Easy Snack for Santa

he ritual has been repeated over and over again by boys and girls all over the world. I’m not sure when the tradition started or who started it, but I’m sure many of us have left a plate of cookies out for Santa with a glass of milk.

I’m not a parent myself just yet, but to make sure I preserve the tradition, on occasion I will repeat the steps with the younger generations in my family: get a saucer from the cabinet, place three cookies on the plate and get a cup and fill it just over half full.

This year the creative bug has bitten me and I wanted to do something a little different for the big guy. Instead of a cookie, I figured we could make something that wouldn’t be too heavy yet tasty. The end result: a baked tortilla topped with a cream cheese and fruit topping.

Here’s how you can make them:

10-12 tortilla chips

6 tablespoons of cream cheese

3 teaspoons of white sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring

2 tablespoons of crushed pineapple

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 tablespoons of butter

Once you have all of your ingredients out follow these easy steps to complete the treat.

In your microwave, melt the butter down until it’s liquefied. Take a small pastry brush or a small spoon and butter each of the tortilla chips and place each one on a cookie sheet. Once all of the tortilla chips are covered in butter, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on each one and then place them into the oven for 10 minutes at 325 degrees.

To make the topping, simply mix your cream cheese, white sugar, pineapple (feel free to use mango or peaches as well, it works well with those too) and vanilla flavor in a bowl until everything is completely mixed in and has a smooth consistency. Then simply top each tortilla chip with a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture.

Let me know if you try this treat for Santa or if you just try it for yourself! Happy holidays to you and yours and until we meet again, keep on burnin’!