Holiday Black Balls

Yummy in the Tummy....A tradition in our home every year our Holiday Balls here is the recipe you will never taste a better ball.








Ingredients

4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of cooking oil
2 teaspoons of vanilla
3 large eggs
Shredded coconut
Powdered Sugar

Melt the chocolate on the stove it makes it easier and you can keep a better eye on it.
Set the chocolate aside.







Combine the flour and baking powder together in a mixing bowl.
 
Now in your mixer put the oil, vanilla, sugar, and add the chocolate last mix it up.

Add the eggs one at a time to make sure they get mixed in good.

Now add the dry ingredients make sure they are all well mixed you want your balls to be perfect.

Cover your mixture and put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.





Ok now to make your balls.
Get your area ready for your balls
Put coconut in a bowl
Put your powered sugar in another bowl


 Alrighty now go get your mixture.




 
Have a plate for your balls you want to get your balls done a batch at a time after all we want good Holiday Balls have your cookie sheets ready and grease the cookie sheet , your balls will stick if it isn't.



Take a tablespoon and scoop some of your mixture on to your palm make a mark in your ball with your thumb to put the coconut in you want the coconut to be the surprise in your holiday balls.










So put just a pinch of coconut into the middle of your ball and roll the ball in the palm of your hand make it so you do not see the coconut.

Now place your ball on the plate and make more balls............ sweet .







Once you have a plate of balls pop them into the powered sugar and on to the cookie sheet











Cook them for 10 minutes or so in a 375 oven cool for a few minutes on the sheet then place on a rack to cool completely.....








There you are you have your delicious Holiday Balls ready to pop in you mouth
and wa...la.... Holiday Ballz oh oh oh . Just for a laugh here is a video on The Holiday Balls

Chocolate Pecan Cookies

Martha Baked these Chocolate Pecan Cookies and I was delighted this cook loves Peecanzzz. I am going to do my best to give you a cookie a day for your Holiday Baking time.










This is the first of many. Enjoy and grab a friend there is nothing better than cooking with friends.
Every year I go to my Mother-in-loves home and get the 911 on the back in the day Italian Cookies.

 This in itself is a gift! 






These Chocolate-Pecan Cookies were (we ate them all) are really good. Then again what cookie is not really good. I found the recipe in an insert out of the Martha Steward Magazine my friend Linda drops at the house each month. It was a little Everyday Food insert . I subscribe to the magazine but I found I am saving so many. But good reference. Most of my cooking comes from desire and history .

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans chopped/crushed

Preheat you oven to 350 degrees

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.



In your mixer beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.





Add vanilla and eggs and beat until well combined.





Now sift in your dry ingredients (I sift then sift it into the batter) I'm a sift head!


Yes my sifter is old as the hills it was Mama's

Mix in your pecans and chocolate chips.







Drop the dough on to your prepared cookie sheet. You can see my cookie sheet is old and prepared for it's cooking.

Yes it's old all my stuff is old but reliable! Like me
I placed 15 on the cookie tray to start             


BUT

12 will work better and not get all attached. I got a little excited!
Blame it on Martha.

 Hey they still taste great.





 


Cook them for say 12 or so minutes they should be just brown around the edges. When they are done let them cool slightly then off to the rack to cool completely . Into an air tight container and they are good for a week if they last that long.



Here is the Original Post at Martha Stewart

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Well I had a can of pumpkin puree on hand that was going to expire in a month. Pumpkin Cheesecake. When I was getting my nails done I came across a recipe in Real Simple. It Sounded delicious. Well this project turned out to be more than I had expected. The recipe from Real Simple was a refrigerator pie. No cooking. Now this is fine but I had a baking craving going on.

So on to the search I went to Food Network and looked at Paula Deans recipe  plus a recipe from The Joy of Baking that gave me the cream cheese topping for the pie. It was a project.  I cooked it at 355 for a little over an hour . The time cooked truly depends on your stove. Oh also I did not have enough cream cheese I was about 4 oz. off so I went to this link and it has all the Common Ingredient Substitutes really cool and very handy site. I replace the cream cheese with some Greek yogurt. The results awesome.

So it ended up going like this

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups of graham cracker crumbs.
* I used half graham cracker and half english tea cookies/crackers.
They had a little sweet taste to them and where thicker.
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup of melted butter


In a food processor break up the crackers into crumbs , add the butter and sugar. Take the cracker crumb and press it into a spring form pan. Cook in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes. Take it out and cool it while you prepare the filling

Filling

1 cup of pumpkin puree
1 1/2  8 oz sticks of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt
1 cup of granulated  sugar
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon of nutmeg

In a mixer mix the cream cheese until it is smooth , add the pumpkin and yogurt until it is mixed well. Now add the spices , eggs and sugar. Last add the flour and mix well.

 Pour the mixture on to your crust and bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. Cook it until the middle is still giggly. Take it out and let it cool then put it in the refrigerator for 4 hours

Topping
1 cup sour cream
4 tbs sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip up the topping

In a small bowl add your sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Use a whisk and whisk till smooth and top your cake or if you prefer just put some whip cream in a bowl to add if you or your friends want to. I sprinkled a little pumpkin spice on top . It was a hit

Sprinkle the top with some nutmeg. You can use Pumpkin Spice but enough is enough with the pumpkin ! 

This is a nice change from the usual Pumpkin Pie and it is so light and scrumptious !

Heavenly Lemon Bars

This Lemon Cookie Bar Recipe takes Lemon to the next level. I am a real Lemon Lover and I was so happy when I made these. You can make them way ahead of your next Holiday or Party and freeze them. On the day prior to your event you take them out cut them and garnish with powder sugar. Make sure they are defrosted prior to the garnish.

I find that during the Holiday everyone likes a different taste than the usual pumpkin or cranberry. 

 

Ingredients    -   Preheat your oven to 350 

For the Crust

1 stick room temperature butter
3/4 cup confectioners sugar plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup all purpose flour

For the crust that will go on the bottom of your pan. I use a brownie pan. Let us start with the crust.
 



In small mixer bowl beat butter until softened
*  Leave the cube of butter out the night prior or the morning of to soften
Add ¼ cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt
Slowly add one tablespoon of the lemon juice
Beat until fluffy







Stir in cup of flour (slowly)

It will be crumbly when it is ready

Before

After

   
Press the dough into the bottom of a well greased 8x8x2 pan

Bake 350 for 15 minutes

Remove from the oven and let it rest until you have mixed the filling

For the Filling

4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
3 tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel and zest
3/4 cup lemon juice

Powder Sugar to garnish








In the same mixing bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients.

Beat until it is well mixed




Pour over the cooked layer.
Same degree oven you now bake for 30 more minutes give or take.
Until center is set

This is what it looks like once cooked .

Let it cool. I put it into the refrigerator once cooled it makes it easier to cut. Cut into small squares and garnish with powder sugar.




If you love lemon you love this recipe easy and delicious!