Kolacky

1 small cake household yeast
4 Tablespoons sour cream
2 cups flour
1 egg yolk
½ lb butter
Powdereded sugar
Pastry filling (Solo brand)

Soften yeast in sour cream; add butter, egg yolk, and flour. Mix well.
Divide dough in half. Roll out each portion on floured surface to 1/8” –3/16” thick. Cut with biscuit cutter or juice glass. Press center down. Fill with pastry filling.
Bake at 425° for 10 minutes just to light brown.
Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar 2 -3 times.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

Ritz Crackers
Peanut Butter
Ambrosia Chocolate - But I used Herseheys Special Dark Morsels

Make sandwiches with Ritz Crackers and Peanut Butter and using a double boiler, melt the chocolate and then dip sandwiches in the chocolate until fully covered. Lay them on a piece of wax paper to set, I also put them in the freezer or the refridgerator to help them set up. Then Enjoy!

Turtles

- original recipe from Gale Gand
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup butter
2 cups evaporated milk, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups pecan halves
8-12 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
Combine the sugars, syrup, butter and 1 cup of the evaporated milk, and bring to a boil. Add the other cup of evaporated milk slowly, stirring constantly, and cook until it reaches 245 - 255 degrees on a candy thermometer.*** Add the vanilla and pecans and mix well. Pour into a 9 by 11-inch greased pan and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature, cut into squares then dip in chocolate. If you'd like to make a turtle, spoon dollops of the caramel pecan mixture onto a greased sheet pan, with 5 pecans in each mound (4 legs and head). Refrigerate to set, then dip in chocolate.

*** bring the caramel to “soft ball” stage – I like to use a bowl of ice water to help test the pliability of the caramel

cardamom cookies

1 cup butter
3/4 c sugar
1 yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cardamon
2 c flour
1 c powder sugar


melt butter stirring constantly until it just begins to brown. remove and put in the fridge until cool 30 mins
combine butter and sugar beat until well mixed
add yolk vanilla and cardamom and mix
reduce speed and add flour slowly until crumbly ball forms
make into 1 inch balls
bake on ungreased sheet 10-12 mints 350 degrees
remove from sheet immediately cool 1 min roll in powdered sugar while warm and again when cool

Christmas Bark

1 sleeve of saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
12 ox semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
sprinkles (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, folding the edges up so the sides are covered as well. Lay the saltines in a single layer on the parchment paper.
3. Melt butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium to medium high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Adjust temperature as necessary. Pour butter-brown sugar mixture over saltine crackers. Spread the mixture evenly, working quickly as it will begin to cool. Put jelly roll pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from oven and immediately sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Put back into oven for 3-4 minutes for chocolate chips to soften. When the chips are soft enough, spread them evenly over the entire layer of sugar covered crackers. Immediately sprinkle chopped pecans and sprinkles on top. Press the pecans slightly with a spoon so they are firmly in the chocolate and will be less likely to fall off when the bark cools.
5. Put the pan into the refrigerator and refrigerate for one hour. When the bark has finished cooling, remove the pan from fridge. Using your hands or pizza cutter, break or cut the bard into pieces.
6. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Sand Tarts

from Paula Dean
ngredients

* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for coating cookies
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting hands
* 1 cup chopped pecans, (very small pieces)

Directions

Preheat oven to 270 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer at low speed, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula.

With floured hands, take out about 1-tablespoon of dough and shape it into crescent. Place the cookies 1-inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Cook's Note: Continue to dust your hands with flour as you make more cookies.

Bake for 40 minutes. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar while still warm. Cool completely on wire racks and store in airtight containers.