Day #11 - Homemade Goodies Are A Perfect Gift! 6 Easy recipes! - 12 Days of Christmas!

Via

Time is running out for shipping items, so why not make some gifts
 yourself?  I have rounded up my family's favorite holiday recipes
 along with a couple from friends. Every recipe included is quick
 and easy!  The wonderful aromas created while baking
 these goodies is an added bonus!

Pictured above are snowball cookies!  For the recipe click here!

Cooking Classy made them into snowballs but at my house we

make them into small little finger shapes and call them lady fingers!

Via

 Pop over to my beautiful friend, Pamela Copeman's blog for a no fail sugar

 cookie recipe.  When my kids were little we baked all kinds of goodies and

 shared with our neighbors and friends.

Here are some of my favorites to make for holiday giving.  Hope this post puts

you in a baking mood!  We plan to bake tonight at the Mende house!  Can't wait

to try Pamela's cookie recipe!  

Photo and Recipe Via

Cheese straws

Yield 10 dozen

30 minute prep

Bakes in 12 min.

1 1/2 cups butter softened

1 (1lb) block sharp cheddar cheese shredded 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 to 2 teaspoons ground red pepper

4 cups all purpose flour

Beat first 5 ingredients at medium speed with a heavy-duty stand mixer until blended. Gradually add flour, beating until 

well combined.  Use cookie press to make star shaped long ribbons.line baking sheet.  cut ribbons into 2 inch pieces. 

Bake at 350 for 12 min.  

For Cheese wafers by combining ingredients then chill dough for 2 hr.  shape dough into 4 logs, wrap each in plastic and chill for 8 hrs, then remove from frig and cut in 1/4" slices place on parchment paper lined baking sheets and bake on 350 for approx 15 or until brown, remove and cool.  store in airtight container for a week.  Note: if you don't have a stand mixer use a handheld just make sure to divide the ingredients in half and work with two batches.

Credit via My Blessed Life

 Sausage Balls are my family's favorite holiday treat.  My husband has become quite the sausage ball maker.  I must admit a dirty little secret....I don't eat them but everyone else in my world LOVES them.  You will too if you have never had them.  They are definitely a holiday must have at the Mende house. 

Recipe and Photo via She Wears Many Hats

She Wears Many Hats has my exact recipe for salted pecans!  We love to make these for cocktails.  The kids love to snack on them too.  There are only three ingredients so nothing complicated here.  

Salted Pecans

5 min. prep

approx 15 min cook time depending on your oven

4 cups of pecans

 tablespoons of butter

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add butter to large baking sheet and put in oven to melt, then add pecans and salt toss to coat and spread in even layer.  Bake for approx 15 min.  toss halfway through cooking time.  Watch carefully because they can burn quickly.  Store in air tight container or zip loc bag until ready to serve.

Ok, so the next recipe I'm sharing isn't for gift giving but if you have some

 friends in, try this....

Click for Recipe

Toasted marshmallow shot glasses !!!!

Cheri Alberts of YouTube's The Watering Mouth teaches us all how

 to make them!  Click the link and watch the video!

I have a couple other recipes I'll share later but that's enough for now! 

Gotta go run some errands!   Happy Holidays!  Let me know what your favorite

holiday recipes are!  I would love to know!