Let it snow!

It is almost too late, but I think it's never really too late for cookies, so I am posting one of our family's favorite Christmas cookie recipes today - one that happens to be my favorite recipe anywhere, hands down. It's a bit rich, but quick and easy, and everyone I've ever fed it to has loved it. So here goes:

Snowballs
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
coconut

Combine chocolate and milk in a saucepan over medium heat until chocolate has melted and mixture has combined. Remove from stove and stir in powdered sugar and walnuts. Let cool in the refrigerator for half an hour or so. Spooning out teaspoon-sized clumps, form them into ping pong ball-sized balls, and roll in coconut. Put back in the fridge for a few hours until you can pick them up without getting chocolaty. Enjoy!

It's basically the world's easiest homemade nut fudge, with bonus coconut. These are long gone from our house. Maybe it's time to make more?

Not made from real Girl Scouts

This recipe was a big hit at Bella's Girl Scout meeting, and now I am sharing it with you. It's one of my favorites, especially around Christmas, which we all know is coming up!

Chocolate Crinkles

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 oz, unsweetened baking chocolate, melted (the microwave works well for this - directions should be on the back of the package)
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Mix sugar, oil, vanilla and chocolate in large bowl. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Drop small, slightly smaller than ping pong ball-size balls of dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar, roll around to coat. Place about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or greased foil.
4. Bake 12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched.

70 calories, 10 carbohydrates per cookie

That's the recipe I used, with one exception. Here is a test for you. Read that recipe again and tell me, which is the most important sentence in the whole thing?

Did you catch it? I didn't. Here it is: Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Just what you don't want to see one hour before your daughter's troop meeting. Lucky for me, 1/2 hour in the freezer appears to approximately equal 3 hours in the fridge. So, if you're looking to save time...

This recipe was a big hit with the girls, and with the rest of my family when we got home!