Toffee Shortbread Meltaways

Christmas to me means shortbread. My grandma always had rolled shortbread cookies around the holidays. My favourites were the stars (yes they taste different!). I love the buttery richness of shortbread. I love it plain and I love it with add ins like fruit and chocolate.

A good friend of mine brought me some of these cookies in a care package when I had my second daughter 2 years ago. After trying 1 cookie I emailed her begging for the recipe. They are incredibly delicate, soft cookies with a hint of toffee flavour. I have a hard time eating only 1 or 2 of these at a time, if I'm having coffee I can make 6 of them disappear!

Give them a try this Christmas, your family and friends will love them!



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Toffee Shortbread Meltaways adapted from the 2006 Robin Hood Baking is Back booklet
1 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. corn starch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 c. Skor toffee bits

Instructions:

1. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla.
2. In separate bowl combine flour, corn starch, and baking powder.
3. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and combine, stir in toffee bits.
4. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake at 350˚F for approx 12 - 15 min, until lightly golden. Let cool on pan for 5 min.

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Smartie Bars

I'm on a candy (bar) theme this week it seems (have you seen my Toblerone Shortbread and Snicker Squares?) and I'm okay with that. I have a pantry full of those little boxes of Smarties left over from Halloween (my weirdo kids have decided they don't like Smarties anymore) and they were driving me nuts. So I googled "Smarties" and came across this recipe from Chelsea Sugar.

The recipe is like a chocolate macaroon cookie topped with more chocolate and smarties. Uh... yum! The bottom is soft and coconutty (oh yeah, I'm trademarking that one) and the top is chocolatey and crunchy. The perfect balance.

It's festive looking and appeals to kids and adults alike... I'll bet even Santa would love them!

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Smartie Bars adapted from Chelsea Sugar

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg, beaten
1 c. shredded coconut
3/4 c. flour
2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 c. chocolate chips
2 packs Smarties (50g each)

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line an 8" x 8" pan with waxed paper.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat. Add the brown sugar and mix until smooth. Take off the heat and cool for 5 min.
3. Stir in egg and coconut.
4. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together and stir into the mixture. Mix thoroughly. Pour into the pan and spread evenly.
5. Bake for 15-17 min or until just firm when touched in the centre. Remove from the oven.
6. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to the oven for 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the Smarties over the chocolate, then press down lightly with the back of a spoon*. Return to the oven for 5 min. Place the pan on a rack to cool. When cold, cut into squares.

* Make sure you press down all the smarties into the melted chocolate otherwise they'll fall off when you cut the squares.

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Snicker Squares

Nougat. Say it with me, Noooooougat. It's a funny word. I've never really given it much thought either. Caramel, I enjoy. Chocolate, I obsess over. But Nougat? Meh. Ranks up there with eating soda crackers or watching football in my books (What are "things I don't usually enjoy doing unless necessary" Alex?").

But then I came across a recipe that changed my opinion, dare I say my life (Praise Nougat!) and now I will share with you my new love. Home made Nougat! Oh. Mah. Gawd. Nougat in commercially prepared chocolate bars, or candy bars if you will, tends to be chewy, and sometimes hard. Home made nougat is the stuff angels sing of. It's fluffy and rich and melts on your tongue. (is it getting hot in here or is it just me?) This recipe very closely rips off pays homage to a very popular chocolate bar that is totally satisfying (hee hee!).

You must try the Nougat. Just try not to eat the whole pan yourself, I'm pretty sure nougat isn't low-fat...


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Snicker Squares adapted from Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes 2009 edition

Base layer:
1 c. milk chocolate chips (I used 1/2 chips, 1/2 PC Mini Fudge Melts)
1/2 c. butterscotch chips
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

Nougat:
1/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. evaporated milk
1 1/2 c. marshmallow fluff (if you buy Kraft it's the whole jar)
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. chopped salted peanuts

Caramel layer:
1 package (14oz) caramels
1/3 c. heavy cream

Top layer:
1 c. milk chocolate chips (I used 1/2 chips, 1/2 PC Mini Fudge Melts again)
1/4 c. butterscotch chips
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter

Instructions:

1. Spray a 9" x 13" pan with cooking spray (or grease with butter).
2. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and peanut butter together.
3. Spread the melted chips and peanut butter mixture over the bottom of our pan and refrigerate until set.
4. For the filling, in a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and the milk and bring to a gentle boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the marshmallow fluff, peanut butter and vanilla. Add peanuts and stir to incorporate.
6. Spread nougat over chocolate base and refrigerate until set.
7. For the caramel layer, in a double boiler, combine cream and caramels and melt until creamy and smooth. Spread caramel over nougat layer and refrigerate until set.
8. For top layer, in a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and peanut butter together. Spread over caramel layer and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
9. When ready to serve, remove from the fridge and allow to warm up for 10-15 minutes. Cut and serve immediately. Store in the refrigerator.

It's a lot of steps but totally worth it!

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Gingerbread Muffins

I bought myself a Christmas Gift this week. I do that sometimes. This sexy and functional recipe binder is ALL MINE!

It holds 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper vertically so you can stand it up on your counter and flip the pages. The best part... it's perfect for the printed recipe sheets from The Best Mom on the Block! (oh yes, I did just shamelessly plug my blog ON my blog)

So anyways, I was printing off some of my recipes when I came to my famous Muffins that Taste Like Donuts recipe (more shameless plugging). As the recipe was printing out, my mind started to wander to what else muffins could easily taste like. Then it hit me, gingerbread! With a few tweaks I had a muffin that tasted like a soft, moist gingerbread man. I made a a dozen plain gingerbread and then got all crazy mad-scientist-like and added mini chocolate chips (not unlike my favourite Gingerbread cookie recipe). I firmly believe any recipe is made better by adding chocolate! I also topped them with coarse sugar to give them a nice crisp top, and bonus, it makes them sparkly! Perfect for your holiday breakfast table.


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Gingerbread Muffins

1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c fancy molasses
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp coarse sugar (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, egg, milk and vanilla.
3. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and blend in the molasses (and chocolate chips) mixing only until incorporated.
4. Spoon into greased muffin tins And sprinkle with coarse sugar.
5. Bake at 350˚F for 15-20 minutes.

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