Peppermint Cocoa Crinkles

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup of butter

1 3/4 cup of sugar, divided

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Frosting

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Instructions:

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl, set aside. -- I usually don't do this step, but with this recipe it does work better. Also, it helps to run your whisk through it and make sure it is mixed up.

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat; cool slightly. Add 1 1/4 cups sugar, whisk until smooth. Whisk in eggs, on at a time. Stir in vanilla. Stir into flour mixture just until blended. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350, grease cookie sheets. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl. Place on sheets with plenty of space -- I do 12 per sheet on my 11 x 15.

Bake 12 minutes. Let cookies cool completely.

Placed crushed candy canes on wax paper. Spread frosting on the bottom of cookie. Place second cookie on, bottoms together to create a sandwich. Push them together until frosting starts to appear on the edge. Roll through candy canes.

Review:

Pros: We love these at Christmas time, they are a nice twist on an old favorite (homemade oreos). They turn out perfect almost every time. I've also made these the regular way (soften the butter and whip the sugar in, then eggs & vanilla and dry ingredients) and they have still turned out. They are even good if you run out of frosting and just dip them in milk.

Cons: It always makes less than you think, because it takes 2 cookies to make a sandwich and it's like eating twice as many calories per cookie.

Frosty Pumpkin Squares

Ingredients:

1 quart of vanilla ice cream

1 pkg of graham crackers, smashed into crumbs

1/4 cup of butter (or more, based on how you like your crust)

1 cup of canned pumpkin

1/2 cup of brown sugar

3/4 tsp of salt

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of ginger

1/2 tsp of nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Let ice cream stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes until it's soft. (I recommend putting a plate underneath it... or you'll have a mess)

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs and butter.  Press into ungreased 8 or 9" pan (I used 9").  You can save some to garnish the top if you like. 

3. In large bowl, beat pumpkin, brown sugar and spices with wire whisk. Stir in ice cream with spoon.  I actually ended up using the wire whisk at the end because I still had a few lumps that weren't all the way melted.  Spread over crumb crust. 

4. Freeze uncovered for at least 4 hours.  Serve, or cover and keep in freezer until ready to serve. Wait 10 minute to soften before serving. 

Review: 

Really nice twist on a pumkin pie or cheesecake. It's got a good pumpkin pie flavor without being so heavy and no need to serve ice cream with it! 

Pros:  Really easy to make. Again, not alot of dishes to clean up.  It's easy to make before hand and serve later, especially if you are cooking a whole big meal. Easy subsitute for pumpkin pie without having to bake it.   

Cons: It does take a whole quart of vanilla ice cream (which is Michael's favorite and he hated to part with it)

Approximate Cost: $4.75  (I bought the ice cream, pumpkin and graham crackers on sale, so it maye be closer to $6 without the sale.)