Carmelitas

This is Mom's recipe, and apparently she used to make them a lot when we were little, but I don't remember them very well. We made them this weekend, and they are delicious! I think they are going to have to be re-included in the holiday baking routine!

Basic Chocolate Cookie Dough

1/2 cup butter - softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

2 envelopes (1 oz each) premelted chocolate

1 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Mix butter, sugar, egg, chocolate, milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining ingredients on low speed to form a soft dough. Wrap dough in wax paper and refrigerate until firm - approx. 2 hours.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Unwrap 18 carmels and cut them in half. Wrap the chocolate cookie dough around each 1/2 piece of carmel to form a small ball. Place on ungreased cookie sheed. Bake about 7 minutes or until set. Cool.

Chocolate Sauce

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 envelope premelted chocolate

2 Tablespoon light corn syrup

2-3 Tablespoon hot water

In a small bowl blend sugar, chocolate, corn syrup and water. Dip top of baked cookies in chocolate glaze, then dip in ground nuts (walnuts or pecans).

Makes about 3 dozen.

Peppermint Bark

This holiday treat is delicious and so easy (easy seems to be my theme with recipes these days). I actually have to give credit to Lauren who found the recipe and made it first. Between the two of us, we have made it several times already so far, and we always get requests for the recipe!

Ingredients:
2 bags milk chocolate chips
2 bags white chocolate chips
2 tsp. peppermint extract
8 peppermint candy canes (preferrably red and green striped)

Directions:
1. Line a large cookie sheet with foil
2. In a microwaveable bowl, melt milk chocolate chips, stirring every 30 seconds. When melted, add peppermint extract and stir until blended. Spread chocolate over cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 30 min.
3. Crush candy canes in a bag with a rolling pin.
4. Melt white chocolate chips in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Add 1/3 - 1/2 of the crushed candy canes to melted chocolate. Spread over the top of the hardened milk chocolate.
5. Sprinkle the remainder of the candy canes over the white chocolate, and press in.
6. Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours before breaking apart. If it's not refrigerated long enough, the bark will not break apart well. When it has refrigerated long enough, press a knife into the bark and it should break into nice large pieces.

Bread Sticks

Super easy and super yummy! We had these with lasagna the other night and loved them!

1T yeast, dissolve in 1/2 C warm water ** I did this amount but the dough would not form so I added another 1/2 C warm water with 1T yeast.

2T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 C flour

Mix and knead for 3 minutes (i just did in the kitchen aid). Let rest for 10 minutes. Melt cube of butter on cookie sheet. Roll dough on floured surface (pretty thin) and cut into strips using lots of flour. roll in butter and place back together in the same rectangle shape on cookie sheet. Sprinkle generously with garlic salt and Parmesan cheese. Let raise about 10 minutes. Bake at 375 about 20 minutes.

This can be made early in the day, covered with tin foil, and refrigerated until about an hour before dinner. Let come to room temp and raise 10 minutes. then bake as directed.

Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake

I made this instead of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I normally am not a pumpkin fan, but this was really good! A nice change from the traditional pie!

CRUST
2 cups crushed gram crackers
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

CHEESECAKE
4 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 300. Grease 9-inch spring form pan with shortening or cooking spray. Wrap foil around pan to catch drips. in small bowl, mix gram cracker crumbs and butter. Press crumb mixture in bottom and 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes.

In large bow;, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed just until smooth and creamy; do not overbeat. On low, beat in eggs, one at a time, just until blended. Spoon 3 cups of the cream cheese mixture into pan; spread evenly.

Stir pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into remaining cream cheese mixture; mix with wire whisk until smooth. Spoon over mixture in pan.

Bake 1 hour 25 min to 1 hour 30 min or until edges are set but center of cheesecake still jiggles slightly when moved.

Turn oven off; open oven door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 more minutes. Remove from oven; place on cooling rack. Without releasing sides of pan, run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Cool in pan on cooling rack 30 minutes. Cover loosely; refrigerate at least 6 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

Run knife around edge of pan to loosed cheesecake again. Carefully remove side of pan. Place cheesecake on serving plate and store covered in refrigerator.

**This recipe is from betty crocker.com :)