Caramel Cream Cheese Dip

One of the treats we had during our New Year's Eve party was this Caramel Cream Cheese dip. We actually had it for the first time a few nights earlier when we had some friends over but it was so yummy, and such a hit, that it was requested again.

It's super super easy with only 3 ingredients and takes about 3 minutes to make as well.  I topped ours with the Enjoy Life chocolate chips instead of the toffee chips to make it safe for everyone.  I also used light brown sugar instead of dark as that's all we had.  The original recipe says that dark gives a richer flavor but we thought it was great with the light!

I had apples, graham crackers, bananas, and pretzels to dip in it and the 3 year old had gluten free pretzels, gf animal crackers, and fruit for his.  We pretty much finished off the whole thing between just the 5 of us...so good!  I have a feeling this will become a stand by for get togethers and parties at our house.

Christmas Crack

I know this recipe is nothing new but I've never made it myself, and actually, I've rarely been at gatherings where people have had it.  When I saw this Christmas Crack recipe circling Pinterest, I figured I'd try it with my Enjoy Life chocolate chips.

This was quick and easy to make and it is awesome!  I gave the 5 year old a taste while I was breaking up the pieces and he turned into a vulture, hovering over me, waiting for small broken pieces that he could snatch up.  He has declared it his new favorite Christmas treat!

Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Balls

So when I said that I couldn't have chocolate in my last post, I lied just a bit.  I can have the Enjoy Life allergen free chocolate chips.  I just don't use them a lot for baking, more to keep on hand for a quick chocolate fix, as they're kind of spendy at around $5 a bag.  Found these amazing little Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Butter Balls on Pinterest and I figured I would splurge for a treat that we all could eat.  I substituted Glutino gluten free pretzels for regular pretzels so this was 3 year old safe too.  Not the cheapest treat between the chocolate chips and the Glutino pretzels but the end result was oh so worth it!

The trickiest part to these was rolling the peanut butter balls.  I did as the recipe says and chilled my fingers with cold water but that would only work for maybe one ball and then I'd have to re-chill.  As someone in the comments suggested, I then tried chilling the "dough" before rolling it.  I took advantage of the weather and just set the pan of them out on our front porch for about 45 minutes.  That helped, but it still was tricky.  I finally figured out that keeping my fingers wet after chilling them under the cold water was the trick to getting the balls to stick easily. (my husband would be giggling like a teenager reading this post.)

Aside from the little, minor problem of rolling the peanut butter balls, this was another easy recipe and these things are DELICIOUS!  So so so good!  The 3 year old LOVES them and I love that I've found another gluten free, safe Christmas treat for everyone to enjoy.  The biggest problem with these will be having them last until Christmas, even if it is only a couple of days away!

Even though he's already had a couple, when the 3 year old just saw me upload this picture he said, "Can I have one of those?"  A hit!  And now the 5 year old is alerting me that the 3 year old is "stealing the chocolates" so that's my cue. : )