We decided that for the month of December we would use Fridays to focus on gourmet gift mixes and then to add to the holiday cheer, we would also include a giveaway!
This week, I wanted to give you a couple of mix recipes for baked goods. Be creative with your packaging and to give the gifts an extra touch, consider adding a wooden spoon, a new cookie sheet, cookies cutters, a baking pan, or even a box of tea or some coffee. Tie them with a nice ribbon and include a tag that gives the instructions for using the mix.
DOUBLE-FUDGE BROWNIE MIX
(The Perfect Mix, by: Diane Phillips)
2 c. sugar
1 c. cocoa
1 c. flour
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. chocolate chips
Mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container.
To Make:
1 c. butter
4 eggs
1 package of the Double-Fudge Brownie Mix
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the Double-Fudge Brownie Mix, and continue to beat the mixture until it is smooth. Spread the mixture into the greased pan, and bake for 40-50 minutes.
SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD MIX
(The Perfect Mix, by: Diane Phillips)
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container
To Make:
1 c. butter, softened
1 package Scottish Shortbread Mix
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Knead the butter into the shortbread mix and press the mixture firmly into an 8-inch pie plate, or shortbread mold. Bake for 1 hour. The shortbread should be pale in color, not browned. Cut into wedges while still warm.
Now for today's giveaway! I'm a bit sorry to be passing this one on! I've made a couple of recipes that have been delicious. The first was the Pumpkin Bars last month and the second was the Brown Sugar Almond Cookies yesterday. Cookies Year-Round is divided by season. It is a flip book which is very handy. It includes 50 recipes with pictures and great information. The winner of this giveaway will receive the book and a set of 6 Wilton Christmas cookie cutters.
To enter: Please leave 1 comment telling us your favorite thing to make at the holidays or a recipe that you would like to see featured! That's it! 1 entry per person. We will leave it open through Monday and hopefully I will be on it enough to post a winner on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Have a wonderful weekend!
My favorite thing to make for the holidays is caramel popcorn or a snack mix. It is fun to have something to munch on while playing table games during the holidays.
ReplyDeleteIt's harder to find holiday things here across the globe (in South East Asia), so anything I want I have to make myself. The past few years I've had fun making gingerbread cookies, especially b/c my boys (husband and son) have the most fun eating them. I just need to find a good cookie cutter - also takes a little searching, but not impossible. I think I'm a little too far away to enter the giveaway, as the cost of postage would exceed the package :P. Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying your blog and all the yummy recipes and tips. Thanks!!
ReplyDeletep.s. Great brownie recipe - I used it w/out the choc. chips and pecans when my neighborhood here wanted a thousand of them for a festival :-)
My favorite thing to make this season is spice tea and pies.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing to make is a white chocolate chex mix. I love to have this on the table during board games and talking around the table with family.
ReplyDeletep.s. Aliana, I just had an idea - put my name in for the giveaway, and if I win you keep it until I'm in the US to pick it up (probably in 2011).
ReplyDeleteRecipe I would like to see featured - our neighbor just gave us two giant bunches of bananas from his tree. Any good ideas on how to use the extras we won't be able to eat in time?
I'd love to see some Christmas bread recipes. Cranberry bread, maybe?
ReplyDeleteI like to make Anginette's but they have anise in them, so I probably won't win, huh Alaina? LOL! ;)
ReplyDeletePeppermint brownies--regular mint brownies but with pink peppermint filling and crushed candy canes on top. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to limit it to one thing!!! But right at this moment I'd have to go with desserts that involve candy canes and chocolate (or at least those flavors).
ReplyDeletemy favorite thing to make for the gingerbread cookie! i love it :) soo fun and delicious! :)
ReplyDeletegokchecoskun@gmail.com
My favorite thing to make for the holidays is baked chex mix! It never lasts long around my house.
ReplyDeleteI love making pumpkin roll. My family had pumpkin roll every year growing up, so I have many good memories associated with it.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite is candy since I have collected easy recipes that I mainly make at Christmas. I make various cookies all year round.
ReplyDeleteEvery Christmas Eve, we have hors d'oeuvres instead of a meal. That started when my daughter was little and I wanted to do something special but we always had to have the same Thanksgiving and Christmas menu.
Now, she does the same thing with her kids. I try out new recipes on that evening along with a couple old favorites. We have the candy that we didn't give away on Christmas Eve and Christmas.
I would love to see some recipes that incorporate tea with baking. I plan on kaing earl grey shortbread this holiday season but curious as to other options, especially with matcha!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite baked good to make during the holidays is fruitcake! Yep, good old fashioned fruitcake soaked in rum. My favorite adult drink to make during the holidays is hot buttered rum.
ReplyDeletei love to make cheese ball and plain dough cookies, among other things.:) i love the holidays!
ReplyDeleteMy family asks for Broccoli Casserole, Muddy Buddies, Pumpkin roll and I like Choc No-Bake Oatmeal cookies.
ReplyDeleteI also love to drink the spice teas around this time of year.
Merry Christmas to all!
We like to make biscottis to give away. My favorite is White Chocolate & Ginger.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I make these wreath cookies that are kind of like rice crispies but with corn flakes and little red hots for the mistle toe.
ReplyDeleteDo you guys have a good chex mix recipe without nuts? I really want to make a bunch for Christmas.
BTW I love this site!
My favorite thing to make this time of year is toffee. The girls favorite thing for me to make is caramel corn :). And you know they're a big help ;). I hope your open houses went well! I haven't been on much lately if you posted about it.
ReplyDeleteMartian eggs, of course. What are they really called, Alaina? I can't remember but they are mint meringue cookies with mint chocolate chips inside. Yum! Makes me think of Christmas with the Cummings' in Roger's basement.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy making monkey bread at Christmas time, but my family calls them reunion rolls.
ReplyDeleteChristmas Stollen is one of our favorite things to make at this time of year, although my husband is the main bread-baker of the house and I just help him. It is a slightly sweet German holiday bread with raisins, currants, and almonds, with a shiny glaze and powdered sugar on top. It is great for breakfast on Christmas morning.
ReplyDeleteI love making cardamom bread during the holidays! It is a swedish bread that my grandmother used to make and now I make it. I usually braid it when I make it and put sprinkles on top of it to make it look very festive!
ReplyDeleteI like to make dipped pretzels. Also, I tried dipping roughly chopped almonds and dried cherries in chocolate and they were delicious!
ReplyDeleteOooh! I hope I'm not too late. I like making sugar cream pie for Christmas as it is a tradition passed on to me by my grandfather. And the more cookies, the better!
ReplyDeleteI love wowing people with my mom's chocolate balls. They are like hearty buckeyes, with gram crackers, coconut and walnuts added to the base mix of butter, peanut butter and powdered sugar. She used to roll the mix into balls and dip in red and green colored white chocolate to garnish gift-trays of cookies!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE baking during the Holidays. My favorites are tea cake and cake balls. Also love trying different types of cheesecakes.
ReplyDeleteI love to make choco covered gummy worms for the kids! Not a very holiday recipe, but I love to put a plate of these out and watch my DD and all her cousins (28 of them) and some of the adults go crazy over them. Something so simple makes them so happy! :)
ReplyDeletewakt502 at hotmail dot com
I love making peppermint bark! mmmm!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing to make is Toffee
ReplyDeleteI love to make Christmas cookies, especially sugar cookies.
ReplyDeletea_heart4home(at)yahoo(dot)com