Christmas Popcorn

I made this twice in the last week (one was a "test" batch, the next for our Christmas party). It's SO easy and people went crazy over it. Even if you're not having a party, don't let that stop you. Pop in a Christmas movie, put on some pj's, and spend about 5 minutes putting this together.

Perfect Christmas snack. It also makes a great gift!

Christmas Popcorn

(Recipe by Tiffany)

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Ingredients

• 1 bag popped popcorn (get the non-buttered kind. otherwise, it gets all mushy)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup white chocolate morsels, melted
• dash of salt
• colored sprinkles

Directions

Pop popcorn. Microwave white chocolate morsels for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time, until melted. In a large bowl, combine popcorn and white chocolate until all of the popcorn has been coated. Spread on a large cookie sheet and sprinkle the sprinkles and a little salt on the popcorn. Wait until chocolate has hardened and enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

Got a last minute cookie swap?
Try these.
I mean, come on. Peanut butter AND nutella??
There's nothing I can say to add to the wonderfulness. The recipe speaks for itself. :)

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

(Recipe by Erica,

Adapted from Delightful Bitefuls)

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup Nutella

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low, slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until just combined.

Microwave Nutella for 20 seconds and then drizzle over the dough. Fold in Nutella with a spatula until well-distributed throughout the dough.

Chill the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes and then roll small balls by hand.

Place about an inch apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and use a fork to press down the balls slightly.

Bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 2 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Sausage Balls

We recently threw a bridal shower for one of my best buds.

My mom was in charge of the food, and it was there that I was reminded of this recipe. Now, honestly? I don't like sausage. Not even remotely. You're lucky if you can get me to eat pepperoni. So for me to like this? You know it's gotta be good.

It's super simple (4 ingredients). So if you have a holiday party you're either throwing or attending, bring these. Never met anyone that didn't like them.

Sausage Balls

(Recipe by Paula Deen)

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Ingredients

• 4 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 3 cups Bisquick baking mix
• 1 1-pound package ground sausage
• 1/8 tablespoon Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray.
Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl. Mix well with your fingers. The mixture will be very crumbly.
Form into 1 inch balls, squeezing the mixture so it holds together, then rolling it between the palms of your hands to form balls.
Place the balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. To prevent sticking, move the balls with a spatula halfway through cooking.

There's also a dip that goes with it, but we didn't make it. So I can't give you my honest opinion on it. But if you want to give it a go, who am I to stand in your way? :)
Makes about 5 dozen sausage balls.

Dip: Mix together 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 Tbsp mustard.



Healthy Blueberry Muffins

Lately, I've been having a hard time getting my little guy to eat anything healthy.

He caught a cold last week, and every time this happens, all he agrees to eat is bread. Chips, muffins, toast, etc. No fruit, no veggies. So when this happens, I do my best to work with his taste buds.

That's when I found this recipe. I altered it a little bit, just to help the texture and taste a little.
It totally worked.
I made these yesterday, and he's eaten like six of them so far.

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

(Adapted from Jill McKeever)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups low fat milk
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup sugar (thinking I may substitute some of this with honey next time...)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if you don't have any blueberries, you can always use raisins instead. still healthy, but much cheaper, especially in the cold months)

Directions
Preheat oven 400ºF degrees. Spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray or use cupcake liners.
Blend milk, applesauce, egg, and butter in a small bowl and set aside.
Stir flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and pour wet ingredients into the well. Stir just until the flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until golden brown; regular size muffins bake in 18 to 20 minutes, mini-muffins bake in 10 minutes. Immediately remove from pan.
Makes 12 muffins.

Special Touch:
Mix 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup light brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp butter together. Sprinkle over muffins about halfway through baking for a crunchy, sugary topping.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

I know, I've been a bit MIA lately. You can see what we've been up to here.

Now, on to the recipe.

This stuff was so, so good. And it helps that it's super easy. I made this for a family recently, and from what I hear, it was a hit. The cream cheese just makes it a tad more decadent.

This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

(Original recipe by NancyCreative)

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Ingredients

FILLING:

• 1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want the filling to be)
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

BREAD:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 to 1 1/4 cup(s) pumpkin puree, canned or homemade
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

CINNAMON GLAZE:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 to 2 1/2 Tablespoons half & half
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pans. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, flour, egg, and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside. In a large bowl, blend 1 2/3 cup flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside. In another medium bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, canola oil, eggs and sugar; beat well. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Fold in the chopped pecans or walnuts.

*

Pour half of the pumpkin bread batter evenly into the two prepared loaf pans. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of the pumpkin batter layers in each loaf pan and then spoon or pour on the remaining pumpkin batter (if you don’t have enough pumpkin batter to cover the cream cheese layer entirely, that’s okay, because you’ll be swirling them together anyway). Take a knife and stick straight down into the top pumpkin batter layer and middle cream cheese layer; swirl the knife around in these two layers, creating a marble effect; this will give the cream cheese filling a nice swirly shape as it bakes.

*

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes; remove to a rack to cool completely. While waiting for the bread to cool, mix your cinnamon glaze: combine powdered sugar and half & half, blending well; then add cinnamon and mix until smooth and creamy. Note: the cinnamon makes this glaze darker in color, so if you want a lighter, creamy color glaze, just add a dash of cinnamon to the mixture. Drizzle over completely cooled bread loaves and then sprinkle on nuts for garnish.

Chocolate Delight

This dessert goes by many names in my family.

The original is "Butterscotch Delight", since it's usually made with butterscotch pudding. But we use chocolate, because... well... chocolate makes everything better.

My mom likes to call it "chocolate yum-yum".

So feel free to give it whatever name you feel is deserves.

Me? I think I'd like to name it "chocolate heaven". Because really, it's like heaven with every bite.

I'd like to say the crust is the best part, but I don't want to diminish the loveliness of the chocolate layer. Or the cream cheese layer. Okay, really, the whole thing is perfect. Plus, it's incredibly easy and is always the first dessert to go when I take it to a party.

Do yourself a favor and give it a whirl. You can thank me later.

Chocolate Delight

(no idea who originally came up with it... it's one of those that's been passed down over the years)

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Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped finely
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 of an 8 oz container of Cool Whip (thawed).
• 1 large box (5.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding (you can substitute banana, pistachio, coconut, or butterscotch).

Directions

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, pecans, and butter and press evenly into a 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Fold in whipped cream. Spread over pecan shortbread crust and store in the fridge while you make the next layer.

Make pudding according to package directions. Pour over cream cheese layer.

Spread remaining half of Cool Whip over the pudding layer. Garnish with chocolate shavings if desired. Store in fridge.