Cappuccino Snowtop Crinkles

What you will need: 
1/3 cup of unsalted butter - softened (not melted) (we use only Land o' Lakes)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (we like Hershey's Cocoa Powder)
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (we like Starbuck's Via Instant Coffee)
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 egg whites
1/3 cup  low fat vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar




Directions: 
Heat oven to 350 degrees.


Mix butter in a large mixing bowl using a stand or electric mixer at medium speed for about 30 seconds. Next add brown sugar, coffee granules, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat until well combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg whites and yogurt until well blended. Next beat in flour using mixer... beat in as much of the flour as  you can with the mixer. Towards the end, the mix will start to get too stiff to use the mixer and you may just have to add in the remaining flour using a wooden spoon and stirring well.

Place granulated sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Next take the dough by heaping teaspoons and roll into balls then roll into granulated sugar, coating each one well. Repeat with each ball. Place balls 2 inches apart on a "PAM For Baking" sprayed cookie sheet.

 Bake 10-12 minutes until the edges are firm and the top starts to look cracked. Once you remove from the oven -allow to cool well before placing into your cookie tin!!

Make about 32 cookies.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels with Candy Cane Topping

What you will need: 

1 pound bag of pretzels (we used Utz Pretzels) 
2 Blocks of Almond Bark (Milk Chocolate or White Chocolate and we use Plymouth Pantry)
At least 20 miniature Candy Canes for topping (or 10 regular size) crushed

Directions: 

Start by removing the wrapping from the candy canes and place them in a zip-lock bag. Next seal the bag and begin crushing the candy canes into pieces. This will be used as the topping for the pretzels. 

After you crush the candy canes, empty the contents into a small bowl and set aside to use for the sprinkle topping. 


When you are shopping for Almond Bark in the store, here is what it looks like, in case you don't know: 

I like to use the thin regular sized pretzels, but you can also use miniature pretzels. Be sure to sit the broken pretzels pieces off to the side. No one likes broken pretzels and they won't be as pretty. You can use these at the end if you have any left over chocolate. 

Take the Almond Bark (1 block at a time) and melt it in the microwave in a glass bowl on high for about 2 minutes. Check the chocolate every 30 seconds to ensure that it is melting and stir with a metal spoon. After 2 minutes, you can melt at 30 second intervals until completely melted. 

Next you are ready to begin dipping the pretzels in the melted chocolate - one by one, using tongs to shake off the excess chocolate. 

After you shake off the excess chocolate, place on waxed paper to dry. Sprinkle immediately with the crushed candy cane topping. 

Please note that chocolate covered pretzels are easy to make, but they take time. I would allow 1.5 hours for the process. They make great gifts! 

This is what your finished product should look like: 

Pecan Sandies

What you Need:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted (we like Land O' Lakes)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup of confectioners sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup of pecans, chopped
1/2 cup white sugar for decoration


                                                                                                      Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Using your stand mixer, cream together butter, vegetable oil, sugar and confectioners sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Next - add vanilla.

Gradually mix in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and sea salt. Add the pecans to the mixture last.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in remaining white sugar.

** Refridgerate Dough overnight or at least 4 hours for best results **

Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet sprayed with "PAM for Baking".

Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven or until the edges start to turn golden. Remove from cookie sheets and place on wire racks to cool.

** recipe derived from AllRecipes.com **