Merry Christmas 2012!

I'm sitting here Christmas eve afternoon listening to one of my little darlings play Christmas carols on the piano and planning dessert for tonight and breakfast for in the morning!   I love this time of year and the smells of baking wafting through the house announce that the holiday has arrived and solidify the memories for each of us forever!  So today, on Christmas eve my kiddos and I are going to make lots of our traditional goodies, the candied nuts and bon bons of Christmas posts past, as well as Gingerbread cookies and pecan bars (like pumpkin pie in a nice neat package!).  I hope you enjoy these traditions as much as we do at our house!  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!  May 2013 be wonderful and merry for everyone!

I got the pecan bar recipe from my Aunt Marilynn I don't know where she first found it but they are moist and delicious and should be enjoyed at holiday celebrations everywhere!

Pecan Bars

Crust:

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1/2 cup corn starch

 Mix and press into a cookie sheet with sides.  Bake at 350 for 15 min.

 

Filling:

1lb brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

2 cup pecans chopped

 

Mix ingredients and pour over hot baked curst.  Bake at 300 degrees for 15 min then at 350 for 5 min.  Cool and frost.

 

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

4 oz cream cheese

1lb box powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

 

Combine softened butter and cream cheese on low speed of electric mixer until smooth.  Gradually add powdered sugar until frosting is smooth, add vanilla and spread over cooled pecan bars.  Cut into small squares, these are very rich so a little goes a long way!!

 

 

I got the recipe for these gingerbread cookies from a taste of home magazine.  I love them because the recipe is simple ingredients that I almost always have in my pantry and they taste ever so yummy! 

Gingerbread Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup molasses

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

Vanilla frosting of your choice

 

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool. Tint some of the frosting red and some green. Decorate cookies. Yield: 5 dozen.