Holiday Recipe Thread

[Nina~ 431]

I too made a batch of Peachy's whipped short bread and my husband polished off the entire batch by himself.. It was delicious. The recipe was simple, but I had a tough time incorporating the flour into the butter. I tried using the hand mixer but the butter just kept sticking to the blades till it stopped rotating.. Also, I had to flatten the dough really thin and it still took 20 mins to cook throughly (maybe it is because I have an electric oven??)

[Peachey 10]

I too made a batch of Peachy's whipped short bread and my husband polished off the entire batch by himself.. It was delicious. The recipe was simple, but I had a tough time incorporating the flour into the butter. I tried using the hand mixer but the butter just kept sticking to the blades till it stopped rotating.. Also, I had to flatten the dough really thin and it still took 20 mins to cook throughly (maybe it is because I have an electric oven??)

That's strange.

But they turned out good! I'm glad everyone is enjoying them. I'm not making cookies this year, next year for sure

[Dan and Ali 3]

So I brought a batch of the shortbread cookies into work today and they are gone already! I seriously put them in the break room, went to my desk and talked with a few people for a while ... and when I came back to the break room they were all gone! So, in conclusion, if you bring these cookies to work make sure you steal a couple for yourself before you leave them to your co-workers, lol ;P

[Autumnchik 6]

Kathryn, could you post the nanaimo bar recipe? Hubby would be so happy if I made him nanaimo bars. He got all excited because the bakery at the grocery store had what looked like nanaimo bars, but they didn't taste the same.

Here is my favorite thing to make at Xmas time. It is yummy and sooooo easy.

Ingredients

9 cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation Directions

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Here's the recipe that I have Autumnchik. There are a variety of different recipes I understand but this one does use the Bird's custard.

Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients

Bottom layer

1/c unsalted butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 large egg beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 cup shredded coconut

½ cup chopped walnuts

Filling

¼ cup butter

2 – 3 Tbsp cream

2 Tbsp vanilla custard powder (Bird’s)

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups icing sugar

Topping

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted

1 tbsp butter

Directions

Spray a 9 x9 inch pan with cooking spray

Bottom Ingredients: Melt butter in a pot over low heat. Stir in sugar and cocoa powder. Whisk in the egg. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens – about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract, graham cracker crumbs, coconut and chopped nuts. Mix until well blended. Turn the mixture into the baking pan and press firmly into the pan making a tight base. Cover with a teatowel and put in the refrigerator for about an hour. Base will be firm.

Filling: Cream the butter either by hand or using a mixture. Add in all of the other ingredients and blend together until completely smooth. You can add more cream if the mixture becomes too thick. Spread the filling over top of the cooled base. Cover and refrigerate again, about half an hour.

Topping: Melt the chocolate and stir in the butter. Make sure it is well mixed. Pour melted chocolate over top of the base and filling. Let sit until chocolate begins to cool, then score the chocolate into squares so you can cut it easily later. Refrigerate until chocolate is solid.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Kathryn41

[Rhiannercakes 14]

Yay, a nanaimo bar recipe!

I love those things, thanks Kathryn.

[Autumnchik 6]

Sorry to be a silly American , but what is Bird's custard and can I buy it here? I am obviously not a baker, but I figured I would try for hubby.

[Marilyn. 340]

it is kind of a custard powder that you can buy.. I don't think it is readily available in the US though...

here is a similar recipe that uses vanilla pudding..

http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/r...eon-creams.html

Edited December 8, 2009 by Marilyn.

[Marilyn. 340]

I need to stop looking at Christmas cookie recipes.. i keep finding recipes I want to try

I just found this page today..

http://www.recipe4living.com/articles/chri...ntdown_2009.htm

the ones that sounded good to me are the Mrs. Fields Eggnog cookies, banana pudding sugar cookies and the Banana Fudge Cookies..

[trailmix 77]

I saved that recipe for the eggnog cookies, I think I shall make that!

[Peachey 10]

Man I wish I had more baking supplies left in my house. Would be a good day to bake cookies!

[Marilyn. 340]

I saved that recipe for the eggnog cookies, I think I shall make that!

I remember making something similar a long time ago... they were pretty good...

[Marilyn. 340]

so as of now I have about 14 cookies on my baking list..

I might take a couple off though.. but it is so hard to pick which ones not to make

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I actually found Bird's custard here although I don't remember which store! As I have limited resources here it was either Krogers, Publix, Walmart, Target or Ingles. Look in the British Food or foreign food parts of grocery stories in the area. Interestingly, the product is made by Kraft foods in the US as well. Geeze - I just looked on line and it is available through Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Birds-Custard-Powder...1069&sr=8-2 - that is for the small tin and it is about $6 with $3 shipping. You can use it for lots of other things as well - I used to love just making up a batch of the 'custard' and enjoying that like a pudding dessert.

[Marilyn. 340]

so I bought all the ingredients I need for my baking today.. I just need white chocolate chips and parchment paper... they didn't have either at the store I went to...

so the final list is..

snickerdoodles

Homemade chocolates

White chip orange cookies

Cranberry Hermits

Brownie Cookies

Graham cracker cookies

Pie Bites

Cake balls

Lemon Drops

Whipped Shortbread

Eggnog cookies

Banana Fudge cookies