Merry Christmas! These are some of my most favorite things....

Want an easy, delicious dessert to make for a holiday party?

Peppermint Ice Cream Pie
1 gallon of peppermint ice cream. (Edy's/Dreyer's or Friendly's)

1 Oreo cookie Pie Crust

One jar of very good Hot Fudge Sauce (like Sander's - can buy on Amazon or instore- Ghiardelli or Silver Palette).

Spread layer of hot fudge sauce on bottom of crust. Fill crust shell with ice cream. Top with hot fudge sauce. Cover with Reddi Whip topping and crushed candy canes.

Voila at half the cost of buying an ice cream cake!

Apple Crisp a La Mode

Topping:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup panko

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Filling: 3-4 lbs apples, ( a mix of granny smith, johnathons, or pipins), peeled and cut into 1/3″ slices (keep apples in a bowl covered with water and the juice of 1 lemon until needed for the recipe, otherwise the apples will oxidize and start turning brown.)

1/2 cup brown sugarjuice from 1/2 of a lemon

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9″ glass or ceramic pie dish.
To a mixing bowl, add the first 7 ingredients for the topping. Stir thoroughly. Add the small pieces of chilled butter to the seasoned oat and flour mixture. Using your fingers, or a mixer/processor work the butter into the oat mixture until the larges crumbs are about the size of a pea. Once the butter has been incorporated, place the topping back in the fridge to chill until ready to use. This step can be prepared several hours in advance.
Drain the apples from the lemon water. Added the drained apples and all of the other ingredients for the filling into a large bowl. Toss to evenly combine all ingredients.
Pour the filling into butter pie dish. Evenly distribute the chilled topping over the filling.

Place the crisp into the middle of a preheated 350 degree oven with a sheet pan underneath to catch any juices that may dribble out.

Bake at 350 for about 1 hour, or until the topping is golden brown and the apples are tender when pierced with a knife or fork. Remove the crisp from the oven and place on a rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Peppermint Bark - they sell a good one at William Sonoma but you can easily make it at home for 1/4 of the price:

12 oz. of high-quality white chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips
5 regular sized candy canes, crushed up
1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract

1 Break up peppermint candy into little pieces. Melt the chocolate according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once melted, add the peppermint extract and stir.
2 Pour the melted chocolate out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and spread out with a spatula or wooden spoon. Sprinkle the peppermint candy chunks on to the chocolate and gently press them in with yours hands.
3 Place in the freezer for 5 minutes or until hardened. Break into pieces and serve or store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

4 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs plus 1 yolk

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

Pinch of ground cloves

1 tbsp. bourbon

5 cups cubed (1-inch) day-old baguette or crusty bread

3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle.

Whisk together pumpkin, cream, milk, sugar, eggs, yolk, salt, spices and bourbon, if using, in a bowl.

Toss bread cubes with butter in another bowl, then add pumpkin mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish and bake until custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve with vanilla, butter pecan or pumpkin ice cream.