Thursday Treats – Holiday Recipes 11/8
The holidays will soon be upon us. That means family gatherings, potluck dinners, church socials and other events where you need to “bring a dish”. I’ve gathered up a few recipes from The Sweet Shoppe staff just in case you want to try something new this year. A tried-and-true recipe is always SO MUCH better!
First, a family favorite from Meagan of Meagan’s Creations:
INGREDIENTS
- CAKE:
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
- FILLING:
- 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)
INSTRUCTIONS
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
COOKING TIP:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 cup salted butter (softened)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 packages (1 lb each) Chocolate Candy Coating
INSTRUCTIONS
After they are well mixed together, add in the powdered sugar, a little at a time. You may need to add a bit more or a bit less powered sugar. You have enough powered sugar when the mixture holds together well in one giant ball in your mixing bowl.
Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for 15 – 25 minutes until they firm up. (You can also cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days.)
Shape the dough into 1-inch balls.Cover and refrigerate again, for about 15 – 20 minutes. Skipping this step makes the dough very hard to dip into the chocolate.
Melt the chocolate according to the package directions.
Dip the peanut butter balls one at a time into the melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip off, as the chocolate will pool a little when you set it down. Place the dipped peanut butter chocolate ball onto wax paper and let it harden.
Chill until ready to serve. Also chill them a little before packaging them up for gifts.
The peanut butter ball dough can be stored, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before dipping in chocolate.