Christmas Treats!

Well last night was baking night at the Wind's Here Casa (my parents house, we live at the top of a very windy mountain.) We made my favorite easy treat Toffee Cookies, and Peanut Patties!

Yums!!

Here is my recipe for Toffee Cookies:

1 sleeve of saltine crackers

1 cup of butter

1 cup of brown sugar packed

1-2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

any nuts you want!

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line the crackers on a cookie sheet that has a rim. In a saucepan melt 2 cups of butter careful not to burn it, then add brown sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Pour over crackers and bake for 5 min. As soon as it is out of the oven spread between 1 and 2 cups of chocolate chips, and spread as they melt. Sprinkle any kind of nuts you want over the top. Let it cool completely!

This is so easy and so yummy!!

In coming post my families Christmas Eve Extravaganza and Decorations!

Key Lime Cupcakes

Being the Florida girl that I am I love Key Lime anything!

I have been looking for a good key lime cupcake recipe and today I found it so I had to share!Makes 24 cupcakes.

• 1/2 C butter (room temperature)
• 1 C sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 C milk
• 1 C flour
• 1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/8 t salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 C lime or key lime juice (Try Nellie and Joes, Its the best)
  

1. Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until creamed.
2. Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, being sure to beat for 30 seconds for each egg.
4. Use food processor or a potato masher or whatever you have on hand to grind the graham crackers into tiny crumbs and powder.
5. Sift the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt. (I didn't actually sift the graham cracker crumbs. While mine were small, I don't think they would have fit through the sifter.)
6. Add about 1/4 of the mixture to the butter mixture.
7. Add some of the milk.
8. Continue to add the ingredients in a dry - wet - dry method, ending with the dry.
9. Mix until just combined.
10. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice. (FYI - If you want to make an amazing key lime pie, just mix the ingredients in this step, dump it into a pie shell and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. It's the easiest recipe ever! The pie won't be green and it shouldn't be. Lime juice isn't green.)
11. Dump the key lime mixture into the graham batter and lightly stir. Do NOT fully integrate the key lime and graham batter. You should have clumps of batter in a key lime soup.
12. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Make sure each liner has a nice distribution of key lime liquid and graham clumps.
13. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until top bounces back when touched.

The Lime Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 1 8oz package of cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/4 C butter (room temperature)
• 4 C powdered sugar (I recommend that you sift it.)
• 1 t lime extract

1. Mix the cream cheese and butter.
2. Add the powdered sugar and lime extract.