Christmas Treats!

Here are my two favorite Christmas treats!
1) Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
24-36 Mini-Peanut Butter Cups


- Creme butter, peanut butter, and both sugars
- Beat in egg and vanilla
- Add flour, salt, and baking soda
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place in lined mini-muffin tins
- Bake 8 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees
- While cookies are baking, unwrap peanut butter cups
- Remove from oven and promptly push a peanut butter cup in the center of each cookie


2) Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Cake (Courtesy of Anne Thornton's Dessert First)

Crust:
1 Stick + 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1 2/3 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 9-Ounce Packages of Chocolate Wafer Cookies


Glaze:
3/4 Cup Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate


Filling:
8-Cups Premium Vanilla Ice Cream
1 Cup Coarsely Crushed Red & White Peppermint Candies
1 Teaspoon Peppermint Extract

For the crust: Cut the butter into pats and add to a medium heatproof bowl along with the chocolate chips. Place the bowl over 1 inch of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Once the butter and chocolate start to melt, stir to combine and remove from the heat. Finely crush the chocolate wafers in a food processor until it becomes a fine meal. In a large bowl, combine the wafer crumbs with the melted chocolate and blend until the crumbs are moistened. Reserve a heaping 1 cup crumb mixture in a small bowl. Press the remaining crumb mixture in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch diameter springform pan with 3-inch high sides. Freeze 1 hour.

For the glaze: In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the cream and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and whisk until it melts. Set aside to cool until room temperature, about 1 hour.

For the filling: Quickly mix the ice cream, crushed candies and extract in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until blended. Put half the ice cream mixture onto the frozen crust and spread out. Evenly scatter the reserved cookie crumbs over the ice cream in the springform pan, pressing the crumbs down gently. Pour half of the chocolate glaze over the cookie crumbles and ice cream. Freeze for about 3 hours.

When you about ready to repeat the layers, place the glaze back over low heat, just until pourable, but not warm. Remove the springform pan from the freezer and repeat with the remaining ice cream and glaze. Place back into the freezer for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Remove the cake from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving for easy removal of the springform sides. Release the pan sides and transfer the cake to a platter.

Cook's Note: Place your chef knife or your cake knife in a pitcher of warm water to help ease the cutting of your cake.

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do!! :)