Christmas Cookies - Part 2

Okay, so this was supposed to be posted A LOT earlier in December, but then Christmas business got in the way and then after-Christmas laziness set in.  I also thought about bagging the whole thing, because who is going to be making Christmas cookies in January?  But then I ended the title of the first post with a "Part 1" so there had to be a "Part 2."

Our last Christmas cookie that we made was Spritz cookies.  They are pretty much a traditional cookie in my home around this time of year although the struggle with the cookie press is immense and so traumatizing that the mention of Spritz cookies puts my mom into facial tics.  But I assured her that I would struggle with the great cookie press and she would have to only make the batter.  We used a new recipe this year, one that called for some citrus flavoring called Fiori di Sicilia and some lemon (or orange) zest.  You can find the recipe here at the company we bought the flavoring from.  I forgot to color the dough before I threw it in the press so I added Christmasy sprinkles to the tops of the cookies before I baked them, and I think they turned out better than coloring.  We made up a second batch to take down to my Uncle Fred's for our annual Christmas exchange and they were a pretty big hit!

Also during this little break I got after Christmas I made 2 batches of 3-minute fudge.  The first one was chocolate-peanut butter fudge.  I took 1 bag of Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate chips, 1 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter chips and 2 cans of Eagle condensed milk, and poured them all into a microwavable bowl.  After heating them on half power for 1 minute increments until the mixture was smooth and well mixed, I poured it out onto wax paper and let it harden overnight.  It was easiest to cut the fudge into squares and then flip the whole thing over and remove the wax paper from the bottom and allow the bottom of the fudge to dry.  The second batch was chocolate toffee fudge.  That time I used 1 bag of Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate chips and 1 can of Eagle condensed milk, microwaved it until it was smooth and then stirred in Heath toffee chips and poured it onto wax paper.  I added chopped walnuts to the top and let it harden.  The flipping of the fudge after I cut it resulted in most some of the walnuts coming off, but I pressed them back on.


The moral of this post is that all these treats need to be eaten up before I go back to work, or will be taken to work for the masses to eat, because I need to lose weight this year!