My house is Christmafied!  Yes, that is a word!  We got our Christmas tree on Saturday, and boy was that an adventure.  My husband and I both grew up going to a Christmas Tree Farm, and cutting down our own tree.  Since we have been married though, we have never lived near a place where that was economical or easily accessible.  Well that all changed this year.  We live near the mountains, and the mountains have trees!  Saturday morning we were doing our research to see where we should go.  My husband came across information about a National Forest that allowed you to cut down trees.  You could buy a permit and trek into the forest to get your tree (snow shoes recommended).  One little problem, you needed a 4wd vehicle.  After calling around we found a place that had a 4wd vehicle available to rent for the afternoon.  So we got all of our stuff together and set out on our National Lampoon Adventure.  We had to drive about an hour to get there, but once there it was amazing.  We were surprised  by how many people were there (a couple hundred at least).  Smokey the Bear was there to greet everyone and take pictures.  We got on our snow shoes and trekked through the National Forest to find a tree!  In the end we cut down one small tree for our 6 year old to decorate, and then went to a local place to get a big family tree.  As much fun as it was, the trees were all very much Charlie Brown trees.  It was a “Forest” afterall.  I do think this will become a tradition though, it was something we could have never done living in the Midwest.

Ok, onto the food!

Oh! Nuts contacted me to see if I would like to try some of their nuts for my Holiday baking.  Of course I would!!  I wanted to do a holiday version of a White Chocolate Macadamian Nut Cookie.  I love the Candy Cane Hershey’s Kisses, and knew they would be a major player in my recipe.  Then, I saw these White Chocolate Peppermint cookies over at Love from the Oven, and knew this was along the lines of what I was looking for.   I was very nervous about baking cookies in the altitude, but it worked!!  They came out thick and chewy.  You can see my alterations in blue below if you are baking at anything over 3500 feet.

These would make the perfect addition to your holiday cookie tray.  They are soft, chewy, full of peppermint, and have the crunch from the nuts.

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Hershey’s Peppermint Macadamian Nut Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Love from the Oven
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar (minus 1 Tbls)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large eggs (plus 1 more egg)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour (plus 1 Tbls)
1/2 tsp baking soda (minus a tiny bit)
1/2 tsp baking powder (minus a tiny bit)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oats (quick cooking, old fashioned, rolled – whatever)
1 1/2 cups Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses, chopped
2/3 cup Macadamian nuts, chopped.

Heat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugars together. Add in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture. Stir in oatmeal and candy kisses by hand.

Scoop onto a tray, and bake for about 11 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

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