Cranberry-Chocolate Scones

I dug up some old Sunset magazines and thumbed through them for some good recipes to try.

This is one that is a definite keeper!

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold butter

3/4 cup half & half (I just used regular milk)

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cranberries

can also add 1/2 cup chopped pecans

-- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into chunks and blend into dry indredients with a pastry blender.

In a small bowl, whisk together the half & half (or milk) and the egg, reserve 2 tbsp for later.

Add remaining egg and milk mixture to the dry ingred. along with chocolate, cranberries and nuts.

Blend with a fork until moistened. Scrape out onto a lightly floured counter and pat into a 7 inch round circle.

Cut into 8 equal wedges.

Place 2 inches apart on greased baking pan.

Brush the tops with the reserved egg and milk.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.(If you can wait that long!)

---Sunset magazine January 2004 issue.

Puppy Chow

Here are 3 big bowls of Puppy Chow... ready to head to the 2nd, 5th, and 7th grade classrooms today...

PUPPY CHOW.....
1 box of Chex or Krispix cereal
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (can leave this out if there are allergies)
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Place cereal in a large bowl.
Melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in the microwave. Stir until smooth.
Pour over the cereal and carefully fold and stir until well coated.
Place in a large brown paper grocery bag and pour powdered sugar over mixture. Gently shake and rotate bag until the cereal is coated.
Dump back into your large bowl or resealable bags.
Start munching!

Snowball Treats

These are alot of fun to make with the kids.

WARNING: Messy, but it's a fun kind of messy!

Although I made these by myself today to surprise the kids with when they get home from school. (Maybe that's my excuse for not having as big of a mess?)

I use chocolate in ours but if you want to keep them completely white, use white baking chips instead. We just prefer chocolate flavor... I guess ours are muddy snowballs?

4 oz cream cheese, soft

2 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup chocolate chips, or white baking chips

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups mini marshmallows

coconut

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Add the melted chocolate, milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Fold in marshmallows; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to make it easier to handle. Make into small balls and roll in coconut (this is the messy part). You have to push the coconut into the balls a little to make it stay. Store in the frig or even in the freezer. They are, after all, snowballs!

Hope you like them.... Yum!!

Spinach Cream Cheese Pinwheels

Here are some tasty little bites. Good for many things: appetizers, snacks, bread with dinner, lunches, etc.

The recipe could be changed and tweeked a bit to suit your taste.

-1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls

-spreadable garlic and herb cream cheese (could also use the garden veggie or onion and chive flavors, or add a little salsa to regular cream cheese)

-sliced deli ham

-fresh baby spinach

Unroll the dough into 4 rectangles; seal perforations. Spread the cream cheese over each rectangle. Top with ham and spinach. Roll up from the short sides and pinch seam to seal. Cut each roll into 6 slices. Place cut side down on greased baking sheets. Bake at 400 for about 8 minutes. Keep an eye on these, they brown quickly. When golden brown remove from oven.

Serve warm.

Makes 2 dozen.