This time of year always sneaks up on me like the creepy clown behind the door of a haunted house. Things are rocking along with intermittent chaos mixed with the calm 11 months of the year and then December hits and all of a sudden my schedule explodes as I try to do ALL THE THINGS!!!
There’s work chaos as we wind down the year but then you mix in the concerts, contests, meets and other school and extracurricular activities for the boys plus the “We HAVE to see each other before the chaos of the holidays hits” from friends and loved ones.
Looking at my calendar, between December 1 and Christmas, I’ve got ONE DAY that isn’t already packed with something needing my attention… I’m not telling y’all which day that is though for fear one of you will snatch it up 😉
Kidding.
Mostly.
One of the highlights though was getting to spend an evening with my lovely friend Helen over at Life in Random Bits for a Cookie Exchange. Which, if you think about it, is a brilliant idea! You make one kind of cookie, take the recipe to share, and go home with a variety of cookies that will surely illicit squeals of joy from the young and young at heart alike. Or maybe it’s just my boys that will be UBER excited about the variety pack I will be forcing offering them to consume over the next few weeks. I’m just a smidge disappointed that I was so busy meeting new friends and laughing with old friends that I forgot to be a blogger and no pictures were taken of the amazing spread of cookies from the group. Or the group itself. Oops!
There are two schools of thought when it comes to a cookie exchange… you can go with “Tried and True” old favorites….
Which is EXACTLY what Helen did and I’m so glad!
You should check out her post on these little bites of salty/sweet perfection if you want the low down.
The second thought when it comes to a cookie exchange is the “What the heck, I’ll try something new!”
That’s the route I took and LUCKILY it worked out quite nicely.
Salted Caramel Pecan Bars. I figure, how can you go wrong with some of my favorite ingredients?!? I will say though that these little buggers are RICH and highly decadent. A little bit goes a long way when it comes to satisfying my sweet tooth and that’s saying something.
Added bonus? They were super easy to make and while I made my own Salted Caramel, you could just as easily snag some of the premade stuff and whip these up in no time! I swear the recipe looks long and complicated, but that’s just because I don’t do anything succinctly. It’s WAY easier than it looks!
[yumprint-recipe id=’5′]Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Enjoy and Happy Holidays Y’all!
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