This year I was a little slow. We did school right up until the weekend before Christmas and I just couldn't seem to find an extra second let alone the few hours I needed. I'd actually decided to just scrap the whole thing until one of my friends asked if I had done my plates yet and proceeded to say how very much she was looking forward to it. Darn (and sort of yay, wasn't that nice of her?).
So I made a plate of yumminess, except this year they were New Years cookies instead of Christmas cookies.
My main, #1 goal this year was to simplify. That's been more of a life goal that strictly a cookie plate making goal, but it worked amazingly well for the cookies, too. I decided to just make 3 different items and in addition to make them SIMPLE! They all turned out amazing and, even better, amazingly easy.
What do you think? They look good don't they? And better yet, they are.
Every year I make peanut butter balls (some of my Utah friends call them buckeyes, but I always grew up calling them plain old peanut butter balls) and then spend WAY too much time dipping them in chocolate. This year (after seeing the idea on pinterest) I decided to make my pb balls into bark. Did I mention simple? Yes? Well, these were the simplest and so yummy. All you do is, melt dipping chocolate and pour onto some parchment paper, freezing until hard. Layer your favorite peanut butter ball filling recipe on top of the hardened chocolate and then pour a second layer of chocolate on top. Once it's hard, cut it up. I even think the messier it is, the cooler it looks.
I also love mint and encorporate it in some form every year. This year I tried a new recipe I found on pinterest called White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge. Umm, yum? And it is. It turned out to be a Taste of Homes recipe and you can find it here. I highly recommend it.
Last are the sugar cookies. I usually make them with my kids, spending hours cutting out cute Christmas shapes and decorating them. We still make cookies together, but in the numbers I need for my plates, it takes a long time. A really long time. A really, really long time.
This year I saw the cutest idea! You'll never guess where. Okay, fine, it WAS pinterest (wahoo for pinterest!). Step one, make your favorite sugar cookie recipe. Mine is found in my favorite-est cookbook, Our Best Bites (it also has my very favorite alfredo, pizza dough, pizza sauce, strawberry cheesecake bars and so many other recipes). Next, seperate your dough into two equal portions and dye one of them another color. Then lay the two color on top of each other, rolling them up to create this super cool (and quick and easy) pinwheel. Afterwards, I rolled mine in sprinkles for a little more color and festivity before sticking the whole log in the freezer. Once they were hard, just cut them into slices and bake.
I am very happy with how they turned out. What are your favorite treats to make during the holidays?
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