Sweet Stockings

Dazzle those kids and beloved family to you this holiday season with these easy-to-make-and-beautiful-to-behold sweet Xmas stocking cookies.

  

Ingredients:

1. Sugar Cookie Dough

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

2. Decorations

• Royal Icing (recipe below)
• Green and red food coloring
• Green, red, and white sprinkles

3. Royal Icing

• 1 box (1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoon powdered egg whites
• 5 to 6 tablespoon water

How to make:

1. In large bowl, with mixer on medium-high, beat butter and sugar until fluffly. Beat in eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into disk. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Heat oven to 350 degree F. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness on floured surface. Using 4" stocking-shaped cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Transfer to baking sheet, 1" part. Using drinking straw, punch hole in top corner of each stocking for hanging. Bake 16 minutes, or until golden. Cool 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire rack, and cool completely.
3. To decorate: Put 1/2 cup icing in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use. Divide remaining icing into two bowls, and tint one batch green and the other red. Transfer 1/3 cup each to resealable plastic bags.
4. Thin each remaining colored icing with 1 tablespoon water. Using tip of index finger, spread green or red icing over cookie, leaving top 1" uniced. Let dry 30 minutes. Spread reserved white icing on top part of cookie, and cover with colored sprinkles. Snip off corner of icing bags. Decorate stockings with contrasting icing as shown on picture above. Makes about 2 dozen.

Snowman Cake

Bring out the child in everyone with an enchanting snowman, made with chocolate-mint cake and melt-in-your-mouth icing. Candy eyes and a chocolate-cookie hat help bring him to life.

Prep time: 55 minutes
Bake time: 40 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk 
• 1 teaspoon mint extract
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3 large eggs

      Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

                                                           Gather all the sweet treats for decorating
      Decoration

• 1 Ring Ding or Ding Dong
• 1 old-fashioned chocolate cookie
• Mini blue M&M's
• 2 blue taffy rolls (Airheads)
• 2 Junior Mints
• 1 Jelly orange slice, trimmed
• 1 thin 2" lengthwise black-licorice string
• 3 blue candy melts or nonpareils
• Clear rock candy

How to make:

1. Heat oven to 375 degree F. Grease and flour two 4-cup and two 1 1/2-cup ovenproof bowls. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In measuring cup, combine milk and mint extract.
2. In large bowl, beat together sugar and butter on low speed until blended, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and beat 2 minutes, or until light and creamy. Reduce speed to medium-low and add eggs. One at a time, beating well after each. Alternate flour mixture and milk mixture; beat until batter is smooth, occassionally scraping sides of bowl with rubber spatula.
3. Divide batter among prepared bowls. Bake 30 minutes. Remove 1 1/2-cup bowls, and let cool. Continue baking 4-cup cakes until center comes out clean when inserted with a cake tester, about 10 minutes longer. Cool in bowls for 5 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire racks, and let cool completely. 
4. Meanwhile, prepare frosting: In the top of a double broiler, oven simmering (not boiling) water, beat together sugar, water, egg whites, light corn syrup, and cream of tartar on low speed until combined. Increase speed to high, and beat constantly for 10 to 12 minutes, or until stiff peaks form, scrapping sides occasionally with rubber spatula. Makes about 4 cups.
5. To assemble cake: Trim the flat side of each cake layer. Spread a thin layer of frosting on trimmed sides of cakes. Place same-size layers together to form two round shapes. Stand cake upright, and place smaller cake on top of larger one to form the snowman shape. Secure cake layers together by inserting a trimmed wooden skewer.
6. To decorate cake: Spread a thin layer of frosting onto bottom of Ring Ding, and secure to cookie. Spoon remaining frosting into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2" star tip. Pipe border around Ring Ding and place blue M&M's onto border to create a decorative hat. Place taffies together and shape into a scarf. Set the hat and scarf aside to firm up.
7. Transfer cake to a serving platter. Working down from the top, pipe star shapes around the entire cake. (If shapes are too pointy, gently tap down with fingertips.) For the face, arrange Junior Mints for the eyes, trimmed orange slice for the nose, and licorice string for the mouth. Wrap scarf around the neck. Place candy melts down middle of body for buttons; top with hat. Scatter rock candy around cake and serve.

Amaretto Truffles

This recipes is so easy to prepare, you'll be able to make many batches to give to all your friends and family for the holiday. Place each truffle in a fluted foil or paper cup.
Prep 25 minutes plus chilling. Makes 64 truffles.
Ingredients:

• 10 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut up (no substitutions)
• 1/4 cup almond-flavor liqueur
• 1/3 cup blanched almonds, toasted and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

How to make:

1. In food processor, with knife blade attached, blend both kinds of chocolate until very finely ground.
2. In 1 -quart saucepan, heat cream to boiling over medium-high heat. With food processor running, add hot cream, butter, and liqueur to chocolate, and blend until smooth.
3. Grease 8" by 8" metal baking pan; line with plastic wrap. Pour chocolate mixture into pan; spread evenly. Refrigerate chocolate mixture until cool and firm enough to handle, at least 3 hours, or freeze 1 hour.
4. Place chopped almonds in small bowl; Invert chocolate block onto cutting board; discard plastic wrap. Cut chocolate block into 8 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 8 squares. (To cut chocolate block neatly and easily, occasionally dip knife in hot water and wipe dry).
5. One at a time, roll half the squares in chopped almonds to coat; roll remaining squares in cocoa. Store in refrigerator in tightly covered container, with waxed paper between layers, up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 2 months.

Note: Each truffle: About 55 calories, 1 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 4 g total fat (2 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 6 mg cholesterol, 1 mg sodium.

Chocolate-Dipped Dried Fruit

This recipes can be easily doubled and made for a crowd. We found the most efficient way of coating was to dip larger pieces of fruit into chocolate before smaller ones.

Prep 10 minutes plus cooling. Cook 5 minutes. Makes about 1 1/4 pounds or 33 pieces dipped fruit.
Ingredients:

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vegetable shortening
• 1 pound dried fruit, such as apricots, apples, pears, and pineapple. (In picture: 4 pineapple rings, 5 pear halves, 7 apple slices, 8 appricot halves, and 9 large slices of crystallized ginger.
• 3 ounces crystallized ginger (optional)

How to make:

1. Place sheet of waxed paper under large wire rack. In top of double boiler or in small stainless-steel bowl set over 2 quart saucepan, over 1 inch simmering water (double-boiler top or bowl should be 2 inches above water), heat chocolate and shortening until melted, stirring.
2. With fingers, dip 1 piece of fruit at a time. Shake off excess chocolate or gently scrape fruit across rim of double boiler, being careful not to remove too much chocolate. Place dipped fruit on wire rack until chocolate is set, at least 1 hour.
3. When set, store dipped fruit at room temperature in tightly covered container, with paper between layers, up to 1 week.

Note: Each piece: About 55 calories, 1 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 1 g total fat (1 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 mg sodium.

Nutty Caramel Popcorn

A better-than-store-bought snack to nibble on. We added roasted peanuts and toasted coconut for extra crunch.

Prep 15 minutes plus cooling. Cook about 15 minutes. Makes about 20 cups.
Ingredients:

• 16 cups popped corn or two 3 1/2-ounce bags natural-flavor microwave popcorn, popped
• 1 jar (8 ounces) salted dry-roasted peanuts (about 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter (1 stick)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to make:

1. Grease two 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 jelly-roll pans (or 1 jelly-roll pan and 1 large roasting pan) and 2 large heat-safe rubber spatulas; set aside. Place popped corn in very large bowl; top with peanuts and coconut (do not stir).
2. In heavy 2-quart saucepan, heat sugar, corn syrup, and margarine to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium; set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking, without stirring, until temperature reaches 290 degree F., or soft-crack stage (when small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into threads that are hard but not brittle), about 15 minutes.
3. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in vanilla. Working quickly, pour half of hot mixture over popcorn mixture; with spatulas, stir to mix, making sure to incorporate peanuts and coconuts. Pour remaining hot mixture over popcorn mixture; stir until evenly coated.
4. Divided caramel corn between prepared pans. Sprinkle any peanuts and coconut remaining in bottom of bowl over caramel corn; with spatula, press onto caramel corn. Cool in pans on wire racks. When cool, break into small clusters. Store at room temperature in tightly covered container up to 1 month.

Note: Each cup: About 130 calories, 2 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 6 g total fat (2 g saturated), 2 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 100 mg sodium.

Festive Fondant Mints

Old fashion creamy mints in easy-to-cut-out shapes-great for all ages.

Prep 30 minutes plus drying and makes about 12 dozen mints.
Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons natural mint extract, about 4 and 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar plus additional for dusting and cutting green, red, and yellow food coloring.

How to make:

1. Line two 15 and 1/2 by 10 and 1/2 jelly-roll pans with waxed paper.
2. In large bowl, with spoon, mix milk and mint extract. Stir in 4 cups sugar. Sprinkle work surface with some sugar; place mixture on surface and gradually knead in enough of remaining sugar to form a smooth ball that doesn't stick to hands or surface.
3. Divided fondant mixture into quarters. Tint 3 of the quarters with food coloring as desired. Individually wrap each of the tinted quarters with plastic wrap, and set aside.
4. With rolling pin, roll untinted fondant to 1/4-inch thickness. With 1 1/2-inch assorted Christmas cookie cutters dipped in confectioners' sugar, cut out as many mints as possible; reserve trimmings. Transfer mints to prepared pans. Reroll trimmings and cut out more mints. Repeat with remaining fondant.
5. Let mint dry at least 2 hours. Store at room temperature in tightly covered container, with waxed paper between layers, up to 1 month.

Note: Each mint: About 25 calories, 0 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 0 g total fat, 0 g fiber, 1 mg cholesterol, 5 mg sodium.