Christmas Party Treats

Last night my mom, sister, and I hosted a scarf exchange party at my parents house. We try to do a small get together for the ladies each year and we thought we would change it up by exchanging scarves. We put together a few appetizers and little treats for everyone to munch on throughout the night. I thought I would share a couple of my favorites today.

Christmas Crunch

One of my favorite treats was the Christmas Crunch. I've made this a couple times and it's always a hit. I thought I would share the recipe today. You can find the recipe I used here.

Ingredients:
1 cup of popcorn kernels
1 or 2 bags of vanilla candy melts (we used a 16 oz. bag)
2 cups of broken pretzel pieces
1 (12 oz.) bag of green and red M&Ms
green and red sprinkles
wax paper

Directions:
1. Pop the popcorn kernels according to the directions on the package. Remove any unpopped kernels.
2. Toss the popcorn, pretzel pieces, and M&Ms into a large bowl. Mix together.
3. Drizzle half of the melted chips on top of the popcorn and gently mix with a rubber spatula.
4. Mix in the rest of the chips and spread evenly onto wax paper.
5. Sprinkle the green and red sprinkles on top of the popcorn before the vanilla candy melts harden.
6. Allow to cool and harden, then break apart.
7. Store in an air tight container.

Cranberry Brie Bites

We also made cranberry brie bites and they were super easy and delicious... my favorite combination :) You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry, thawed
1/2 lb. brie
1 cup of cranberry sauce

Directions:
1. Set the puff pastry out to thaw.
2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Spread out the puff pastry and cut into 3x3 squares.
4. Spray the muffin tins with pam. Place the puff pastry squares in the muffin tins.
5. Cut the brie into a 3/4 inch cubes and place in the middle of the puff pastry.
6. Top the cheese with about 2 tsp. of cranberry sauce.
7. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.