Honeycomb Toffee

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 Tbsp baking soda

Preparations:

1. Line a 9 inch baking dish with parchment paper and grease thoroughly.
2. In a large saucepan (this will more than triple in size) over medium/high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir briefly to incorporate then leave to boil. 
3. Insert candy thermometer and continue to heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 300F. 
4.  Working quickly, remove from heat and add the baking soda. The mixture will begin to expand. Quickly whisk, no more than 5 seconds, to prevent deflating the toffee. Pour it into the prepared pan and leave to set for several hours.
5. Once the toffee has cooled and set, remove the paper from the toffee and transfer to a larger baking dish. Using a blunt object, shatter the toffee into bite size pieces.
6. In a double boiler , melt the dark chocolate.  Dip the toffee pieces in chocolate and place on a lined baking tray. Place in the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Cinnamon Bun Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 12 C popped popcorn (about 2 bags of microwave popcorn)
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 oz almond bark

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
2. Place popcorn in a large bowl, a bigger bowl than you think you need. Top with pecans and do not stir. Let the pecans sit on top of the popcorn. Set aside.
3. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2 liter capacity microwave safe bowl. Mix well. Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup over the top of everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 90 seconds. Remove, stir, and then microwave for 90 seconds more. If you microwave it too much your popcorn will turn out really hard.
4. Remove from microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. Stir to combine. Mixture will foam and rise. 
5. Drizzle half of the caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir well. Repeat with the other half of the caramel. Stir more than you think you need to.
6. Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined rimmed pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and stir. Melt almond bark according to package instructions. Drizzle over popcorn mixture. When almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy!

Gingerbread Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Preparations:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and the brown sugar until fluffy. Then, beat in the honey and the egg.
3. In a different bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet in two batches.
4. With the sugar in a shallow dish, form golf ball sized balls and roll in the sugar to coat. Place on the parchment paper and do not flatten the balls. 
5. Bake 10-12 minutes, until the tops start to crack and the bottoms darken. Cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes then transfer to a rack.

Candy Cane Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 bag stripped chocolate candies (I used Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 Tbsp milk
• Red and Green colored sugar

Preparations:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in large bowl until smooth. Mix in flour, baking soda, milk, and salt.
3. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red and/or green colored sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies is set. Remove from oven; cool 2 to 3 minutes. Unwrap a candy and press into the center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Yields approximately 35 cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 15 oz of pumpkin pie mix or 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4 cup oats
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup chocolate chunks or chips

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Add in butter, mixing until crumbly.
4. Stir in egg and pumpkin. Then, the rolled oats and chocolate chips.
5. Drop heaping spoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake 11-13 minutes. Makes roughly 24 cookies.

Peanut Butter, Chocolate & Caramel Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 36 bite-size chocolate-covered caramel candy bars (I prefer mini Milky Ways)

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat the butter, sugars, and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until just blended.
3. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Cover and chill in the refrigerator 30 minutes.
4. Shape two tablespoons of dough around each mini candy bar and roll into balls. Place three inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
5. Bake for 13 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks.