Holiday Treats

I woke up the other day and it was December. I'm not sure how that happened. Anyway, now that the month is nearly half over and next time I blink it will be Christmas, I'm going to get busy and post some of my favorite holiday recipes.

Lets start with some easy stuff.

Fudge



This is actually the Fantasy Fudge recipe on the back of the Kraft Marshmallow Creme jar. It's easy and takes very little time to make, and you can change it up to make different flavors. Chocolate is the best though.

Here's what you need:

1 1/2 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk (one of those small 5 oz cans = 2/3 cup)
1 12oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7oz jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla

Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil and butter the foil, or just butter the pan. I use foil because then I can lift the whole thing out of the pan to cut it.

Melt evaporated milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan.



Bring it to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes - set your timer. Keep stirring. When 5 minutes is up, remove from heat. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Fold in marshmallow creme.



Once the chocolate and marshmallow is thoroughly mixed together, it will be beautiful and glossy like this:



Mix in the vanilla and nuts. Pour into pan, set pan on cooling rack and cool at room temperature. Cut into small squares when cool.



Now, you can leave the nuts out of you don't like them. You can also make different flavors by changing the flavor of the chips. Use white chips and add pecans, Reeses peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts, or use those Andes mint baking chips and substitute peppermint extract for the vanilla. Use your imagination!

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Here's another extremely yummy treat that is similar to a fudge. I have been making this every year for all of 2 decades. The recipe came from a former co-worker. We thought it would be fun to put together a booklet of recipes, and then we made everything and had a tasting party. One bite of this was pure bliss. I am providing the original recipe here, but I usually leave out the coconut, and sometimes I have even left out the marshmallows.

Christmas Bars



Don't ask, because I have no idea why these are called Christmas Bars. Just call it a mouthful of yummy peanut-buttery-butterscotch goodness.

1 stick butter
1/4 tsp Butter Flavoring
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 12oz pkg butterscotch chips
1/2 tsp Maple Flavoring
1/2 tsp Burnt Sugar Flavoring
3/4 cup coconut (optional)
1/2 10oz pkg mini marshmallows



Melt butter, peanut butter, butterscotch chips and butter flavoring in the microwave. Set aside and cool for about 15 minutes.



Stir in maple and burnt sugar flavors. Fold in coconut and marshmallows. Press into a 9 x 9 inch square pan (I use an 11 x 7 inch pan) and cool until firm. Cut into squares.

You can find Butter and Maple flavoring in most stores. I get the Burnt Sugar flavoring at HyVee.

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OK, lets do one more. I got this one about 20 years ago from another former co-worker. It's also very simple and really, really good.


Salted Nut Roll Bars



1 cup peanut butter
2 lbs white almond bark
3 cups Rice Krispies
2 cups dry roasted peanuts (chopped)
2 cups mini marshmallows

Chop the peanuts. It doesn't matter how finely you chop them, it just depends on how big of peanut chunks you like. I just gave mine a quick rough chop.



Melt peanut butter and almond bark in microwave. Mix well.



Stir in cereal, peanuts and marshmallows. Spread into buttered jelly roll pan. Refrigerate until firm. (I let mine set at room temperature and it was fine.) Cut into squares.





That's enough for now, but I'll be back soon with some great cookies!