Christmas confections
MIO enables your holiday baking binge
Holiday baking season has arrived, so the Made in Oklahoma Coalition elves dropped off some recipes ideal for your oven.
Whether you have a serious sweet tooth or simply a seasonal one, the Cherry Pecan Fudge can’t miss. Chocolate-covered cherries from the Woody Candy Co. adorn classic fudge made with local cream and butter, marshmallow cream and a touch of sea salt
Christmas Fruit Cobblers are more personal when made in a heavy coffee mug. Make it a Santa mug for extra flare or to give as a gift hot out of the oven.
The most common confection coming from local ovens are cookies. The MIO offers two great options with Soft Christmas Cookies and Cookie Swap Cookie Bars.
Soft Cookies are perfect for taking to parties or for setting out for Santa. Get the whole family involved in making them.
The recipe for cookie bars offers four flavors in one pan because, you know, variety is the spice of life.
For more recipes like these, go to miocoalition.com.
CHERRY PECAN FUDGE
1 tablespoon Hiland Butter
2½ cups sugar
1 cup Hiland Heavy Whipping Cream ¾ cup marshmallow creme
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon Griffin’s vanilla
2 (12-ounce) packages semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup Miller Pecan Co. chopped pecans
1 package Woody’s Candy Co. chocolate-covered cherries
Prepare a 9-by-9-inch cake pan by lining it with parchment. It should come up the sides of the pan. Spread butter evenly over the parchment.
Mix the sugar and whipping cream in a 3-quart saucepan using a silicone spatula. Allow this mixture to set at room temperature for 30 minutes, stirring and wiping down sides with spatula throughout the process. (Stirring while setting at room temperature allows the sugar to melt into the cream. This will keep the mixture from getting grainy while it cools.
Place mixture on a moderate heat, add fluff and stir until it comes to
a gentle rolling boil. Stir constantly for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, and stir in the salt, vanilla and chocolate chips. Keep stirring for another 4-5 minutes. Pour of the mixture into the cake pan. Add the pecans, and top with remaining fudge mixture. Garnish with the cherries. Allow 2 hours for cooling. Do not refrigerate.
INDIVIDUAL CHRISTMAS FRUIT COBBLERS
½ cup quick-cooking oats ½ cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped Miller Pecan Co. pecans
¼ cup Shawnee Mills AllPurpose Flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons Braum’s butter
3 cups frozen mixed berries (or fresh berries)Braum’s Vanilla Ice Cream
In a medium bowl, combine oatmeal, sugar, pecans, flour and cinnamon. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, add the butter to the flour mixture. Gently stir in berries, reserving a few tablespoons for serving.
Divide flour mixture between four heavy mugs. Divide and place berries on top of the flour mixture of each mug, reserving a few for presentation. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Fruit should begin to bubble and mixture will thicken slightly. Stir mixture.
Serve with a scoop of ice cream and reserved berries on each.
SOFT CHRISTMAS COOKIES
6 cups Shawnee Mills allpurpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt
1 cup Hiland unsalted butter, room temperature 2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons Griffin’s vanilla 1 (8-ounce) container Hiland sour cream
Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
In another large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This will take about 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and sour cream, mixing on low speed until combined.
Add the dry ingredients, and beat at low speed until combined. Divide dough into two pieces, and shape into rectangles about 1 ½ inches thick. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough to ¼-inch thickness. Shape and cut cookies, and place on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are just slightly golden around the edges. Don’t overbake if you want soft cookies. Transfer cookies to a rack, and let cool. Let cookies cool before frosting.
COOKIE SWAP COOKIE BARS
4 cups Shawnee Mills AllPurpose flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons salt
4 sticks Hiland Unsalted Butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch pieces
Preheat oven to 350 F. Fit a large (13-by-18-inch) cookie sheet with parchment paper.
When making the crust, the food processor can only handle half the dough at a time, so you will be making two batches. In a 7-cup food processor, combine 2 cups flour, ½ cup powdered sugar, cup cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 sticks cut butter.
Process until mixture start to clump and looks like small crumbs. Place mixture on cookie sheet.
Make another batch of dough by combining 2 cups flour, ½ cup powdered sugar, cup cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt and 2 sticks cut butter in food processor. Process until you have a mixture of small crumbs. Add dough to cookie sheet, reserving ¼ cup for garnish.
Press dough into pan, making an even layer and coming up the sides of the cookie sheet. Place in the oven, baking for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove cookie sheet from oven. Reduce temperature to 325 F. Begin making toppings (recipes below).
Once toppings have been poured over crust, bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. Cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing and serving.
PECAN TOPPING:
¼ stick Hiland Unsalted Butter
1 cup light brown sugar ¼ cup Griffin’s Corn Syrup 2 cups Miller Pecan Co. chopped pecans
¼ cup Hiland Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Griffin’s Vanilla In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over mediumhigh heat. Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, then add pecans and cream. Boil for about 3 minutes until mixture thickens slightly.
Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. and pour hot mixture over ¼ of the warm shortbread crust, forming the pecan quadrant of the cookie bars.
LEMON MANGO TOPPING:
1 jar Suan’s Scotch Bonnet Mango Lemon Fruit Butter
2 egg yolks
1. In a small mixing bowl combine the fruit butter and egg yolks until fully incorporated and smooth. Pour the mixture over ¼ of the warm shortbread crust, forming the lemon mango quadrant of the cookie bars.
STRAWBERRY TOPPING:
1 jar Southern Okie Gourmet Strawberry Spread
2 egg yolks
In a small mixing bowl combine the fruit butter and egg yolks until fully incorporated and smooth. Pour the mixture over ¼ of the warm shortbread crust, forming the strawberry quadrant of the cookie bars.
PUMPKIN TOPPING:
1 jar Southern Okie Gourmet Pumpkin Spread
2 egg yolks
In a small mixing bowl combine the fruit butter and egg yolks and fruit butter until fully incorporated and smooth. Pour the mixture over ¼ of the warm shortbread crust, forming the pumpkin quadrant of the cookie bars.