Holiday Puppy Chow by Maddie Gehling, Sugar Plum Fairy
- What you’ll need:
- 9 cups rice or corn cereal
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips (No semi-sweet chips. It’s the holidays. Love yourself.)
- ½ cup smooth peanut butter (Or more. You do you, but add more cereal accordingly.)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
- What you’ll do:
- Measure out your cereal in a large bowl and set it aside (or a big paper grocery bag, if you make it like my mom.)
- Melt the peanut butter in a saucepan
- Mix the chocolate chips into the melted peanut butter until it’s smooth; add the vanilla
- Pour the mixture over the cereal and mix until well-coated (If you put the cereal in a bag, pour it in there and SHAKE.)
- Add the powdered sugar and mix again until well-coated (Again, if you put everything in a bag, SHAKE. Great arm workout.)
- Spice this puppy chow up:
- Add some red and green M&M’s for a Christmas theme, blue and white M&M’s for Hanukkah or your own preferred colors. You can substitute half the milk chocolate chips for mint chocolate chips for winter vibes.
Spiked Eggnog by Tori Moses, Queen of Booze
- What you’ll need:
- $10
- Enough gas to get to and from a grocery store
- 21 years of living under your belt
- What you’ll do:
- Be a lazy person and buy already spiked, delicious eggnog
- Choosing a brand:
- I’ve tried several brands of boozy eggnog, but the ones I always come back to are Benchmark Old No. 8 and Evan Williams. Both brands’ eggnogs are 30 proof, but Benchmark’s drink is made with bourbon whisky while Evan Williams’ eggnog has bourbon whisky, blended whisky, rum and brandy. Benchmark’s eggnog is much thicker and has an almost yogurt-like consistency compared to the light Evan Williams. Benchmark’s beverage also has a nice cinnamon taste, while the other boasts a vanilla flavor. Whichever brand you choose, enjoying a nice, cold glass of boozy eggnog is the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit (and survive your extended family).
Thumbprint Cookies by Sammy Dellaria, Chief of Chocolate
- What you’ll need:
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup shortening
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 can chocolate frosting
- 36 Hershey’s Kisses
- What you’ll do:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar
- Add the eggs and vanilla; mix thoroughly
- Add the dry ingredients and mix
- Spoon out chunks of the dough onto a cookie sheet
- In each spoonful of cookie dough, press your thumb into the middle
- Bake 10-15 minutes
- Once baked and cooled, place frosting and a Hershey’s Kiss into the place of your thumbprint
- Why these cookies are the bomb:
- The ratio of chocolate to cookie is perfect. My favorite part about this cookie is that the dough of the cookie is soft, which goes well with the solidity of the Hershey’s Kisses. The cookie is not overly sweet, but it gets the job done.
Chocolate Pretzels by Kylee Higgins, M&M Master
- What you’ll need:
- 24 circular pretzels
- 24 milk chocolate Hershey’s Kisses (or white chocolate if you’re wild)
- 1 package M&M’s
- What you’ll do:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Place the pretzels on a baking sheet
- Put one unwrapped Hershey’s kiss in the middle of each pretzel
- Put the baking sheet in the oven for one to two minutes, but keep an eye on the treats and how fast the chocolate melts
- Once the kisses are melted, take the baking sheet out of the oven and quickly nestle an M&M in the center of the melted chocolate before it hardens
- Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate
- Once they’re chill, enjoy
- Go big or go home:
- While these chocolate pretzels are perfectly OK at their standard size, why not challenge yourself by substituting giant pretzels instead? There’s no harm in changing the recipe to make it your own. Not to mention, using bigger pretzels equals more food, and that’s always a good thing.
