Mom’s Soap Box

Christmas Cookie List
My boys love Christmas goodies, and do I have the best of the best.
You can’t have Christmas without peanut butter blossoms and chocolate buck eyes.

My favorite is peppermint brick and you have to have chocolate covered pretzels.

My son’s girlfriend mom makes candied covered almonds or pecans. I can’t remember which is it, but they are the best I’ve ever eaten. I wish I could get the recipe, but I would make them all the time, and they would go straight to my behind!

I remember when my boys were young I could not wait to make Christmas cookies with them. We would have flour all over the kitchen. It would take me hours to clean.

It was worth the mess. Those precious moments you take for granted. My son Jon still makes the cut-outs. He’s a pro at it now!

Here is my top Christmas Recipes

Peanut Blossoms1 bag (8oz) Hershey’s Kisses
1 egg
1/2 cup shortening
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
additional granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375F. Remove candy wrappers.
In large bowl, beat shortening and peanut butter until well blended. Add the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and all of the brown sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to peanut butter mixture. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in the additional granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately place kiss on
top of each cookie, pressing down so cookie cracks around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Buckeyes

Commonly known as Peanut Butter Balls. Recipe can easily be halved or quartered. Paraffin wax can be omitted but it will be a little more difficult to dip the balls without it.

2 lbs. Peanut butter
1 pound butter
3 pounds powdered sugar
two 12-ounce packages of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Use a high quality chocolate.
1/2 of one bar of paraffin wax
toothpicks for dipping
waxed paper

Place wax paper onto cookie sheets and set aside. Cream peanut butter and butter until combined. Add sugar a little at a time. Make sure it is mixed well. Roll peanut butter mixture into approximately 400 1-inch diameter balls. Insert one tooth pick into each small peanut butter ball. Set all of them aside. Melt chocolate and paraffin (parafin helps the chocolate become shiny when it cools) in a double boiler. Be careful not to over-heat the chocolate. Dip the ball into the chocolate so as to ALMOST cover the entire ball. Leave small portion of ball uncoated. Let cool on waxed paper. Store in a cool place.