No Bake Reese’s Crispy Cookies

My favorite part about shopping the after-holiday clearance sales is finding tons of great candy at a deeply discounted price! Once I remove the wrapper, nobody will know that I used Christmas candy for my Valentine's Day baking, or Easter candy at the Fourth of July (except you, my readers!). As long as you make sure to check the expiration date on the packages, you will save lots of money!

This week, when I stopped by my local grocery store for a quick in-between shopping run, I found a great deal on mini Reese's peanut butter cups. The best part? The bold lettering on the back stating the candy is gluten free! (It's always important to check for this information since allergen warnings can sometimes differ on seasonal candy.)

No Bake Reese’s Crispy Cookies
Yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients
5 cups crisped rice cereal (I use Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice)
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter
20 miniature sized Reese's peanut butter cups, cut into quarters
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Directions
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In large saucepan over medium-low heat, combine corn syrup, sugar, and peanut butter. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is evenly combined and smooth (about 5 minutes).
3. Add cereal to peanut butter mixture and stir to evenly coat.
4. Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.
5. Add Reese's peanut butter cups last to minimize melting.
6. Drop 1/4 cup sized scoops of mixture onto lined baking sheets. Slightly flatten so they look more like a cookie than a ball.
7. Store at room temperature with wax paper between layers so they don't stick together. (Note: Chilling the cookies makes them hard to bite into! If refrigerated, bring cookies to room temperature before eating.)

Note: Use small cookie dough scoop for mini bite-sized cookies.

Recipe adapted from My Incredible Recipes.

Baked Potato Soup

With our Christmas Eve church service at 5 o'clock in the evening, I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to prep for dinner when we got home. (We normally eat around 5:45pm and obviously we'd be home well past then.) This recipe was a life saver!

I assembled all the ingredients in the crock pot in the morning, had it cook throughout the day, finished getting the soup made in the late afternoon, and turned down the temperature to warm before leaving the house. When we returned home, I gave the soup a good stir and ladeled it into bowls. Everyone topped their own serving with the garnishes of their choosing and...voila! Dinner was on the table in 5 minutes.

Baked Potato Soup
Crock Pot Recipe

Ingredients
2 lbs potatoes, washed and peeled, diced into cubes
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth (about 4 cups)
8 oz package cream cheese, softened

Directions
1. Add potatoes, onion, garlic, and chicken broth to slow cooker.
2. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
3. Add cream cheese and puree soup with immersion blender until cream cheese is incorporated. Make smooth or chunky to taste.
4. Top individual servings with shredded cheese, sliced green onion, crumbled bacon, french fried onions, etc.

Recipe adapted from Mama Loves Food.

Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting

The year my son started preschool was the beginning of the sugar cookie tradition at our house! Every winter, the kids got to spend an entire preschool day in the kitchen, baking and decorating cookies with their teachers and parent volunteers. They then got to share and eat these cookies with their friends and family after their Christmas program in December.

My older two children are 23 months apart (on the dot), so we spent four consecutive holidays making these sugar cookies. The following year, my youngest daughter was not yet old enough to start preschool (she's three years behind her older sister in school), so my kids requested that we continue the annual tradition at home. How could I say no to that?!

At preschool, the kids decorated the cookie cut-outs with sprinkles pressed into the dough before baking. I figured I could improve upon an already good thing with the addition of some buttercream frosting and then sprinkles after baking. :) Either way, these are the best sugar cookies I've ever eaten!

Sugar Cookies
Yield: about 4-5 dozen (depends on cookie cutter shapes/sizes)

Ingredients
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
3 tsp vanilla
5 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar

Directions
1. Make dough day before planning to bake: Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Blend in dry ingredients. Pat dough into large ball and place inside gallon size Ziploc bag; seal tightly. Chill in refrigerator overnight.
2. Take dough out of refrigerator shortly before rolling out to bake.
3. Preheat oven to 375°F (or 350°F if using convection oven).
4. Open bag and invert dough onto clean countertop. Gently knead dough with hands. Dough will be crumbly at first but will stick together more as it warms up. Roll dough in powdered sugar (not flour!) to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake 5-8 minutes.
6. Let cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
7. Once cool, decorate with buttercream frosting (see below) and holiday sprinkles!

Buttercream Frosting
Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients
1/2 cup Crisco (original kind only!)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 tsp clear vanilla extract*
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk (I use almond milk)

*Note: Do not use regular vanilla extract! Using clear vanilla extract keeps the frosting a bright white color.

Directions
1. Stiff Consistency: In large bowl, cream Crisco and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Thin (Spreading) Consistency: Beat in additional 2 Tbsp milk.

Recipe adapted from Wilton.

(In case you were wondering, this frosting works great for decorating cakes and cupcakes, too!)

Creme Brulee Bars

These bars have all the makings of the classic French dessert: a soft, rich, and chewy bottom with a contrasting layer of crunchy sugar on top!

Creme Brulee Bars
Yield: 9x9 pan

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temperature
8 oz bag toffee bits (about 1 1/3 cups)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9x9 pan with cooking spray.
2. Melt butter and white chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly.
3. Stir together flour, sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs. Add white chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle toffee bits evenly over top. Return to oven and bake another 8-12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Be careful not to overbake (it will brown more on sides and bottom than on top).
5. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe adapted from Crazy for Crust.

Chocolate Kiss Cookies

I made these for my son's Christmas party at school today and there was not a single cookie left! I'm going to take that as a good sign that the third graders loved them. :) I will definitely add this recipe to my annual Christmas cookie collection!

Chocolate Kiss Cookies
Yield: 3 dozen

Ingredients
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
4 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup nonpareil sprinkles
36 Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.
3. In bowl of stand mixer (or using handheld mixer), beat butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and beat again as needed to combine. Add dry ingredients, milk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until combined. Batter will be stiff.
4. Pour sprinkles into small bowl. Using small cookie dough scoop (or about 2 Tbsp dough per cookie), roll balls of dough between hands, then roll each ball in sprinkles to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
5. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes.
6. Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Press chocolate kiss into center of each cookie. Cookies will crack so gently squeeze cookie around Hershey's kiss to set. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
7. Cookies will keep in airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Recipe adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Winter is the perfect time of year to cozy up with a warm bowl of delicious soup!

Now a close up of all that cheesy, creamy goodness studded with tender (and healthy!) broccoli. You'll never think twice about buying pre-made soup again once you've given this a try...it's that good!

Cheesy Broccoli Soup
Crock Pot Recipe

Ingredients
1 lb frozen broccoli, thawed and chopped
1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
10.5 oz can gluten free cream of chicken soup (see this post)
14.5 oz can chicken broth
dash of pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours.
3. Stir to combine before serving.

Note: Recipe can easily be doubled!

Recipe adapted from "Cheesy Broccoli Soup" found on page 39 of Fix-It and Forget-It Christmas Cookbook: 600 Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes by Phyllis Pellman Good.