{ Makin' stuff... }

Wow! Have you all been as busy as me??? I'm sure you have :-) Not only have I had to work the last couple of days...long hours to boot, but I had to cram in my holiday goodie making as well!!! Whew!!! This year I only made sugar cookies, browned butter cookies and vanilla fudge. The sugar cookies I will skip, but here are my other recipes.

 

 VANILLA FUDGE

 * 3 Cups sugar

* 1/2 Cup corn syrup

* 1 1/4 Sweetened condensed milk (1 14 oz. can)

* 1 tsp. vanilla

* 1/2 - 1 Cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1. In HEAVY saucepan combine sugar, syrup , sc milk and butter.

2. Cook over med - med low heat until it reaches firm ball stage.

3. Remove from heat, beat in vanilla and nuts.

4. Turn out into buttered, wax paper-lined baking dish.

5. Cool and cut into squares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BROWNED BUTTER COOKIES

* 1 cup butter

    * 2/3 cup sugar

    * 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar 

(I used 1 tablespoon fine sugar with 1 teaspoon pure Madagascar vanilla extract added)

    * 2 1/3 cups flour

    * 1 teaspoon baking powder

    * Caramelized sweetened condensed milk

    1. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt butter on low heat, stirring occasionally, until browned. Stir in sugar and vanilla sugar and remove from heat. Let cool.

   2. Combine flour and baking powder and beat in cooled butter mixture to form a smooth dough.

   3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roll small balls of dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter.

   4. Place dough balls about an inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make a 'well' in the center of cookie and place in it a small amount of the caramelized sweetened condensed milk.

   5. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until edges just start to turn golden. 

   6. Remove from baking sheet after 1 minutes and let cool on wire racks.

AND don't forget the clean-up crew!!!!