Chex Mix

I love a good batch of chex mix! My mother-in-law gave me this recipe and it works great to create that savory flavor that I love. The recipe fills a large roasting pan so make sure you have a large pan for cooking and an appetite for snacking!  It's perfect for having around during the holidays or football parties.  You can be creative with the snack ingredients.  This has been my favorite combination. Regular cheerios or bagel chips are yummy too.  I like the multi-grain cheerios because they add a little sweetness to the mix. *Make this gluten-free by eliminating the wheat chex, pretzels and cheerios and using gluten free-pretzels or bagel chips instead. Also double check that your seasonings are all gluten-free.

Snack Ingredients

• 1 box corn chex
• 1/2 box rice chex
• 1 box wheat chex*
• 1 lb pretzels*
• 1 lb mixed nuts
• 4+ cups multi-grain cheerios*

Coating Ingredients

• scant 2 cups vegetable/canola oil
• 2 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp seasoned salt
• 1 Tbsp garlic salt

Mix the snack ingredients in a large roasting pan.  In a liquid measure cup, combine worchestershire, seasoned salt, and garlic salt. Add enough oil to reach the 2 cup measure.  Whisk ingredients together until they are combined.  Pour over snack ingredients and mix gently until the snack mixture is evenly coated.  Bake at 250 degrees for 1-2 hours until golden and crispy, removing from oven every 30 minutes to stir.

Peppermint Puffs

A friend of ours made these last year and they have quickly become my favorite Christmas cookie!  They have just the right blend of minty flavor and sweetness so that neither is too overpowering.

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz white chocolate
• 1 tsp shortening
• 1/2 cup chopped candy cane (about 4 candy canes)

Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Beat in egg.  Beat in peppermint and vanilla extracts.

On low speed, beat in flour and salt.  Shape dough together into a ball, cover and refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheets.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  The cookies will still be very light and will keep their ball shape for the most part.  Let cookies cool.  Melt white chocolate with shortening.  Dip the top of cookies into the chocolate and sprinkle with the chopped candy cane.  Yields about 2 dozen cookies.

Holiday Truffles

It's the season for holiday goodies!  With trying to eat a gluten-free diet, I was searching for substitutes to my usual holiday cookies and decided to try this truffle recipe (http://www.bakersroyale.com/candy/peppermint-crunch-truffles/).  Thankfully my sister helped me make these because they were definitely a process of learning!  The biggest lesson we learned was that temperature is everything.  It is important to let the chocolate set in the fridge, but we then had to let it sit out for a few hours before we tried to roll the truffles.  If the chocolate is too cold when you try to roll them it will be difficult, if not impossible.  You also need to give the truffles a roll to soften them a bit before rolling them in the coating so that they are sticky enough to pick up the coating well.  Use whatever kind of chocolate you like best, but make sure it is good quality--we used semi-sweet but dark would be great if you like dark chocolate. You also can experiment with the coating with whatever you think sounds good.  Between my sister and I, we've tried Peppermint Andes, Heath bits, salted almonds and Oreos. They were all delicious!

• 11 oz chocolate
• 8 Tbsp heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups coating of your choice

Melt chocolate with heavy cream in a double boiler. Let sit for the first few minutes untouched and then whisk together until mixture is melted and smooth.  Remove mixture from heat and let cool for 20-30 minutes. Pour into a shallow baking dish and refrigerate covered for 2 hours until set. Remove chocolate from the fridge and let warm up for a few hours.  Roll balls using a spoon or melon baller to help shape chocolate into spheres.  Roll ball in hands to finish shaping and roll in coating.  Store in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve and enjoy!