Holiday Treats

I decided to make some holiday treats this year for Matt and me to take to our co-workers. It ended up being a much bigger project than I originally anticipated, but I think it was worth the effort.

First, I made delicious Hatcher Crackers - a recipe my mom received from a man named Hatcher who attended our church when we lived in North Carolina...hence the name Hatcher Crackers. You could probably find variations on it somewhere.

To begin, you'll need:

1(11 x16) Silverstone Cookie Sheet
(10 oz) New York State Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Saltine Crackers
Ground Red Pepper (to taste)

The directions are pretty easy:

Place crackers neatly on cookie sheet. Trim the last row and column to fit pan. Crackers must fit tightly so cheese will not run between crackers.



Sprinkle crackers lightly with red pepper (to taste).



Coarse grate the 10 oz. of cheese directly onto crackers as evenly as possible.



Turn on broiler. Place pan on bottom rack and leave door open. After a few minutes the cheese will begin to bubble.



This step is easy to misjudge so watch carefully. Once the cheese begins to dry out and most of the bubbles are firm on top, remove the pan from the oven. It takes about 12-14 minutes in my oven, but they're all different.



Allow the oven to cool. Return the cookie sheet to the oven set at 150 degrees and close oven door. Leave crackers for several hours or overnight to dry them out. (My oven's lowest setting is 170 degrees, so I set it on this and left it for about 6 or 7 hours). Crackers are best left in the oven until ready to serve (even for days).

I left them in the oven for a few days while I was getting my materials ready. The biggest challenge was trying to keep Matt (OK and me too) from eating them :)

I bought some of these bags and some pretty holiday cardstock at Michaels that I cut into squares.



I printed out the Hatcher Cracker recipe and then glued it to the cardstock squares.



I filled the bags with Hatcher Crackers...



Then I put them into another festive holiday bag and tied the recipe to it with a ribbon. I added sugar cookies too but didn't take pics of those :)



Seems pretty easy right? I wish!