Christmas Baking

Christmas Baking

Oh the cookie baking! Happens to me every year! I inherited the Christmas cookie baking disease from my mom. She always baked lots and lots of cookies for Christmas. She used to fill several Charles Chips cans to the top (Charles Chips were awesome pretzels and potato chips that were delivered to the house in huge tins). For the past several years, I have baked my own huge batches of lots and lots of Christmas treats. I use Christmas decorated clear bags found in craft stores to make individual servings of the cookies and treats. I either arrange on trays or box up in USPS flat rate boxes to mail to my family in other states.

Here are all the cookies and treats I made a couple years ago. I took all the pictures, but never had time to post to my blog. There's no telling how many pounds of butter, flour, sugar and chocolate were used to prepare this crazy large amount of calories. BTW...That's the first Christmas tree in the middle of the cookies we bought so many years ago. It's fake and not so pretty, but I enjoy decorating it every year. It's nice remembering.

 Russian Teacakes - YUM! My mom used to bake these every year and I don't think there has ever been a Christmas that I have not baked them! Have to say they are an all time favorite in my family for years and years.

Russian Teacakes all bagged and ready to share!

 Spritz Cookies - This is one of my favorites. The little buttery cookies made with a cookie press. I used to make different colors or designs, but I've pretty much settled on making green trees for the past many years. Adds some color the variety of cookies.

Green Tree Spritz Cookies all bagged and ready to share!

 Pinwheel Cookies - I LOVE these cookies, probably my very favorite. My mom used to make these from Betty Crocker cookbook. A little time consuming, but so worth the effort. Mine are never perfect, but they always taste wonderful.

Pinwheel Cookies all bagged and ready to share!

 Sugar Cookies - I added these yummy cookies a few years back when my friend, Kathy, shared this recipe with me. I am forever grateful. This is the best sugar cookie I've ever baked. So light and airy. Perfect every time and extremely easy. Mix, shape, roll, smash, bake! Makes a large amount of cookies, and usually a single batch makes lots of bags of cookies.

 Million Dollar Fudge - This is the best chocolate fudge recipe I've ever made. The recipe makes 6 lbs of fudge! Now that's a LOT of candy and pure sweetness! My friend Betty shared it with me a few years back and I've made it a couple of times for Christmas. Every Christmas needs a little fudge.

7-Up Bundt Cake - This is my favorite cake of all time. The best pound cake recipe!  I have two mini Bundt pans. Using a No-Stick Baking Spray with flour is a must. You can find it with the Pam in the stores. Don't use regular Pam, use one with flour included for the less chance of cake sticking to the pan.  The light frosting is perfect because it hardens enough so it does not stick to the bag. I put each one in a separate bag. Such a special treat.

Good grief...This is a lot of mini Bundt cakes!

 Chex Mix - With all these sweet recipes, you need something crunchy and salty. Chex Mix! The link to my recipe was taken from a box of Chex cereal, but I added some of my own ingredients. I buy 3 or 4 boxes of Chex, figure out how many cups I have and then decide how many times the recipe I need to make. I use a huge Roasting pan, large enough for a 25 lb. turkey,  to mix and bake it in.

White Chocolate Pretzels - The perfect mix of sweet and salty.

 Here are some pictures of the gift packages ready to share.

All bagged and ready to mail!

I mentioned my mom used to store here cookies in a Charles Chips can in the 60's. My HS friend Kathy just posted this fabulous picture of the Charles Chips delivery truck and the cans. Such a great memory. You would put the empty cans on the front porch with a check for them to be replaced with filled cans. Nothing better than those chips and pretzels!

 Here's a picture of a can that my friend Vera lent me for a picture. Guess they are no longer in business.