamon rolls. This year, we did an assorted cookie plate:

Won't you be my neighbor?

So, in case anyone is wanting a few good cookie recipes to extend the Christmas cheer and shake off the winter blahs... or if you have already given up on your New Years resolutions, here are a few examples of ways to indulge:

1) Baklava - fool proof recipe, and very simple (not quick, but simple!)

2) Thumbprint Cookies, aka "Austrian Jam Cookies" - I guess Austrians like their thumbprints rolled in chopped nuts, yum

3) White chocolate covered pretzel sticks (bag of pretzel sticks + melted almond bark = you're in business)

4) Oreos coated in white chocolate and dark chocolate (again, almond bark is easy - use a little leftover bark to mix with melted semi-sweet chocolate chips to help the dark chocolate coating set)

5) Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter (or equivalent)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (or chips)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
2) Cream butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla until fluffy. In separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate, cranberries, and nuts.
3) Drop cookie dough in teaspoon sized amounts 2 inches apart on cookie sheet(s). Bake for 11-12 minutes until lightly golden brown around edges. Remove from sheet immediately and cool on wire racks. Makes 3 dozen.

Hope you had a very merry Christmas and have a blessed new year!

Homemade Granola Bars

So, I used to spend a small fortune in commercial granola bars. No longer! A couple of years ago I found an incredibly easy recipe on allrecipes.com, and I will never go back. It's easy, economical, and endless in possibilities!

Granola bar day at the Shaw house is always a happy day. It begins with a quick rummage of the pantry for any nuts and dried fruits that will inevitably go into the bars. I've used peanuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit bites from the baby snack aisle (prechopped, can it GET any better??), you name it.

Today was a very good rummage day... because Gracie and I made these:

Cranberry chocolate hazelnut granola bars.

I know. Shut. UP.

This is too good of a recipe NOT to be shared, so here it is. Just a note for today's featured bars: I omitted the cinnamon and vanilla, and for the "mixin's" I just used 1 cup chopped hazelnuts, 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Just a note: in case there are those who aren't thrilled with the idea of using sweetened condensed milk (FYI: it literally only has two ingredients - milk and sugar, who knew??), I've heard that honey works well - haven't tried it yet, will probably alter the flavor a bit. Just be sure to substitute something sticky (and sweet!) to help give the granola bars form and flavor.

Basic Granola Bar Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cups quick cook oats
1/2 cup butter (one stick), melted
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup chopped nuts (peanuts, almonds, etc)
1 cup sunflower seeds (sometimes substitute pecan bits)
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots or apples, etc)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1) Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease foil with cooking spray. Set aside.
2) Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Pour oat mixture onto greased cookie sheet and press flat into pan.
3) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

Happy granola making, and remember: silence can be bought.