Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we make cookies for Santa. This year I looked for a kid-friendly recipe and loved this one by tatortots and jello because it used the rolling pin and a hammer. You just can't find many recipes out there just this fun. It was Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bark and it was just as fun to eat as it was to make.

I thought I'd include the recipe here for you, plus I'm planning on making it again, so it will be easy for me to find again too! 

Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bark (based on Betty Crocker’s recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 pouch Betty Crocker™ sugar cookie mix
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 bag (12 oz) white vanilla baking chips (2 cups) (note these are white vanilla, not white chocolate — but we tried some with milk chocolate chips melted on top, too!)
• 1/3 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy (the original recipe calls for crushing 14 miniature candy canes – you can use any peppermint candy, but the mini candy canes seem to have more red in them, so they’re prettier on the cookies.)

Directions

• Heat oven to 375°F. Line large cookie sheet with foil. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. Press dough into 12-inch square on cookie sheet.
• Assign kids to crush candy canes. We used a marble rolling pin, and the kids crushed way more than we needed. Keep a close watch on the crushing process; you want them to be actual chunks of peppermint candy, not peppermint candy powder. This may take a lighter touch.
• Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown; let cool.
• In microwavable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips uncovered on high 30 to 60 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until chips can be stirred smooth.
• Pour and spread over cooled cookie base.
• Immediately sprinkle with candy. (You want to move quickly so the peppermint candy embeds in the melted baking chips. We gently pressed the candy chunks into the melted baking chips to make sure they “stuck.”)
• Let stand until set, about 30 minutes.
• Gently break up cookie bark. (We used a butter knife in a few strategic places to assist our breaking up to avoid crumbling.)
• Store tightly covered.
•  Enjoy!

Read more at http://tatertotsandjello.com/2014/12/kid-friendly-recipe-peppermint-sugar-cookie-bark.html#mMEVdWgSsBb2Fdyz.99

We open one present on Christmas Eve... our "something you wear" Christmas pajamas. Then we put a special key outside for Santa, sprinkle our reindeer food, and put out our cookies and milk for the jolly man.