Christmas Cookie Swap with my girls!

Well, it is almost Christmas, and you know what that means...

It is Christmas cookie time!!!

My friend Ellyn just got married in late November, and she invited 3 of us over to her and her husbands house for dinner. We had a FABULOUS dinner served on the cutest Christmas dishes ever! We had prk tenderloin wrapped in bacon, awesome cheesy potatoes, a yummy salad, and rolls.

For dessert we all brought cookes that we made at home and we sampled eachothers and swapped some to take home. They were all so yummy!

Here are the goodies that i brought...

Peanut Butter Fudge, Vanilla cookies with Raspberry filling, and Chocolate Marshmallows.

I wanted to share with ya'll how to make them!!

We will start with the Vanilla cookies with Raspberry Filling...

Ingredients for dough:

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1tsp. Vanilla
• 1/4tsp. salt and baking soda
• 1 3/4 cup flour
  

Ingredients for filling:

• 2oz. white chocolate
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 2 tbsp. raspberry preserves
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1-3 tbsp. Whipping Cream

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix butter for 30 seconds with an electric mixer. Add sugar and beat well. Beat in egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Beat in as much flour as you can, you might need to use your hand and a spoon.

2. Divide your dough into 2 halves. Make two equal sized logs of dough on parchment/wax paper. WARNING: The dough will be EXTREMELY sticky! I used a lof of flour on my hands and on the wax paper. Once you have formed the 2 logs, put them in the freezer to harden for about an hour. The dough needs to be firm enough to cut.

3. While the dough is hardening in the freezer, make the icing. In a small sauce pan, melt the white chocolate over med-low heat and let cool. Meanwhile in a large bowl beat 1/4 cup of butter until softened. Beat in 2 tablespoons of Raspberry Preserves and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Gradually beat in the 3 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the cooled white chocolate. Add 1-3 tbsp. of whipping cream until the icing is spreadable.

Here is a picture of my icing when it was finished...

4. After the dough has hardened. Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the dough logs into 1/4 inch slices. Place each cookie on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 mintues until the edges start to slightly brown. Place cookies on cooling rack and allow them to completely cool.

5. Add raspberry icing to one cookie and place another on top to make a sandwich! Enjoy!

Now, onto the peanut butter fudge...

Ingredients:

• 4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (7oz) jar marshmallow cream
• 12 oz peanut butter
• 2/3 cup flour

Directions:

1. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.

2. In a saucepan, combine sugar, milk, and butter. Bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the marshmallow cream and peanut butter. Gradually stir in the flour.

The ingredients starting to boil....

...The peanut butter, marshmallow cream, and flour all stirred in.

3. Spread into the prepared pan, and let cool in the fridge for about an hour. Cut into pieces. This recipe makes about 60 pieces.

The fudge spread in the pan ready to cool.

I also made chocolate marshmallows. There isn't really a recipe for this. I just bought a jumbo bag of marshmallows, milk chocolate, and some Christmas sprinkles. Dip each marshmallow into the melted chocoate about 1/2 way and cover the chocolate half with sprinkles. Then set on a baking sheet topped with wax paper. After you have finished all of them, put them in the fridge to let the chocolate harden.

Here are all of our yummy cookies at the swap!!!





Love you girls!!!!