Easy Oreo Bark

Okay, I promise that I will soon be all out of recipes for delicious Christmas treats very soon! I made a lot of stuff this year, and most of it was worth sharing on my blog, so that is why you are still seeing so much of it, even after New Year's has been long gone. This recipe is probably the very easiest one that was made the whole season....and I'm not technically the one who made it.

I wanted to make Oreo Cookie Bark for Christmas this year because my husband's family enjoys treats made with Oreo cookies. Last year I had made Oreo Truffles, but they are time-consuming and I needed something that I could make more quickly. When I discovered this recipe for Oreo Bark, I was immediately sold on it. It requires just two ingredients, Oreo cookies and white chocolate. Cinchy!



The bark comes together in just about zero time flat. I had my husband make it for me while I was out getting other things done one day. Just break the Oreos up, melt the white chocolate down, and mix the two together. Press it down flat in a pan, then refrigerate until firm enough to slice into pieces. Could not be simpler! I bought the fun, festive Winter Oreos for this, since I thought it would be way prettier, what with the red creme centers melting and swirling in with all the white chocolate and dark chocolate of the cookies. I was right; it looked very cool! I was afraid it would look a lot like peppermint bark, and that mint-fearing folk wouldn't even try it.

Turns out, I shouldn't have been worried. This bark disappeared in what seemed like seconds. It was by far the most popular candy I tried my hand at this year. I highly recommend it if you're trying to make something in a hurry that will impress people and look fantastic on a tray with other goodies. Just be sure to use good white chocolate for this; with only two ingredients in the whole recipe, they both really stand out. A poor-quality white chocolate would just ruin the whole thing. And that would be a real shame.

Oreo Cookie Bark

adapted from Allrecipes.com

makes about 2 pounds

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

1 (16 oz.) Winter Oreos (with the red creme filling)
18 oz. good-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions
1. Line a 10x15 jellyroll pan with waxed paper (I recommend spraying the pan before lining it with waxed paper as well). Coat paper with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, break the cookies into coarse pieces with your fingers or the back of a wooden spoon.

3. Place the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Melt the white chocolate, stirring often, until almost completely smooth. Carefully remove the bowl from the heat and continue to stir until all the lumps have been smoothed. Working quickly, add the cookie pieces and gently fold them into the chocolate.

4. Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan, then refrigerate until solid, about 1 hour. Remove bark from pan, place on a cutting board, and carefully peel off waxed paper. Cut into large pieces with a sharp knife and store in an airtight container. I kept mine in the fridge; that seemed to work best for me.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes

I think if I had to pick a favorite candy, it would be a no-brainer for me. I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups more than just about anything in the world (the food world, that is). So the peanut butter/chocolate combination is pretty much about as good as it gets, in my humble opinion.

So when I found this recipe in my Baked Explorations cookbook for Peanut Butter Buckeyes, I knew it was going to be on my Christmas goodies tray this year. It's a ball of peanut butter, mixed with cream cheese, crushed graham crackers, confectioners' sugar, and butter, that is dipped into dark chocolate. You leave just the very tops of the balls open, with no chocolate coating, which makes it look like the nut of a buckeye tree.



My candies turned out looking way less perfect than the ones depicted in the cookbook, but at least they look homemade, right? I admit, I tried a different method for dipping my peanut butter balls than the one listed in the directions below. It just seems like I always have a heckuva time dipping things in chocolate, and I get myself all frustrated. So this time, I experimented with a new way. I put on some latex gloves, then dipped each ball into the chocolate with one gloved hand. With the other gloved hand, I would drop the dipped ball onto the waiting parchment-lined baking sheet. This was way messy, but for some reason it was a lot less infuriating than dipping each ball with a fork or a toothpick. When I do it that way, I always seem to lose balls in the melted chocolate; they fall right off the fork. This way, I just used my covered fingers to fish each ball out. I don't know; it worked for me!

These buckeyes are absolutely perfect for a peanut butter craving, or a chocolate craving, or a "both" craving! They are delicious right out of the fridge, but they're fantastic at room temperature too. They do taste exactly like a Reese's, which was what I was hoping for. I'd be curious to see what would happen if I used chunky peanut butter next time, so I'm sure I'll be trying them that way, too. I don't think you could really go wrong there. I will say this, though: the book warns against using the natural-style peanut butter, I think because of the separation issue. So just beware if you decide to make these.




Buckeyes
from Baked Explorations
makes 36 to 42 Buckeyes

Ingredients
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 14 individual crackers, not whole sheets)
3 cups confectioners' sugar
10 Tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 oz. good-quality dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped

Directions
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat on medium speed for 10 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and butter. Beat at low speed for 20 seconds to prevent the sugar from spilling over, then gradually increase the speed until the mixture is completely combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again. The mixture will feel slightly dry. Set the peanut butter filling aside while you melt the chocolate.

2. In the top of a double boiler set over hot water, melt the chocolate, stirring frequently until it is completely smooth. Pour the chocolate into a small, deep bowl. Let it cool to tepid (about 100 degrees F, body temperature) while you shape the peanut butter centers.

3. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out slightly more than 1 Tbsp. worth of filling and use your hands to form it into a ball. (For uniform balls, use a medium-size melon baller or a very small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism.) Place the ball on the prepared sheet pan and repeat the process until all the filling has been shaped. The balls can sit fairly close to each other on the sheet; just make sure they are not touching.

4. One by one, using a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate. Roll the ball around from side to side to cover almost the entire peanut butter center, leaving a small part uncovered. Manipulate the buckeye so that the dripping chocolate covers the holes made by the fork. Let the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl and return each chocolate-covered buckeye to the pan. Refrigerate the entire sheet pan for about 30 minutes to set the chocolate before serving. Buckeyes will keep for up to 3 days, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

Adult Hot Chocolate...and My Very First Cheesecake Creation!

I don't think I have ever tasted a beverage quite like this one before now. We tried this Adult Hot Chocolate recipe from my wonderful Baked: New Frontiers in Baking cookbook on Christmas Day, and I have to say it knocked our socks right off. It's craaazy good.

Since it is "adult," you can be sure that this recipe calls for some liquor. The Baked guys used amaretto, but we went with creme de menthe because it just seemed Christmas-y to us (plus, it was what we had!). Then, you chop up 7 oz. of chocolate (some milk, but mostly dark) and add enough boiling water to melt it. Boil some milk, heavy cream, and a touch of maple syrup, then add the melted chocolate and the liquor. Garnish with whipped cream if you like, and you are ready for the ultimate chocolate experience!



At first sip, you might actually think you are drinking pure, liquid chocolate. I mean, it is just that potent. Then, as you sip again, you can taste the creme de menthe, present but not hardly overpowering. This hot chocolate is definitely not for the faint of heart, and only the most serious of chocolate lovers should try it. After about 5 sips, I had about reached my limit, and I can usually overdose on chocolate with the best of them. It's just so rich. That said, it sure made the perfect holiday beverage, because it was just 100% indulgence. Yum.

Alongside this, I served a white chocolate cranberry cheesecake that I kinda invented myself. I posted about those cloned Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars a couple weeks back, and I had wanted to tinker with those bars a bit. Since we love those bars so much and we also adore cheesecake, I thought why not make a Cranberry Bliss Cheesecake? I have to say, I kinda love this idea. I made a shortbread cookie recipe, studded with dried cranberries and small chunks of white chocolate, and ground it to crumbs in my food processor. I pressed these crumbs down into my springform pan to form the crust. Then, I made a cheesecake layer that contained fresh lemon zest, ground ginger, melted white chocolate, and dried cranberries. To finish it all off, I garnished the cheesecake with more dried cranberries, and a drizzle of melted white chocolate. It was sooo good, and I am not just saying that because I created it myself! Everyone that tried it agreed that it was a winner. I would love for this cheesecake to become a new Christmas tradition for us!

Since my cheesecake recipe is something that I just had fun playing around with, I am not going to post the full, detailed instructions here. But if you email me, I'd be happy to share what I did, step-by-step! And here is the Adult Hot Chocolate, posted below. You were warned.




Adult Hot Chocolate
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
makes 2 (very generous) servings

Ingredients
2 oz. good-quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
5 oz. good-quality dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup boiling water
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. creme de menthe liquor
Whipped cream, optional

Directions
1. Put the chocolates in a small heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate, and make sure most of the chocolate is submerged. Let the chocolate sit for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, bring the milk, cream, and maple syrup just to a simmer. Pour the chocolate mixture into the milk mixture and whisk until combined.

3. Turn the heat up to medium and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is just about to boil. Add the creme de menthe, stir one more time, and ladle into mugs. Top with whipped cream if desired, and serve immediately.

Chipotle Maple Peanut Brittle

I hope you will excuse the presentation in the pictures here. I photographed my Chipotle Maple Peanut Brittle in my little Santa Claus bowl, because I made this stuff for the holidays and the Santa theme was totally relevant then. However, the Christmsa season took over quickly on me and I never got around to posting about the brittle until now. Believe me, it deserved a mention, late or not, so here is my blog entry on it, albeit a little late.



This beautiful, complex, amazing candy is one of my new favorite things. I'm serious; this is majorly addictive, sweet, salty, spicy goodness in brittle form. It was simple to make with the use of my handy dandy candy thermometer, contained ingredients that you wouldn't necessarily think would work together so well (so it makes a great conversation piece!), and it keeps for a couple of weeks. The maple syrup gives the brittle a great edge of sweetness that makes it different from the standard candy. The chipotle powder is this fantastic stealth ingredient that doesn't instantly present itself. Instead, it hits you just after the second or third bite, out of nowhere. It's this great smoky heat that pairs so amazingly well with the nuts and the sugary goodness. It's something you just have to try for yourself if you like trying new and interesting foods. As far as different goes, this one is a doozy!

Chipotle Maple Peanut Brittle

from Culinary in the Desert (adapted from Cooking Light)

makes about 1 3/4 lbs. of brittle

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 Tbsp. butter

2 1/2 cups (about 320 grams) roasted salted peanuts

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. chipotle chile powder

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, and butter. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until a candy thermometer registers 275 degrees. Add peanuts and cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometers registers 295 degrees. Remove pan from the heat and stir in baking soda and chile powder.

2. Working quickly, but carefully, pour the mixture out onto a large baking sheet (preferably one that has open sides) lined with parchment paper and coated with cooking spray. Cover candy with another sheet of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to quickly roll mixture to an even thickness. Leave parchment paper on top for 5 minutes, then remove top sheet and set baking sheet onto a wire rack to let candy cool completely. Break into pieces; store in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks.

Black Forest Cookies

I made a lot of holiday cookies this year. I mean, a lot. I started baking the weekend right after Thanksgiving, and I baked like crazy just about every single day after that until I had reached my limit. I'm just a tad cookied out right now. Give me until about Valentine's Day to start thinking about baking more cookies!

Anyhow, the whole point of me telling you about my holiday bake-a-thon was to try to make you understand that these Black Forest Cookies are a big deal. These cookies were the hands-down most talked about, raved about, and requested recipe out of everything I prepared. I even got a phone call from my husband while he was at the office one day, because he had taken in a tray of cookies and everybody wanted to know what this cookie was!

These little beauties, like so many other things that pop up on this blog, were taken from one of the Baked cookbooks. In an attempt to redefine the traditional, but outdated, Black Forest Cake, the Baked boys created this complex cookie. It's dense and fudgy, like a brownie. It's sweet and tart, thanks to the two kinds of chocolate chips and the generous amount of dried fruit mixed in. The recipe calls for dried cherries only, but since I had a bag of dried mixed berries on hand, that is what I used. If you don't know the dried fruits are there, they're a nice, fun little surprise when you bite into a cookie. These were one of the newest additions to the cookie tray this year, and they will definitely be making another appearance next year. When the public opinion is this overwhelming, I have to listen!

Black Forest Cookies
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
makes about 4-5 dozen cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
16 oz. dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao), coarsely chopped
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz.) white chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz.) dried cherries (or other fruit)

Directions
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. In a large nonreactive metal bowl, combine the dark chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugars on high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, about 5 minutes. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bowl and beat again for 10 seconds.

3. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined, about 10 seconds. Do not overmix. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and dried fruit. The dough will look very loose, but it will harden in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons on prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the tops of the cookies are set and begin to show a few cracks. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before removing from the sheets onto a cooling rack.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season, and a special Christmas morning. We were lucky enough to have a very white Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and it is still all white and snowy outside now. The kids got to shovel with Daddy and play in the snow this morning; it was the whitest Christmas I've ever seen, and I'm so glad my boys got to enjoy it a bit.



I wanted to share with you one of our very favorite holiday desserts. This is the fourth year straight I have made these Cranberry Bliss Bars, and they continue to be that quintessential Christmas treat for us. Just the smell of these bars baking in the oven means Christmas for me, and I don't know if I could celebrate the holidays without them now. My husband and I used to work for Starbucks, and this is a dessert they sell in their stores around the holiday season. We became hooked on them years ago, and when we no longer worked there, we set out to learn how to make them at home.

I managed to find a copycat recipe from Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes. The bars, when made at home, trump the storebought version. At least, that is our humble opinion! They're buttery and dense, thanks to the blondie layer that contains generous chunks of white chocolate and dried cranberry. They're creamy and tart, thanks to the cream cheese frosting layer which contains real lemon juice. They're rich and decadent, in part because I like to drizzle some melted white chocolate across the top after sprinkling the surface with more dried cranberry. The recipe calls for a milk/shortening/powdered sugar drizzle on top, but sometimes I like to go for the more sinful white chocolate option, as I did this year. Whichever way you choose, these are sweet and complex and perfect for any holiday gathering. Happy Holidays!





Cranberry Bliss Bars
adapted from Top Secret Recipes
makes 16-30 bars (depending on how you cut them)

Ingredients
For the bars:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries, diced
6 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped into chunks

For the frosting:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (or 1/4 tsp. vanilla and 1/4 tsp. orange extract)

For the topping:
1/4 cup dried cranberries, diced
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. vegetable shortening
1 Tbsp. milk

OR

2 oz. white chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions
Make the base: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix in the vanilla, salt, and ginger. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix just until combined. With a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the dried cranberries and white chocolate. Spread the mixture into the prepared baking pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until the sides are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool while you make the frosting.

Make the frosting: 1. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Once all the sugar has been incorporated, mix in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and orange extract (if using). Mix well.

Assemble the bars: 1. Once the base layer has cooled completely, spread the frosting evenly to cover the surface of the base. Sprinkle with dried cranberries.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining topping ingredients, or melt and slightly cool your white chocolate if you choose to use that instead. Using a small spoon or fork, drizzle the icing down over the top of the frosting layer, creating zigzags of white all across. Allow the layers to set in the refrigerator for several hours before cutting into pieces.

3. To slice into 16 triangles: Slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width 3 times, making a total of 8 rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally, creating 16 triangular slices. You can also cut small squares or rectangles; you can get a lot more than 16 pieces this way!

Gingerbread Popcorn

This post is going to be short, because I've been sick and I kinda wanna go lay back down. I started this post before the illness hit me, and then I realized in the midst of my misery that I had never finished it.

Despite my current state, a few days ago when I made this Gingerbread Popcorn, I was dancing around my house. There may have been some exclamations, too, such as "Yummy yummy" and "Oh my sweet Lord!" Because I had fallen in love, and there was no turning back.



Okay, imagine this if you will: you take a huge pile of popped popcorn, then pour a hot mixture of brown sugar, molasses, corn syrup, cinnamon, and ginger over it and mix the whole thing together. As if this didn't already sound wonderful, then you take your smothered popcorn and bake it in a very low oven for an hour. This extra step creates the most delightful crusty outer shell on the popcorn, making for a sweet, crunchy treat that is irresistible.

We had so much fun making this. I tried my hand at air-popping my kernels in a large stockpot, which was a big hit with the kiddos. They may have sampled a lot of this popcorn before it was covered in the yumminess! The mixture was easy to make, too, because it did not require the use of a candy thermometer (for some reason, that trips me up a lot of the time). You just let everything come up to a boil, then cook it for another five minutes, then you're ready to remove it from the heat. So easy! Anyway, if you're looking to make a snack this holiday season that is a departure from the same old thing, I recommend making this stuff. But I dare you to keep your hands out of it until you're able to give it away!





Gingerbread Popcorn
from Culinary in the Desert
makes 15 cups of popcorn

Ingredients
15 cups popped popcorn
16 Tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups packed brown sugar (I used light brown)

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 Tbsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line 2 large baking dishes (I used 2 baking sheets) with foil and coat with cooking spray. Fill each with 7 1/2 cups popcorn (I put all my popcorn in a very large bowl, then mixed it with the sugar concoction before dividing it all onto the 2 sheets).

2. Combine butter, brown sugar, molasses, corn syrup, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a large, heavy bottom saucepan. Heat over medium heat until mixture boils. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Pour over popcorn; toss to coat.

3. Bake at 250 for one hour, carefully stirring the warm mixture every 15 minutes. Cool completely before enjoying.

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

Okay, so I know I just posted about some yummy Gingerbread Biscotti not too long ago, but I've discovered another magnificent biscotti recipe that has excited me enough to share it with you here. It's Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti, and it's so rich, so delicious, so Christmas-y, I think I might be making it every December from now on.

I found a recipe on Food.com for a chocolate peppermint biscotti that had semisweet chocolate chips inside and milk chocolate on the outside. There was peppermint extract in the batter, as well as cocoa powder to make it even more chocolatey. After reading through that recipe, I got to work on my own, making a few changes to give it more oomph. I thought it needed more peppermint flavor, so I used a combination of chocolate chips and these awesome peppermint crunch baking chips that Andes makes in the batter. If you find those Andes chips in your grocery store, I highly recommend that you pick some up and try them in something because they are sooo good!

Anyway, back to the biscotti. I decided to dip the cooled biscotti in bittersweet chocolate in place of milk chocolate, just because I prefer darker chocolate to pair with peppermint. Finally, the finished cookie was sprinkled with crushed candy canes before the chocolate had a chance to dry. I let my five year-old son do the sprinkling, so some of them were really doused heavily with the candy canes! Fortunately for us, I love candy canes so this was hardly a problem.

I have to say, I think this one really is a winner. I love everything about these biscotti. The fabulous crunch, the deep, dark chocolate flavor, and the refreshing punch of peppermint. To me, it's a great foil to a nice cup of coffee and a perfect Christmas treat. Plus, despite the various steps, they were really simple to make. Too bad I don't really want to share these on the cookie trays this year!

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

adapted from Food.com

makes about 15-18 biscotti

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. pure peppermint extract

1 tsp. espresso powder

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cups Andes peppermint crunch baking chips

4 oz. (or more) bittersweet chocolate, for dipping

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla, peppermint, and espresso powder, and beat well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

2. In a separate medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer speed on low, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and the peppermint chips.

3. Turn the dough out onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Shape the dough into a 16-inch log, and flatten to about 2 inches thick. Bake the log for 25 minutes.

4. Remove the log from the oven, transfer the log on the parchment to a cooling rack, and cool for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

5. Transfer the log to a cutting board and, with a serrated knife, slice into 15-18 slices. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet, cut side up, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes per side (10 min. for slightly softer biscotti, 15 for crunchier biscotti). Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

6. Once cool, melt the bittersweet chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl: in 30 second intervals, with 50% power, heat the chocolate in the microwave until smooth when stirred. Either dip one end of each biscotti in the chocolate, or do what I did and spread the chocolate with a spoon across the bottom of each biscotti. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle crushed candy canes on top. Allow to dry completely before storing in an airtight container.

The Stars of the Show

The other night, we went over to Xander's school for his annual Christmas concert. All the preschool classes are assigned a different Christmas song to sing together, and then they come together at the end for one big group number. We weren't sure how Evan would react to being in a big gym full of people, but we knew he would love the singing.

As it turned out, we shouldn't have been concerned about Evan being shy. As soon as we put him down on the floor of the gym, he took off! He started running all around the gym, and he was talking up a storm. He waved at people. He pointed at people. He whooped and yelled because he loved the fact that his voice carried well. And he loved the wide open space even more. I didn't even know he could run as fast as he could until that night, because he'd never had a space that huge to roam freely! It was adorable to watch, and he quickly became the center of attention among the crowds of people standing around him.

When it came time for Xander's class to sing "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Xander's voice boomed louder than anyone else's. He was so exuberant that at first, he was singing louder and faster than anyone else. He slowed down though, and just sang his little heart out. At the end of the song, he had turned red from the exertion, and he literally blew out a huge breath, exhausted from his effort. We were very proud parents, because both of our boys had been stars that evening in their own ways.

There will undoubtedly be more Christmas recipes I will put up in the near future, but for now I wanted to post this one (see below). It's simple, it's yummy, and it looks so darn festive!

Five Minute White Chocolate Fudge with Pistachio and Cranberries
adapted from Recipezaar
48 servings

Ingredients
18 oz. white chocolate (use white chocolate chips, or white chocolate baking squares, chopped)
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat-free, with no problems)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon orange extract (you can also use 1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup dried, sweetened cranberries (I used Craisins)
1 1/2 cups shelled, skinned pistachios (mine were roasted and lightly salted
Your choice of decorating candies (I used red and green jimmies)

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, combine white chocolate, condensed milk, and both extracts. Turn heat to low and melt the chocolate. Stir occasionally.
2. Allow chocolate to combine with milk and extracts. When mixture is smooth, turn off the heat and add cranberries, then pistachios. Stir well to combine.
3. Pour mixture into a prepared 8-inch round or 8x8 inch square pan. (I prepared mine by lining a square pan with foil, then spraying the foil with Pam.) Press mixture evenly into pan, then decorate with your choice of sprinkles or candies.
4. Allow fudge to set in the refrigerator for several hours. Once firm, you can cut the fudge into squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.