winter treats

I know I posted in late November that I was feeling overwhelmed at the thought of preparing for Christmas this year.  But you know what?  It hasn't been so bad!  I might even say that I'm actually in the Christmas spirit!  (I couldn't really deny it having sung an 'I'm so glad it's almost Christmas' song for my children over breakfast.)
Anyway, these two recipes have helped.  Nothing like food to get one in the spirit.  The first one is truly ridiculously good.  These are chocolate spice cookies, and they are perfect for holiday time, but also if you feel like baking a cake but don't really want all that cake hanging around the house, nagging you to eat it.  Maybe you want to bake someone a birthday cake, but there are only 2 of you and you really really don't need a whole cake?  Well then, make these cookies, for they are light and rich, with the slightest hint of crunch but a melting softness on the inside, in truth, they are some of the best cookies I've ever eaten, and definitely the best ones I've ever made.  They're from a new cookbook called Jerusalem, but I got the recipe from the internets here.  It's a long post with other info, and the recipe is at the end.  It's also a kind of silly recipe that calls for 1/2 an egg and that kind of thing (I admit that I got about 3/4 of my egg into the recipe, and they still turned out perfectly).  But it's worth it.  Trust me.
I also made homemade Lara bars.  Those of you who have bought them know they're very tasty, yet quite expensive!  I made some at home and they're just as good, plus you can cut them to the size that's best for your family.

Coconut-Cherry Bars

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup raw pecans

12 big dates - medjool or the like (take the pits out!)

1 cup dried cherries or cranberries (unsweetened)

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened)

¼ teaspoon salt

1) In a food processor, pulse only the nuts and the sea salt until finely chopped but still chunky. Some will be ground up almost like almond meal but they will not all be consistent.

2)Pour your nuts into a mixing bowl.

3)Add the dates, dried fruit and coconut oil to the food processor and process until it makes a paste.  I had to add a tablespoon or two of water to get it to work.

4) Add the date mixture and the coconut flakes to the nuts and use your hands to kneed the nuts and the dates together until well mixed (this is messy but fun).  

5) Grease a baking sheet or use parchment paper or a silpat.

6) Make a big ball out of your bar mixture and push it down onto your baking sheet.  Cover the ball with some plastic wrap and roll out the mixture to about 1/2 an inch thick or a little less.

7) Cut the rolled out mixture into the desired shape and amount that you would like.
8) For storage, wrap the pieces individually in waxed paper.
You can make whatever variations you like with dried fruits - the dates are the base and the sweetness.  Make with apricots or anything.  I found the bars got better the next day as the nuts got a tiny bit softer from the date mixture.  They've been sitting in our pantry for quite a while and they're just fine (and very tasty)!