Start With a Sugar Cookie Mix And... Make Snickerdoodles!

Yes, my regular readers know that I don't buy cookie mixes. I don't have them on hand. I don't use them. But I know most of my friends do and I know that kids, friends and family probably don't care if they are completely homemade or not. When you take a pan of hot, fresh baked cookies out of the oven, the aroma transcends any preconceived notions of whether or not starting with a package mix is ok or not!

When I received a Betty Crocker email that had this recipe in it I immediately thought of a couple of my busy Mommy friends who do have cookie mixes on hand and how they might love to have a recipe like this one. Quick and easy they can pull off cute little Christmas cookies in no time! Hope you enjoy it too.


Snickerdoodles (starting with a store bought sugar cookie mix)

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
red and green decorating icings

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, butter and egg until dough forms. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. In small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Roll balls in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 11 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute. Remove from cookie sheets. If desired, roll tops of warm cookies in additional sugar and cinnamon mixture. Cool completely, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired using icing.

Olive Salad (Green Olive Salad with Kalamatra Olives too!)

I am an absolute pushover for green olives. I love the salty taste, the texture... I love everything about them and the fact is, olives are one of the earliest food memories I have. I literally cannot remember a time when I didn't eat them. First, by plucking out the red pimento inside and sticking them on my fingers and eating them off one by one and later, one of my favorite sandwiches (that I still eat once in a while to this day) are cheese and olive sandwiches; 2 buttered slices of bread with a slice of American cheese, a ton of sliced green olives and squished together firmly between my palms to keep the olives from falling out. It's a comfort food from my high school and junior high days and one that makes my mouth water just thinking about the salty goodness!

That said, you'll understand my excitement a few years ago when I found a couple olive salad recipes. I added this one to my list to make on one of the 'holidays' and really, I should have made this one yesterday for Thanksgiving but I'm going to tuck it into my brain to make for our extended families Christmas Eve celebration as I come from a family of 'olive lovers' and I know it will be a hit!



Olive Salad



3 jars green olives, drained
1 pound Kalamata olives, pitted
1 can of ripe black olives
1 medium jar of roasted red peppers
5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 5-6 stalks celery, chopped with leaves too
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
3T dry Italian seasoning, crushed
3/4 cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper




Mix all ingredients together and marinate at least 24 to 48 hours before serving.

Cucumber Appetizers with Herbed Cream Cheese

If I was to pick a top food that is always on hand, always eaten, always used in at least 5 recipes a week and is versatile, it would have to be cream cheese. We eat a lot of it! From cheesecakes to dip, appetizers to cheese sauces, casseroles to pasta fillings.... cream cheese is one of the most incredible foods! Here is a quick and easy appetizer you can throw together for yourself or company.

4 oz. cream cheese
1 T sour cream
2 T fresh basil - chopped
2 T fresh chopped parsley
1 t chopped fresh oregano
smidgen (1/4 t) fresh rosemary
2 green onions, chopped
1 t lemon juice
1 seedless cucumber (English)

Blend or mix the cream cheese, sour cream, herbs, onions and lemon juice until smooth. Slice the cucumber into 1/4 inch rounds. Either dab a teaspoon of cheese filling on each or place in a ziploc baggy and squeeze a bit out in a pretty dollop. You can garnish with a sliver of red bell pepper and a little oregano if desired.

Imitation Aussie Bites

Todays recipe is a copy cat recipe for the Aussie Bites that you can buy at membership warehouses. Someone brought in a container to work this week and we've all been enjoying them in the break room. I had one today and while studying it for ingredients decided it was basically a chewy granola bar, but made in a little muffin tin.

I went online to find the recipe and all I found (over and over and over again) was the same recipe posted on numerous sites. It had mixed reviews though - most said it was too dry and crumbly. Looking over the ingredients I would concur. I think it has too much butter and flour in it to be 'chewy'. So the next step was to look up a chewy granola bar recipe and compare the two. The end result is my own version which is this*;

Imitation Aussie Bites

1 cup quick rolled oats
1/3 cup quick oats, processed till finely ground in a food processor or blender
2/3 c whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar, optional
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
1 c unsweetened coconut (I think you could use regular sweetened too)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dried raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup melted butter
1/4 c canola oil
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons hot water



Combine the dry ingredients and fruit into a bowl. Heat the butter and honey in the microwave, stir in the oil and add to the dry ingredients. Place a heaping tablespoon full into mini muffin pans and press down firmly. Bake at 350 degree's 7-10 minutes until set and let cool.


*I'm reserving the right to tweak this recipe and I'll update if needed after it's tried and true!

Mini Thanksgiving Dinner Cupcakes

I smile to post this because it's the third year in a row on this recipe blog that I've shared one of our Thanksgiving Traditions with my readers. Yes... Thanksgiving can officially take place now that I have the two dozen tiny mini turkey dinner cupcakes made!

Starting with a frosted cupcake, topped with a cookie, you then spread a thin round layer of frosting. Using Brach's Maple Nut Candies for 'turkey', melted caramels for the 'gravy', white frosting 'potatoes' a dot of yellow food color gel for 'butter' and sugar crystal 'cranberries' with nonpareil 'green beans'; it only looks like a meat and potatoes kind of meal. It's really a sweet treat!

Thanks to my blogs I've shared this 'recipe' many times and I'm happy to report that I now have many, many bloggers and friends and readers that make these (or similar using the products they can find in their own grocery stores) every year for their families. What a great tradition! Are you ready to start???