Special Holiday Recipes

The Holiday Season is definitely a special time, and the following recipes are not just for Christmas; but could be enjoyed all year round for those special occasions.

These are fun to make, and fun and good to eat! How about sharing them with friends and family, or have your kids help create them?!

RUSSIAN TEA BALLS

These cookies are my absolute favorite in the world, and are extremely rich!

They are very easy to make, and kids love to roll them in powdered sugar when they are done. I would recommend doubling the recipe to make more; the following amount yields two dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

½ cup of butter, softened

2 tbsp. fine granulated sugar

1 cup finely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

1 cup of flour

10x powdered sugar

Cream butter and granulated sugar together. Add flour, vanilla and the nuts. Firm into one inch balls, placing them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake 45 minutes at 300 degrees, until slightly golden brown. Immediately after they are done cooking, roll them in powdered sugar, and let cool. Roll again a second time in powdered sugar before placing in a container for storage.

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

This is my absolute favorite cake recipe, and is very easy because it is based on the classic Duncan Hines pre-mixed cake recipe.

Ingredients:

1 package of Dunkin Hines Moist Yellow cake mix

1 package of vanilla pudding mix

4 eggs

1 cup of milk

¾ cup of vegetable oil

1 bar of German Chocolate, shredded

1 cup of chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven at 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a mixer. Add half of the nuts to the mixture. Place the rest of the nuts at the bottom of a greased bunt pan, and then add the cake batter. Bake for about an hour.

HOMEMADE CHEESECAKE

Ingredients

4 8oz packages of cream cheese

1 ½ cups of sugar

4 eggs, slightly beaten

3 tbsp corn starch

3 tbsp flour

1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup melted butter

1 pint of sour cream

Graham Cracker Crust: 1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup melted butter