Let the Holiday Baking Begin!

I've been trying a couple of new recipes (what a shock!) to see if I want to use 'em for my holiday goodies. These two recipes are quite good, so I say, give them a try!

The first is called Coal Cookies and it's from King Arthur Flour. They are so good, you'll want to be naughty just to get a package of this 'coal' in your stocking. The cookies get 'shaped' after you bake them. I did half shaped, and half un-shaped. For the sake of speed I won't be shaping my gift cookies - it takes to0 much time, and isn't really necessary (unless of course you are going for the coal look). I used a mixture of macadamia nuts, semi-sweet chips and vanilla chips for the 2 cups of chocolate chips - and again I say, they are good!! You make the call... here's the recipe.

The second recipe is for Sweet Potato Muffins. I found this one on recipezaar.com and gave it a try with some extra sweet potatoes. Surprisingly, they are rather good. Ellie loved them fresh from the oven, even came back and asked for more please! It always makes me happy when she likes something I make from scratch! The muffin isn't very sweet potato-ey tasting... they are dense and lightly spiced, plus they have a pretty orange color to them. I've made them twice (the second time I doubled the recipe and made a couple of loaves for gifting). I really like to freeze muffins so that I can have one whenever I get a craving. Just pop it into the microwave for a few seconds, then slice it open and toast it... add a little butter and yummy, yummy for my tummy! If you care to give them a try, here is the recipe.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend..! We'll be trying yet again to get a picture of the three of us for our christmas card. We've already tried once, with unsatisfactory results! Tomorrow will be the final try - if we don't get one of our trio, the cards will go out with a photo of only our cutie pie... Probably better that way, who wants to see our mugs!!! Bye for now!