Our Sweeter Approach to Life: December 2018

Hear ye! Hear ye! It's that time again for the Great Cookie Exchange! I know that I have not been around as much as I would like, but if there's one thing that can get me blogging is brand spanking new recipes! (Had to get spanking in there somehow!) So I dug around the old recipe cards in the box and came up with two that are very new recipes to our family. Now, the dilemma set in on which to use. I'd recently looked these recipes up and even on my first go, I Baker-tized them! Folks, I'm just not that good at following a recipe...even the very first time. Thankfully, Hoss, has sort of kind of grown accustomed to my ability to improvise and therefore I bring ye the top two recipes of the fall season (at least at our house)!

German Peppernuts or Pfeffernusse (this is not my sister's recipe) The kids and I made this for a class project not too long ago and it makes tons of these little German cookies. They smell divine and I would NOT double this unless you want to make a ton! We made the mistake of doubling it, because with a ton of kids cookies do not last long at all. Well, in this case they did!

German Peppernut (Pfeffernusse) Recipe

1 cup softened butter (two sticks)
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon anise seed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together butter, sugar, molasses and egg until well blended. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to molasses mixture until flour can no longer be seen. Roll out the dough to about 1 inch thick log (makes cutting them much faster and makes them round not square). Refrigerate for an hour. Before baking cut into one inch squares. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes. You want the tops to be lightly browned as this is meant to be a crisp cookie.

Our second recipe is truly a brand new one for me. I have not made Key Lime Pie in ages and really wanted one for Thanksgiving. This recipe was one I just had to share because it truly is a rich and creamy pie and one that Hoss and our oldest daughter fell in love with and will now be a favorite forever.

Key Lime Pie (for two pies)

Two premade graham cracker crusts (or make your own)

3 cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup of lime juice
1/2 cup of lemon juice
3 tablespoons lime zest

Preheat oven to 359 degrees.

Mix together sweeten condensed milk, sour cream, lemon juice, lime juice and lime zest. Pour into the graham cracker pie crust. Bake for 5-6 minutes until tiny pinhole sized bubbles burst on the surface of the pie. You are not trying to brown the pie, just bake it to set. Chill pie and serve with whipped cream.

Seriously the creamiest key lime pie I have ever tasted. It is a light lime flavor, not overly powering.