Monthly Archives: December 2010

December 3, 2010 · 2:22 pm

7 Layer Bars

7 Layer Bars are my 2nd cookie/bar of my Cookie Countdown to Christmas.  These bars are not necessarily Christmas treats, but my mom has been making them at Christmastime for as long as I can remember.  They are awesome and are very easy to make – they are actually the easiest cookie I bake at Christmastime!  They’re also very travel friendly if you want to share with friends or co-workers.  I also only have 6 layers in my bars: butter, graham crackers, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk, and shredded coconut.  The 7th layer is usually walnuts, but since my hubby doesn’t like walnuts, I left them out.  You definitely won’t miss the walnuts, but if you want to add them it can’t hurt right?

Also, my giveaway is still going on until tomorrow, so register to win a free cookbook!!

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 6-7 full sheets)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

  1. Melt butter in microwave and mix with graham cracker crumbs.
  2. Spread graham cracker crumbs on the bottom of a 13×9″ pan.
  3. Layer the chocolate chips over the graham cracker crumbs.
  4. Layer the butterscotch chips over the chocolate chips.
  5. Spread the condensed milk over the top.
  6. Sprinkle the top of condensed milk with shredded coconut.
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until graham cracker crust is golden brown.

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Filed under Baked Goods, Desserts

December 1, 2010 · 2:08 pm

Cookie Countdown to Christmas & Cookbook Giveaway!

Since this is my first Christmas as a new blogger, I’ve decided to do Happy When Not Hungry’s Cookie Countdown to Christmas.  Because I love to bake Christmas cookies and because my sister and I have baked cookies every year with my mom since I can remember, I decided I’d share with you some of our favorite Christmas treats.  While we tend to bake some of the same cookies every year, we also like to try new recipes too.  Most recently, my sister and I decided to try to bake Italian cookies.

Italian cookies remind me of my grandparents and my childhood because every year, my grandfather would drive 40 miles away to Florentine Bakery to buy these treats.  This is an old-school Italian bakery that my grandfather always boasted had the best almond paste cookies and pasticiotte. (It’s so old-school I couldn’t find a website!) It was a tradition and one that I definitely looked forward to.  Many of you are probably very familiar with Italian cookies; you’ve probably seen them in glass windows at specialty bakeries or maybe your family likes to get them at Christmas time as well.  They are beautiful goodies that are made and/or filled with ricotta, almond paste, pine nuts, figs, etc.

I came across a wonderful Italian cookie cookbook that has become one of my favorite cookbooks.  It’s called Sweet Maria’s Italian Cookie Tray.  I came across it because I was specifically searching for an Italian cookie cookbook.  Sweet Maria’s is actually an Italian bakery owned and operated by Maria Bruscino Sanchez, located in Waterbury, CT.  I love this cookbook because it has wonderful, authentic Italian cookie recipes like amaretti, pignoli, taralle, biscotti, etc.  Because I love all my readers, I decided to order this cookbook and give it away to one lucky reader!  Details about the giveaway are below.

Since I’m giving away Sweet Maria’s Italian Cookie Tray, I decided my first Christmas cookie recipe would be Jelly-Filled Cookies from this cookbook.  These cookies are simple to make, but delicious.  You can use whatever filling/jam you’d like.  My mom cans a lot of her own jams, so I used her fig jam and one of her berry jams.  Hope you guys enjoy these cookies and good luck with the giveaway!

I will select one winner at random via Random.org.  The lucky winner will receive Sweet Maria’s Italian Cookie Tray.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

  1. Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite holiday cookie is to bake and/or eat.
  2. For 1 extra entry, “Like” Happy When Not Hungry’s Facebook page and leave a comment telling me you did.
  3. For 1 extra entry, subscribe to my blog via email and leave a comment telling me you did.
  4. For 2 extra entries, post about this giveaway on your blog and link back to this post.  Leave me two separate comments telling me what you did.

Giveaway ends Saturday, December 4th at 11am Eastern Time.  Good luck!

(Our Christmas tree!)

Cookie Ingredients:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 3/4 cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

Filling:

1 cup jelly, any flavor

Directions:

  1. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the egg and sour cream and mix until combined.
  3. On low speed, mix in flour, baking powder, and soda and mix until combined.
  4. With the kneading needle, knead the dough until for 1-2 minutes.
  5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  7. Cut the dough in half and with a rolling pin, roll out dough onto a floured surface until thin, like a pie crust.
  8. Using a 2″ round cookie cutter or the bottom of a glass, cut out circles.
  9. Spoon 1/2 tsp of jelly into the center of each circle.
  10. Using a fork, seal the seams.
  11. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.
  12. Cool and then dust with powdered sugar.

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Filed under Desserts