best dessert recipes

Chicken and Vegetable Strudel

If you're stumped about what to make for New Year's, look no further than this delicious strudel. It's especially wonderful to make if you have leftover turkey or chicken, but it's so good that you don't need to wait for leftovers to make it! Chock full of veggies and chicken, this strudel makes a delicious brunch, lunch or party dish.

This is a recipe repeat. For full step by step instructions, visit the original post.

For more great ideas, visit Menu Mondays, My Recipe, Your Kitchen, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, A Little Birdie Told Me, Tuesday at the Table, Ingredient Spotlight.

Chicken and Vegetable Strudel

2 cups cooked, diced chicken or turkey
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1 cup finely chopped broccoli
3/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 pound bread dough
1 egg white, beaten
2 Tbsp. slivered almonds

In a bowl, combine the chicken, vegetables, mayonnaise, garlic, dill, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Roll out bread dough on lightly floured surface. Transfer to a greased large baking sheet. Spoon filling lengthwise down middle of dough. Cut dough into strips from edge to filling, 1 1/2 inches apart, on both sides. Starting at one end, alternate strips, twisting and laying at an angle across filling. Seal ends.

Brush dough with egg white; sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into slices and serve warm. Serves 6-8 as main course; 12 as appetizer.

(May be frozen before baking or after.)

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Cookies for Santa

The inspiration for these cookies came from Hannah in the Kitchen. I saw these Candy Cane Blossoms on her blog and thought they would be perfect to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve. I adapted the recipe slightly by adding a touch of peppermint extract, and they are quite yummy!

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Candy Cane Blossoms
48 Hershey's Kisses Candy Cane Mint Candies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
Red and green sugar crystals

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Unwrap Hershey's Kisses; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg, vanilla, and peppermint extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with milk to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Chill dough for 1 hour, then shape into 1-inch balls. Roll ball in red or green sugar crystals. Place on prepared pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned and cookie is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press a candy kiss into the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Cool the cookies on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes after removing from the oven.

Press a candy kiss into the center of each cookie, then remove from pan to a wire rack to completely cool.

I rolled half my cookies in red sugar and half of them in green sugar.

The tree is lit, the stockings are hung, and Santa's cookies are ready.
Merry Christmas!

This recipe was shared with:
A Holiday Haven
Holiday Traditions
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Your Recipe My Kitchen
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party
The Shady Porch Rock n Share
Junk in Their Trunk
PinInspirational Thursday
Sweet Temptations

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Cool the cookies on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes after removing from the oven.

Press a candy kiss into the center of each cookie, then remove from pan to a wire rack to completely cool.

I rolled half my cookies in red sugar and half of them in green sugar.

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Caramel Corn with Peanuts

I love caramel corn. Namely because it has caramel. I love anything caramel. But the sweet and salty combination of caramel corn is totally irresistible to me. I love this recipe because it is easy, makes absolutely delicious caramel corn, and makes wonderful little gifties. If you need something to take to a party, or small little gifts for the weekend, look no further than your stove top and this recipe!

Start by popping the popcorn. Then transfer it to two large bowls.

Sift through the popcorn with your (*clean*) hands to pick out any unpopped kernels.

Now, on to the really good part (the caramel, in case you're wondering). In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the corn syrup,

brown sugar,

and salt. Bring to a boil while stirring.

Now that the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and cook and stir for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla

and baking soda.

Adding baking soda will make the mixture bubble up! Be careful, because it will be hot!

Now pour the caramel evenly over the two bowls of popcorn

and mix carefully. Add the peanuts

and mix gently to incorporate the peanuts and coat all the popcorn. Spray two large rimmed baking sheets with non stick cooking spray, then pour out the popcorn onto the two baking sheets.

Bake the caramel corn for an hour, stirring every twenty minutes. When you stir it, rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and vice versa. Now the caramel corn will be a deep caramel color - beautiful!

Don't try it too soon - it will be hot! But after it's cooled to room temperature, bag it up for gifts,

or transfer to an air tight container. The caramel corn will keep in an air tight container on the counter top for about 1 week. But I doubt it will last that long...

Merry Christmas!

One year ago: Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake
Two years ago: Cranberry Bread

Find more great stuff at Turning the Table Thursday, It's a Keeper, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday, Bake with Bizzy, Crazy Sweet Tuesday.

Caramel Corn with Peanuts

3/4 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1 cup butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
2-3 cups roasted, salted peanuts

Pop the popcorn kernels and place the popcorn in a large bowl, sifting through to remove the unpopped kernels.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. When melted add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil while stirring. Once the mixture starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, for 3 minutes. The mixture will be slightly thickened. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda. The mixture will bubble so be careful. Pour the caramel over the popcorn and mix slightly. Add the peanuts and mix well but gently (so you don’t break apart the popcorn) until the popcorn is evenly coated and the peanuts are distributed through the mixture.

Turn the popcorn out onto two large greased baking sheets, spreading into an even layer. Bake the popcorn at 250 for one hour, stirring and tossing every 20 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets every time you stir. The popcorn will deepen in color and harden a bit as the caramel bakes and sets. Cool the popcorn to room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe

brown sugar,

and salt. Bring to a boil while stirring.

Now that the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and cook and stir for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla

and baking soda.

Adding baking soda will make the mixture bubble up! Be careful, because it will be hot!

Now pour the caramel evenly over the two bowls of popcorn

and mix carefully. Add the peanuts

and mix gently to incorporate the peanuts and coat all the popcorn. Spray two large rimmed baking sheets with non stick cooking spray, then pour out the popcorn onto the two baking sheets.

Don't try it too soon - it will be hot! But after it's cooled to room temperature, bag it up for gifts,

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Cookies for the Grandchildren

I have been so inspired by all the Christmas goodies I have seen on Pinterest and on the blogs, there's just not time to make them all! One of the bakers who inspires me is Marsha at The Better Baker. She made these little candy cane snowball cookies, and when I saw them I immediately thought of my grandson Charlie. I'm always looking for good treat recipes to make for him that are nut free. He's allergic to all types of nuts, so I have to be careful with my baked goodies when he visits. Her recipe looked like one he would enjoy, so I tried my version of these cookies today.

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Peppermint Snowball Cookies
10 candy canes
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Crush candy canes in a food processor, or with a hammer in a ziplock bag. Place crushed candy canes in mesh strainer and tap to remove candy cane powder. Reserve both powder and crushed candy.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla. Sift together flour, 1 teaspoon candy cane powder, and salt, then add gradually to creamed mixture. Blend 1/4 cup crushed candy canes into mixture.
Roll into balls using 1 tablespoon of dough for each. Place 1 inch apart on prepared pan. Bake until just barely browned, about 13 - 14 minutes.
Combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar with remaining candy cane powder. Let cookies cool for a few minutes before rolling in powdered sugar.

My grandson Landon has been staying with me this week while his parents are working, and tomorrow I'm expecting my other two grandchildren, Ginger and Charlie, to be here from out of town to visit. Landon loves to help around the house; he counted out 10 candy canes for me, then I gave him a meat hammer and let him take care of the crushing for me. He's just as good as a food processor!

I had 28 cookies in my batch.

Cool for a few minutes before rolling in powdered sugar. I think my cookies spread out more than Marsha's did. Hers seemed a little more round, but these were delicious anyway!

These Peppermint Snowball Cookies are so delicate and light and seriously melt in your mouth!

This recipe was shared with:
The Shady Porch Rock n Share

This Chick Cooks
Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party
Junk in Their Trunk
Full Plate Thursday
Something Swanky Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweet Temptations Thursday
Tastetastic Thursday
Not Your Ordinary Recipes Foodie Friday
Momtrends Friday Food
Sweets for a Saturday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Your Recipe My Kitchen
Crazy Sweet Tuesday

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I had 28 cookies in my batch.

Cool for a few minutes before rolling in powdered sugar. I think my cookies spread out more than Marsha's did. Hers seemed a little more round, but these were delicious anyway!

These Peppermint Snowball Cookies are so delicate and light and seriously melt in your mouth!

This recipe was shared with:
The Shady Porch Rock n Share

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Chocolate Peppermint Swirl Cookies

The minute I saw these cookies on Rachel's blog, I knew I wanted to make them. They are so festive looking, and I could tell that the chocolate peppermint combination would be addicting. And it is. They way the kisses melt into the cookie makes the cookies beautiful, and the contrast of the chocolate and the cool peppermint makes them delicious. If you're making one more trip to the grocery store before Christmas, pick up a bag of those candy cane kisses so you can make these cookies!

Start by placing the butter, brown sugar

and water in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate chips

and stir until most of the chocolate chips are melted. Then remove from the heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Stir in the vanilla.

Pour this mixture into a large mixing bowl and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Once the chocolate is a bit cooler, add the eggs, one at a time

and beat each on high speed until completely blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture

until blended. Chill the dough for about an hour.

Now roll the dough into 1/2" to 1" balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake for 7-8 minutes. When the cookies come out of the oven, place a Candy Cane Kiss on top of each hot cookie in the middle and then let them sit about 5 minutes.

Using a toothpick, gently swirl the softened Candy Cane Kiss until you like the pattern.

Remove to a wire rack to cool, then transfer to another baking sheet and refrigerate to set the middle.

Incidentally, while making these I started to think of all kinds of other cookie/candy combinations. And I did run out of kisses at the end, so I decided to throw in some rolos!

These turned out great as well! Not as beautiful to look at, but equally tasty! With all the different flavors of kisses on the market now, I think there could be some really great combination experiments in my future!

One year ago: Macaroon Kisses
Two years ago: Layered Mint Fudge

There are more great ideas at Mangia Mondays, Menu Mondays, Your Recipe, My Kitchen,
Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday (#2), Tasty Tuesday (#3), Tempt my Tummy Tuesday, Tuesday at the Table, Made from Scratch Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Crazy Sweet Tuesdays, Let's Do Brunch, What's Cooking Wednesday, These Chicks Cooked, Ingredient Spotlight.

Chocolate Peppermint Swirl Cookies

3/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 Tbsp. water
2 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 bag Candy Cane Kiss candies

Combine butter, brown sugar and water in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until melted. Add chocolate chips and stir until most of the chocolate chips are melted; remove from heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Stir in the vanilla. Pour into a large mixing bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times to help cooling.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

When the chocolate is cooler, add one egg at a time beating each on high speed until completely blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add in dry ingredients until blended. Chill the dough for about an hour.

Roll dough into 1/2" to 1" balls and place on ungreased baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes. When the cookies come out of the oven, place a Candy Cane Kiss on top of each hot cookie in the middle and let them sit about 5 minutes.
Using a toothpick, gently swirl the softened Candy Cane Kiss until you like the pattern.

Remove the swirl topped cookies from the baking sheet and place them on a cooling rack. After a few minutes on the cooling rack, transfer to a cold cookie sheet and place the sheet in the fridge to set the middles. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

and water in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate chips

and stir until most of the chocolate chips are melted. Then remove from the heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate is melted.

Stir in the vanilla.

and beat each on high speed until completely blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture

until blended. Chill the dough for about an hour.

Now roll the dough into 1/2" to 1" balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake for 7-8 minutes. When the cookies come out of the oven, place a Candy Cane Kiss on top of each hot cookie in the middle and then let them sit about 5 minutes.

Using a toothpick, gently swirl the softened Candy Cane Kiss until you like the pattern.

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Cranberry Orange Sourdough Muffins

These are tasty little muffins that require a Sourdough Starter for the recipe. I know that several of my blogging friends keep a Sourdough Starter, but if you don't have one and would like to try making your own, check out the recipe here. It is so easy to maintain, and the bread is delicious!

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Cranberry Orange Sourdough Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 cup sourdough starter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a muffin pan by greasing or use paper liners. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar; then add cranberries and orange zest. In another bowl combine egg, oil, orange juice, and sourdough starter. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until muffins test done.

I had already baked bread with my starter twice in the past week, so I decided to use it to make muffins today. Sourdough starter is so versatile, it can be fed and baked with often, or if you don't want to bake, you can give away or discard the excess starter.

This recipe will make 12 regular size muffins.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

These are good breakfast muffins made with whole wheat flour and not too sweet, but flavored with orange zest and cranberries.

This recipe was shared with:
Muffin Monday
Your Recipe My Kitchen
Naptime Creations Tasty Tuesday
Anis Favorite Things
This Chick Cooks
Bake with Bizzy
Not Your Ordinary Recipes Foodie Friday

Momtrends Friday Food

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Cranberry Orange Sourdough Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon orange juice

1 cup sourdough starter

This recipe will make 12 regular size muffins.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Momtrends Friday Food

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Best Ever Play Dough Recipe

Christmas vacation has officially started for my grandson Landon. His school was dismissed early on Friday, so he came to my house for the afternoon. The weather was too drizzly and damp for playing outside, so I pulled out one of the indoor projects I had been saving for him. We mixed up a batch of the Best Ever Play Dough! My friend Tammy gave me this recipe; she is a preschool teacher, and she makes this to use in her classroom.

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Best Ever Play Dough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon oil
Food coloring (I used Wilton paste coloring)

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, cream of tartar, water, vanilla, oil, and food coloring together until smooth. Pour mixture into a warm Teflon pan, stirring constantly. When the dough lumps toward the center of the pan and completely breaks away from the sides of the pan, it is ready. Cool; then knead 10 to 12 times. Store in tightly covered container.

Landon started by stirring the dry ingredients.

After the wet ingredients were added, the mixture had to be stirred until the lumps were smooth.

After pouring the mixture in the warm Teflon pan it was transformed into play dough in just a matter of minutes.

Landon borrowed my pastry roller to make "cookies".

We also made a batch of yellow play dough.

This play dough recipe was really easy and quick to make. The clean up was also fast with no mess. I suspect we'll be making some additional colors next week!

This recipe was shared with:
The Shady Porch Rock n Share
Junk in Their Trunk
Anis Favorite Things
Creative Juice Thursday

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Landon started by stirring the dry ingredients.

After the wet ingredients were added, the mixture had to be stirred until the lumps were smooth.

After pouring the mixture in the warm Teflon pan it was transformed into play dough in just a matter of minutes.

Landon borrowed my pastry roller to make "cookies".

We also made a batch of yellow play dough.

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