Visions of Sugar Plums

So, here I am, at the end of January, finally getting around to posting about my Christmas baking. Get your index cards ready, there will be recipes. I don't bake a huge variety, because my Mom and MIL still do lots of baking and, really, we can only eat so much.

1. Sugar Cookies.
(point of interest: this recipe is from the set of Sesame Street Encyclopedias that we had when I was a kid)

Cream together
3/4 cup butter/margarine
1 cup sugar

add
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla and blend.

In a separate bowl sift together
2 1/2 cups flour (this year I substituted one cup whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

add to first mixture. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Roll out to 1/4 inch and cut with cookie cutter.
Decorate with coloured sugar or sprinkles (red and green sugar is classic)

Bake at 400 for 6 to 8 minutes.


2. Almond Roca
(This is super easy and delicious. It also makes a great gift, except people often think at first glance that it is peanut brittle.)

Line a cookie sheet with foil.
Cover with graham wafers.

Heat, but do not boil
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar

add
6 oz flaked almonds.

Pour over wafers.
Bake at 325 for 10 minutes.
Cool. Break into pieces.

3. Chocolate Balls
(my mom stopped making this years ago, but it was my favourite, so when I got married I resurrected it. Try to enlist some help. The dough can dry out and become hard to work with if you don't roll them fast enough. It has raw eggs in it, but that has never stopped me. Just make sure you refrigerate them.)

Melt together
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
4 tbsp melted butter/margarine

Add
2 cups icing sugar
2 eggs
2 2/3 cup graham wafer crumbs

Mix well. Roll into balls. Roll in table sugar.



4. Peppernuts
(This is the Music Man's specialty, reflecting his Mennonite heritage. I don't actually have his permission to share this recipe, so I may be retracting it later when he reads this post. Oh, and we don't use the spices exactly as listed, because we don't have all of those on hand.)

1 1/2 cups margarine
2 cups sugar
1 cup syrup
1/3 cup sour cream
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp each of cardamom, cloves, mace, ginger
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp anise powder
3/4 tsp peppermint oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 to 7 cups flour

Cream margarine and sugar and add liquids. Mix together dry ingredients and add to first mixture. Knead thoroughly. Refrigerate to blend flavours. Roll dough into thin ropes and slice (the pieces should be quite small, maybe less than two cm) Bake on cookie sheet at 350 for 8 minutes or until brown.

5.Christmas pudding.
I have already posted this "easy four step recipe".
Here is a picture of the finished product. Unfortunately I don't have one of it flaming as I carried it to the table.



Oh, and one more Christmas related thing...
I hinted a long time ago that I was doing a sewing project for Christmas. I couldn't say what it was at the time because the recipients of said project occasionally read my blog. I made cloth shopping bags for my mom, MIL and SIL. They each got two, one red and one blue. I used a pattern that I first sewed in junior high home ec. Luckily for everyone my sewing skills have improved a lot since then.