Sweet Popcorn Mix

I could say that my family comes from a long line of bakers and the pressure is just too high to present beautiful cookies, however, the long line is really just one--my Grandma Gorscak. She worked in catering for years and as her grandchild, I was treated to various cakes and unique cookies over the years. From ladylochs to Serbian cookies with jam, her desserts never disappointed. While many of her recipes have been shared and my aunt has made some of them at the holiday times, I have yet to attempt them myself. For fear of not doing them justice. 

We celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this month and several guests had mentioned her amazing baked goods, further solidifying that I wasn't the only one to benefit from her treats.

So in my continuing series that I like to call "Why I opt to make cookies at the holidays" I present another simple sweet snack. This is a great gift to bag up for friends, which is exactly what I did.

Sweet Popcorn Mix

 

 

Ingredients/Directions:

 

First, in a large roaster, combine:

6-8 cups of popcorn (large microwave bag makes 5 cups)

1.5 cups of peanuts

2-3 cups of Cherrios

2-3 cups of Crispix

 

Set aside.

Second, in a small pot, combine the following & bring to a boil for 5 minutes (do not stir)

1 stick margarine

1/4 cup of white Karo syrup

1 cup of sugar

Remove from heat & quickly stir in

1/2 tsp of vanilla

1/4 tsp of baking soda

Drizzle the liquid mixture over popcorn/cereal mix.

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stir every 15 minutes.

 

Let cool and then serve, or package in bags for friends.

PB Pretzel Crack

I'm not the best holiday cookie baker. Often times I don't quite read the directions carefully, or am missing cookie molds, or some other pertinent ingredient to get things just right, and it often ends in disaster. Take the madeleines I tried to make this weekend. I had all the ingredients, but assumed cake/cookie molds were the same as cookie cutters. I was wrong. I couldn't use the cakey dough with a cookie cutter, so I ended up making them round. And they ended up flat. Nothing I care to share with the office as evidence of my culinary skills.

This recipe, on the other hand, never fails. I'm not sure where I got it originally (other than my mom, who I managed got it from someone else), but I can say that it is never meant to look pretty, it's super easy to make, and I never get complaints on it. Even from people who claim to not really care for peanut butter-based sweets. So consider making this for your holiday party or to just have around the house this December. It's so addictive, I call it my PB Pretzel Crack.

PB Pretzel Crack

Ingredients:

• 6-8 cups of thin pretzels
• 1 10-ounce bag of vanilla morsels
• 1 10-ounce bag of peanut butter chips
• 2 TB peanut butter

Directions

Melt the morsels, chips and peanut butter in microwave. Do this in short increments and stir on occasion, to make sure that it doesn't burn or get clumpy.

Add the pretzels into the bowl and mix thoroughly. This will break the pretzels into smaller pieces.

Spread out thinly on a baking sheet covered with foil or wax paper. Refrigerate until candy hardens (1 hour will do it) and then break the candy into smaller pieces. Serve.