Lemon Meringue Pie

 John requested a lemon meringue pie....turns out it wasn't that bad to make and was quite tasty! 

Recipe from: Favorite Family Recipes

1 pre-baked pie crust
1 ½ c. sugar
½ c. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
2 ¼ c. water
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel
4 egg yolks
3 Tbsp. butter
½ c. lemon juice


FOR THE MERINGUE:
5 egg whites (at room temperature)
¼ tsp cream of tartar
½ c. sugar

Instructions
In a medium-sized saucepot, bring sugar, cornstarch, salt, water, and lemon peel to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and mix in with wire whip 4 egg yolks. Return to heat for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in 3 T. butter, then ½ c. lemon juice. Pour into pie crust and cool.

Meringue topping: In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add ½ c. sugar beating until stiff peaks form.

Top pie with meringue and bake at 325 about 10 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned. Chill until set.

Candy Cane Cookies

I was actually surprised at how good these turned out.  I found myself with a ton of extra candy canes this year, so I looked for a cookie recipe that used candy canes.  So glad I did, these were a great holiday treat.  (My kids liked them plain, so no chocolate and definitely not sprinkled with more candy cane, so if you want a simple cookie, they are also good without the chocolate)

Recipe from: My Baking Addiction

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 drops pure peppermint extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla, butter extract and peppermint extract.

Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in crushed candies.

Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Use a cookie scoop to form cookies.  Place the cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets, flatten dough a little. Bake at 375 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

If desired, dip the cooled cookies in melted chocolate and garnish with more crushed candy canes.

Reindeer Corn Dogs

This is another simple, fun idea I found on Pinterest that made lunch a little more fun this Christmas. 

Cheese slices for the eyes (with black edible food marker).  Pretzel antlers.  Ketchup noses. 

Reindeer Pudding Cups

So this isn't really a recipe, but it's food :)  Fun food.  I packed these in my kiddos lunch boxes.  They were pleasantly surprised. 

Great Harvest Cinnaburst Bread Copycat Bread

This bread is amazing!  And it made my house smell fantastic!  We enjoyed it warm out of the oven, toasted with some butter and we even made some into french toast--so good!

 

Recipe from: raegun Ramblings

 

1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk

1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp yeast

1/3 cup oil (I used veggie oil)
1/2 T salt
1 egg
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cinnamon chips

In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water and milk; let bubble for about 5 minutes.
Add in oil and egg.
Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt.
Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Add the cinnamon chips when it gets close to the right consistency. The dough will be very sticky but the softer the dough the lighter the bread. So use the least amount of flour you can handle.
Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes.
Form into loaf (or whatever shape you want).
Let rise and additional 30 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

 

* Makes 2 loaves

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookes, with Sprinkles

These cookies are super festive, filled with colorful sprinkles.  They had a wonderful cake batter flavor and the sprinkles added a fun texture to the cookie.  

 Recipe from: Sally's Baking Addiction 

1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 1/4 cup yellow or vanilla boxed cake mix (I used yellow cake mix)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (I used a blend of white and semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1/2 cup sprinkles (I used a little less, still turned out very colorful)

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth. Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and beat on high until combined. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low-medium speed until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and sprinkles. Mix on low until the add-ins are evenly disbursed.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 3-4 days. This step is mandatory. The dough is fairly sticky, so chilling the dough is required in order to avoid the cookies from spreading too much. If you chill longer than 2 hours, make sure you roll the cookie dough into balls after the 2 hour mark. Place dough balls on a plate, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. You may also freeze the balls at this point for up to 3 months. (Then bake as directed adding 1 minute to the bake time without thawing.)
Once dough has been chilled, preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Scoop rounded balls of the cold dough onto an ungreased baking sheet, use about 1.5 Tablespoons of cookie dough per cookie.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes (mine took 11 minutes using my purple handled cookie scoop) until edges are slightly browned.  The centers will still appear very soft, but the cookies will set as they cool. You may also press a few more chips into the tops of the cookies at this point (the chips will melt down and stick from the warm cookies).
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 4 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

*I got 37 cookies from this recipe.  

Twinkie Mummies

I made some homemade Twinkies and made them into mummies by drizzling white chocolate on them and adding some candy eyeballs.  My kids loved them! 

Twinkie Recipe here.