Holiday Goodies

Venetian Christmas Cakes by Tammieinmich
Venetian Christmas Cakes
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These cookies are a favorite in our family. They do take a little bit of time to make but well worth it! Enjoy! Tammie


Venetians (Christmas Cakes)

Ingredients:
1 Can (8 oz) Almond Paste
1 1/2 Cups (3 sticks -Butter, Softened)
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
4 Eggs, Separated
1 tsp. Almond Extract
2 Cups Sifted all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
10 drops green food coloring
8 drops red food coloring
1 Jar (12 oz.) Apricot Preserves
2 Squares semi-sweet chocolate or Choc. Chips, Melted- 1 Bag 12 oz.

Directions:
1. Grease three 13x9x2 inch pans; line with wax paper; grease again

2. Break up almond paste in a large bowl with fork. Add butter, sugar, egg yolk, and almond extract. Beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy 5 minutes.

3. Beat in flour and salt.

4. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form in small bowl. With a wooden spoon fold egg whites into mixture.

5. Remove 1 1/2 cups of batter; spread evenly into a prepared pan. Remove another 1 1/2 cups batter and add the green food coloring-spread evenly into second pan. Add red food coloring to remaining 1 1/2 cups batter and spread into last pan.

6. Bake in moderate oven 350 degrees about 15 minutes or just until edges are golden brown. (note: cakes will be 1/4 inches thick.

7. Remove cakes from pan immediately and cool on wire racks.

8. Place green layer on jelly roll pan- or I use flat cookie sheet. Heat apricot preserves; strain- Spread 1/2 of warm preserves on green layer, slide yellow layer on top and cover that layer with remaining preserves; slide pink layer, right side up onto yellow layer.

9. Cover with plastic wrap; weight down with large wooden cutting board or heavy plate. Place in refrigerator over night.

10. Melt chocolate and spread on top of cake to edges; let dry 30 minutes. Trim edges off cake and cut into 1 inch squares.

Number Of Servings:Makes about 6 doz. cookies

Candy Cane Puffs by Nan

Candy Cane Puffs

Makes about 4 dozen.
Prep: 10 minutes
Refrigerate: 1 hour
Bake: at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. white chocolate baking pieces, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped candy canes

Stir together flour and salt in medium-soze bowl.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until smooth and creamy. Beat in egg. Beat in
peppermint extract and vanilla.

On low speed, beat in flour mixture. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.
Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

To top, brush with melted white chocolate; dip lightly in crushed candy canes. Place
on waxed paper to harden.





Also try (by Tami). . .

Divinity, adding crushed candy canes at the end of the mixing and stir them in just
before dropping onto wax paper. Hmmm, yummy.
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Choccolate Marsh, Fudge and Chinese Cookies... by Emyanne.

chocolate covered marshmallows: melt semi sweet chocolate chips, dip in
marshmallows and put on wax paper to dry. you can add broiled coconut or crushed
nuts too.

chocolate fudge: one can of icing, one 12 ounce bag of a type of candy chip
(chocolate or whatever). melt in microwave. stir. pour into pan and refrigerate.

chinese cookies: one bag chinese noodles (the chow mein kind), half bag of
butterscotch chips, one cup peanut butter. melt the chips and pb, stir in the noodles.
drop spoonfuls on wax paper to dry.
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Cashew Brittle by Ohiomom

Cashew Brittle

This is from one of the country women magazines....it is wonderful and easy!

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 - 1 1/2 cups salted cashew halves or pieces

1 tsp. butter ( no substitutes )

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the sugar and corn syrup. Microwave,
un-covered on high for 4 min., stir. Heat 3 min. longer. Stir in cashews and butter.
Microwave on high for 30-60 seconds or until mixture turns a light amber (will be
very hot!) Quickly stir in baking soda and vanilla until light and foamy. Immediately
pour onto a greased bakin sheet and spread with a metal spatula. Chill for 20 min.
or until set. (I just leave mine set on the counter until cool,putting pan on a hot pad)
Break into small pieces. Store in airtight container.

Yield: 3/4 pound

**you may want to experiment with your first batch. All microwaves don't cook the
same and I had to adjust my cooking times just a tid bit.
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Gingerbread Dough & House by BurpinBabies

Gingerbread Dough...
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This recipe can be used to make the dough for a gingerbread house, but you will need four times the quantities of ingredients given here.

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
6 tbsp. butter
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
4 cups flour, sifted
pinch of salt
1 egg lightly beaten

In a heavy-based pan over low heat, dissolve the sugar with the molasses, spices and butter. Slowly and carefully bring mixture to a boil( VERY LOW HEAT!), then take it away from the heat( RIGHT AWAY!) cool it to room temperature, then mix in the baking powder. Scoup out the mixture into a really big bowl and stir in the egg. Put in one cup of the flour and stir in completely. Keep adding flour a little at a time until you have a nice rounded dough. You may use all four cups of flour or not, but don't add all the flour in at once or you may have the dough too dry and it won't stick together. Just add the flour a bit at a time. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface( a lot of flour...the dough is sticky) and knead, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap( try to flatten the dough as you wrap it...kind of squish it flat with the palm of your hands as you place the plastic around the dough) and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes(but not longer or it will be way too stiff to roll out!).

Take out the dough and roll it on a floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 of an inch or even a bit more( you want your walls to be strong so more thickness gives more strength). Stamp out with cookie cutters or your house design and bake in a preheated 325 oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Make your template of your gingerbread house out of thin card board. Roll out your dough onto a piece of parchment paper( don't use wax paper) then lay out a piece of your tempate onto the rolled out dough. Cut away the dough with a sharp knife and take away the excess. Move the parchment paper with your rolled out dough shape onto your cookie sheet so the shape will not change while you move it.

Bake it and make sure you let the cookie cool completely before you construct the house.


Icing recipe or "the glue" for your house...
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ROYAL ICING

This icing may be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week; press a layer of plastic wrap against the surface of the icing to prevent a crust from forming, then cover the container. The icing can be colored with a small amount of food coloring, but it cannot be flavored.

To make about 2 and 1/2 cups icing

3 and 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 egg whites
1 tbsp. strained fresh lemon juice

Beat 2 cups of the sugar, the egg whites and lemon juice together for 10 minutes in an electric mixer until the mixture is smooth and white and stands in soft peaks. Add remaining sugar and continue to beat until mixture is stiff.

Baker's Note: Use the icing VERY quickly as it dries rock hard in a short period of time. The icing can be put into a piping bag. Use the icing in the joints of the walls of the house( and the bottom) and the roof. When you have your walls together you can use extra icing( or make more) to make icicles that hang off of your house. You can also draw designs with the icing on the walls of your house. Use the icing to glue candies or other edible decorations to the house.


OH YEAH....before you put the house together I put into the middle a short string of white lights. I erect the walls around the lights and leave the plug in part hanging outside the house in order to plug it in. I make clear candy windows that I glue in with the royal icing. When the house is complete and you plug in the lights the windows illuminate and it is beautiful!!! Also, the small amount of heat generated by the string of lights inside the house makes your whole house smell of gingerbread.


Candy Windows for your Gingerbread House!
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Clear Candy Windows

1 cup sugar
2 tsp. light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
1 tsp vinegar

Before you start, measure the sizes of the windows that you will need. With a nice big piece of parchment paper(do not use wax paper!) trace lightly the outline of the windows and place the parchment paper on a nice flat surface. You will be pouring the hot candy onto the outlines of the windows to fill in the window and also a little bit outside the lines so you have an area to put the royal icing to "glue" the windows onto the cookie wall.

Over medium heat, dissolve the sugar and corn syrup in the water. Bring this syrup to a boil, and boil it to a temperature of 296 to 298. Add the vinegar and boil the syrup to 300. During this process do not stir because you want the candy to be perfectly clear.

Remove from heat when you reach 300 at once! CAREFULLY and slowly pour the syrup onto the outlined windows on the parchment paper. This is a step where you want all the kids out of the kitchen. If you happen to get some of the syrup on your hands then get to cold water right away! Move quickly as the syrup hardens very fast. After you have poured out the windows let the candy cool for several hours. Don't move the windows because you want them to be perfectly flat and completely clear.

For my big houses I have had to make a couple of seperate batches of candy to make all the windows that I wanted.

Other uses while the syrup is pourable. You could make a candy ice skating pond outside your house. You could also make clear candy icicles off of the rooftop on your house.
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Holiday Crunch Granola by Lucy

Holiday Crunch Granola
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from Midwest Living magazine Dec 2000 issue: from an inn in Nashville, IN.

3 cups regular rolled oats
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup packd brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup cooking oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup snipped dried apricots
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried currants or dark raisins.

1. grease a 15 x 10 x 2 roasting pan and set the pan aside.

2. in a large mixnig bowl, stire together the oats, almonds, pecans, cinnamon and nutmeg. mix well.

3. in another mixing bowl, stir together brown sugar, honey, water, oil and vanilla. add honey mixture to oat mixture, stirring to coat well. spread mixture in prepared baking pan.

4. bake in a 300 oven about 1 hour, or till browned and crisp. stirring every 15 minutes. cool the granola completely in the roasting pan on a wire rack. stir apricots, raisins and currants into oat mixture. store in an air tight container. makes 6 cups.

This is great for gifts: put in decorative jars, tied with ribbon or fabric, a pretty label.

This can be served with milk, as a cereal.

or layer with yogurt in a dessert glass, very pretty and tasty.

or just much and eat it plain.

nutrition facts per 1/2 cup servings 332 cal, 14 g fat, 48 g carbo, 0 mg chol, 5 g fiber and 8 mg sodium.

( i made this and gave to teachers as gifts a few yrs ago, and got many compliments)


additional note by lucy:
filling jars....
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i doubled the recipe, which made 12 cups....


but i bought the large mason jars, that hold 3 cups each, so this only filled 4 jars. Next time I will definitely get smaller jars. But still, our family ate one jar in..... 2 days

this is a very sweet snack

Berliner Kranzer by Linderlou

One of my favorite Christmas cookies.

Berliner Kranzer

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
3/4 cup shortening
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
Red and green candied cherries

Heat oven to 400°. Mix 1 cup sugar, the margarine, shortening, orange peel and eggs. Mix in flour. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into ropes, 6 inches long. Form each rope into circle, crossing ends and tucking under. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Beat egg white and 2 tablespoons sugar until foamy. Brush over tops of cookies. Press bits of red candied cherries onto center of knot for holly berries. Add "leaves" cut from green candied cherries. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown; cool. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
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