Holiday Goodies:

Pecan Pie Bars

Ingredients:

CRUST:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cups cold butter (cut into small cubes)

FILLING:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 - 3 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Dump flour, sugar, salt, and butter into a food processor and pulse a few times until the butter has been incorporated into the dry ingredients (they always say it should look like little peas, I say it should just look crumbly, just make sure not to over mix, you're just trying to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture.).

2. Dump mixture out into a greased (I used Pam for Baking) 9 x 13 inch pan (I used a dark coated, non-stick pan) and press mixture firmly down onto the bottom, and up the sides.

3. Par-bake crust at 350 F for about 20 minutes (or so) until the edges start to brown just a bit.

4. While the crust is baking, combine the ingredients for filling - eggs, sugar, corn syrup, butter vanilla and brown sugar - in a large bowl; mix well. Stir in pecans. Pour over crust. Bake 30-35 minutes or until edges are firm and center is almost set. Allow to cool completely and cut into bars to serve.

*Adapted from All Recipes.

Candy Cane Fudge

This is not technically a fudge in the traditional sense of the word, but the consistancy is very close, so that's what I'll call it.

Ingredients:

2 (10 ounce) packages vanilla baking chips (or, white chocolate chips, if you can't find vanilla)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes (approximately 12 candy canes)
1 dash red or green food coloring

Directions:

1. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, and grease the foil.

2. Combine the vanilla chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth.

3. When chips are completely melted, stir in the peppermint extract, food coloring, and candy canes.

4. Spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Chill for 2 hours, then cut into squares.

*From All Recipes.

Red Velvet Cake Balls:

Covered in white chocolate. Recipe here.

Pumpkin Puppers

Ingredients:

4 Cups whole wheat flour
2 Cups wheat germ
1 - 15 Ounce can of pumpkin (just under 2 cups)
1 Cup water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
2 Tablespoons Honey

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine. *I did this by hand the first time, started out trying to mix with a large spoon and then ended up literally mixing with my hands. It's a stiff dough. Next time, I think I'll employ the help of either my food processor, or KA with the dough attachement to get everything combined.

2. Roll out dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick and cut into desired shapes. *I used a Gingerbread Man cookie cutter since it was for Christmas.

3. Place cookies on an ungreased foil-lined baking sheet and bake in a 325 degree F pre-heated oven, for 30 to 35 minutes.

*From Simple, but Delicious.