The Tweens News | English

•No touching knives or the stove
•Do not touch any appliances without adult supervision.
•Always wash your hands before handling food.

The smell of freshly baked cookies and the holidays seem to go together. And letting your friends help with the holiday baking is a wonderful way to start your own family traditions. Here are my favorite holiday treats; most are fast and easy, and require just a few ingredients.

Snickerdoodles!

Despite their unusual name, snickerdoodles are delicious and very easy to make. Rolled in a sugar and cinnamon mixture, these are light cookies that your family will enjoy.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup sugar (white)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Preparation:

Sift together first 4 dry ingredients. Add in the butter, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla. Mix. Beat in the egg.

In small bowl, mix the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into balls (size of your choice. I go for ping pong ball sized) and roll them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for about 8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

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Melting Moment Cookies!

Melting moment cookies only require four ingredients, and they literally melt in your mouth. They are perfect for winter holidays as they resemble round snowballs.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups butter
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup confectioner sugar

Preparation:

Cream butter; add remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop on cookie sheet (1/2-1 inch balls). Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 20 minutes. Cool, then roll in sifted confectioner sugar. – Lina, forum member

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Chocolate Fudge!

Rich chocolate fudge is a classic holiday treat. Here are 3 variations of fudge, all requiring just a few ingredients. And best of all, you won’t need a candy thermometer to make these.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 14 oz can SWEETENED condensed milk (NOT evaporated)
• dash salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Over low heat, melt choc., sweetened milk, and salt. Remove from heat, stir in walnuts and vanilla.

Pour into and 8 or 9 inch foil-lined square pan, cool for about 2 hrs. Turn onto a cutting board, peel off the foil, and cut into little squares.

Creamy Milk Chococolate Fudge

Omit one cup of the choc. chips, replace with 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 2 cups mini marshmallows. Proceed as above.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Fudge

Omit one cup of the choc. chips and the walnuts; Stir in 1 cup peanut butter chips just before spreading in pan.

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Thimbelina Cookies!

Thimbelina cookies make a colorful and delicious addition to your holiday cookie tray. Warning: these are very tasty, and it’s hard to stop after eating just one. Makes about 24 cookies; I usually double this recipe.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (I’ve used margarine before)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk, well beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg white, unbeaten
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preparation:

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolk, and vanilla. Add flour and salt, blend in. Form into 1 inch balls. Roll in egg white, then roll in nuts. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, and, using your thumb, indent the center of each ball. Bake at 350 for 5 minutes, remover from oven, and indent again (they will puff up a bit and need the second indenting). Bake for another 12 minutes or so. Cool completely, then fill with tinted frosting (below).

Tinted Butter Frosting

Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1 tablespoon cream (I’ve used milk), and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well. Divide the frosting up, and tint with red, green and yellow food coloring. Fill the indentations on the cookies with a teaspoon or so of frosting.

These are so colorful and very tasty; they are the kinds that melt in your mouth!

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Double Chocolate Bars!

With a chocolate oreo cookie crust and chocolate chips in the middle and on top, these are very rich bars. They are very easy to make, and require just a few ingredients.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 24 chocolate oreo type cookies, finely crushed
• 1/2 cube margarine, melted
• 2 cups semi-sweet choc. chips, divided
• 1 14 ounce can SWEETENED condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Preparation:

Mix cookie crumbs and melted margarine. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9 x 12 inch baking dish.

Melt 1 cup chocolate chips, sweetened milk, and vanilla over low heat. Pour evenly over cookie crust.

Top with remaining one cup choc. chips and nuts. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Cool; cut into small squares. Can chill, but I think they are better at room temperature.

Source: http://homeparents.about.com/od/christmasrecipes/tp/top_cookies.htm

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The Tweens News | English

•No touching knives or the stove
•Do not touch any appliances without adult supervision.
•Always wash your hands before handling food.

Here’s a recipe we found on the Internet that is a bit harder than others, but well worth it.

Making the crust:

9 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick, plus one tablespoon

)
1/4 cup (50g) superfine sugar

1 cup (100g) of unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch salt

Fruit Filling:

1 1/2 cups (287g) superfine sugar

3 egg whites
1 egg

2/3 cup (150mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 3 lemons

2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 lemons)

2/3 cup (65g) unbleached, all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 cup(150g) of frozen raspberries, defrosted
1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). Line a 8×8″ * square baking pan with a strip of parchment paper (8×14″) that covers the bottom and overlaps on either side. (This is so after it cools, you can pull out the entire pan of lime bars and cut them neatly. You can omit this step completely, though. You don’t even need to butter the pan.)

2. Cream butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer. Mix in flour until just incorporated. Flour hands and press dough evenly into 8×8″ square baking pan.

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until slightly golden brown. While it cools, prepare the filling.

4. Whisk sugar, egg whites, egg, lemon juice and zest, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Pour raspberries into a sieve and press through to extract all the pulp and juices. Whisk into lemon mixture and pour into crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes until filling is completely set. Let cool completely. (I help mine along in the freezer for about an hour.) Using the overlapping edges of parchment paper, gently lift the dessert from the pan. Cut into 16 squares. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Source: http://www.wambie.com/tuttifrutti_us/wallpapers/photo_en-753.html

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The Tweens News | English

•No touching knives or the stove
•Do not touch any appliances without adult supervision.
•Always wash your hands before handling food.

Makes: 15

Prep: 20 minutes

Bake: 30 minutes

Source: http://www.parents.com/recipe/bars/granola-bars

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Popsicle-Shaped Soap

Make these fancy, shaped bars of soap using cookie cutters.

•No touching knives or the stove
•Do not touch any appliances without adult supervision.

Materials:

• Mild Bar of Soap
• Warm water
• Cookie cutters

Instructions:
Grate 1 cup of soap off the bar. Pour it in medium sized mixing bowl.

Start with 1/2 cut of warm water. Pour into the grated soap and knead to mix. Add more warm water, a little at a time, and continue to knead until all soap mixes in and it is the consistency of thick dough. If you want to make colored bars of soap, mix food coloring in with the water.

Once your water and soap is well blended, press mixture into cookies cutters. Set the cookie cutter on it’s side so the soap dries on both sides, or flip it often. Put in a dry place to dry for about 24 hours. Gently pop your soap out of the cookie cutter.

More: Instead of using cookie cutters, you can make miniature bars of home-made soap by pressing your mixtures into ice cube trays. You can also roll them into balls.

For a simple gift, tie a ribbon around the home-made bars of soap, or fill a small gift basket!

Source: http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/soap/a/blshapedsoap.htm

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