Perfect for Christmas morning! And even better… it doesn’t include soggy bread. lol

8oz. smoked link sausage
2T maple syrup
2 lb. frozen hash browns
2c milk
6 eggs
2oz grated Cheddar cheese
¼ c grated Parmesan
½ t dry mustard
¼ t pepper
2T green onion, snipped with scissors

Preheat oven to 350 and grease casserole with oil. Sauté sausages until brown, add syrup, cook one minute and arrange in single layer in casserole. Top with hash browns.

In medium bowl, whisk remaining ingredients and pour over hash browns.

Bake one hour or until center is set. Sprinkle with green onion. Cool 10 min. Cut into squares.

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From my mother-in-law

1 lb. Butter
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sifted Icing Sugar
2 tablespoon light Brown Sugar
4 cups sifted all-purpose Flour

Blend butter and sugar thoroughly. Stir in flour and mix thoroughly with hands. Chill.

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Roll out dough 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into fancy shapes.
Decorate with red and green cherries, colour sugar or decorating candies, if desired.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Top of cookies should not be brown.

Makes about 4 dozen medium sized cookies.

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From the DVD for the BBC television production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

2 cups (1/2 liter) granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) water
1 lemon, the peel cut into strips, the juice squeezed and strained
1 orange, the peel cut into strips, the juice squeezed and strained
4 tablespoons (60 ml) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons (30 ml) confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon (15 ml) cornstarch

Dissolve the granulated sugar in half of the water over medium heat. Add the strips of lemon and orange peel and the juices. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Soften the gelatin by soaking it for 5 to 10 minutes in the rest of the water. Add the gelatin to the sugar syrup stirring well, and boil for 10 minutes, until the syrup reaches the thread stage.

Strain the mixture into shallow dampened pan or onto platters, and let it set for 24 hours. Cut the candy into 1-inch (2 1/2 cm) squares. Sift the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch together into a shallow dish. Roll the pieces of candy in the mixture. Store the squares in boxes with more confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch between each layer.

Notes:
I can’t yet guarantee this recipe, but I can say this… it looks better just by the reading than most I’ve seen for this treat. You have to admit it’s got a lot going for it being from Britain. Having failed at this before, I’m going to give it a whirl soon, hoping for the best. Have patience and I’ll report back as soon as I can.

***updated***
As you can see from the photo, this recipe does indeed work! And it’s so cute with the sugar mixture rolled on. The only change I made was to strain the peels from the sugar mixture *before* adding the gelatin. Also, after consulting my Joy of Cooking, I learned that “thread” stage is 215 degrees F. So, I let it boil at that temperature for 10 minutes.

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3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter
1 ½ cup flour
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 egg
3 Tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon baking soda

Filling: Beat cream cheese, 1/3 c sugar and vanilla until soft and smooth. Add coconut and nuts. Chill.

Dough: Beat butter until softened. Add half of the flour. Add 1c sugar, cocoa, egg, milk, and baking soda. Beat until combined. Work in the rest of the flour. Chill dough until firm enough to roll.

Place dough between btw 2 sheets of waxed paper. With rolling pin, roll dough in a rectangle 14 * 6”. Remove top sheet of waxed paper.

Remove filling from the refrigerator and shape into a roll 14” long. Place filling on top of dough. Start on one end and roll dough around filling – like rolling up a rug. Moisten and pinch edges together. Cut roll in half. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for two days.

Cut into ¼ “slices using a very sharp knife or waxed dental floss. Bake 375 for 8 to 10 min. Cool on sheet for about 1 minute and then finish cooling on racks.

Notes:
I did double this recipe – because I had that much cream cheese – and it worked out just fine.

One change that I made was that I did not roll the filling into a log and wrap the cookie around it. Instead, I distributed the filling evenly over the whole rolled rectangle of cookie dough and wrapped it that way.

And yes, I did chill the rolls for two days. It might seem like too much work, but in fact it broke up the work for me – make the dough one day and forget it for awhile. Then when I had half an hour and remembered they existed in my fridge – “What unmade cookies in my fridge?!” – I sliced ‘em up and baked them. Mecandes really liked them too.

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From Kraft foods, via a friend

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 rolls (1 – 1/4 oz. each) Lifesavers hard candy

Beat butter, sugar, honey, egg, vanilla in bowl with electric mixer until creamy. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Roll dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4″ thickness.

Cut dough into desired shapes with 2 1/2 – 3″ cookie cutters

Trace smaller version of cookie shape on dough leaving 1/2 – 3/4″ border of dough.

Cut out and remove dough from center of cookies; set aside.

Place cut out shapes on cookie sheets lined with foil.

Repeat with reserved dough, rolling scraps as necessary.

Crush each color of candy separately between 2 layers of wax paper with mallet.

Spoon crushed candy inside centers of cutout cookie shapes.

Bake 6-8 minutes or until candy is melted and cookies are lightly browned.

Cool cookies completely before removing from foil.

Notes:
The friend who makes these happens to have very small cookie cutters – of the same shape as the larger ones – to make the cut on the inside. I however do not. Going to try to do as the recipe suggests and make my own template, but I might… just might try something different. Read “easy.” Something like using a small circle in the middle on Christmas trees. I’ll update this post once I make them. They are on the baking list to do soon.

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