Confession:

I want to be Martha Stewart when I grow up. Well, except for that whole talking funny thing. Honestly, I have no idea where she picked that up. No Jersey girl I've ever met talks like that.
So anyway, I finished my holiday baking over the weekend. Here's what was on the agenda:

1) Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies (these are the chewy peanut butter cookie recipe from the Mrs. Fields cookbook, with chocolate chips added. They are the BF's current favorites.)
2)Split Seconds-- this recipe is older than I am. I got it from my mom but it may have come from my grandmother. Basically, it's a cookie dough similar to shortbread, but a little sweeter. You roll it into logs, then dent the top of the logs. Fill them with jelly and bake. While they're still warm, you cut the logs up into cookie-size pieces. My favorite jelly for this is seedless raspberry but strawberry and apricot tend to work well too. Since I don't have it memorized, I'll try to post this recipe when I get home tonight.
3) White Trash-- This one I do have memorized. It's a holiday favorite with my family and friends. Here it is:
4 1/2 cups corn chex
4 1/2 cups rice chex (it's supposed to be 3 each of corn, rice and wheat but I think the wheat chex taste gross. It's up to you)
3 cups cheerios
2 handfuls pretzel sticks
1 12 oz. bag of M&Ms
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 lbs. white chocolate (I know the instinct is to use best quality chocolate. But honestly, I find nestle melts better than some of the fancier stuff.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (stick it in a heat safe bowl set on top of a pot with about an inch of boiling water). Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl or pot big enough to mix them around in. Drizzle them with the canola oil. Once the chocolate is melted, drizzle it over the dry mixture. Mix until the mixture is evenly coated with the chocolate. Spread it out on parchment paper. Once it dries completely, break it into chunks.

4) Chocolate Raspberry Truffles-- I got this recipe from the Martha Stewart Web site
I used Chambord to get the hint of raspberry but since you don't really cook this thoroughly, I wouldn't recommend it if you're giving them to kids.
5) snickerdoodles- this recipe came out of the Martha Stewart Cookie Book. YUM!
6) chocolate peppermint cookies. These are basically like thin mints, but covered in white chocolate instead and then sprinkled with crushed candy canes. It was the cookie of the month at the back of the December issue of Martha Stewart Living. Pretty tasty, but mine came out looking a bit more um... rustic than Martha's.
7) Muddy Buddies- This recipe came off the chex cereal box. Basically, I didn't want a ton of baking materials leftover after the holidays and this used up a lot of what I had. Besides, chocolate... peanut butter... crunchy... how can you go wrong?
8) Peppermint marshmallows-- so, for me, nothing says Christmas cheer like peppermint hot chocolate. So That was the inspiration for these... who doesn't put marshmallows into their hot chocolate, so why not just infuse the peppermint right into the marshmallows? The basis for the recipe came from this recipe Alton Brown did on Good Eats. The only thing I changed is that instead of vanilla extract I used peppermint. Marshmallows are really not as hard as everyone thinks, honest. The only special equipment I needed that I didn't already have was the kind of thermometer you'd use for frying or making candy. And actually all I did for that was dip into what I had bought for BF's stocking. He likes to fry chicken so I just gave our kitchen an early Christmas present.
OK, that's it for now! Some of these cookies are going to turn into gift baskets, so maybe next time I'll post some pics of the yumminess! Happy Holidays!