Here’s another simple “stocking Stuffer” like idea, if you are looking to make your own foodie Christmas presents this year: Chocolate-Covered Roasted Cashew + Pretzel Rounds Brittle. Takes less than 15 minutes to prepare, an hour to chill/harden and then voila! A homemade present! You can, of course, use other nuts, but I am definitely partial to cashews here. If you want to make them a little cinnamony, that might be a nice twist too.
As many of you know, I try to make many of my Christmas pressies myself (including of course, cookie madness!), so trying to get a head start on some, I made Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix. Quite easy to make, though bashing the hard caramels to bits first with a meat mallet and then the food processor was loud! I put ratios in the recipe instead of exact measurements, in case you wanted to make a lot or a little.
It’s almost Halloween! I am not usually one of those “make all sorts of crazy treats” type of person (mainly because I don’t do a whole lot for Halloween, and you aren’t supposed to give cookies/homemade stuff to strangers). At any rate, this year, we are doing a bit of a thing for work, and I am also using these upcoming treats for giveaways, so here we go. First up, Cinnamon Red Velvet Ghoulie Eye Cookies! It’s my standard crinkle cookie recipe with chocolate, cinnamon and sugar eyeballs. I added the food coloring for extra creepiness (note that you can also buy “bloodshot” eyeball candies). These are surprisingly delicious, especially is you warm them for 10 seconds in the microwave. Nice and gooey then — and who doesn’t love gooey ghoulie eyeballs!
As you might know, I am a huge fan of Burlap & Barrel, the purveyors of single origin spices. They are unique, they are ethical and, hand down, make my food taste a million times better. I went on a small (only 10) spice shopping spree the other day and when planning out what to make this weekend as a sweet treat, I decided to incorporate cinnamon, clove and chili powder into these from-scratch brownies. They are delicious and the warm spices add that “wow” factor!