

Calling all procrastinators! I have one easy and delicious recipe and one recipe for those of you who love to be creative.
These wonderful Salted Dark Chocolate Turtle Bars was the second place winner in last year’s cookie contest sponsored by our local newspaper. If you love dark chocolate, caramel and pecans as I do, I can promise you will love them. A little sprinkle of sea salt on top makes them especially delightful.

Need a last minute gift idea made from your loving hands? For my bars, I prepared them in a set of 4-1/2 inch non-stick tart pans so that I could make each slice just a bite or two since they are rich. After chilling, they were simple to cut each round into 8 slices with a butcher knife. The recipe makes enough to fill all six mini tart pans or, as the recipe calls for, a 17 x 11 baking pan, cut into squares.

The second new recipe I made this year was featured in last year’s holiday issue of Midwest Living magazine featuring Scandinavian recipes. They are cardamom rye cookies with royal icing piped into a square, leaving a frame around the outside and then painted with paste food coloring and edible gold dust diluted with vodka. These cookies also taste great plain.

My painting skills are definitely rusty but they were fun to make and enjoyed by my husband and grandsons.

Both would be delicious with peppermint tea in the afternoon. An idea shared by my friend, Monique, at La Table de Nana…just add a peppermint stick to your favorite tea. Delicious and perfect for Christmas!

We enjoyed having our grandsons for the day yesterday and, since it was in the upper 40s here, we took them for a hike in a nearby park. So hard to get these two to smile for the camera at the same time 🙂 As you can see, no snow here so it will be a green Christmas.

May those of you who celebrate, have a warm and wonderful Christmas! Thank you for all of your support. Love and happiness to you!♥
Printable Recipe
I halved this recipe which filled 6 mini tart pans.
Crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon salt
Toppings:
2 ¼ cups pecan halves, very coarsely chopped
1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups dark or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Coarse sparkly sugar (optional) for sprinkling over bars
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 17-by-11-inch baking pan with foil for easy removal and cutting of bars.
Combine
crust ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until blended.
Mixture will be dry and crumbly. Pat mixture firmly into the ungreased,
foil-lined pan.
For second layer, arrange pecans evenly over crust in a single layer.
For
third layer, combine the 1¼ cups butter and 1 cup brown sugar in a
saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring. Cook 3
minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over pecans. Bake in
preheated oven 15 to 18 minutes, until golden and bubbly.
Remove
from oven. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate morsels. Let stand 3 to 4
minutes, or until slightly melted. With a light touch, gently swirl
chocolate with a knife, leaving some of the morsels whole (do not
spread).
Sprinkle evenly with coarse sea salt.
Sprinkle with decorative coarse sugar, if desired.
Let
cool completely on wire rack. Chill about 30 minutes in the
refrigerator to set chocolate. This makes the bars easier to cut. Cut
into small bars, as these cookies are quite rich.
My Notes: I
made 1/2 recipe and filled 6 4-1/2 inch mini tart pans with crust and
filling. Chilled in the refrigerator and cut into each pieces per tart
pan.port in the past year. Health and happiness to you all would be my gift for the New Year.
Adapted from Sue Shannon and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Cookie Contest
Printable Recipe
1 cup butter, softened One recipe Royal Icing Paste Food Colors In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut Bake Royal Icing Add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to prepared Royal Icing until it’s the consistency of pancake batter. Food Coloring Paint: In a very small bowl or custard cup, mix 1 Store un-frosted cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or label and freeze up to 3 months. Royal Icing 4 cups powdered sugar (16 ounces) 1-2 drops glycerin for shine (optional)
For the paste food color and edible gold dust, mix 1 teaspoon with 1 teaspoon vodka (or water). |