Enjoy this great holiday cookie recipe. This recipe is only one of over 100 Christmas recipes in the new Christmas Cooking cookbook. Download your copy today here.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Egg yolk
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup natural raisins
1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in yolk, almond extract and salt.
Mix in flour just to blend thoroughly.
Mix in raisins almonds to distribute evenly.
On lightly floured surface, roll into a 12″ long.
Wrap securely and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.
With sharp knife, cut 1/3″ thick slices, and place 1″ apart on baking sheets.
Bake in pre-heated 350 degree F oven 15 to 20 minutes until cookies are set and bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to racks to cool completely.
Decorate as desired with melted semi-sweet or white chocolate, and top with colored sprinkles, raisins, nuts, or candied fruit pieces.
Allow to set before storing in layers between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container.

I was recently given an opportunity to sample Duncan Hines® and Comstock Wilderness Fruit Fillings through my participation in the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program. Right away, I decided to make a blueberry pound cake. I used some Duncan Hines yellow cake and Comstock blueberry filling to create this rich pound cake. The result was a delicious pound cake that was rich and moist.

1 (18.25 ounce) package Duncan Hines® yellow cake mix
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can Comstock Wilderness Blueberry Fruit Filling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, cream cheese, oil and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat on low speed until blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Fold in blueberries. Pour batter into the loaf pans.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes 2 loaves

I have too many blueberries! I froze a bunch of them, but decided to make a blueberry pie with the rest since it wasn’t uncomfortably hot out today.

1 9-inch frozen pie crust
4 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup water

Place half of the blueberries in the pie crust. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, salt and water. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add butter. Pour over the berries in the pie crust. Let cool and then serve with whipped cream.

Filling
4 teaspoons grated lime zest
1/2 cup lime juice from 3 to 4 limes (or use bottled Key Lime Juice)
4 large egg yolks
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Graham Cracker Crust
11 graham crackers , chopped into fine crumbs (1 1/4 cups)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

Whipped Cream Topping
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

To prepare the Filling: Whisk together the lime zest and yolks in a medium bowl for about 2 minutes. Beat in milk, then lime juice; set aside at room temperature and let thicken.

To prepare the crust: Place oven rack in the center position and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add butter; combine with fork until well blended. Press mixture into 9-inch pie pan to form an even crust. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Once cooled, pour lime filling into crust; bake until center is set, about 15 minutes. Return pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Prepare the Whipped Cream: Whip the cream in a medium bowl to very soft peaks. Adding confectioners’ sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, continue whipping until peaks are just-stiff. Spread evenly over the filling with a rubber spatula. Serve immediately.

St. Patrick’s Day is this week and I am happy to announce that the recipe forum and cookbook club are both back online. Here is a recipe from the forum thanks to our friend lucky.

1 box instant pistachio pudding
2 cups milk
2 kiwifruit, sliced
Cool Whip
green food coloring

Prepare pudding according to package directions.

When pudding is chilled, layer pudding, kiwifruit and green-tinted
Cool Whip in clear plastic cups.

Serve with green-tinted lemonade.

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
1 1/4 cups sifted flour
2/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Cream shortening and peanut butter until blended; gradually add sugars; beat until fluffy.
Add egg and beat thoroughly.
Sift remaining ingredients together; divide in half and add to creamed mixture, one at a time, mixing till well blended after each addition.
Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls and place 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets.
Flatten with a fork by making a criss-cross pattern.
Bake at 375 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

(makes about 3 dozen)

I was inspired to dig up this old recipe after reading this blog post. My mom used to love lemon squares and she had this old recipe that was passed down from someone who I do not remember. I found the old paper with the recipe written and figured I would share it with you all.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Blend together the flour, butter, and confectioners sugar. Press into a square baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Beat the remaining ingredients and pour over the crust. Bake for another 25 minutes.

I recently came across this very interesting apple pie recipe.  It was shared with me by my friend Ava who recently started her own Apple Pie Recipe Blog.

1 Premade Double Crust Pie Pastry
6 Cups Of Chopped Skinless Green Apples
1/2 Cup Of South African Amarula Cream Liqueur
1 Tablespoon Of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 Cup Of Martinelli’s Unfiltered Apple Juice
2 Tablespoons Of Softened Unsalted Real Butter
2 Tablespoons Of Pure Cornstarch
1/2 Cup Of White Granulated Sugar

Serving Size 8
445 Calories Per Serving
12 Grams Of Fat

To begin this unique and delicious recipe, first you will want to line a nine
inch pie pan with the bottom crust layer. Next preheat your oven to 400 degrees
Fahrenheit, or 205 degrees Celsius. You will now want to take out a three quart
saucepan, and then add into it the chopped skinless green apples, unfiltered
apple juice, and sugar. Heat the ingredients within the saucepan over medium
heat, stirring until the apples become slightly tender. Next remove the saucepan
from the burner, and then thoroughly stir in the South African Amarula Cream
Liqueur, lime juice, pure cornstarch, and one tablespoon of butter. While the
pie filling cools, stir it continuously until it begins to thicken. Moving
along, next spoon the thickened pie filling into the pie pan, then cover it with
the top crust layer. Tightly flute the edge of the crust together, then make
several incisions in the top of the pie so that it can breath. Next evenly
spread the remaining tablespoon of butter over the top of the pie crust, then
sprinkle it with a little leftover sugar. Your pie is now ready to bake, so
slide it into the oven for roughly twenty minutes, or until the crust is golden
brown. Once the pie is finished, serve it warm.

4 ounce package German sweet chocolate
5 tablespoons butter
3 ounce package cream cheese
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Melt chocolate with 3 tablespoons butter over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool. Cream remaining butter with cream cheese until soft. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Blend in 1 egg, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Set aside. Beat remaining eggs until thick. Gradually add remaining sugar. Add baking powder, salt, and remaining flour. Blend in cooled chocolate mixture, almond extract, and remaining vanilla. Measure 1 cup chocolate batter and set aside.
Spread remaining chocolate batter in a greased 9-inch square pan. Top with cheese mixture. Drop measured chocolate batter from tablespoon onto cheese mixture; swirl to marbleize. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Makes 18 brownies

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cranberries
3/4 cup 1% milk
1 large egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat nine 2 1/2 inch muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. In large bowl stir in first five ingredients until blended. In small bowl whisk remaining ingredients, add to flour mixture stir until moist. Bake 20 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean.