My friend Rachael is having her second baby any day now and she not only came to the party on Tuesday, but she brought TWO different kind of cookies. She must be nesting by baking! I told her she is a much better woman than me!!!
Here's what she brought:
Christmas Wreaths:
1/2 cup butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups cornflakes cereal
1 (2.25 ounce) package cinnamon red hot candies
Directions:
Microwave marshmallows and butter on High for 2 minutes. Stir, then
microwave on High for 2 minutes more. Stir. (This can be done in a
double boiler if one doesn't have a microwave.)
Add and mix quickly the coloring, extracts, then cornflakes. Drop by
spoonfuls in clumps on greased wax paper and decorate with 3 red hots
each.
Once cool, transfer to lightly greased serving/storage tray with
lightly greased fingers.
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Pecan Tassies:
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 ounces (170 grams) regular cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
Pecan Filling:
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter, melted
1 3/4 cups (370 grams) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (110 grams) coarsely chopped pecans
Directions:
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the
butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the flour and beat
until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick
disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for about one hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place the oven
rack in the center of the oven. Have ready two – 24 cup or four – 12
cup miniature muffin pans.
Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and pinch off one-quarter of
the pastry. Return the remaining pastry to the refrigerator. On a
lightly floured surface, roll the pastry dough until about 1/8 inch
thick and cut into rounds that are slightly larger than the muffin
tins. Gently place the rounds into the muffin tins. Repeat with the
rest of the pastry dough.
Pecan Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand
mixer, beat the eggs, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt until
well mixed. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each of the
pastry-lined muffin tins. Sprinkle each with some coarsely chopped
pecans.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry
has nicely browned and the filling is set, yet still a little soft in
the center. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool briefly
before removing from tins. Pecan Tassies can be frozen.
Makes about 48 miniature Pecan Tassies.
