It's Baking Season....

In the past I have hosted "cookie weeks" here on Stilettos and Diaper Bags. Baking Christmas cookies and making holiday desserts are a very important tradition to me. I think I love baking, specifically at this time of year, because it reminds me of my mom. That woman can cook and bake like no other! Every year she would bake 5-7 different kinds of cookie over the period of a few days after she'd get home from work. We each had our favorites and she made them all! 
I hope my kids now get excited when I bake around the holidays. This year the four of us will be baking a few recipes together as my hubby took next week off and the kids will be off for two weeks too. It's the most wonderful time of the year. ;) 
I thought I'd share with you two recipes I whipped up last week for my first Christmas party over the weekend. But first, here is a list of all previous Christmas baking here on the blog: 
Chocolate Snowball Cookies (gluten free) Coconut Chocolate Chip (gluten free & dairy free) 
Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies (gluten free) Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossom CookiesCarmel Fudge Turtle CookiesRed Velvet CookiesChocolate Covered Pretzels with M&M's on topRaspberry Ribbon SlicesGluten Free Chocolate Chip CookiesGluten Free Peanut Butter Blossom CookiesGluten Free Almond Spritz Press CookiesGluten Free Snickerdoodle CookiesGluten Free Chocolate Covered PretzelsGluten Free Layered Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
Being in the last month of the Hormel foods extended blogger program (you can now follow our Hormel adventures on the Sisters Marie blog starting in January) I was over the moon to find Skippy peanut butter in my latest cooler of treats. 
I used Skippy Natural to make gluten free peanut butter blossom cookies.  The finished product:  After looking around on the Skippy website I knew I wanted to try to make the Peanut butter cereal bars. By just subbing for the gluten free version of the cereal, my son was also able to enjoy the dessert!  
Ingredients:
4 cups crispy rice cereal1/2 cup sugar1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup1/2 cup SKIPPY^® Creamy Peanut Butter
 Directions: 
1. Line 8x8- or 9x9-inch pan with plastic wrap.2. Pour cereal into large bowl.3. In medium saucepan, bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute; remove from heat.4. Stir peanut butter into corn syrup mixture until smooth. Pour over cereal; stir to coat. Press evenly into pan.5. Let treats cool 15 minutes on cutting board; remove from pan. Remove plastic wrap. Cut into squares to serve.

This recipe is recommended for 36 servings.

These turned out super yummy. Cut small because they are very rich (which is the best part!). 
What type of holiday treats do you bake up? Do you try new recipes each year or stick to tradition?
*You can check out my previous Hormel posts and recipes here, here, here,  here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, & here*I am currently a member of the Hormel Foods Extended Blogger Program and this post is part of my involvement in the Group. While Hormel Foods provides me material and necessary resources to complete various activities, all statements and sentiment in Stilettos and Diaper Bags are my own.