Pecan Tassies

My sister in law Gretchen was given this recipe from her Aunt.

She said that she loves to have them for Thanksgiving...

it's kinda like a mini pecan pie.

And we all know how much I LOVE mini things!

And Pecans

And filling

So, pretty much...

these are AWESOME!

Again, if you want a 'break from the norm' this Thanksgiving...

Thanks Gretchen for the recipe!

Pecan Tassies

4 oz cream cheese - softened

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp margarine - softened

1 cup sifted flour

Preheat oven to 325*

Blend well.

Divide into 24 balls.

(I used my mini scoop from pampered chef and it was a perfect amount.)

Place each ball into an ungreased mini muffin tin.

Press dough against side and bottoms.

Make sure you don't see the pan trough the bottom,

and make sure that you have enough dough to go up to the top of the muffin tin.

Pecan Filling:

2 beaten eggs

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp. soft margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup coarsely broken pecans

Mix eggs, brown sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth.

**Now, here is where you need to make a decision.

The original recipe calls for you to place some pecans at the bottom

of the pastry, then pour the egg mixture over the pecans and then top with pecans.

That is what I did, and then Gretchen told me that she likes to just fill

the pastry cup with the egg mixture, and then top it with the pecans.

So, you just need to decide if you like the pecans more of the filling more.

You could always just not put AS MANY pecans in the bottom..and more on top.
Totally your call!

Make sure that when you are filling the cups, that you don't OVER fill them.

The pan is not greased...remember that?

I was nervous thinking these wouldn't come out...that they'd be STUCK.

The only time I had a problem was then the egg mixture cooked and stuck to the side of the pan.

Once you have topped them with the left over pecans,

bake for 25 minutes.

These truly are a delight, and they are bite size...

Little personal pecan pies.

OH MAN!

I can't wait for Thanksgiving!

Corny Rice Crispy Treats

Who doesn't love a rice crispy treat?
Who doesn't love Halloween?
Why not combine the two?
Add some candy corn, and heck, why not,
chocolate chips!
Voila...there you go!

Corny Rice Crispy Treats

1/2 cup butter
9 cups mini marshmallows
10 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup candy corn
1 cup indian candy corn
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
yellow & red food coloring

Butter a 9x13 or a jelly roll pan and set aside.
(you need to decide if you want THICK rice crispy treats
or THIN rice crispy treats...scroll down to the finished product
picture and you will see what I'm talking about..it FILLS the pan!)


In a large sauce pan, melt butter over low heat.
Once the butter has melted, turn heat to medium and add marshmallows.
Once they start melting, add food coloring to make a nice orange color,
if desired. Continue stirring until color is incorporated into marshmallows.

In a large bowl with the crispy rice cereal, add marshmallows
and begin mixing. As the marshmallows start to cool, they become
tough...so be prepared. Add the candy corn and stir a little bit
more, and then the chocolate chips as you are about done mixing.
You do NOT want to add the chocolate chips before then, because
they WILL MELT.
(don't ask me how I know this...)

After everything is added.

Using buttered hands, spread and press into the prepared pans.

Let it sit until firm.

See what I told you about it FILLING the pan?

It is SO good!

My secret to getting the treats soft and gooey...

add extra marshmallows...not quite a full cup.

It works for me!

Caramel Crispy Treats

Are you ready for a new treat?

This has the caramel flavor that I love,

with a crispy rice *snap* as well!

And...who doesn't like chocolate!

Caramel Crispy Treats

1 pkg refrigerated cookie dough

1 bag (14 oz) caramels, wrappers removed

3 tbsp milk

2 cups crispy rice cereal

mini m&m's as desired

Preheat oven to 350*

In a small mini-muffin pan, place small tablespoons of sugar cookie

dough. Press dough into bottom and up the sides of the tin.

Bake for 8 minutes. Cookies will be puffy. Gently press down the

center of each cookie, return to the oven for 1 minute and then

remove. Cool cookies in muffin tin for 5 minutes.

Gently remove from tin and cool on wire rack.

In a small sauce pan, melt caramel with milk over low heat,

stirring frequently until smooth.

Stir in cereal.

You may want to add less cereal, depending if you want it more

caramel, or more cereal for the mixture. I wanted more cereal,

so I added the full 2 cups.

Stir until coated.

Add spoonfulls of mixture to cookie cups to heaping, and add m&m's.

It's a fun little treat! It would even work for non-halloween,

just add all the colored mini m&m's.

(Yes, I went through and sorted my mini m&m's to get just the

orange and brown...I need therapy!)

Bite size fun!

Freaky Fingers

Looking for something "freaky" to take to a halloween party?

This just might be the answer for you!

A fun little treat, that just might gross you out enough to not want to eat!

HEHE

Freaky Fingers

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. salt

2 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

red decorating gel

(this recipe actually makes about 4 dozen fingers, I halfed my recipe)

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and extracts.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add into creamed mixture.

Dough will be thick. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Once cooled, take dough into a small ball and shape into a
finger. Make sure it is thin...they get bigger as they cook.
Measurements would probably be 3 inches long by .5 inches wide.

Form them so that they look like a finger with knuckles.

Using the flat end of a knife, make an indent for the finger nail.

Then make 3 slices for the knuckle.

mmmm, doesn't that look FREAKY?

Let's take another look!

Bake at 325* for 20 minutes. I actually moved my tray

one shelf higher in the oven so the bottoms didn't burn.

Using the red gel, apply in the spot where the fingernails go

(almond slices) and then apply the slices.

They taste kinda like a sugar cookie, but they LOOK like fingers!

Weird!

Happy Halloween!

Sugar Cookie Pizza....Halloween Style

Are you looking for a fun, cute, treat to take to your Halloween party?
Well, this is it!
It's fun, festive, and very, very yummy.
Also, high on the sugar count, which is required for a Halloween treat!
I love the colors.
and it's not bad on the taste buds too!

Sugar Cookie Pizza

1 16 oz package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 12 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups M&M's
2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup peanuts
(I didn't add peanuts to this...my son is allergic to peanuts,
so if I CAN leave them out, I will.)

Preheat oven to 375*

Press cookie dough into a cookie sheet. Make sure the
cookie dough is not too thick so it will cook all the way through
in 10 minutes.

In a medium-size sauce pan, add sweetened condensed milk
and chocolate chips. Spread over cooked cookie dough.
Sprinkle with the M&M's and marshmallows.
Turn your oven on low broil to *toast* the marshmallows.
Make sure you watch them so they do not burn!

Don't the look good and colorful?

They are!

If you like the color of these M&M's,

my cousin has a really cute idea for cookies on her blog

www.makeitworkmom.com

So, check it out!

And stay tuned for more Halloween snack fun, coming this week!