One salty turtle... or could be....

My Aunt Kathi used to make the best turtles. She used to send them each Christmas and while my folks weren't always the biggest fans I sure was. Something about the soft caramel and pecans with chocolate - so good. I haven't made them in years and bought supplies to make them, then I ran across this recipe for Turtle Bark. All the same goodness but so much faster and easier. It's so good. I mean SO good.
The only change I'd make for next time is sauteing the nuts in a little butter and salt. So you get the salty and sweet. I did roast the nuts in the oven a little bit, but a little salt? Oh that would be so good. I did not use almond bark - I used dark chocolate chips - mostly because I really like dark chocolate and my body hates milk, so milk chocolate (and almond bark) is not something up my alley. Easy to make and reminds me of my Aunt Kathi who past a few years ago - love it.

Turtle Bark
1 package chocolate almond bark, 20-24 oz (or dark chocolate) 
25 caramel squares, equal to about 1 & 1/4 cup caramel bits
1-2 Tbsp water or heavy cream
whole pecans, as many as you desire, I chopped some of them

Instructions
Line a baking sheet with either a silicone baking mat, parchment paper or wax paper.
Rough chop the almond bark into smaller pieces for quicker melting. Place in a glass bowl.
Microwave the glass bowl for 3 minutes on 50% power, stir. Microwave for another 1-2 minutes on 50% power. Add more time in 30 second intervals if needed until melted. Continue to stir the chocolate to keep it melted while you melt the caramel.
Place the caramel squares in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1-2 tbsp of water or heavy cream and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power. Stir. Microwave for an additional minute on 50% power, continue for 30 second intervals until the caramel is melted.
Reserve a small amount of chocolate for drizzling, about 1/4 cup.
Pour the melted chocolate over the silicone mat, spreading smooth with a spatula. Use a spoon or small cookie scoop and drop dollops of caramel on the bark. Swirl the chocolate and caramel together with a butter knife or spatula. Add the pecans (chopped and whole). Drizzle the remaining chocolate over the bark.
Allow the bark to harden on the counter for 2-3 hours. Using a sharp knife, cut the bark into pieces once it’s completely set. Store in an airtight container.

Worst kept Christmas Secret

My family are not great at keeping secrets. This is our not so secret fudge recipe. I have posted it before but my pictures went into the ether…. My mom used to make batches and batches of this fudge and ship it all over the place. I’ve done the same. It’s easy, not inexpensive, but easy to make. We used to cute it up and layer it into tins with wax paper. Now I just find a nice size container and hand out slabs of fudge instead of cut pieces. It ships like a dream too in the cold weather. This also contains the only alcohol we keep in our house, Kahlua. My uncles used to say they could smell the Kahlua when they would open the tin, something they always seemed to enjoy. I don’t make as many batches as I used to, but it’s gluten free so I tend to use that for our friends and family who can’t really do fun Christmas cookies, but still want to give a treat to at Christmas time. Just a word of note… the milk chocolate chips? They do not like the melt like the semisweet – no matter what… so if yours don’t, just enjoy the crunchier milk chocolate bits in the fudge, gives it a little texture.

Kahlua Creamy Fudge
What you need!
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 - 7 ounce marshmallow crème
2/3 cup evaporated milk
¼ cup butter
¼ cup Kahlua
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups semi sweet chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla

Line 8 inch square pan with foil. In 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, marshmallow crème, milk, butter, Kahlua, and salt. Bring to rapid boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; add all chocolate. Stir until melted. Add nuts and vanilla. Turn into prepared pan. Refrigerate until firm. To serve, cut in squares. Makes about 2 ¾ pounds of fudge.

I vow fancy delicious breakfast on Christmas Day!

This year I gave no room for suggestions for Christmas morning breakfast. I wasn't interested in any requests for cereal or cinnamon rolls in a tube. No freezer waffles or anything like that. I wanted these Cinnamon Sugar Twists. Christmas Eve, I had a pretty decent to do list for food prep - but these were an easy part of it. I would suggest you be careful placing the pieces of dough in the butter... I plopped one and a full-on shower and wardrobe change was necessary. Oops. I made them the day before and tossed them right in the fridge. On Christmas morning when I got up to walk (since the magic is less, they let me walk before we started at 8 AM) I took them out and tossed them in the oven with the light on - just enough to get the rising and proofing and getting to room temp. In the middle of gifts - got the oven on and the twists baking. The icing was nice because you could dip, drizzle or do whatever you want. I have different levels of icing appreciation in my house. We all loved these twists and even had some as leftovers! I kind of like this being my own self decided Christmas breakfast! Watch out family! Who knows what might happen next!

Cinnamon Sugar Twists
Ingredients
Dough:
1 ¼ cups milk (preferably not skim milk)
¼ cup room temperature water
6 tablespoons butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon instant or active dry yeast
1 large egg
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Cinnamon/Sugar:
1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
1 ½ tablespoons cinnamon
12 tablespoons butter, melted
Icing:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
For the dough, heat the milk until tiny bubbles form around the edges and the milk is steaming. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
Add the water, butter, and sugar. Let the mixture cool until warm (an instant-read thermometer should read 110 to 115 degrees F).
Add 2 cups of the flour and sprinkle the yeast on top. Mix until combined. dough will be thin. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes until slightly puffy and bubbly.
Add the egg and salt. Add the remaining flour (start with 1 3/4 to 2 cups flour) and mix, adding additional flour gradually, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and forms a soft, sticky ball. Don't over flour the dough.
Knead for 5-6 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes. Lightly grease a half sheet pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
Gently punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased countertop. Pat or roll the dough into a 15X10-inch thick rectangle.
Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough in half lengthwise (like a hot dog bun). Then cut into about 1 1/2-inch strips (so you'll end up with about 20 strips total – see pictures in the post for a visual).
For the cinnamon and sugar, in a medium bowl or shallow dish (like a pie plate), stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Dip each strip fully into the melted butter and then coat in the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Twist one or two times (try not to stretch the dough while dipping and twisting) and place side-by-side on the prepared sheet pan (two long rows of 10 strips each).
Cover and let rise until noticeably puffy, 30 to 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until baked through and very lightly golden.
For the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Add additional milk to thin (or more powdered sugar to thicken). The icing should be thick but pourable.
Serve cinnamon twists warm or at room temperature. They can be served with icing on the side for dipping or the icing can be drizzled over the top of the twists. The cinnamon twists are also delicious served plain without icing.

My wish is to be swimming in pecans to candy....

Every year my coworker brings in candied pecans that his wife makes. I seem to have missed that this year having contracted the plague... or what we now know is RSV. I've been sick for weeks and in and out of the office at work, mostly working remote to annoy less people with my coughing and sick antics. We sure missed the holiday nuts, so I decided to try to make some for my family instead. I should have used more nuts! They are going to fly through these. In the spring we are planning to plan a pecan tree, so in a few years we'll be swimming in pecans to candy at Christmas time - I can't wait!

Cinnamon Sugar Candied Pecans
Ingredients
1 large egg white
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cup raw pecans

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together egg white and 1 tablespoon water until frothy, about 2 minutes; set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine, pecans and egg white mixture until well combined. Stir in brown sugar mixture until evenly coated.
Spread pecan mixture onto prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Place into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring at halftime.
Let cool completely before serving.

Hidden cookies with rave reviews

Tis the season for holiday baking around here at the time of this writing. Our church hosts a live nativity each year and most of our family manages the bakery. Nicholas decided he's not a baker - he's more of the shepherd type, but the rest of us, are in the kitchen serving up hot cocoa and cookies to the over 850 people who come through our doors for a tour and then stay in the Bethlehem marketplace. Our church transforms - it's amazing. We offer homemade cookies and hot cocoa to our guests - homemade by people of our church. I always sign up to bake too - although this year I forgot that part, but I did bake. These cookies were what gave me the most anxiety... I just wasn't sure how they would go. Well... one of our other bakery helpers hid the box and was handing them out to volunteers rather than putting them on trays for our guests! I caught him after a while of not seeing any of that cookie go out. Then Sunday I had so many people comment and tell me how wonderful they were, so he was sharing them, just on the wrong side of the window. This recipe says it makes 12 cookies - those are insanely large cookies, I used my cookie scoop and used that as my guide for how big to make them. With the filling oozing out, that made for wonky shaped cookies. When they came out of the oven, I used a spoon to scoot the cookie back into a round shape, when they cooled they were great. Added some cream cheese frosting and they were very much a crowd favorite. I've even shared the recipe a few times. Makes my face all warm and glowy and it's not the fever talking! That's another story for another day.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups Cake Flour
2 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed (16 Tbsp.)
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Sugar Filling
1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
6 Tbsp. softened butter
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Make the cinnamon sugar filling. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, softened butter and cinnamon together until smooth. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, cake flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Place the cubed butter into the bowl of a stand mixture and secure the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on and cream for about 1 minute. Then add in the granulated sugar and cream until smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
Add in the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla extract and blend until mixed.
Gradually add in the dry ingredients, about 1/4 cup at a time.
On a clean, lightly floured surface, press the cookie dough into a long rectangle. (For sizing, you can use a 9×13 inch dish for reference.) Flatten out using your hands, no rolling pin necessary.
Spoon the cinnamon sugar filling onto the dough and into an even layer.
Roll the dough up, starting on the long edge, being careful not to tear the dough. (If you floured your surface this shouldn't be an issue!) ?
Cut the cookie dough into ~10-12 cookies, 4.5 oz each.
Roll cookies into balls, being sure to seal the filling inside so it doesn't ooze out. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly golden brown. Cool cookies on baking sheet for ~10-15 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.
Make the cream cheese frosting. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese and butter using a hand mixer. Then add in the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix until smooth. Add more powdered sugar as desired.
Spread frosting on top of cooled cookies, sprinkle frosting with more cinnamon if desired. Store cookies in the fridge for up to 5 days.