The smell of fresh treats being baked wafting around your house is enough to get anyone into a jolly holiday mood! But sometimes things are just too complicated to make on your own, or take far too long to prepare. Simplicity is best when everyone is scrambling around to finish up holiday shopping and get the decorations up.
Meringues
The holiday is coming up and baking is at an all time high. Meringues are easy, delicious, and fun to make.
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- ¾ cup sugar
- Pinch of cream of tartar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200˚F.
- Combine the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tatar in a cooking pan over the warm stove.
- Beat the mixture with a mixer on a medium to high speed, until the mixture is white and puffy, which takes around 7 minutes.
- Now put the mixture in a piping bag to make a small triangular form. Put the little meringues on a pan.
- Then put the pan into the oven for 40 minutes to and hour or until crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside.
- Enjoy!
Peppermint Bark
Peppermint bark is a delicious holiday treat. Dark chocolate layered with white chocolate and candy canes – what’s not to love? What you didn’t know about peppermint bark is that it is extremely easy to make. You can make some in you own kitchen!
This simple recipe will make you a favorite among friends. Peppermint bark is a great dessert, snack, and makes a wonderful gift!
Ingredients:
- 16 oz dark chocolate
- 16 oz white chocolate
- 12 crushed up candy canes
Directions:
- Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with wax paper.
- Crush candy canes by placing them in a plastic bag and crushing them with your choice of tool.
- Melt dark chocolate over a double boiler until smooth. You can set up a double boiler by
filling a saucepan with a small amount of water and then placing the bowl of chocolate on
top of, but not touching the water. - Pour chocolate on to cookie sheet and spread with a spatula until even in thickness.
- Place cookie sheet with dark chocolate in freezer for half an hour.
- Melt white chocolate over a double boiler until smooth.
- Pour white chocolate over dark chocolate until even in thickness
- Heavily sprinkle surface with crushed candy canes until chocolate is completely covered.
- Place in freezer for half an hour.
- Break park into chunks or leave as one big sheet!
- Enjoy!
Seven Layer Bars
One option for a nice and easy treat that even a busy academy student would be able to make are seven layer bars. True to their name, these easy desserts only require seven ingredients and less than an hour of your time, and they taste terrific!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of butter or margarine
- 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
- 14 oz. of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup of butterscotch chips
- 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/3 cups of sweetened coconut flakes
- 1 cup chopped nuts of your choice
Directions:
- First, you will want to preheat your oven to 350º, unless you decide to use a glass dish in which case the temperature will be 325º.
- Next you want to place the butter in a 13 by 9-inch pan and melt it in the oven. Keep an eye on this to make sure it doesn’t burn as the oven heats up.
- You will then sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs over the melted butter, and pour the sweetened condensed milk over this mixture.
- The remaining ingredients should be spread in the order in which they are previously listed, then pressed down securely with a fork or spatula.
- The bars should then be placed in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until they reach a golden brown color.
When finished, the bars can be served hot or cold, and they store well for multiple months. Freeze them in an airtight container to preserve their holiday taste all year long!
Caroline Anders’17, Jacinta Crestanello’17, and Sarah Wexner ’17
