Candy, Cookies, & Bars









I have many memories of cookies from my past. When I was little I used to walk over to my Aunty Donna's neighbors whenever we would visit her. George was always working around the yard, and Mary was always cooking or crafting in the house. They called me "The Cookie Girl", because Mary would let me have one of her homemade chocolate chip cookies from a shiny tin in the freezer every visit.

I remember eating Vanilla wafers while playing cards for hours on end with my friend Annette in our camper/trailer. Our favorite card games were War and Uno.

I also remember one Christmas' I was lucky enough to get to make the dinner for everyone. We had up to 30 people at the party and it took one day of planning and shopping and two full days of baking and cooking. I remember my niece Casey coming over early to help us prepare the food. I told her that we were out of bulk sugar and so she would have to tear open enough small sugar packets (like the ones from restaurants) to make the 3 cups needed for a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. She patiently sat in the corner of the kitchen tearing open those little packets one at a time until she had enough. I still remember the look on her face when 5 minutes after she was done, we found the 10 pound bag of sugar in the pantry.

Caramel Chocolate Fingers
1 pkg. Chocolate Cake Mix.
3/4 c. melted butter.
2/3 c. evaporated milk (undiluted).
1 - 14oz pkg. vanilla caramels.
1 - 6 oz pkg. semisweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350. Blend together cake mix, butter, 1/3 c. evporated milk in medium mixing bowl. Pour half of mixture into a greased and floured 9x13 baking pan. Bake for 6 minutes.

In saucepan combine 1/3 c. evporated milk and caramels. Stir until blended well. Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked portion and evenly drizzle with caramel mixture. Continue to bake for 15 - 18 minutes or top looks dry. Cool and cut into small bars and serve.

Strawberry Pretzel Bars
Mix:
2 cups crushed pretzels
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cups melted butter

Place in buttered 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool.

Cream:
8oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
8oz Cool Whip

Spread over cooled pretzels.

Mix:
2 x 3oz pkg strawberry Jell-O
2 cups boiling water
1 pint strawberries, sliced or 1 pkg frozen

Let Jell-O mixture set until partially firm. Spread over cream cheese. Chill until firm set.

Punk'in Squares

1 pkg. Spiced cake Mix.
1/2 tsp. salt.
1/4 tsp. baking soda.
3/4 c. +  2 Tbsp. Crisco Oil.
1 x 8oz can of pumkin pie filling.
Whipped topping.
Pecan halves if desired.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, salt, baking soda, and oil until blended. Evenly spread mixture into a 9x13 baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes until edges are brown.

Prepare pie filling and pour into baked crust. Bake another 30 minutes until center is firm. Remove from oven and cool. Spread whipped topping over baked mixture. Decorate with nuts if desired. Store in fridge.

Pepper Cookies
1 cup sugar
1cup dark corn syrup
1 cup butter
1 Tbsp vinegar
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
5 cups sifted flour

Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter and vinegar in small pan and bring to a boil. Cool to room temperature, then stir in eggs. Sift together remaining ingredients and stir into butter mixture, blending well. Chill overnight. Divide dough into 8 or 9 equal portions and roll each out very thin on floured board. Cut into diamond or any other shape and bake on greased baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Store in loosely covered jar in a dry place so cookies will remain crisp.

Oatmeal Cookies
Cream Together:
1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar

Then Add:
2 eggs
vanilla to taste
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup walnuts

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cow Chip Cookies
2 cups melted margarine
2 cup brown sugar
2 cups sugar
4 eggs beaten slightly
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups corn flakes

Blend sugars and margarine. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Sift flour, soda and baking powder together and add to mixture. Next add oatmeal and corn flakes.

Add either...

1 cup raisins and 1 cup coconut, or
1 cup dry roasted peanuts and 1 cup butterscotch chips, or
1 cup chopped pecans and 1 pkg chocolate chips, or
1 cup coconut and 1 cup chopped pecans and 1 pkg chocolate chips

Mix well. Drop by ice cream scoopful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly done.

Chocolate Spoons

12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp shortening
35-45 plastic spoons

Melt chocolate and shortening in microwavable bowl in microwave. Dip spoons in chocolate to cover bowl of spoon, and place on wax paper til fully  set. Decorate with white chocolate if desired. Cool thoroughly before wrapping. Stir spoon in coffee or hot cocoa for a luxurious beverage. Try dipping candy canes instead of spoons for a chocolate mint coffee treat.

Strawberry Bars

1 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. firm butter
1/4 c. milk
Powdered sugar
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. oatmeal
1 egg
2/3 c. strawberry jam

In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and granulated sugar; mix in oatmeal. Cut in butter until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Beat egg and milk. Gradually add egg mixture to flour mixture, mixing until well blended. Spread about half of the dough in a greased, paper lined or non stick 8" square baking pan. Spread evenly with jam. Drop remaining dough evenly by spoonfuls over jam. Bake at 375 degrees until well browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Cut into bars while still warm. Sift lightly with powdered sugar.