Firecrackers

This is my sister's wonderfully addicting recipe. Thanks Steph!! All you need is:

• 2 boxes Mini Saltine Crackers
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp craked red pepper flakes
• 3 tbsp Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
  

It's pretty simple. Pour the crackers in a big bowl (one that you have a lid for), or you can use a big ziplock bag...Add the oil, red pepper flakes, and ranch seasoning...cover with lid and shake to distribute evenly over the crackers. Taste and add more red pepper if you want some extra kick. You can cut the recipe in half if made for a smaller crowd. We made this delicious snack for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and 2 boxes didn't last long! Enjoy!

Champagne Cupcakes

Champagne? Delicious. Cupcakes? Delicious. How could you go wrong combining two wonderfully delicious items?

Cake batter:

• 1 stick softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup

Frosting:

• 1 cup plus 1 tbsp. champagne
• 2 sticks of softened butter
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

On to the cupcakes now! Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing between each egg. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together champagne and sour cream...

Now, alternate adding the flour and champagne mixture to the batter. The batter's gonna be pretty thick. And delicious. Try it.

Fill your cupcakes and bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes until done. While the cupcakes are baking, start on the frosting...

Add 1 cup of champagne in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat until it's reduced to a couple tablespoons. Takes about 15-20 minutes or so. Once it's reduced, pour it in a small bowl to cool.

Cream the softened butter and powdered sugar together. Add the almond. The frosting will be a super thick buttercream. Now add the 2 tbsp of the reduced champagne and 1 tbsp from the bottle and mix well. The frosting turns super light and fluffy...almost whip cream like...

Next important step -- refill your glass of champagne. Let's be honest, the bottle is already open...champagne doesn't keep well...we can't let it go to waste here people.

Frost the cupcakes and serve and enjoy!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

These are great little treats for when you need something fast.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Karo syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 cups peanut butter
• 3-1/2 cups Rice Krispies

In a medium sized pot, cook the syrup and sugar over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Continue cooking until the mixture starts to bubble and then remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and then add the Rice Krispies.

Drop by spoonfulls on wax paper...

Once cooled, serve and enjoy!

Christmas Cookies

I love to decorate Chrismas cookies! I had some new cookie cutters to try out this year so here they are..
I tried to spruce 'em up a bit with some sugar crystals :)

The snowmen didn't turn out quite how I had envisioned, but they were still fun to play around with.

Merry Christmas and happy baking!

Sausage Pinwheels

These little things are delicious! Perfect for a party or to whip up when company is coming over.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 lb breakfast sausage
• 1 package croissant dough
• grated cheddar cheese
• chopped green onions

First, roll out the croissant dough and piece together each triangle to form a solid rectangle. Roll this out a bit to thin the dough...I'd guess it's around 11x13 or so in size...

Now with your sausage (it's 1/2 of the package of the standard breakfast sausage), spread it out over the croissant dough.

Sprinkle on a handful of grated cheese and top with chopped green onions.

Roll your creation up like you're making cinnamon rolls (roll the longest side), and slice into about 1 inch thick pieces.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake following the directions on the croissant package.

Serve and enjoy!

Turtles

This is a super quick (and delicious) treat for the Holidays.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place mini pretzles (I used the square ones since the holes are smaller) on a baking sheet. Top each pretzel with a Rolo and bake for 4 minutes.

As soon as you take 'em out of the oven, press a pecan half down on each one and transfer to wax paper to cool.

Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispies are probably my favorite dessert in the universe. I *love* rice krispie treats! I'll take a rice krispie treat over a fancy smancy dessert any day.

I usually do a sprinkle of cinnamon when I make them, but this time I thought I'd try oreos. I had some oreos left over from these chocolate chip cookies, so to keep Danny and I from eating them all, I decided to make rice krispies. Why I thought this would be better for us than just eating the oreos, I have no idea. It's how I justify things.

So it's plain and simple. I made the Rice Krispie treat recipe off the cereal box and substituted 1 of the cups of Rice Krispies with 1 cup crushed oreos.


Serve and enjoy!