Winter is a hectic time filled with holiday parties and snow days with the kids. Usually, this exciting time of the year means a lot of baking and new holiday recipes. Here are some snowy treats you can bake for parties or on snow days with your kids to get in a festive winter mood:
Snowman Truffles
The simplest wintertime treat will be fun for the kids to decorate on a snowy day. The cookies and cream truffle with an Oreo center and white chocolate coating decorated as little snowmen are great additions to any wintertime gathering.
Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) package of Oreo cookies
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
1 (24 oz) bag of Nestle Premier White Morsels
1 tub orange sprinkles
1 (8 oz) bag mini Oreo cookies
1 (0.67 oz) tube Betty Crocker gel black icing
Directions:
Crush all but nine Oreo cookies in a food processor to fine crumbs and place in a medium bowl. Add cream cheese and mix well until there are no more crumbs. Roll truffle mixture into one-inch balls and place on a wax paper-covered baking sheet. Refrigerate for one hour.
Follow the instructions on the Nestle Premier White Morsels package to melt them down in a microwave safe bowl. Dip truffle balls into the melted chocolate, fully covering them. Place back on wax paper. Quickly add the mini Oreo top hat and a long orange sprinkle as a carrot nose before the chocolate hardens. After all truffles are finished, place back into refrigerator for one hour.
Once chocolate hardens, add the two coal eyes and mouth using the tube of gel black icing. Store the truffles in the refrigerator or place in mini cupcake liners to serve. Yields about 38 truffles.
—Recipe Courtesy of Christy Denney, writer of The Girl Who Ate Everything blog. Visit www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com for more recipes.
Polar Bear Paw Cupcakes
Polar Bear Paw Cupcakes are sure to be a hit at any winter party and the endangered creatures need as much exposure as they can get.
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup cocoa powder
1½ tsp. baking soda
1½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiled water
Decorations:
1 (16 oz) canister of Betty Crocker vanilla frosting
1 (14 oz) package of unsweetened coconut flakes
24 York Peppermint Patties or Oreo cookies
72 Chocolate covered raisins
Directions:
If you do not have time to whip up cupcakes from scratch, you can use your favorite boxed cake mix and follow the instructions for cupcakes.
For the cupcakes, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, canola oil and vanilla. Beat for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the hot water a little at a time.
Line a cupcake pan with liners and fill each about halfway with cupcake batter. Should yield about 24 cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. To test if done, slide a knife into the center of one. If it comes out clean without any batter on it, they are ready. Set on a cooling rack for about a half hour.
Coat each cupcake with a layer of vanilla frosting. Place a York Peppermint Patty or Oreo cookie in the middle depending on your taste. Add three chocolate covered raisins equally separated above the Patty or cookie. These create the paw pads of a Polar Bear. Dip the cupcake in coconut flakes to add a furry texture.
—Recipes courtesy of blog at www.onelittleproject.com.
Hot Cocoa Cookies
Why just drink hot cocoa when you can eat it too? Of course, the chocolate and marshmallow treat in cookie form is just as festive and delicious.
Ingredients:
½ cup butter 12 oz
Nestle semi-sweet
chocolate chips
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup cocoa powder
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1¼ cups brown sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
24-25 large marshmallows
3 Hershey bars
Directions:
Melt chocolate chips and butter together in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Let cool for about 15 minutes.
Combine dry ingredients: salt, cocoa powder, flour and baking powder. Set aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, cream together the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients slowly while stirring. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until mixture is firm.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Roll the now-firm dough into 1½ to 2-inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Bake for 10 minutes until cookies begin to crack.
While the cookies are baking, cut marshmallows in half and cut chocolate bar pieces in half. After 10 minutes, top each cookie with a half of a piece from the bar and a half of marshmallow. Bake for another 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle grated chocolate over each cookie as an added decoration.
—Recipe courtesy of Like Mother Like Daughter blog at www.lmld.org.
