Weekend Blog Hop!

I just entered the Friday Blog Hop over at Give it to me Tara! Visit the post and find some great blogs to peruse.

Toasted Almond Brittle Bars-So Yummy!

Normally, chocolate and peanut butter sweets are my weakness, but this year I tried a new recipe I found called "Toasted Almond Brittle Bars" from McCormick. They are absolutely delicious, they taste exactly like almond extract smells; a little like marzipan, just nutty and sweet. And despite the word "brittle" being in the name, they aren't hard at all, due to the softer crust. Here's the recipe, hope you enjoy them like I do! Photo below is my own.

Toasted Almond Brittle Bars

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Almond Brittle Topping

1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1- Mix flour, 1 cup butter, confectioner's sugar and salt in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until coarse crumbs form. Press firmly and evenly into greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven 20 minutes or until golden brown.
2- For the topping, mix corn syrup, brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter and cream in medium saucepan. Bring just to boil on medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in almonds and extracts. Pour over hot crust, spreading evenly.
3- Bake 15 minutes or light golden brown and until filling is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes about 3 dozen bars.






Enjoy!

Easy Oreo Truffles, Easy AND Delicious!

Last Christmas, I made these truffles and they went FAST. The recipe is insanely easy and makes a decent batch, depending on how large you make them. I would suggest no larger than the recipe states, 1" balls, as they are rich. I've made these myself this weekend so below the photo from the Kraft foods website is my own photo. Also, please see my notes under the recipe to make it a little easier for you.


Easy Oreo Truffles

Ingredients
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 pkg Oreo cookies, finely crushed (about 4 1/4 cups), divided
2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's Semi Sweet Chocolate, melted


Instructions
Mix cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended
Shape into 48 (1 inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.


My notes:
1- Upon crushing the cookies, I suggest placing a few cookies in a large zippered baggie and crushing them with a rolling pin. You will want to crush a few at a time because in my experience, it's a little to hard to try to crush them all at once and you need really fine pieces.
2- It's much easier to mix the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese with your hands (yes you'll be sticky, just have paper towels handy) and then scoop out the balls with a melon baller.
3- While dipping the balls, you can use 2 forks to roll them around in the chocolate and coat them better. This way, it's also easier to remove them from the chocolate and place them on the baking sheet.





After making them this weekend, here are my own!




Enjoy!

JRandall, Christmas Style *Updated*

I've been enjoying JRandall's music lately, it's such a breath of fresh air from all the repeats on the radio lately. I am still so excited looking forward to a whole album from JRan. Truthfully, I haven't been this excited about a new artist since Adam Lambert and prior to him, Britney Spears. I remember being in 7th or 8th grade, running around to every record store I could find, asking for the new Britney Spears album. All I'd get in response was, "Who?" and a blank stare. Now it's hard to find someone who hasn't heard of Britney and I just know this will end up being the case with JRan.

Anyway, Mr. Randall has bestowed this little gem called "Santa Gimme" upon our speakers for the holiday season. Some may not like it and yes, it's for the younger crowd, but it's hilarious and is a very catchy song; I've had it on repeat since I first heard it! The video is coming soon and I can't wait for that either. Thank goodness for twitter so I won't miss anything! This blog site is offering a free download of the song, once you click over to the site, right click on the link that says, "Free Download" and then either "Save Target As" or in my case, "Save Link As." Or if you don't want to download it, you can listen to it right from the site.

Enjoy!
http://clizbeats.com/j-randall-gives-the-gift-of-free-music121104/


*Update!*
The video is now available, view it here!