This is the season for lots of baking and cooking! I like to bake up a lot of treats for neighbors, friends, dates, and family gatherings, but sometimes I just want to try something new and fresh. I often let the kids bake with me so we can get in some bonding time as well. And of course, we frequently taste test our goodies. We don’t want to give away any duds now! I will often run to the store and stock up on all of the typical baking ingredients, and then let my creativity and cookbooks run wild, throughout the holiday season.
Safeway is a great one stop shop for all of your holiday baking and cooking needs. They’ve got all of the name brands that I like, and sometimes the brand is important for quality and taste. Not in all things, but there are some recipes where I demand it. Safeway sent me a lovely gift basket with some of my favorite products, such as Swanson’s Chicken Broth, Nestle Toll House Morsels, Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes, C&H Sugar, and the list goes on. With the right combination of these Safeway essentials, you can create something delish, such as these holiday recipes:
- Savory Butternut Squash Casserole
- Holiday Vegetable Casserole
- Cheery Cheese Ball
- Zesty Holiday Dip
- Ham with Marmalade Bourbon Glaze
- Upside-down Cake a la Mode
I decided to create a recipe using the baking chips, and a friend of mine had a really fun idea. While serving a mission in Ukraine, he learned of a recipe similar to these Peppermint Cookie Bars, minus the peppermint. He has been wanting to recreate these yummy 3 ingredient bars, but with a touch of peppermint so, we invented these Peppermint Cookie Bars, with the addition of candy canes. We whipped up these now 4 ingredient bars for a party one night this week and were a big hit! They are one of those treats where people take a bite and sit there and ponder it for a moment, because they can’t figure out what flavor/ingredients make up the crust. Such a fun and unique flavor, and so many different ways to jazz it up.


- 1 (13.6 oz) box Ritz crackers
- 1 (6 oz) package of candy canes, crushed
- 1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup milk or dark chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350° and grease an 8x8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place Ritz crackers in a food processor and process until they are fine crumbs. Pour them into a bowl and combine with sweetened condensed milk.
- Press moistened crumbs into the baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and immediately pour the chocolate chips over the top of the bars. Allow to melt from the heat of the bars, then spread evenly over the top.
- Sprinkle crushed candy canes over the top.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
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