Here’s a fun project I made with my kids not too long ago. It’s easy, fun and kids love eating the Rudolph cookies once they’re made. I used Nabisco Nutter Butter cookies since I’m not aware of any other peanut-shaped cookie on the market.

The hardest part of making the cookies was inserting the “antlers” into the filling between the cookies. You first need to separate the two halves of the cookies then stick the pretzel pieces into the peanut butter filling, sandwiching the cookies back together once the antlers are in place. Sometimes the peanut butter cookie halves break during this step so be careful when sandwiching the antlers between the cookie halves. Next time I’ll try adding a little dot of melted chocolate to help keep the antlers in place.

For cementing the eyes and nose to the cookies, I used melted chocolate chips instead of buying the candy coating. I had to microwave the chocolate a few times to keep it melted but other than that it worked fine. Enjoy!

Rudolph Cookies
-recipe from Southern Living Magazine

 4 (1-ounce) chocolate candy coating squares
96 pretzel sticks
1 (16-ounce) package peanut butter sandwich cookies
64 candy-covered green, blue, or brown chocolate pieces
32 red candy-coated chocolate pieces or red cinnamon candies

Microwave chocolate candy coating in a small shallow glass dish at HIGH 3 minutes, stirring once.

Place 2 pretzel sticks in peanut butter filling of each sandwich cookie, forming large antlers. Break remaining pretzel sticks in half, and place 1 half pretzel stick next to each longer pretzel stick, forming smaller antlers.

Dip 1 side of green chocolate pieces in melted candy coating, and place on cookies for the eyes. Dip 1 side of red chocolate pieces in candy coating, and place on cookies for the noses. Yield:  32 cookies

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Nabisco brand Nutter Butter peanut butter sandwich cookies.

Southern Living, DECEMBER 1999

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Tags: Christmas, holiday, kids, Nabisco Nutter Butter cookies, peanut butter sandwich cookies, reindeer cookies, Rudolph

I love roasted veggies! It’s amazing what a little time in a hot oven will do to humble root vegetables! Roasted veggies can be prepared a day ahead of time and reheated before serving, making them a perfect side dish for the holidays!

The recipe calls for cutting the carrots and parsnips into 3″x1/2″ pieces. I didn’t get out the ruler to measure my veggie chunks but I did try to keep them all about the same size so they’d cook evenly. The cooking time will depend on the size of the vegetable sticks/chunks. Once the roasted veggies are tender, if they need a little extra color, sometimes I turn the oven to broil for a minute or two to get those brown, caramelized spots. If you do this, stay at the oven to watch the veggies or you’ll end up with a burnt mess.

At the store, choose small to medium parsnips that are firm; larger ones can be tough and have a woody core that needs to be removed.

Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Fresh Herbs
-recipe from The New Thanksgiving Table by Diane Morgan

Here’s one vegetable dish that doesn’t need any last minute attention from the busy Thanksgiving cook—and I’m thankful for that. These orange and ivory root vegetables, flecked with fresh herbs, complement turkey and are a colorful addition to the holiday table. Parsnips are woefully underused; once most people try them, they are surprised by how sweet and pleasantly complex they taste. Look for medium-sized, well-shaped parsnips that are firm. Avoid ones that are limp or spotted. Store them wrapped in paper towels inside a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. They are also terrific combined with potatoes for a pureed winter soup. Serves 8 to 10.

7 medium parsnips (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, trimmed, and cut into 3-inch-by-1/2-inch sticks
1 1/2 pounds tender carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 3-inch-by-1/2-inch sticks
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a large roasting pan or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss the parsnips and carrots with the olive oil, dill, parsley, pepper, and salt. Roast, stirring once or twice, for about 45 minutes until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a knife and lightly caramelized in spots. Serve immediately, or cover and keep warm for up to 1 hour before serving.

Do Ahead: The roasted vegetables can be made up to 1 day in advance. Refrigerate, covered, and bring to room temperature 2 hours before reheating.

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Tags: carrots, Christmas, fresh dill, fresh parsley, holiday, olive oil, parsnips, roasted, roasting, root vegetable, Side Dish, Thanksgiving

If you’ve never made Russian Tea Cakes (also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies), you’ve probably eaten them at some point in your life. They’re extremely easy to make, very tasty and a great addition to any holiday cookie platter.  

Although the recipe calls for 1 cup of pecans, I decided to try 1/2 cup of chopped pistachios and 1/2 cup of chopped dried cranberries (soaked in a bit of Grand Marnier or orange juice before chopping to soften them up). I really like how the cookies turned out: a tender, buttery cookie with the added flavor and color of the green pistachios and ruby red cranberries (perfect for Christmas). A little freshly grated orange zest would also be a delicious addition to the pistachios and dried cranberries. The recipe calls for flattening the cookies but I left them in round balls.

After baking, the recipe says to roll the hot cookies in powdered sugar, which is messy and melts the sugar. I find that letting the cookies cool first then rolling them in the powdered sugar works best. I try to knock off the excess powdered sugar from each cookie so that the sugar isn’t inhaled when taking that first bite. Yumm!

Russian Tea Cakes
- adapted from a recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse on foodnetwork.com

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, plus more for rolling cookies
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts (I used 1/2 cup chopped pistachios & 1/2 cup dried chopped cranberries)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla then gradually add the 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Sift the flour, measure, then sift again with the salt. Add gradually to the butter mixture. Add the pecans and mix well.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten slightly using the bottom of a glass, then bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are very lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and roll in powdered sugar while still hot. Cool on wire racks and roll cookies again in powdered sugar before serving.

Once they are completely cooled, cookies may be stored in airtight containers for up to 1 week.

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Tags: Christmas cookies, cranberries, holiday, holidays, mexican wedding cookies, pecans, russian tea cakes, snowball cookies