fudge |

Winter break has officially begun and we are entering the week of Christmas! Tis’ the season for all things festive and fun!

To send off my daughter’s preschool teachers we made fudge together.

For as long as I can remember this was a tradition I did with my mother at Christmas time. It’s an easy recipe that takes no time at all while making memories with your family!

I use Carnation Evaporated Milk recipe minus the marshmallows and add walnuts.

Mama’s Fudge Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line 8 inch square baking pan with foil. Spray foil lightly with Pam non-stick cooking spray. Combine sugar evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan; refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces or as desired.

Fudge makes a perfect holiday gift or hostess gift as you enter the week of Christmas and New Year’s! Simply line your favorite tin or box with tissue paper and add the fudge.

The best memories are ones with your loved ones! This is the second year we’ve made Christmas cookies together.

It’s amazing what a difference a year makes! Cooking and baking with your kids not only makes wonderful memories, but teaches them measurements, portion control, where our food comes from, and hopefully to become bakers and cooks.

I like to try different sugar cookie recipes. This year I tried the “Perfect Sugar Cookie Cut-outs from Love Grows Wild but removed the almond extract.

Serves: 40-50 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups of flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
colored sugars for decorating

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Make sure to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife to ensure accurate measurements. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.
Roll the dough between 2 sheets of parchment or wax paper and place on a baking sheet in the refrigerator. Chill for about 20-30 minutes.
Cut dough into shapes with cookie cutters and transfer to a baking sheet. Sprinkle with colored sugars and bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 40-50 cookies.

Notes

For this recipe, the dough only needs to chill about 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator since it is already rolled out. If you would rather chill the dough first before rolling, you’ll want to increase the chill time to about an hour.Using the parchment paper is a great tip for rolling the dough, because it eliminates the need to add extra flour to keep it from sticking. However, I didn’t have any parchment paper I choose the old fashion route.

I found Love Grows Wild tip about letting the cookies cool for only 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then lifting them with a spatula onto a cooling rack to be the difference in a soft tasting sugar cookie!

Now that you’ve made your perfect sugar cookie it’s time to decorate! Since you’re kids are out of school, why not make it into a cookie decorating party?!

As a party planner I love a good party! It doesn’t have to be fancy or elaborate. You could even just have a little party with your own children. The point is to make it fun, festive and an activity that everyone will enjoy and remember!

This year I found all my cookie decorating accessories at Michael’s, except for the red oval bowl from Target last year.

How cute are these mini milk glasses that I found on sale at Michael’s?!

If you have young children, like me, I decided to ice the sugar cookies first and then let the girls decorate them this year. I found an easy and delicious buttercream frosting recipe from Two Sisters Crafting! I added a little almond milk and it was hard to stop licking the spoon!