Our Family Christmas Cookie and Candy Recipes

We hope you enjoyed the cookies and candies we made as much as we enjoyed making them.  All of the treats were family recipes from one childhoods.  We've posted the recipes here for you to enjoy with your family.  Happy Holidays!

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1977 Taylor County Fair, Abilene, TX 1st Place Fair Peanut Brittle

Recipe by Mrs W.A. McKee
1st Place, Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp water
1/2 cup white karo
2 cup peanuts
1 tsp soda

Boil first 4 ingredients until light brown (about 8 to 10 minutes). Stir in soda. Pour onto greased cookie sheet to cool.

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Opal's Peanut Butter Drop Cookies

1/2 peanut butter
1 egg

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c white sugar

1/4 t salt

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c brown sugar

1 t soda

1 t vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar.  Add egg, vanilla and peanut butter. Beat well.  Mix in sifted flour, soda and salt. Shape into small balls and flatten.  Bake on cookie sheet, 10 minutes in moderate oven (375 degrees).  Makes 44 small cookies.

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Grandma Opal's Chocolate Cookies

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 9 Min

Total: 29 min

1 cup shortening (Crisco Baking Sticks work perfectly)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted

1/2 teaspoon salt, sifted

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 cup toasted chopped pecans (optional, see below for toasting instructions)

Step 1: Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Step 2: Sift flour with baking soda, salt, and unsweetened cocoa powder; set aside.

Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening with both sugars at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color.

Step 4: Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. mix on low speed until incorporated.

Step 5: Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts (optional)

Step 6: Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Press down on each with your finger to make them slightly flat without making them too thin. You want them to be more of a disc than a ball.

Step 7: Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the cookies don't look raw in the middle. They will look slightly wet, that is okay. They're a soft cookies and since they're chocolate it can be easy to overbake them. I wouldn't go more than 11 min.

Step 8: After letting them sit for a couple minutes on the cookie sheet, remove them to a rack and let them cool.

Toasting Pecans:

There are several ways to do this but this is my preferred way to do it.

Step 1: Chop pecans to about the size of a tictac.

Step 2: Heat a skillet on med-high heat and add about a teaspoon (maybe a little more) of oil to the pan. I prefer avocado oil but you can use any good oil.

Step 3: Once the pan and oil are heated, add the pecans carefully so you don't splatter the oil. 

Step 4: Stir the nuts around in the pan to prevent them from burning.

Step 5: When you start to see them get darker and smell like they are toasting, add a pinch of kosher salt and continue to stir until they are as toasted as you would like without letting them burn.

Step 6: Pour onto a dry paper towel and allow to cool for a few minutes. Try really hard not to eat them all before they can be added to the cookies. :(

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No-Bake Cookies

Ty as a kiddo.

2 C Sugar

8 T/ or 1 stick butter or margarine

3 T cocoa(Iuse the Hersheys Dark)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup of Jif peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups oatmeal

Put everything in the pot EXCEPT OATMEAL (see hint below) and cook stirring until soft ball stage (takes about 15 minutes or so). Drop a very small amount in cold water to test.  When it forms a soft ball in the water it's done. Once at soft ball stage, take off heat and add oatmeal. Drop onto wax paper thats been put onto a bath towel. 

HINT- do not turn on the stove till you get all ingrediants into pan

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Mama's Divinity

One of my favorite Christmas memories is of my Grandma Grace making Divinity.  I've never found a recipe that is exactly like hers but this is the closest I've found so far. ~ Angie

GGrandma Grace Phillips Martin

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Prep Time:10 min  Cook Time:30 min  Level:Intermediate

Serves:8 to 10 servings

4 cups sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
3/4 cup cold water
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
2 cups chopped pecans

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir only until sugar has dissolved. Do not stir after this point. Cook syrup mixture until it reaches 250 degrees F on a candy thermometer, bringing it to a hard ball stage. 

While the syrup is cooking, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Once the sugar mixture reaches 250 degrees F, carefully pour a slow steady stream of syrup into the stiffly beaten egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Add the vanilla and continue to beat until mixture holds its shape, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in
pecans.

Using 2 spoons, drop the divinity onto waxed paper, using 1 spoon to push the candy off the other. This may take a little practice because the technique is to twirl the pushing spoon, making the candy look like the top of a soft serve ice cream. If the candy becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water. You will need to work fast when making this type of candy. After you spoon the cooked sugar and nuts onto the waxed paper, you're done. 

Cool the candies on racks completely. You can store them in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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Peanut Butter Fudge

Ty's grandmother made Peanut Butter Fudge very similar to this recipe.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2003

From http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/peanut-butter-fudge-recipe/index.html

Prep Time:  10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

2 hr 0 min

Cook Time:

4 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

64 (1-inch) pieces

Ingredients

• 8 ounces unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound powdered sugar

Directions

Combine the butter and peanut butter in a 4-quart microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 2 minutes on high. Stir and microwave on high for 2 more minutes. (Use caution when removing this mixture from the microwave, it will be very hot.) Add the vanilla and powdered sugar to the peanut butter mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. The mixture will become hard to stir and lose its sheen. Spread into a buttered 8 by 8-inch pan lined with parchment paper. Fold the excess parchment paper so it covers the surface of the fudge and refrigerate until cool, about 2 hours. Cut into 1-inch pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

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