Foodie Friday - #2

Every Christmas I look forward to baking various items and sharing them with family and friends (and of course enjoying them at home too!). Since my maternity leave ended mid-December, I baked a few items ahead of time and kept them in the freezer, then finished everything else the weekend before Christmas. It worked out really well and will probably continue to do that in the future. I made 6 different treats this year. However, since I am blogging from my in-laws' house, I will only be posting links to the recipes that I found on-line.

Fabulous Fudge

I am not sure why I have waited so long to make fudge. It uses very few ingredients, is extremely easy to make, 1 batch makes a lot of pieces, and it stores very easily. This recipe is from a newer show on Food Network that is all desserts. Yum!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-thornton/fabulous-fudge-recipe/index.html

Decorated Sugar Cookies

I am obsessed with sugar cookies. The first time I attempted to decorate them it was a complete failure. Since then, I have done some research on food blogs and am getting better with each try. There are tons of recipes out there for both the cookies and icing, but so far these are my favorites.

http://annies-eats.com/2007/12/12/christmas-cookies/
http://annies-eats.com/2008/12/23/sugar-cookies-with-royal-icing/

Candy Cane Biscotti

Every year I have to make something with mint. I found this recipe and have always wanted to make biscotti, so I gave it a try. I think they were my favorites of everything I made this year. I highly recommend dipping them in hot chocolate or coffee.

http://annies-eats.net/2009/12/22/candy-cane-biscotti/

The other things I made were rum balls, double peanut butter cookies, and gingerbread chocolate chunk cookies.

On Christmas day we went to my parents' house for dinner, so that gave me the opportunity to try another new dessert recipe - eggnog cupcakes. They turned out great. The eggnog flavor was not overpowering and the cupcakes were really moist.

http://annies-eats.net/2010/12/17/eggnog-cupcakes-2/

As you may have noticed, many of my recipes come from annies-eats.net. I love this blog and highly suggest you check it out!