Peppermint Creme Bars

These are delicious. They are like a peppermint patty with an oreo layer. Pretty easy to make, just need a food processor and time (they are a bit time consuming, it seemed to me at least).

• 1 package crushed chocolate sandwich cookies with white filling
• 
  
  6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 
  
  6 cups powdered sugar
• 
  
  6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 
  
  6 tablespoons milk
• 
  
  2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 
  
  1 pkg. semi sweet chocolate chips (or 1 1/2 depending on how chocolatey you like it)
• 
  
  4 teaspoons shortening

1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 9x13-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil over the pan edges; set aside.

2.

In a medium bowl, combine crushed cookies and melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack.

3.

Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar and softened butter in a food processor. Cover and process until butter is evenly distributed. With processor running, add milk and peppermint extract to make a paste. Spread peppermint mixture evenly over the prepared crust. Put in freezer for 45 minutes.

4.

In a saucepan, melt chocolate and shortening over low heat. Pour chocolate over mint layer and spread evenly. Freeze again, or let set out until chocolate in firm (I put in freezer for about 20ish minutes). Using the edges of the foil, lift the uncut bars out of the pan. Cut into square.

*I added Christmas sprinkles to the mint part, and snowflake sprinkles on top the chocolate part (before the chocolate hardens).

*adapted from HERE. The original recipe is in a 8x8 pan which I thought was way too small for the amount of time put into these, and I made a change in the peppermint layer part, I like more peppermint creme, so I more than doubled the original recipe, but don't worry, it's been tested and works just great.

Pumpkin Roll Dessert

Got this recipe from Penzey's Spices. This is amazing and is easy. Don't let the 'roll' part scare you, it isn't bad at all. Here is the recipe:

3 large eggs

7 1/2 oz canned pumpkin (half of a 15 oz. can)

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

*I add about 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice to mine, and about 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon)

Filling:

8 oz. softened cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 Tab. softened butter

Preheat oven to 375. Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper and spray with non-stick spray. In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and pumpkin. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter in the pan and spread evenly using a flexible spatula. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Gently turn the cake over and ease out onto a clean dish towel (not a terry one, a plain cloth), or cheesecloth, discard the wax paper and carefully roll the cake from the short end. (I put another cloth on top of the cake and rolled it up with the cake sandwiched between the two clothes). Let cool for 15 -20 minutes. Don't leave too long rolled up or it is hard to unroll without cracking. While the cake is rolled between the towels, beat together all the filling ingredients. Unroll cake and spread the filling all the way to the edges. Re-roll and place on a serving platter. I put the filling on the cake while the cake was still warm and had no problems with the filling melting as long as I put it in the fridge right away. Sift powdered sugar on top right before serving.

Candy Cane Cookies

I love candy cane cookies. However, these are a little different. I used the Betty Crocker sugar cookie powdered mix and they were so good and stayed soft. I did NOT used the peppermint extract because I thought the crushed candy canes on top were good enough, but you could use it; just be careful how much.

• 1 package powdered sugar cookie mix
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1-3 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2-1 tsp. peppermint extract (optional)
• 4-5 drops red food coloring
• 4-5 crushed candy canes
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dump cookie mix into a large mixing bowl. Add softened butter, egg and one tablespoon of flour. Using an electric mixer or your hands, mix until it forms a soft dough. Divide dough in half. Add peppermint extract to one half (if you want it). Knead it into the dough until well-incorporated. Add a tablespoon of flour if dough is too sticky. Add red food coloring to the other half. Start with a few drops of food coloring, and add more until you get a deep pink color (or a red color, if you prefer). Add a tablespoon or two of additional flour if the dough is too sticky. Pinch off one teaspoon of pink dough. Roll between your palms to form a rope, about 3 to 4 inches long. Repeat with one teaspoon of the white dough. Place the ropes side-by-side and twist into a candy cane shape, pinching at the ends to seal. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake 7 minutes until cookies are lightly browned around the edges. When they are in the oven, they don't look quite done, but be careful to not overbake. 7 minutes was just right for me. Immediately after taking out of oven, sprinkle with crushed candy cane and let cool.

Peppermint Bark

This is so easy and quick to make. I saw some peppermint bark at Godiva, and it looked delicious, but was far too expensive so I decided to make my own. I am sure white chocolate chips would work just fine, the Baker's chocolate was the only thing left in the store, so that is what I used, and it is very good. One thing I noticed too was that white chocolate is a lot better tasting than almond bark in my opinion (just FYI).

ingredients:

1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 box of Baker's Premium white chocolate

4-5 candy canes

Melt chocolate chip in microwave and spread onto a cookie sheet (not too thin, at least 1/8 inch thick). Put into freezer while you melt the white chocolate in microwave. (Be careful melting chocolate as it can burn). Then spread white chocolate on top of your semi-sweet chocolate layer and top with crushed candy canes. I freeze for 10 minutes or so, then break up. They don't have to be in perfect squares, so really this is pretty easy.