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!