Our family has been making this forever! When I was in college, Mom even sent it to me in care packages.
*5 quarts popped corn
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
(dark brown gives it more carmel color)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
Melt butter, stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to boil. Stir constantly. Boil 5 minutes. (to firm ball stage - 248 degrees) Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Mixture will foam--Pour over popcorn in a roasting pan. Bake 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes (or at least once 1/2 way through).--Store in an airtight container. Makes 5 quarts, or almost 2lbs!
*We like to use 5 qts of air popped popcorn but I have used microwave pc even the light butter microwave popcorn.
1 lb VELVEETA Cheese
1 pkg (3oz) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
Let get room temperature and mix together. Roll in chili powder and paprika powder.
1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
1C sugar
1 egg
2 to 3 Tbs milk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Icing
assorted decorations such as candies, raisins, or colored sugar crystals
In a medium bowl, beat together butter or margarine, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and salt, beating until blended. Divide dough into two equal portions. Wrap (I use wax paper) and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or longer. Prior to baking, allow dough to stand at room temperature until soft enough to roll easily. To bake cookies, preheat oven to 375F, On a lightly floured surface, (Don't use anything other than flour!) roll dough 1/4 inch think. With lightly floured cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. bake 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove cookies from baking sheets; cool on racks. Decorate as desired with icing and decorations. Let stand until set. Makes about 48 (2-1/2 in) cookies.
1/2 lb butter, 1/2 lb margine, soft
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration
Combine all ingredients, mix well.
Refrigerate dough until chilled.
Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Bake on ungreased baking sheet place 2 1/2 in apart and bake for 10 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven. Bake until set but not brown. Once baked, roll while still hot in confectioners' sugar until coated. Let cool. Lightly dust with more confectioners' sugar.
1 cup soft shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
Mix together thoroughly
2 3/4 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 to 3 tsp. cinnamon
Sift together and stir in
Mix thouroughly with hands. Press and mold into a long smooth roll about 2 12" in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper, and chill until stiff ( several hours or overnight). With a thin, sharp knife, cut in thin slices 1/8" to 1/16" thick. Place slices a little apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until lightly brown. Makes about 6 dozen 2 1/2" cookies. Can add 3/4 to 1 cup nuts.
2 lbs. Powdered sugar
2 boxes Vanilla Frosting Mix - dry powdered type
1 - 15oz. Maraschino Cherries, drained and chopped fine (1/2 left in chunks, 1/2 processed in blender)
1 stick margarine, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
cherry flavoring or extract to taste
Mix together and roll into bite-sized balls; mixture should be stiff, if not, add more powdered sugar. Chill balls well.
12 oz semi - sweet chocolate chips
12 oz milk chocolate chips
2 oz paraffin
large package finely chopped salted peanuts
Melt chocolate chips and paraffin in double boiler, add nuts. Dip well chilled balls until coated and place on waxed paper.
*Hint: Add red food coloring and Maraschino cherry juice (2 or 3 tablespoons) to mixture for richer taste and color. If extra juice is added, it will be necessary to add additional powdered sugar until stiff texture is obtained.
**Another recipe I saw said to use 1 lb. finely crushed peanuts, and said you can use all semi - sweet chocolate chips if you like.