Sugar High

I love baking, especially around the holidays.  This year I made frosted sugar cookies, creamy mints, almond roca cookies and peanut butter blossoms.  Thankfully, my sister came over one day to help me bake and watch the boys.  Otherwise, there is no way I could have finished them all.  

Something new I tried this year were these yummy, creamy mints.  They were easy to make and I found the recipe on Pinterest.  It's easy to have only have one, because they are pretty sugary.

I love Hershey's Kisses Peanut Butter Blossoms!  Peanut Butter + Chocolate = Deliciousness
My sister and Parker helped with these.  I had Parker count out the kisses and put them in piles of five, to keep him busy for a few minutes.  He had fun pouring the ingredients in the bowl too.

Ingredients

• 48 Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolates
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Granulated sugar

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
2. 2 Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
3. 3 Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. 4 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies. 

  

And I had to make the classic frosted sugar cookie.  I made Christmas trees, snowflakes, ice skates, Christmas lights and ornaments.  I got a little careless with frosting the last half of the cookies, it was taking a little too long and I probably made more than I should.  Good thing we'll have a lot of people together for Christmas to eat them all.

Almond Roca Cookies are my favorite and I make them every Christmas.  They remind me of my Grandma, we always used to bake a lot of goodies around the holidays.

Ingredients

1 Cup butter

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Cup sugar

1 egg yolk beaten

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 Cups cake flour (1 Cup sifted flour minus 2 Tbsp. = 1 Cup cake flour)

1 Large Hershey's Chocolate bar

Chopped Walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and flour and mix well.  Spread on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Melt large Hershey's bar and spread on hot cookies, then sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Let cool and then cut.

Enjoy!

Hope everyone has a sweet Christmas!

Happy Champagne Thursday!

Cheers!