Christmas Cookies , Chocolate Salami, and Easy Peppermint Marshmallows

We love making fun Christmas treats around our house!  Thought we would share some of our favorites from over the years.  

These snowman and snowflake sugar cookies with royal icing were so fun to make.  Love how the pastel colors turned out.  

Rudolph sugar cookies with royal icing make with a gingerbread cookie cuter.  We took these to our neighborhood North Pole party last year.  Check out  this year's Rudolph Rice Krispy treats.  

This is a chocolate salami believe it or not.  We combined several of our favorite recipes to create our favorite version of a chocolate salami.   How much fun is this!  I made one of these for each of my brothers and family a few years back in honor of our Italian heritage.  Wouldn't these make great neighbor or teacher gifts?!  Love how they are powdered, wrapped in twine and have the look of a real Italian salami!

Chocolate Salami
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup tea biscuits, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup tart dried cherries, coarsely chopped
 zest and/or peel of 1 orange
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons Cointreau
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 cup brewed coffee

powdered sugar for rolling

Instructions:

 Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler.  Remove from heat.  Stir in coffee, Cointreau, and heavy cream.  Mix until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix thoroughly.  If too runny, add more of the dry ingredients to your liking.  
     Poor mixture into a bowl, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until firm but moldable.
     Remove from refrigerator and divide in half.  Place half of the mixture in the center of an 18- inch-long piece of plastic wrap.  Form into a 7 inch by 2 inch long log.  Seal plastic wrap and roll back and forth on counter until uniform in size. Do the same with the other half.  Refrigerate logs until firm, about 1 hour.
     Unwrap the logs and roll in  powdered sugar. Brush away excess.  Tie with twin and wrap in brown paper with a label if desired.
   
To Serve:  Let salami sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Use a sharp knife to cut into thick slices and serve.

*Can be frozen for up to 1 month.  Thaw at room temperature for 25 minutes before serving.

These easy peppermint marshmallows from Betty Crocker and chocolate milk bar was so fun!  Once you've tried a homemade marshmallow you won't want store bought ever again.