RAISIN WALNUT TARTS

These are ridiculously easy to make, especially if you use pre-packaged tart shells, and so delicious! Of course you can dress them up however you like–with whipped cream on top or a pastry lattice, or holiday designs of your choice. This recipe was my mother-in-law’s, and she always said to use a rich pastry dough for the shells. The recipe is just for the filling.

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup sugar

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup walnuts, pieces or chopped

Mix all ingredients together and pour into the pastry shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool and serve!

I confess, I’m not much of a baker. I was a full-time teacher, and when the holidays rolled around, I was always too tired to attempt much baking. I recall my mother’s Christmas cookies: thumbprint, snowballs, and a Serbian cookie called gurabia. She also made a Serbian nut bread (povatica), which was a family favorite. My mother always baked when my sisters and I were at school, so helping was not something we did. But years later, when Mom was beginning to develop dementia, I asked her if she’d show me how to make nut bread. She knew how to do it by heart and her memory didn’t falter one bit. We stood side by side in her kitchen, and I imitated everything she did. I make it every year at Christmas, and the aroma of the bread wafting from the oven reminds me of my childhood, Christmas with our extended family, and most of all, that day Mom showed me how to make this treasured family recipe.

Here’s how the cookie exchange works: Hop along to each author’s website or FB page, collecting recipes, and enter to win a gift card for $150.

Follow these four simple steps to enter the grand prize drawing:

• Stop at each link below, which will take you to a historical author’s FB page, web site, or blog. While you’re there, please like, follow, or sign up for a newsletter if you wish to stay up to date on our new releases and author happenings.
• Discover a new cookie recipe on each site.
• Grab the name of the cookies from each listed author and email the total list to Heather@heatherMcCollum.com when it’s complete. Make sure to put “Romance Authors Can Bake” in the subject line. The list must be turned in by 11:59 PM ET on December 13.
• One grand prize winner, of a $150 gift card, will be selected randomly from those who collected and turned in the name of all the cookies. The winner must respond within 24 hours to claim the prize, and we will announce the winner hopefully by noon ET on December 17.
• Thanks so much for joining in the fun. It’s always fun to try new recipes, and you never know which one your family might love!

Holiday Cookie Exchange Hop Links

Alanna Lucas

Amalie Howard

Amanda Mariel

Ava Stone

Christina Britton

Collette Cameron

Deb Marlowe

Diana Lloyd

E. Elizabeth Watson

Elizabeth Essex

Elizabeth Langston

Eliza Knight

Emma Prince

Heather McCollum

Jane Charles

Jennifer Trethewey

Jerrica Knight-Catania

Katherine Bone

Liana De la Rosa

Lori Ann Bailey

Madeline Martin

Michelle McLean

Pam Mingle

Renee Ann Miller

Samantha Grace

Susanna Craig

Tara Kingston

Tina Gabrielle

Vanessa Riley

Victoria Vane