christmas goodies!

For the past 5 years I have been baking my christmas gifts, this year..

..i made brownies, pecan pie bars, pumpkin truffles, its not a snicker but a chuckle bars, peanut butter balls, fudgeeo truffles, almond joy, lemon squares, pumpkin cake balls, nutter balls and nutella meringues! :♥)

turtle almond joy cheesecake

so rich and so good! i made this with my cheesecake recipe, caramel recipe and pecan pie filling recipe, also i spread nutella on the graham cracker crust and toasted coconut for the pecan topping! i love baking, bet these would be great as squares for my dream bakeshop! :♥) 

Edited: It was a hit when I served it at the new years dinner, also made chocolate cake and lemon pie that was good! It was a wonderful fun time! :♥) 

Nutella Meringue Cookies

These are so good, just like eating a ferrero rocher lol I do recommend not adding the fluff unless you want a sweeter cookie or just going to eat one! I personally dont like sweeter-er things! :♥)

1 cup powdered sugar

2/3 cup ground almonds 

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 large egg whites, at room temperature

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

jar of fluff and jar of nutella to spread 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a food processor, grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps. Using a standing electric mixer and at slow-medium speeds, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, gradually beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag.

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1/2-inch circles. Tap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the meringues, then bake them for 15 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

To assemble, you match up similar sized meringues. Depending on size of meringues, spread 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of nutella on one cookie’s inside and fluff on the other side, and then gently press the matching cookie on top, forming a sandwich. 

You can store in an airtight container or in the fridge for at least one day before serving and the meringues can keep up to 5 days, after that they may be stored in the freezer up to 3 months!