Saturday, December 27, 2008

Holiday Treats



I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did! My kids are so cute!!! I love seeing the excitement in their eyes and on their faces. I quickly made these tags and cookies up on Christmas Eve to take to my In-law's house to give out to my DH's brothers families. I love making these soft ginger cookies at Christmastime and even at Valentine's Day.




I created the tag by using my Nestabilities Label 2 die (largest one) and the Papertrey, Ink "Holiday Treats" stamp set. I purchased it last year after Christmas so I was really excited to use it this year. I loved seeing all of the things that the PTI design team did with it. I visited the gallery to remember the fun things they did. This design was *heavily* inspired by Pinefeather's design she used. I love it!

I had a request for the recipe to my caramels and I will also share the soft ginger cookie recipe as well.


Christmas Caramels
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
dash of salt
1 cup light corn syrup
Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottom pan and bring to a constant boil over medium heat. Stir constantly until mixture reached the soft ball stage *around 15 minutes*.
Pour into a buttered 7 by 11 pan and let cool.
Cut into squares and wrap each piece in waxed paper.

*Note: mine took less than 15 minuted this year...I have no idea why. I think I cooked it for about 10 minutes once it came to a constant boil.


SOFT GINGER COOKIES

2 1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. gr. ginger
1 tsp. bkg soda
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses ( I use full flavor)
2 T. sugar

combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. set aside. beat butter 30 seconds. add 1 cup sugar and beat until fluffy. add egg and molasses. beat well. add 1/2 flour mixture and beat until well combined. stir in remaining flour mixture with a wooden spoon. shape into 1 inch balls and roll in the 2T sugar. place on un-greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake at 350 degrees for 8-11 minutes or until brown and slightly puffed. Cool on cookies sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
*I doubled my recipe and used my small Pampered Chef scoop and the recipe made around 80 cookies. I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and it went so smoothly!

6 comments:

Jessie/knightrone said...

These are amazing...and if I baked, I would totally try your recipes(but I TOTALLY don't)!!

Deborah Saaranen said...

Thanks so much for the recipes Kelly! I really want to try the caramels!!! Your packaging is great! Lucky folks!

Tina said...

What great packaging for yummy treats.

Dawn Easton said...

Sweet tags!!! Thanks for sharing the recipes too! Will jot them down!

Tanya said...

Cute gifts! The ginger cookies sound tasty!

lisa808 said...

The caramels sound so yummy! Thanks for the recipe.