Holiday Recipes

Easy Holiday Recipes

Holiday recipes include the best holiday baking recipes for all your holiday parties including holiday desserts recipes, holiday appetizer recipes and other healthy recipes for your festivities throughout the year.

Pecan Praline Brownies

We are always looking for something new to try for the holidays.  That something special that might become a tradition in your family.  We start this recipe with a basic brownie mix and dress it up for the holidays!  Any recipe that starts with "  Chocolate Lovers Milk Chocolate Chunk "  automatically gets our attention. It only gets better from there.  Definitely a keeper.

(Bonus: Use baking to get the kids involved. Have them stir AND count.  Packing the brown sugar is also a kid-friendly activity)

 Holiday Baking Ingredients

Brownies:
1 package Duncan Hines Chocolate Lovers Milk Chocolate Chunk brownie mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil ( plus some to grease the pan )
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Holiday Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9" x 9" square baking pan with the canola oil or PAM baking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the brownie mix, eggs, water, oil and pecans.
Stir with a wooden spoons until combined.  It should only take about 50 strokes.  Count them!
Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes.  Do not overbake.

While the brownies are in the oven, make the topping.

Combine all the topping ingredients together in a medium bowl until stir until well combined.

When the brownies come out of the oven, and they are still warm, spread the topping over the top.
Return the brownies to the oven and bake another 15 minutes, until the topping is set.

Cool completely on a wire rack.
Cut into bars, make about 16 squares.

Holiday Holly Cookies

WOW!!  We are talking Christmas now!  This is one of our family traditions around the holidays. Favorite of young and old alike.  Every cookie tray will brighten up once you add these. These are perfect for a cookie exchange.  Quick and easy to make. If you can make a rice krispie treat, then you are already a pro. 


Holiday Cooking Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

16 oz marshmallows
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoon green food coloring

4 1/2 cups corn flakes

wax paper for assembling and drying

Holiday Cooking Instructions

In a large pan, melt the butter, marshmallows and vanilla over medium heat.
Stir constantly to prevent scorching.
Add the food coloring and stir until well combined.

Place the corn flakes in a large bowl.
Add the marshmallow mixture to the corn flakes and stir until all the flakes are completely covered.

Using two spoons, drop the cookies onto the wax paper in small mounds.
Work quickly as the mixture cools it becomes tacky.

Press 2 or 3 cinnamon candies on each cookie.

Allow to set at least 24 hours.

Thanksgiving Oreo Turkeys

This is one of these great holiday cookie recipes project that you can share with the kids. You will simply fall in love with these adorable little creatures and they are entirely and completely yummy. Depending on the age of your helpers, you may need to assist with the cutting of the candy.

Read the instructions through, beginning to end, before attempting the assembly. It will give you an idea of the whole magic of making these little cuties. Placing each on a cupcake paper will make them easier to manage.

One great thing about this recipe is you can make as few or as many as you want, depending on the attention span of your helpers. Any leftover ingredients will be happily consumed!

Best Holiday Ingredients

For each of these precious little turkeys you will need:

2 double stuff Oreo cookies
1 small Reese's peanut butter cup
1 Whopper malted milk ball
9 pieces of candy corn
white frosting
black frosting

Holiday Cookie Assembly Instructions

Place the peanut butter cups in the fridge, this will make them easier to cut.

Take one of the Oreos and carefully separate one side of cookie from the other, leaving the frosting on the remaining side of the cookie,.

To make the tail feathers, gently press the pointed end of 6 candy corn pieces into the frosting along half of the circle. Use some of the white frosting to "fix" the cookie back together.

Take the second Oreo and lay it on a flat surface. Pick up the first Oreo, put some frosting on the bottom edge of the cookie and place it one side of the Oreo that is on the table, making the tail feathers upright. Carefully place the cookies against an edge, wall or book, to prop it up while the frosting dries. Add more frosting if necessary to keep it upright.

For the body of the turkey, take the peanut butter cup out of the refrigerator and cut off a small piece so that it will stand on it side.

Place some frosting on the flat side and the opposite side, attach it to the Oreos, to form the body. Add the Whopper on top of the peanut butter cup to form the head. Use more frosting to fix it to the back Oreo.

To form the eyes, place two small circles of white frosting. Add a smaller dot of black frosting for the pupils.

For the beak, trim the tops off one of the candy corns or a dab of frosting.

To make the wings of the turkey, trim off the bottoms of 2 pieces of candy corn, (set them aside to use later) glue the wings in place with the frosting to each side of the peanut butter cup.

Use the bottom pieces of the candy corn ( that you saved from the wings) to form the feet. Use frosting to secure the feet to the front of the body. Or we used some frosting to form the feet if you are artistically inclined.

Allow to set about 20 minutes before moving them.

Happy Thanksgiving!