Happy Tuesday, sweet friends! Are you ready for Christmas, or still scrambling around like me? Today I’m doing some baking and thought I would share 3 easy Christmas recipes, that are super simple, quick, and have less than 4 ingredients! Come check it out!
When I was growing up my Mother always make baking for Christmas so much fun for us! She would make the sugar cookie dough a day in advance and the next day my sisters and brother would all gather around the kitchen table. Mom would roll out the dough for us and we would cut out our favorite shapes. Santa Claus, bells, stars, reindeer and ginger bread shapes were all accounted for! Then she would make two types of icing. One out of egg yolks that she would color with dye, that you use on raw cookie dough before baking. And one she would make for icing the cookies after they were baked. We’d spend hours decorating the cookies with icing and all kinds of sprinkles (and licking our fingers and nibbling on a few cookies) while we worked. Such fun memories! And I’m sure we made such a huge mess but she never said a word. (Our Mom is still an angel to this day. Love you, Mom!)
Mom also made dozens of other delicious Christmas treats like pies, fudge, cookies, brownies, and cakes. So naturally, now that we are grown up, we try to replicate some of her recipes and the memories! This year I rounded up some of Mom’s recipes and a few new ones and tweaked them a little for simplicity. So, without further ado, here are 3 recipes that are so quick and easy to make that you can whip them all up in about an hour! And you can store them in an air-tight container in the fridge and they will last even longer. (If you can keep everyone out of them!)
PEANUT BUTTER BALLS (This one is just like Mom made them.)
- 2 cups peanut butter
- 14 ounce Sweetened Condensed Milk
- ½ cup Powdered Sugar
- 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
Mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar and sweetened condensed milk with your blender. Once thoroughly mixed ,add the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into bite size balls and place on wax paper. Put in the refrigerator until chilled. Then put in an air-tight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
NEVER FAIL FUDGE (My Mother always made her fudge on the stove, so I’m cheating on this one.)
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 13 ounce can Sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
Mix together the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. The mixture will be frothy and bubbly. Remove and stir vigorously until the chips are completely melted. Then add the nuts and vanilla. Stir well and pour into a prepared 8 x 8 inch dish lined with parchment paper and butter. Place in the fridge until cold, then cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator.
ROLO PRETZEL DELIGHTS
- Bite size pretzels
- Rolo creamy caramels wrapped in rich chocolate candy (I bought a 10.6 ounce bag.)
- Whole pecans
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lay whole pretzels on a cookie sheet. Unwrap each rolo candy and place on center of each pretzel. Bake for about 4 minutes until the candy is soft. Immediately remove from the oven and top with a whole pecan. Allow to cool and that’s it! TIP: I like to pick out whole, nice looking pecans in advance because the candy dries quickly once out of the oven. Once cool, place in an air-tight tin and store. NOTE: You can also use M&M’s instead of a pecan for a more festive look. (A little trick I learned from my clever nephew and his lovely girlfriend! Thanks Haynes & Brittany!) Yield: approx 50 pretzels.
And that’s it! 3 super easy recipes that will delight your family and friends. And they all make enough to share!
A few weeks ago I made sugar cookies with our precious grandson, Ford. I hope he will remember fun things like this when he grows up, even though he’s only 2 ½.
Lots of fun memories to come. I can’t wait to see him at Christmas this year! Well, I hope to pop back on here and share a few more recipes and a few more decorating tips before the big day. Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blog universe! Y’all are the best! xoxo Dell
