Every Christmas season I host a cookie making day. Usually it's just my youngest daughter, her youngest son and me. Some years we have more people but this year it was just the three of us. We try to make some new recipes each year. Sometimes they are great and sometimes they are not. Mostly we stick to the old standby's.
This year we had two successful treats to add to our Christmas plate.
The first is Sugared Pecans. I had posted a recipe for these a few years ago but these are much easier to make.
Sugared Pecans ( or any nut)
Ingredients:
⅓ cup water
1-2 t. vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole nuts (pecan, almond, cashew)
Instructions:
Add 1/3 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar* to a heavy duty saucepan or skillet
Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once boiling, add the nuts and stir constantly until the water is boiled away.
The sugar will begin to dry out and start to stick to the nut. Keep stirring them around, so they don’t have a chance to burn to the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring until the sugar is dry and sticking to the nut.
Let them cool completely. These are so good, I will making them at other times of the year.
If they seem less crunchy than you want, put them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.
*If you want a flavor like cinnamon, add to the sugar
I have only done this with Cashews and Pecans, the process is the same. The above picture is finished sugared pecans. The pictures below are cashews.
The second cookie we made for the first time and really liked are Chocolate Chip Cookie and Rolo cups.
Rolo Cookie Cups
These chocolate chip cookie cups are baked in a mini muffin pan, and are topped with a Rolo. They are good with a little sprinkle of salt.
Makes 24 cookies
Ingredients:
1 package 24 count chocolate chip cookie dough*
24 unwrapped Rolo candies
Sea salt
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. and Grease a mini muffin pan generously with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place one cookie dough piece (or about 1 tablespoon chocolate chip cookie dough) into each mini muffin cavity.
3. Bake until cookies are golden brown, about 12-14 minutes
4. Press the Rolo candy into the cookie.
Let the cookies cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. If you try to remove the cookies too soon, they can break. Remove cookies from the pan and finish cooling.
*Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
If using chocolate chip cookie dough, place 1 tablespoon of dough into each mini-muffin cavity.
