Molasses Krinkles

A fun twist to the molasses krinkle cookie.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 whole egg
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
bag of candy cane kisses




Directions:

Cream together your shortening and brown sugar. Add the molasses, egg, flour, baking soda, salt and spices - mix.

Roll dough into a ball and press with a floured bottom of a glass.

Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes. When you remove them from the oven place the candy cane kiss in the center - allow to set and harden. Enjoy!

Candy Cane Cookies

When I was a child, my mom made cookies every Christmas just like these. Hers were covered in sugar and were a hard cookie. I had an ingenious idea to attempt these using a soft cookie recipe that I have made in the past, they turned out great. It is a basic white cookie recipe. They are incredibly cute and fun for kids. After making them it dawned on me that laying them in white chocolate and then into crushed candy canes would be even better! But, by this time, Christmas was over and the cookies were already eaten – so, this is my plan for next year’s batch – just to add some more pizazz! :)




Ingredients:

1 package of cream cheese, softened
1 cup of powdered sugar
¾ cup of butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 ¼ cups of flour
½ teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon red food colouring




Directions:

Mix cream cheese, sugar, butter and vanilla with a mixer. Add the flour and baking soda – mix.

Separate dough into two equal portions. Add red food colouring to one half. Take a small amount of each dough roll a hand length – roll the two together and form the candy cane.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

After they cooked I sifted powdered sugar on top.

Oreo Cookie Balls

We got this recipe from a friend a few years back and it is definitely a family favourite at Christmas time. Every year at Christmas, MS takes a plate full of treats to work and everyone always comments how great these are!

Ingredients:

Package of Oreo cookies
6 squares of Baker’s white chocolate
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 package of cream cheese




Directions:

Crush the Oreo cookies up finely and mix with cream cheese. Roll into balls and place on waxed-paper lined cookie sheet; refrigerate for one hour.

Microwave the baker’s chocolate and the cooking oil.

With a toothpick, dip the balls into the white chocolate mixture – place on a lined waxed paper cookie sheet – I sprinkle the tops with crushed Oreo’s to cover the hole. Then refrigerate to set the chocolate.

Norma's Peanut Butter Balls

These are MS’s favourite at Christmas time; and a treat that we both grew up enjoying around the holidays – one of the old standards. Traditional but deliciously addictive!

Ingredients:

6 squares Baker’s chocolate (I use semi-sweet)
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
Chopped peanuts
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 cup of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of soft butter or margarine
1 teaspoon of vanilla



Directions:

Mix the peanut butter, icing sugar, butter and vanilla. Shape into balls and place on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Microwave chocolate and cooking oil; using a toothpick dip the balls in mixture and place on waxed baking sheet to dry. I sprinkle chopped peanuts on top to hide the toothpick hole. Refrigerate until chocolate is set.