Last Minute Christmas Treats

It's not too late to come up with new Christmas treat ideas and recipes, and I have found a few to share.  A couple are new to me and I will be attempting to have them appear as delicious as they do in the pics.  
I'll never get tired of the melting snowman in the hot chocolate or a hot foo foo coffee.  You can't deny that this is cute.  And the candy cane really tops off the look.

How about these melting snowman cupcakes?  It is amazing what a bit of frosting and fondant (for the nose) can do.  This appears to be marshmallow cream to resemble the collapse of the poor guy but I had good luck with actually putting marshmallows in a warm oven and melting them for the look. Thanks to the super jumbo size marshmallows, the task was pretty easy.  If you go that route, don't forget to use wax paper for easy removal.

If your house if free of nut allergies, these quick and easy Santa cookies will be a real hit.  This is one of those items that you could keep all the ingredients on hand, to throw together last minute when unexpected kids arrive on the scene.  Another undeniably adorable treat.

A season favorite for many is the ginger bread house.  This has never been on the top of my list.  Mainly because of the mess and the difficulty in keeping it together.  It is a lot for little kids and that is who I prefer to share the project with.  After a while, I would always feel like I was telling them that I would have to that part.  And then this part.  Before you know it, i was building the house while they were just eating the parts.  Made them a bit like the wolf and I was one of the three little pigs.  Like I said - not my favorite project.  But - this one is pretty simple and easy looking.  Easy enough that I think it may be time to try again.  Check it out.

This house can not be called 'ginger bread' but it still could be a holiday house, just the same.  the bricks are made of pound cake, with a graham cracker roof, trimmed with frosting, topped with strawberry slices, (I am not too sure it that is reindeer poop on the roof or what, I will not ask) and there are other trims that I don't know what was used but with an assortment of cookies, I am sure you could figure it all out.  Oh - and maybe sugar cubes for the chimney.  Maybe.  Let your their imagination go wild with this one.  

Candy cane for breakfast, anyone?  You can't say no when it is as neat as this one.  And could be the easiest, and prettiest Christmas morning breakfast ever served.  I am a kitchen cheater so I start with a frozen pie crust and shape from that to make the candy cane.  From there is is just a matter of adding the filling and the stripes, and bake just as you would a pie.  Watch for the crust to begin to brown and remove.  I brush the unbaked crust with a tiny bit of butter for that nice, even browning, just prior to it going in the oven.  After it is out and cooling down, I add a little cinnamon/sugar, if I am serving warm.  If it will be a cooled down treat, then a bit of cream cheese frosting to the stripes is great.  Love this.  And don't be afraid to sub the cherries with strawberry pie filling.  That too is super.

I made this treat last night for the first time.  I have topped sugar cookies with Hershey cookies before, but having it hidden inside a cookie is new for me. But if Mavis, One Hundred Dollars a Month, like it, it's gonna be good.

The first pan to come out was a bit of a disappointment.  They were flat with the kiss just sitting on top of a lousy cookie.  I think that the pan, which had been used for a different type of cookies earlier, may have had some remaining oil on the surface, that caused the flattening.  I am also at a higher elevation, which I may have needed to take into account.  But, the next batches were much better.  When we had the neighbor test them for us, there were absolutely no complaints.  All in all - I am making another batch today to see how they come out.

Here's the recipe for the chocolate cookies with a surprise kiss inside.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped {I used regular chocolate, but any variety will work}
Powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Mix flour and cocoa together in a separate bowl until combined. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until fully incorporated.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet {I like to use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop}. Press a chocolate kiss onto each ball of dough and then form the dough around it, covering completely. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Cool and then roll in a bowl of powdered sugar, coating all sides.

Now that you have new treats that will be great for the holidays and everyday, there is just one more little trick that every baker should know.  Here is a super way to transport those special cup cakes.  This is a basic gift box with cross cuts.  Wish I would have known this trick a very long time ago.