Holiday Baking Traditions

Linking up with Jen at Denton Sanitorium

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The number one holiday baking tradition in our home is Toffee.  Growing up my mom made mountains of Christmas goodies, but this was my favorite.  I am not nearly the cook or baker she was, so my repertoire is limited in comparison, but I have mastered the fine art of Toffee making.  It helps that it is an insanely simple recipe.

There are tons of recipes on the internet, and almost all exactly the same!  The ingredients are basic, and I bet you have them all (or most) on hand already.

TOFFEE
2 c. sugar
1 lb butter (that's right-4 cubes baby!)
1/2 c. water
Dash of salt
(1 tsp. Vanilla-optional, but kind of yummy!)
Milk Chocolate Bars or Chips
Nuts if desired
Buttered cookie sheet

*Melt the butter over low-medium heat, don't boil it.  As the butter melts get your cookie sheet ready, I use the papers from the butter cubes to butter my cookie sheet-waste not, want not!

*When the butter has melted add your sugar and water, and a dash of salt.  Cook and stir over med-high heat until it looks like this:
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The most important thing is cooking it to the right stage-which really means the right color.  It should be the color of a brown paper bag, you might be afraid it will burn & want to rush and take it off before it gets that it reaches that perfect golden brown hue, but resist the temptation at all costs!

When it looks like this (or reaches a temp. of     if you want to be technical)  take it off the heat and add vanilla if you want.  Stir well, don't worry about the bubbling, that's totally normal.

Quickly pour in the buttered cookie sheet, spreading as needed with a wooden spoon.  Let cool slightly and gently pour chocolate chips over the top, or break Hershey bars into the small rectangles and place on toffee. As the heat from the toffee melts the chocolate spread it around with the wooden spoon or spatula.

If you like nuts in your toffee you can add slivered or chopped almonds, pecans, whatever!  We don't like that so much, so I leave them out.  I've seen them sprinkled over the pan before the toffee is poured in, or on top of the toffee before melted chocolate is poured (melt in microwave), or even sprinkled on top of the chocolate, before it's cooled.

So many options!  It's fun to experiement.

I found a great step by step tutorial here: petitelefant (that's where I got the picture of the toffee cooking)  if you'd like more precise (or you just like to see pictures).

We also make Sugar Cookies, and I don't have a special or fancy recipe for those, but I do have a tip from my friend Jen @ Denton Sanitorium & it has greatly improved our sugar cookies!  Instead of sprinkling flour before you roll out the dough sprinkle sugar.  Just regular white sugar.  It serves the same function as  the flour, but gives the cookies an excellent sugary "crust" on the bottom & it doesn't dry out the dough by adding excess flour.  LOVE it!

I love making holiday treats, and am bummed I didn't leave out my recipe books to share more, but here's another favorite.  This one is from the allrecipes.com website, and it looks very similar to the one I've used from the Better Homes & Garden red & white cookbook (a true classic).  Go here to see more recipes and pictures of variations on this recipe.


Cream Cheese Mints (from allrecipes.com)

• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 drops peppermint oil
• any color food coloring paste (optional)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and confectioner's sugar. Mix in peppermint oil. Color as desired with food coloring paste, or leave white.
2. Roll mixture into small balls, and place on waxed paper. Flatten with a fork dipped in confectioners' sugar. Let dry for about 2 hours on waxed paper, then freeze or refrigerate.