I am ashamed to admit however, that I’m now a fan of Robin McGraw — well, her cooking, anyway. She made an appearance on Rachael Ray’s talk show and revealed this *gem* of a family recipe, so I’d like pay it forward and share it with you!

ALMOND COOKIES:

Ingredients

1 pound (4 sticks) margarine, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

3 to 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup blanched sliced almonds, finely chopped

3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 250°F.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine margarine, sugar, vanilla extract and chopped almonds using a rubber spatula. Fold in the flour – you want the dough to be dense enough to handle with your hands. Sometimes it will take more flour to make this happen, so start with 3 1/2 cups and add flour as necessary.

Roll spoonfuls of the dough into balls about the size of a small walnut and arrange them on a cookie sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the cookies are no longer doughy and are cooked through.

Remove the cookies from the oven and, while still hot, roll and toss around in a bowl with the powdered sugar. Once coated, allow to cool. And then they’re ready to eat!

AND

Mrs. McGraw’s Family Snack:

Ingredients

Non-stick cooking spray or melted butter, as needed for pan

3 cups large marshmallows

3/4 cup nut butter, such as cashew, almond, peanut or hazelnut

1 10 to 12-ounce box brown rice cereal

1/2 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

2/3 cup chopped cashews, toasted

Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a medium baking sheet with the nonstick cooking spray or melted butter.

In a microwave-safe bowl, zap the marshmallows and nut butter, stirring after 1 minute, until melted, about 2 minutes.

Add the brown rice cereal, cranberries, pecans and cashews to the melted marshmallow mixture and stir gently to combine – be careful not to crush up the bits of cereal too much.

Either wet your hands or spray them lightly with the nonstick cooking spray and turn the cereal marshmallow mixture out onto the greased baking sheet. Press it into the pan using your slick hands so that it’s evenly distributed. Set the pan aside and let the bars set up, about 30 minutes.

Once set, cut them into squares and serve.