Holiday baking

I love to bake and I like to share. Here are some of our favorite tried and true mouth watering holiday recipes that my family loves to eat. Oh, and I have all my recipes on cards so I can't give proper credit to most of these recipes since I have no clue where they came from.

Almond Crescent Cookies

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter
2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350° and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream together butter and 2/3 cup of sugar until fluffy. Beat in extracts, then add almonds. Stir in flour and beat til well mixed.
Divide dough in half and roll each half into log 1 inch thick in diameter. Cut each log into 3/4 inch pieces, and roll each piece into cylinder 2 in. long. Place 1 to 2 inches apart on baking sheets and form into crescents.
Bake 15-20 minutes or til lightly browned. Let cool then roll in sifted powdered sugar.

Divinity

Ingredients
4 cups sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
3/4 cup cold water
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
2 cups chopped pecans
Directions
In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir only until sugar has dissolved. Do not stir after this point. Cook syrup mixture until it reaches 250 degrees F on a candy thermometer, bringing it to a hard ball stage.
While the syrup is cooking, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Once the sugar mixture reaches 250 degrees F, carefully pour a slow steady stream of syrup into the stiffly beaten egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Add the vanilla and continue to beat until mixture holds its shape, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in pecans.
Using 2 spoons, drop the divinity onto waxed paper, using 1 spoon to push the candy off the other. This may take a little practice because the technique is to twirl the pushing spoon, making the candy look like the top of a soft serve ice cream. If the candy becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water. You will need to work fast when making this type of candy. After you spoon the cooked sugar and nuts onto the waxed paper, you're done. Cool the candies on racks completely.


Rosettes

2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water or milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
Powdered sugar

In deep medium bowl, beat granulated sugar, the salt and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed. Beat in 2 tablespoons oil, the water and flour until smooth. In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil (2 to 3 inches) to 400°F.
Heat rosette iron by placing in hot oil 1 minute. Tap excess oil from iron on paper towels. Dip hot iron into batter just to top edge (don't go over top). Fry about 30 seconds or until golden brown. Immediately remove rosette; invert onto paper towels to cool. (If rosette is not crisp, batter is too thick; stir in a small amount of water or milk.)
Heat iron in hot oil and tap on paper towels before making each rosette. (If iron is not hot enough, batter will not stick.) Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.


Nutmeg Meltaways

1 cup Butter;(no substitute),softened
½ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 cups All-purpose flour
¾ cup Ground almonds, toasted
1 cup Confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon Ground nutmeg

In a mixing cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well. Stir in almonds. Shape into 1-inch balls; place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 300° for 18 - 20 minutes r until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Combine confectioners' sugar and nutmeg. Gently rolled cooled cookies in sugar mixture. Yield : about 5 dozen.


Swedish Pork Patties (my all time favorite pork dish)

2lbs ground pork
3 tsp salt
5 tsp potato flour
¾ tsp ground pepper
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger
½ quart (5 dl) Milk, seperated

Mix ground pork and salt. Mix in 2/3’s of the milk, a little at a time. The dough should get sticky before adding more milk. Add flour and spices. Add the remaining milk. Shape into patties that look like flattened meatballs. Fry until nice and brown. Boil in water with bouillon and brussel sprouts. Recipe from Andreas.

Chicken Crescent Wreath

2 tubes (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup (4 oz) shredded co-jack cheese
2/3 cup condensed cream of chicken soup
½ cup chopped fresh broccoli
½ cup chopped sweet red pepper
¼ cup chopped water chestnuts
1 can (5 oz) white chicken drained or ¾ cup cubed cooked chicken
2 TBSP chopped onion

Arrange crescent rolls on a 12 inch pizza pan, forming a ring with pointed ends facing the outer edge of pan and wide ends overlapping. Combine the remaining ingredients; spoon over wide ends of rolls. Fold points over filling and tuck under wide ends (filling will be visible) Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 6-8 servings. Recipe from Taste of Home.

Spiced Carrot Strips

5 large carrots, julienned
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 TBSP sugar or brown sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Place carrots in saucepan; cover with water. Cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain. Combine butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon; pour over carrots and toss to coat. serve immediately. Makes 4-6 servings. Recipe from Jeff.



Pumpkin Charlotte (great name)

Ingredients:2 3-oz. pkg.(24 total) ladyfingers, split
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 cups whipping cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
2 4-serving-size pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 15-oz. can pumpkin
1 cup milk
1/2 cup apricot jam, melted (optional)
Pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Chill a mixing bowl and beaters. For crust, line the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with ladyfingers, cutting to fill spaces. Trim bottoms of the remaining ladyfingers slightly to stand in pan. Place ladyfingers, round side out, against pan sides. Set aside.

For cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed till combined. In a chilled bowl beat 1 3/4 cups cream and powdered sugar till soft peaks form; reserve 1/2 cup. Fold remaining into cheese mixture.

For pumpkin filling, stir together pudding mixes, cinnamon, ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon pie spice. Add pumpkin and milk; beat till thick. Fold in reserved 1/2 cup whipped cream.

Spread the cream cheese filling evenly onto the bottom of prepared pan. Carefully spread pumpkin layer over cream cheese layer. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

To serve, remove sides from pan; place charlotte on a platter. If desired, brush sides with melted jam. Beat remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream to soft peaks; spoon atop each serving. If desired sprinkle with additional pumpkin pie spice. Makes 12 servings. Recipe from Mom.

“The brownies that rock” recipe

2 cups (12 oz pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp baking soda
½ cup chopped nuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan. Melt 1 cup morsels and butter in large, heavy duty saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs. Stir in flour, sugar, vanilla and baking soda. Stir in remaining morsels and nuts. Spread into baking pan. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes. Cool on wire rack. YUM!

Hip Padder Bars - once you try them, you’ll never want to eat anything else again

Melt in double boiler:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg. chocolate chips
2 TBSP butter
Set aside.

Mix together:
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter
1 egg
1 ¼ cup flour
1 ½ cup oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp vanilla
Salt

Press 2/3 dry mixture in greased 9 x 13 pan. Pour chocolate mixture over this. Sprinkle remaining mix over chocolate. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. HEAVENLY!!
Recipe in Halstad Community Club Cookbook from ages ago.

Chocolate Fudge Recipe

2 1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Margarine or butter
2/3 c Evaporated milk
1 Jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme
2 c Semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c Chopped walnuts
1 ts Vanilla

Line 9 inch square or 13x9 inch pan with foil so that foil extends over sides of pan; butter foil. In large saucepan, combine sugar, margarine and evaporated milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add marshmallow creme and chocolate chips; blend until smooth. Stir in walnuts and vanilla. Pour into buttered, foil-lined pan. Cool to room temperature. Score fudge into 36-48 squares. Refrigerate until firm.
Remove fudge from pan by lifting foil; remove foil from sides of fudge. Using large knife, cut through scored lines. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 3 pounds


Gingerbread Cookie Dough

(coming soon - need my translator!)