S'mores Bars In A Jar and Candy Cane Cookies

Photos Courtesy of Dave McCoy

We all know one annoying person that already has all of his or her Christmas shopping completed, packages wrapped and shipped, and Christmas cards mailed out. I am usually envious of that person but this year (don't hate me when I say this), that person is me. Yep, I am done with everything. When I say everything, I really mean it. I even have stocking stuffers wrapped and organized. Now, I know this is a good thing but it also comes with drawbacks. I am usually right in the thick of preparation during the week before Christmas and I am finding that I feel a bit less festive with everything completed. When Natalie called on Friday to ask if Olivia and I would like to come over to make holiday cookies with her and Nessa, we jumped on it. This was just what we needed to keep us in the pre-Christmas mood.

Natalie had two types of cookies planned for the day. The first was a recipe for S'mores Bars In A Jar that came from Nessa's school with most of the ingredients already assembled. The second recipe was for Candy Cane Cookies. Our main goal was for the girls, who are three and six, to have a fabulous time making the cookies. This goal was absolutely accomplished. Both recipes follow:

S'mores Bars In A Jar-

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers

1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

Place graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate chips and brown sugar in a jar or plastic bag. Teddy grahams or a mixture of teddy grahams and graham crackers can be used if preferred. Combine jar contents with 1/2 cup melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Photo Courtesy of Natalie McCoy

Press mixture into 9 inch square baking pan. Place marshmallows on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool completely. Cut into bars. Makes 12 bars.

Candy Cane Cookies-

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

5 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp peppermint or almond extract

red food coloring

Photo Courtesy of Natalie McCoy

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth with an electric mixer on high speed. Beat in egg yolks. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. In small bowl, combine milk, vanilla and peppermint or almond extract (Natalie prefers almond). Stir flour mixture into butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, blending thoroughly after each addition.

Divide dough in half. Leave one half in mixing bowl and stir in a few drops of red food coloring. Divide each half of dough in half again (four portions total); wrap dough portions in waxed paper or cooking parchment and chill until firm but still pliable, about one hour. (Natalie completed all of the preparation up to this point).

Unwrap dough and roll each of the four pieces into smooth ropes, about 15 inches long. Twist each white rope with a red rope into a 13-inch-long combined rope, for a total of two ropes. Wrap twisted rolls in waxed paper, chill until firm, at least 4 hours or up to one week.

Unwrap dough. Using sharp knife, cut rolls into 1/8-inch-thick slices; place slices about 1 inch apart on buttered 12" by 15" baking sheets and bend into candy cane shape. Bake cookies in oven at 350 degrees about 10 minutes, or until light golden. (Natalie crushes peppermint candy and lightly presses the crushed pieces into the top of the cookies right as they come out of oven. This makes the cookies even prettier). Transfer to racks to cool.

Photo Courtesy of Dave McCoy

The Smore's In A Jar recipe was tasty but it was so chocolaty that we had to eat it directly out of the pan with a spoon. This was hardly torturous but Natalie and I came to the conclusion that there may have been more than 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips in the jar. Either way, this was the perfect cookie bar for the girls to make because it only required combining and stirring; two of their favorite things about baking. The Candy Cane Cookies were more for fun than flavor. Although the cookies tasted good enough to eat, they were quite mild and in my opinion, slightly inconsequential. They would be a nice addition to a cookie platter but I like my cookies to have a stronger flavor. I did however, appreciate Natalie's addition of crushed peppermint candy. This was the most flavorful part of the cookie.

All in all, we had a wonderful time making cookies. The girls also decorated a gingerbread house, created artwork with crayons and stickers, and dressed up in princess costumes. We couldn't have asked for a more festive day.

Recipe Sources:

S'mores Bars In A Jar

squawkfox.com

Candy Cane Cookies

Sunset Magazine, November 2003 via myrecipes.com