Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups cold whole milk
1 (3.4-ounce) box vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
12 pre-made cupcakes baked from a cake mix
1 cup heavy cream
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation:
1. Combine milk, instant pudding mix, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat filling mixture with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until it thickens.

2. Place filling mixture in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

3. Spoon filling mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip. Fill cupcakes by inserting tip into top of cupcake and squeezing a couple of tablespoons of filling into each cupcake.

4. Heat cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges.

5. Remove from heat, add chocolate morsels to pan, and whisk until smooth.

6. Spoon or drizzle glaze over cupcakes, or dunk the tops into the glaze.

7. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour, before serving.

Strawberry Nachos

Ingredients:
Butter, melted
Flour tortillas
Cinnamon
Sugar (white)
Fresh strawberries, diced
Chocolate chips, melted (if desired)

Preparation:
1. Mix cinnamon and sugar with melted butter and brush on one side of tortillas.

2. Using a pizza cutter, slice tortillas into triangles (making "chip-sized" pieces).

3. Bake tortilla pieces in 350-degree oven until very lightly browned, but not burnt. Allow to cool. They will become crispy.

4. Toss diced strawberries with a small amount of sugar and a tablespoon or so of water.

5. Serve crisp "chips" with strawberry mixture, either as a "salsa" or by laying the "chips" on a plate, topping with the strawberries, then drizzling with melted chocolate.

Betsy's Salsa

Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cans Rotel
1 large can diced tomatoes
3 Tblsp garlic salt

Preparation:
Pulse all ingredients in blender.

Chocolate-Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop!)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons real butter
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg lightly beaten

Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 cup real butter (1 stick)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
milk, as needed for consistency
optional: red or green food coloring and sprinkles or crushed candycanes

Preparation:
1. To make cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Heat chocolate chips, brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and smooth (there will still be grains of sugar though).
4. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and beat in egg. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix.
5. If dough is too soft to work with, let it sit at room temp for a few minutes to firm up, or place in the fridge for a few minutes.
6. Gently roll balls, either 1 tablespoon full for large cookies, or about 1/2 inch balls for silver dollar sized cookies.
7. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies until just puffed in the middle and edges are set but centers are still soft. About 8-9 minutes for large cookies, and about 5 minutes for small ones. If using 2 cookie sheets, rotate them half way through baking.
8. Cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
9. To make filling, beat all frosting ingredients together, adding peppermint extract to taste. Add milk by the teaspoonful until a spreadable, but not too soft consistency is reached. Add food coloring if desired.
10. Place frosting in a zip-top bag and cut off a corner. Pipe onto one side of cookie and place another on top.
11. Roll edges in sprinkles or crushed candycanes if desired.

Yield: If you use a tablespoon of dough, it will yield 1 1/2 dozen large sandwiches. If you use a quarter of a standard cookie scoop (about a rounded teaspoon) it will yield 4-5 dozen.

Source: Our Best Bites

Reindeer Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate-covered mini pretzels
Mini brown M&Ms
Regular-sized red M&Ms

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla in large bowl.
3. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat until just blended.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.
5. Form dough into 1-inch balls. To make reindeer-shaped cookies, pinch the bottom of the ball slightly to form a point, then gently flatten with your hand. Space cookies about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until set or just beginning to brown.
6. Remove from oven and immediately (and gently) press two mini pretzels into the tops of the cookies for the reindeer's antlers. Press two mini brown M&Ms in for the eyes and one red M&M for the nose.
7. Allow to cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack or paper towel to cool completely.
Makes about 40 reindeer cookies.

Fruity Candy Popcorn {AKA Jello Popcorn}

Ingredients:
8 cups popped popcorn
1/4 C butter (that’s half a stick)
3 T light corn syrup (honey is a good substitute)
1/2 C sugar
1 3.5oz box jello, any flavor (not the sugar free kind)

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil or parchment. If using foil, spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside. Place popcorn in an extra large mixing bowl.
2. Place butter and syrup in a sauce pan on medium heat. Stir until butter is melted. Add sugar and Jello and stir to combine.
3. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat so it just simmers. Continue simmering for 5 minutes. You’ll start off with a mixture that’s sometimes thick (depending on the flavor, see note at end) and as it cooks the sugar will dissolve and it will become a little more liquid-ish.
4. After the sugar mixture simmers for 5 minutes, immediately pour over popcorn in bowl. Be careful, it’s super hot!! Mix right away and keep stirring so everything gets well coated. Spread mixture onto prepared pan and spread out evenly.
5. Pop in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes. I’ve noticed that some flavors of jello have more mix than others (kind of like my discovery about different brands/flavors of cake mix noted in this post). For example, the strawberry is usually much thicker than the lime. If you notice this, you might want to bake the mixture for a few minutes longer to make sure it gets cooked all the way.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool to room temp. Then break into pieces and enjoy! You can certainly eat this un-baked as well and it’s just soft and gooey, but definitely bake it if you’re going to pack it up for giving, or serve it as party food so it will be light and crunchy.
Source: Our Best Bites

Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop!)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons real butter
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg lightly beaten

Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 cup real butter (1 stick)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
milk, as needed for consistency
optional: red or green food coloring and sprinkles or crushed candycanes

Preparation:
1. To make cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Heat chocolate chips, brown sugar, 5 tablespoons butter and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and smooth (there will still be grains of sugar though).
4. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and beat in egg.
5. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix.
6. If dough is too soft to work with, let it sit at room temp for a few minutes to firm up, or place in the fridge for a few minutes. Gently roll balls, either 1 tablespoon full for large cookies, or about 1/2 inch balls for silver dollar sized cookies.
7. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake cookies until just puffed in th3 middle and edges are set but centers are still soft - about 8-9 minutes for large cookies, and about 5 minutes for small ones. If using 2 cookie sheets, rotate them half way through baking. Cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
9. To make filling, beat all frosting ingredients together, adding peppermint extract to taste. Add milk by the teaspoonful until a spreadable, but not too soft consistency is reached. Add food coloring if desired.
10. Place frosting in a zip-top bag and cut off a corner. Pipe onto one side of cookie and place another on top. Roll edges in sprinkles or crushed candycanes if desired.

Yield: If you use a tablespoon of dough, it will yield 1 1/2 dozen large sandwiches. If you use a quarter of a standard cookie scoop (about a rounded teaspoon) it will yield 4-5 dozen.