We are going to have a short series about all the homemade Christmas things that you can do, from gifts and wrapping to baking. I'm starting with baking!
I decided to
do my Christmas baking a little early this December. Next weekend we will be
visiting family, so I won’t have time to bake then and after that, Christmas is right
around the corner. I absolutely love baking and there are certain special
desserts that I always like to make around Christmas time. Some of the recipes
have been in the family for a really long time, but there is always something
new that I add. I did a lot of
baking in one day and my feet were soooo tire by the end.
Now you
might wonder what I do with all these desserts, well we give them as gifts!
Nick will take some to work, I will take some to work and we might give some to
neighbors and friends. And we save some for ourselves. Here is a list of
everything I baked. I included a few recipes below and if there are other ones
you would like, just let me know.
- Oatmeal Carmelitas – family recipe
- Neiman Marcus Bars – family recipe
- Lemon Bars – family recipe
- Pumpkin Cookies – these are made from a package!?! I hate to say that, but they are that good! I use the Betty Crocker brand and I put cream cheese frosting between two cookies to make a sandwich. YUM! I used this cookie mix - click here!
- Banana Bread – this is homemade and I use the recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookbook, it has buttermilk in it, which I think adds good flavor.
- Cracker Toffee with Chocolate – this was a new recipe found here and it is absolutely amazing. Recipe here!
- Pecan Pie Chocolate Bars – This is also a new recipe that I found in Southern Living September Issue.
By the way,
the Oatmeal Carmelitas and Neiman Marcus Bars are always a hit!!!
Here are
some of the recipes –
Oatmeal Carmelitas
Crust Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups
oatmeal
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cup
brown sugar
1 tsp baking
soda
1 ½ cup
melted butter
Filling
Ingredients:
12 oz pkg
milk chocolate chips
1 cup
chopped walnuts
2 jars
caramel ice cream topping
6 tbsp flour
Directions:
Pre-heat
oven to 330
Mix all
crust ingredients together. Press ½ into bottom of 9 x 12 pan. And bake at 350
for 10 minutes.
Remove crust
from oven. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Mix caramel with flour, pour
over chocolate chips and nuts. Sprinkle with remaining crust crumbs.
Bake 15-20
minutes or until golden brown. Cut into bars when cool.
Neiman Marcus Bars
Ingredients:
1 box yellow
cake mix
¾ cup melted
butter
3 eggs
1 – 8 oz
package cream cheese softened
1 lb
powdered sugar
½ cup flaked
coconut
½ cup
chopped nuts
Directions:
Pre-heat
oven to 325
Combine
butter, cake mix and one egg, stir together. Pat mixture into greased 9x12 pan.
Beat remaining 2 eggs, then cream cheese and powdered sugar. Stir in coconut
and nuts. Pour over mixture in pan.
Bake 45 to
50 minutes until golden brown.
Cool to room
temperature and cut into bars.
Lemon Bars
Crust
2 c flour
1/2 cup
sugar
2 cubes
butter
1/8 tsp salt
melt butter,
add flour and sugar. Chill 15 minutes
Filling
6 eggs
3 c sugar
2 TBS lemon
zest
1 cup lemon
juice
1 cup flour
Whisk
together eggs and sugar. Add other ingredients and pour on top of refrigerated
crust mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes (may take longer). Sprinkle
powder sugar on top.
Surprisingly
a lot of these sweets freeze well, so I will put a few pieces in the freezer
and pull them out on Christmas Eve. The ones that I have froze before include Neiman Marcus Bars,
Carmelita’s and Banana Bread.
