Red Velvet Truffles from the kitchen of Mieke Embry

Looking for delectable ways to sweeten your holiday party this year? Red velvet truffles add a new spin to baking a cake. Pecan turtle doves transform a traditional chocolate candy into a snack that offers the perfect combination of salty and sweet, and don¹t forget about your classic Christmas flavors with chocolate peppermint cookies.

Red Velvet Truffles

—1 box of Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix

—1/2 tub of cream cheese frosting

—Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate

—red and green food coloring (optional)

—white chocolate (optional)

—2/3 to 1 teaspoon oil

1. Prepare sheet cake according to box recipe.

2. Once cake is baked, cool completely.

3. Break up the cake into small chunks and mix in 1/2 of a tub of cream cheese frosting.

4. Stir all together with your mixer until cake is crumbly.

5. Roll into balls and place on wax paper lined cookie sheets.

6. Put in the freezer (or refrigerator) for 30 minutes or so.

7. Melt Hershey’s semi sweet or dark chocolate, adding approximately 2/3 – 1 teaspoon oil to help coat balls.

8. Once melted, take a toothpick and dip the velvet balls into the chocolate, and place on wax paper. Place back in the freezer or fridge for 30 minutes to set up.

9. To make more festive truffles, melt white chocolate and use food coloring to tint the white chocolate. Drizzle over truffles.

NOTE: You can make this with any cake mix, icing and any chocolate.

—From the kitchen of Mieke Embry

Holiday Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

— 2-¼ cups all-purpose flour

— ¾ cups Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder

— 1 tsp. baking soda

—  ¼ teaspoons salt

— 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

— 1 cup packed light brown sugar

— ¾ cups granulated sugar

— 2 eggs

— 1-½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

— 2 ½ cups Andes peppermint chips

Icing

— 2 cups sifted powdered sugar

— 3 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter with the sugars until fluffy (approximately 2 minutes).

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Scrape sides of bowl as necessary.

5. Add vanilla.

6. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture a little at a time.

7. Gently mix in the peppermint chips.

8. Place teaspoons of dough on a cookie sheet.

9. Bake for 7-8 minutes.

10. Cool for one minute on the pan before transferring to wax paper to cool completely.

11. Drizzle icing over the top of warm cookies.

12. Sprinkle with Andes peppermint candies while glaze is still wet. Let cookies stand for 10-20 minutes until set.

—From the kitchen of EJ Vernon

 

Haystacks

—1 pouch of Fiber One cereal

—½ cup of reduced fat peanut butter

—1 pkg. of semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1. Melt chocolate and peanut butter together.

2. Stir in cereal.

3. Drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let harden.

NOTE: You can use either butterscotch or chocolate morsels.

—From the kitchen of Shannon McCrary

Rolo Pecan Turtle Doves

—mini pretzels

—1 bag of Rolos candies

—pecans

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place pretzels on a cookie sheet.

3. Place one Rolo on each pretzel.

4. Put in oven for approximately 3-5 minutes. Do not cook for more than 5 minutes.  Rolos should not appear melted.

5. Remove from the oven, and place a pecan on top of each Rolo, and press lightly to spread Rolo onto pretzel.

6. Cool in the fridge or at room temperature.

—From the kitchen of Dawn Blasingame