Sharing Recipes

A few of you asked for me to share some of my recipes, and rather than emailing you individually, I thought I would just post them on here....

Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound chocolate almond bark

1 stick melted margarine

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

extra small cupcake liners (probably the size of a quarter on the bottom)

Directions: Mix melted butter, powdered sugar, and peanut butter. I usually let this chill for about 30 minutes to an hour. Melt almond bark. pour a little of the almond bark on the bottom, roll the peanut butter mixture into a ball, approximately the size of a big marble, and then pour more chocolate over the top. (This can be very tedious, so I will usually fill 5-6 cups, roll out 5-6 balls at a time, and then fill the top with chocolate.)

Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies & Icing

Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk (maybe more, enough to make a good dough)

Directions for cookies: In a large bowl, stir together butter adn brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; stir into creamed mixture. Mix in milk, stirring until a soft dough forms (at this point I often use my clean hands). Cover adn chill for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 365 degrees. On a foured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch think. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Palce cookies 1-2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in preheated over for 6-7 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Prepare icing.

*Icing Ingredients:

1 cup butter, very soft

1 tsp. pur vanilla extract

3 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

splash of milk

Icing Directions: In a large bowl, stir together butter and vanilla until it becomes smooth and creamy. Gradually stir in sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in a splash of milk, and combine mixing until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered until ready to decorate. Spread icing on top of cookies.

*Note: I alter this icing recipe. It is a very soft icing and I prefer mine to harden. So I use less than 1/2 cup butter, and more sugar and milk. That's just my preference.

Turtles

Ingredients:

round pretzels

1 bag of rolos

pecan halves

Directions: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place wax paper on a baking sheet and lay out enough round pretzels to cover the baking sheet. Place unwrapped rolos in the middle of the round pretzels right side up. Bake in oven for 2 minutes. After pulling out of the oven, place a pecan on top and press down. It helps if you hold the side of the pretzels, that way they don't break and not too much chocolate pours out the sides. Cool and enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Covered Pretzel Sticks

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Kraft caramels

1 bag of pretzel sticks

chocolate almond bark

chopped nuts (I usually use the ice cream topping nuts) - optional

Directions: Remove wrappers from all caramels and place in small saucepan. Melt on very low heat, slowly. It helps to add about a teaspoon of milk. While this is melting, break pretzel sticks in half, and grease baking pans with butter or margarine.

Once the caramel is completely melted, dip pretzel sticks (halves) in caramel, covering about 1/2 to 2/3 of the pretzel. Sometime I have to scrape some of the caramel off if there is too much. Place on greased baking pan to cool. I usually place the caramel covered pretzels in the freezer to cool faster. While they are cooling, melt almond bark in another sauce pan. Dip the pretzels in teh almond bark and place on wax paper to cool. Make sure you sprinkle the nuts on the pretzels before the almond bark hardens, as this will happen fast with the frozen caramel! Cool and enjoy!