M&M Cake Mix:

You will need one box of Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix, one bag of red and green m&m’s minis baking bits, one half cup of vegetable or canola oil, and two eggs.

You’ll have to combine cake mix, eggs, and oil in a large mixing bowl, and beat well. Stir in m&m’s. Chill dough in refrigerator for twenty minutes. Drop onto ungreased non-sitck cookie sheet in rounded balls. Bake for approximately eight to nine or until done at three hundred and fifty degrees.

Santa Hat Brownies:

You will need one pan of your favorite brownies and cut into rounds. Twelve to sixteen small strawberries, washed and hulled. One batch of vanilla mascarpone buttercream. For the buttercream you will need a half cup unsalted butter (room temperature), eight ounces mascarpone cheese (room temperature), two and a half to three cups powdered sugar, two teaspoons vanilla extract, pinch of salt.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and mascarpone cheese until light and creamy about two minutes. Add vanilla extract and salt. Add two and a half cups of sugar, half a cup at a time and continue beating until smooth. Add more sugar, if needed to reach desired consistency and sweetness. To assemble, pipe a ring of vanilla buttercream on top of each brownie. Cut off the base of each of the strawberries so it’s flat and place it upside down on each brownie, pushing slightly to secure in place. Top the tip of each strawberry with a dot of buttercream to finish the Santa hat.

Snowman Cheese Balls:

You will need one tub of Philadelphia cream cheese spread (8 ounces). One package Kraft shredded cheddar cheese. One fourth cup finely chopped chives. One fourth cup planters silvered almonds, toasted. One fourth teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne). One fourth cup Kraft grated Parmesan peppercorns. One baby carrot.

You need to mix the first five ingredients until blended. Refrigerate for one hour. Divide cheese into three different sized balls: small, medium, large. Coat with parmesan. Arrange in line on serving plate to resemble a snowman lying down. Decorate with remaining ingredients to make snowman.