Gifts from the kitchen....

That's the theme of this weeks Carnival of the Recipes hosted by Dubious Wonder. Mmmmmm Christmas yummys -- my favorite!

These are two recipes I make every year at this time to give away. They are delicious and relatively kid friendly, if you want the kids to help!

Peanut Butter Balls

Cream: ½ cup butter (softened)
2 cups crunchy peanut butter

Mix in: 3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups Rice Krispies
(add additional cereal if needed)

Press into balls. (About an inch in diameter.) Set on waxed paper.
Melt 1 pkg. Semi-sweet or Milk Chocolate chips
and 1 bar of paraffin in a double boiler.

Dip balls. Set on waxed paper. Can be frozen.

**I use milk chocolate, ½ bar paraffin (the brand I like is Gulf Wax) per bag of chocolate chips, and I usually double the recipe. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Cookies

½ C. margarine or butter
1½ C. all purpose flour
1 C. sugar
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cream of tartar

to dip/roll cookies: 2Tbs. sugar 1tsp. ground cinnamon

At Christmas time I use red sugar + cinnamon and green sugar + cinnamon so you end up with a plate of sparkley red and green cookies.

**Cream together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Mix all dry ingredients (first) then add to butter mixture by thirds. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
**To bake, heat oven to 375. Roll dough into approx. 1” balls then roll in sugar/cinnamon mix before placing 2 inches apart on non-greased baking sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes until golden. (The tops of the cookies will appear to have cracks in them when they are getting close to done.)

Okay, here are my tips:

**Always use butter—it makes for a far superior cookie.
**I usually double (if not triple) the recipe when I am making them.
**Do not over bake—this is key. These cookies are really easy to scorch.
**You can make the cookies as big as you want—I have had great luck even making them dinner plate sized. (You will have to flatten them yourself if you decide to make ‘em big, though).
**Chilling the dough is nice but not super necessary. But you will get chewier cookies if the dough is chilled before baking.