No–that is not a big ice cube in my cup…it’s a chocolate marshmallow. You should be so jealous. Truly.
So, let’s just say you’re in the mood for a nice warm cup of hot chocolate. As you look in the cupboard, you realize that you are out of ye old “Swiss Miss.” No problem, you think. We’ll just do the back woods thing and make it from scratch. Fine…until you open the cocoa canister and find that there is only a dusting left at the bottom. Now what?!
But wait! What’s this? Could it be a couple of 3 Musketeers bars in the back there–hiding out for that certain craving that you get at 10:30pm sometimes?
That’s all you’re going to need my friend. Wait’ll you read this.
As you sip try to avoid giggling your head off at your own decadence.
Yeah, good luck with that.
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3 Musketeers Hot Cocoa
Ingredients:
1½ cups chopped 3 MUSKETEERS® Bars 3 cups warmed milk 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting 2 tablespoons whipped cream
Directions:
1. Combine the candy with the milk and ground cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly until the candy is completely melted. 2. Pour into mugs. Add a cinnamon stick–if you like, and top with a small dollop of whipped cream–or one of those gigantic marshmallows from William Sonoma. Sorry. I love them. Dust with a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Ever since I was a little girl, my favorite snack has been Cheetos. Almost any kind will do, but my very favorite are the real, live Cheetos brand…
baked. To me…the others don’t even count.
I loved Cheetos so much that at Christmastime, while everyone else was getting a stocking filled with tons of goodies, I got one with a bag of Cheetos stuffed in it. My brother quickly pointed out to me that I was being completely ripped off, and that maybe I should ask Santa to just put the bag of cheese puffs under the tree next time. It took me a while to figure out what he meant.
Last year, on Gracious Rain, we had a Cheetos taste test, because I had no idea that there were so many different kinds in the world. Amazing. Wonderful. Inspired. It was a grand event with everyone getting ballots and samples so that they could judge accurately. Of course, since it was my taste test, I felt completely justified in stacking the vote.
Here’s a fun little cheese ball that really isn’t…a cheese ball…in the cheese ball sense of the word.
Don’t be afraid. It’s actually a cream cheese ball–with lots of lovely peanut butter mixed in. We dipped animal cookies and pretzels but I’m thinking that Fudge Stripes or Chocolate Dipped Graham Cookies would be incredible. We also rolled ours in Peanut Butter M&Ms–just cause we could. This is a real easy pleaser and would go nicely with whatever else you have on the treat table. We used it at our Superbowl fest–you know where you need lots of protein to keep your strength up…
for all that yelling.
Go Vikings!
Oh, forget it.
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Ball
Ingredients
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
¾ cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 ½ cups M&M’s and/or milk chocolate chips
Graham cracker sticks, animal crackers, apple slices or pretzels
Directions
BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until blended. Spoon onto a large piece of plastic wrap; bring up all four corners and twist tightly to form a ball shape.
FREEZE for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm enough to keep its shape. Place morsels in flat dish. Remove plastic wrap from ball and roll ball into morsels to completely cover.
PLACE ball on serving dish; cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until almost firm. Serve with graham cracker sticks, cookies, pretzels and apple slices for dipping or spreading.
Just in case you didn’t get enough of anything and everything in heart shapes–try these tender little jam cookies. Oooooh-wooo—you won’t forget these lovelies–but do try to be mature…
and share.
Because they are honestly pretty enough to pass out to the neighbors.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness.
Cut with a 3-in. heart-shaped or 2-1/2-in. round cookie cutter. From the center of half the cookies, cutout a 1-1/2-in. heart or round shape. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Spread 1/2 teaspoon jam over the bottom of the solid cookies; Sprinkle cutout cookies with confectioners’ sugar–if you want. We left ours plain. Carefully place over jam cookie.
You’ll end up with about 3 dozen of the prettiest little cookies you’ve ever seen.
