Holiday Treats Platter

These cookie recipes are great to share and take only minutes to prepare!

Package them up in a holiday tin from Aaron Brothers or on a festive plate covered in cellaphane. Attach your favorite cookie cutter (cookie cutters from Sur La Table) and handwritten recipe card to personalize it even more.

Giant Snowflake Sugar Cookie

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I USE Pure Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste from SurLaTable)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

For the Icing. 1 cup of powdered sugar, two tsp. corn syrup, 2 T. Milk. I have a still paint brush and I paint them on from the middle out.

Mexican Wedding Cookie (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I USE Pure Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste from SurLaTable)
• 2 teaspoons water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and water. Add the flour and almonds, mix until blended. Cover and chill for 3 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Shape dough into balls or crescents. Place on an unprepared cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from pan to cool on wire racks. When cookies are cool, roll in confectioners' sugar. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Haystacks with Cashews

What you will need:

3 cups Chinese noodles (chow mein)

1 cup Cashews halves

1 bag dark Chocolate chips

1/2 bag Butterscotch chips

To Prepare:

Melt Chocolate and Butterscotch chips in Microwave at medium or low 3 to 4 minutes until melted. Stir chocolate smooth; add noodles and cashews. Toss to coat well. On strips of foil or wax paper, form into 1 1/2 inch clusters. Cool to set. Makes about 24 (1 1/2 inch) "haystacks."

To Serve: Serve on a chilled plate at dessert time.