Chocolate Peppermint Poke Cake

November 28, 2011

Poke 2I must confess that we didn’t even wait until after Thanksgiving was over before we opened the first box of candy canes.

It is a little embarrassing.

But at least it went into something really yummy – a chocolate peppermint poke cake.

You remember the original poke cakes made with colorful jello poked into a white cake? This holiday version features a chocolate cake poked with a yummy peppermint simple syrup.

It’s rich and minty and most of all – super easy!

Chocolate Peppermint Poke Cake

1 – 9 x 13 chocolate cake (you can use a mix – or make your own from scratch)
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 tub of Cool Whip
1 or 2 crushed candy canes

Bake cake as directed.

While the cake is baking, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture boils. Add the peppermint extract.

Reduce heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, use a fork to poke the entire top and slowly pour the peppermint syrup over it all.

Let it cool completely.

Frost with the Cool Whip and garnish with the crushed peppermints.

Refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

The cake just gets more minty as it sits!

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cakes, Chocolate, Cooking and Food, Holidays | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

The Celebration Continues!

December 28, 2010

Christmas may be over – but the celebration continues here!

My sister -in – law Julie and her 2 boys are spending the week with us. It’s a week we all look forward to because they are so fun to have around.

The boys will keep themselves busy building Legos, playing the Wii and out sledding in the snow.

Meanwhile we girls will be hanging out with Aunt Julie.

Just saying that makes me smile – because Aunt Julie is really fun to hang out with.

We’ll be watching a movie when she will suddenly sit up and say, “Do you what would taste really good right now?” And the next thing we know we’re eating strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar – or eating a brownie covered with ice cream and hot fudge.

Yeah – she’s pretty fun to have around!

Do you remember the week that we had my three special nieces? Julie was here the whole week to help. She even brought meals.

Do you remember the epic one day Vacation Bible School we hosted last summer? Julie was here the entire week before to help us set up. She even taught a lesson, made the curtains for the puppet theater and created a dolphin puppet.

But we have no big projects this week. Oh no. The next few days will be spent relaxing and enjoying.

We’ll watch movies, drink hot chocolate, eat lots of goodies, and check out our favorite thrift stores.

We’ll play games, work out, go cross country skiing, and laugh – a lot.

But most importantly – we’ll make some memories!

So the celebration continues…

 

 

 

By Country Gal | Posted in Family Traditions, Friends | Tagged , , | Comments (7)

The True Gift

December 24, 2010

The true gift of Christmas“He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.”
Roy L. Smith.

May the true gift of Christmas – a tiny babe born in a stable who grew to be the Savior of the world – live in your hearts this Christmas.

Blessings from my home to yours.

Photo courtesy of  Nils Fretwurst.

By Country Gal | Posted in Holidays | Tagged , | Comments (7)

Cranberry Almond White Chocolate Cookies

December 20, 2010

Cranberry Cookies We had a wonderful Christmas with my husband’s family over the weekend!

The kids loved the time spent with cousins – and I loved my time with my sisters-in-love and my three sweet and very special nieces Katie, Emie and Annie.

My assignment for the weekend was to bring a variety of cookies.  Yes – it was the perfect job for me – and I took it very seriously. :)

The girls helped me make several of the traditional favorites – chocolate covered pretzels, gingersnaps, and spritz cookies.

But we also wanted to try something new.

Knowing that my mother-in-law wasn’t big on chocolate, and that one of my sisters-in-law loved cranberries, we went looking for a cranberry cookie.

This is it – and boy – did we pick a winner!

It’s a refrigerator cookie – so you can make up a batch and bake them as needed. We threw in some almonds and a little almond extract for a twist.

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

1 – 1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 – 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the extracts, beat well.

Combine the flour, baking powder powder, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl. Gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in the almonds and white chocolate chips.

Carefully stir in the cranberries.

Shape into three rolls and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Cut into 1/4 inch slices and place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed With Grace, Tasty Tuesdays at balancing beauty and Bedlam, and with the Christmas Cookie Exchange at Life As Mom.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cookies and Bars, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , , | Comments (5)

A Little Bit More…

December 17, 2010

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons. It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” – Dr. Suess

By Country Gal | Posted in Holidays | Tagged , , | Comments (4)