Christmas Baking (Yum) | Golden Skate

Christmas Baking (Yum)

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I'm doing mine-not as much stuff as some other years, but still doing it.

I did make my dark fruitcake. I don't think we could celebrate Christmas without it.

I made currant jam thumbprint cookies and lemon love notes, and tomorrow I'll be making pumpkin pie & mince pie.

But I really should do one other type of cookies, and I'm not feeling anything but tired and indecisive.

What's your favorite Christmas cookie?
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Oh, goody, a Doris cooking thread! I still have your fruitcake recipes from last year.

Hmmm. Favorite cookie....In the non-Christmas world, it's chocolate chip. But for a Christmas cookie, a regular classic sugar cookie in a shape is often the most tempting. What about gingerbread? Whoever my Secret Santa was at work gave me a cellophane-wrapped set of rectangular slabs labeled "Gingerbread House." I chuckled when I realized that the label says Ikea. Makes perfect sense, when you think of it, for a Swedish furniture and home supplies company to sell gingerbread "housing." Anyway, it reminded me that nothing says Christmas like gingerbread.

I suppose it wouldn't be practical for you to make truffles?
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I love butter spritz cookies! Namely because we use the cookie press to make them into wreaths, trees and other Christmas theme shapes. We dye the dough green, so it's true to form! :)

Not baking per se, but my husband's boss always makes frosted covered pretzel sticks with red and green sprinkles and I can't stop eating them!
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
An old friend of mine always sends me cranberry bread. I bring some of it to the office to share, and since I am not known as a sterling cook, I always label it "Imported from Pittsburgh" so people know that it's a treat that should not be resisted.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
An old friend of mine always sends me cranberry bread. I bring some of it to the office to share, and since I am not known as a sterling cook, I always label it "Imported from Pittsburgh" so people know that it's a treat that should not be resisted.

Oh that's so awesome! I love quick breads! That sounds sooo good. My husband made this almond bread for his office Christmas potluck and it was great -- so moist!
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Almond; what a wonderful flavor choice! I can just imagine the aroma as it baked. Mmmmm!

This friend once made tomato preserves. It was a delicious texture, far more fruitlike than one normally thinks of tomato as being (though of course it is botanically a fruit), and it was splendid on ordinary yeast bread. Tomato also makes a great moistening ingredient in quick bread, plus of course adding a splendid color to the proceedings. I have only seen this made, so I don't have a recipe. Any fancier cooking or baking that I do is generally under strict supervision. Fortunately, I have a lot of talented friends and loved ones who are capable of such supervision. One of my friends grew up in a traditional home in Bulgaria and actually has a few dishes she makes by taking two handfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, and so on--no measuring implements. This I'll never learn how to do.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Almond; what a wonderful flavor choice! I can just imagine the aroma as it baked. Mmmmm!

This friend once made tomato preserves. It was a delicious texture, far more fruitlike than one normally thinks of tomato as being (though of course it is botanically a fruit), and it was splendid on ordinary yeast bread. Tomato also makes a great moistening ingredient in quick bread, plus of course adding a splendid color to the proceedings. I have only seen this made, so I don't have a recipe. Any fancier cooking or baking that I do is generally under strict supervision. Fortunately, I have a lot of talented friends and loved ones who are capable of such supervision. One of my friends grew up in a traditional home in Bulgaria and actually has a few dishes she makes by taking two handfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, and so on--no measuring implements. This I'll never learn how to do.

I looove tomatoes! That sounds fantastic. I'm sure a search on Pinterest or some popular blogs might yield some recipes.

I'm going to try this recipe on Christmas -- it's from Bon Appetit: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/12/speculoos-buttons

The decorating part will be the highlight for sure.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
I love russian tea cakes (also known as mexican wedding cakes... or by children in our family as "snowball cookies") - they're super simple, too!

this year I have - so far - baked brown sugar coconut oatmeal cookies (not as sweet as they sound), oatmeal raisin cookies, sugar cookies, and russian tea cakes.

on the list for tomorrow are gingerbread, and macaroons.

I also did a gluten free oatmeal bar for my mom (with blueberries and macadamia nuts) and will bake a flourless chocolate chocolate chip cookie.
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I make biscotti for the workplace. This year I made Giada DiLaurentis's holiday biscotti (lemon zest, dried cranberries, pistachio in dough - followed by the tip dipped in white chocolate after backing) and chocolate chip anise. Both recipes are on food network's website as Holiday biscottie and chocolate anise cookie

For family dinner, it's tradition for me to make pistachio cake (essentially yellow cake mix with pudding + 4oz box of instant pistachio pudding, 3/4 cup oil, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 6 eggs - baked in a bundt pan for 40 minutes. Outside is whipped cream (1pt of whipping cream) + 4 oz box of instant pistachio pudding + 4 oz cool whip).

I think I'll try making white trash cookies for my brother's New Year's Eve party . Line baking pan with saltines. Pour 2 sticks of melted butter on top. Sprinkle bags of chocolate chips on top and bake in oven. Spread chocolate evenly. Sprinkle whatever you want on it - nuts, dried, fruit, crushed pretzels, crushed potato chips, etc. Chill and then break up into small pieces.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I do a version of those Saltine cookies.
They're very tasty. Not to mention, dead easy. I got the recipe from my friend June:

Praline Saltine Cookies

2 sticks of butter
1 c. of light brown sugar, packed
1 c. of chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Saltines

Heat the oven to 350 F
Lay out Saltines on a cookie sheet with sides, making it as full as you can.

Put the 2 sticks of butter and the brown sugar in a pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and
boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat.

Cool while stirring until the mixture stops bubbling. Stir in the chopped nuts.

Spoon the mixture over the Saltines. Don't worry if it is rather spotty. It will spread out in the oven.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350F (the praline mixture will spread out).

Let cool on a rack and split up into squares.

BTW, I love Mexican wedding cookies. There's another similar Mexican cookie (nut shortbread rolled in a ball) that has cinnamon both in the cookie & in the coating. (I can't place where I put the recipe though)

This is similar
http://victoriouseating.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/mexican-cinnamon-cookies/
 
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Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Dee-lish! That sounds like a variation of the kind of refrigerator-made bar cookie that uses shredded coconut and/or graham cracker crumbs for the basis, plus chopped nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips--ooh, I bet dried cranberries would be divine--with melted butter to bind it together when it cools. I've never thought of using saltines, but that sounds ideal, because of the smooth texture and the saltiness. Some versions also add (oh, the decadence) sweetened condensed milk. In the ones I've read about, no baking is involved. It's actually the same principle as a truffle: melt a high-fat substance that solidifies as it cools, and that gives it the solidity and shape. For all of these versions, including truffles themselves, YumYumYumYumYum.

P.S. I've saved your recipe. I have a file dedicated to recipes, mostly from you, Doris. They're fun even just to read. Thanks!
 
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dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
You're thinking of Seven Layer Bars, which are a little more work than Saltine Cookies, because you have to turn the graham crackers into crumbs. I used to make these when the kids were young, but now they are too sweet for them to like.

Seven Layer Bars

Buy Nabisco Sugar Honey Graham Crackers
Place the contents of one of the internal packs into a 1 gallon
Ziplock bag, plus four more crackers. Do not seal completely.

Using a rolling pin, crush all the crackers while inside the bag.

If you have a food processor, you can replace this step by
processing the crackers to crumbs in it.

Melt 1/2 c. (1 stick) of butter in a jelly roll pan (11"x14" cookie sheet with sides)

Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs on the butter and pat them down.

Dump 1 cup of chopped walnuts over the crumbs.

Dump about 3/4 of a 12 oz. package of chocolate chips over the nuts.

Dump about 3/4 of a 12 oz. package of butterscotch chips over the chocolate chips.

Dump 1 1/2 cup of flaked coconut over the chips. Canned coconut seems to work the best because it is slightly moister.

Dump one 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk as evenly as you
can over everything.

Bake at 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes until lightly browned. Cool
and cut in squares.


Another cookie along the same line is:

Santa's Apricot Squares

Buy Nabisco Sugar Honey Graham Crackers.

Put all the crackers in one of the packs inside the box into a large Ziplock plastic bag. Add four more crackers.
Using a rolling pin, crush all the crackers to crumbs.

Melt one stick (1/2 c. ) of butter in a jelly roll pan. (15"x11")
A jelly roll pan is essentially a cookie sheet with vertical sides.

Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the butter. Mix
and pat down.

Dump 1 c. shredded coconut over the crumbs.

Mix 1 pound of chopped, dried apricots with 1/4 c. apricot jam. Dump the mixture evenly over the crumbs.

Chop 1 c. of dates with a little bit of flour sprinkled over them so that it doesn't make a sticky mess.

Dump the 1 c. of chopped dates over the apricots.

Coarsely chop 1 c. of pecans. Dump them over the rest of the stuff.

Dump one 14 oz. can of sweetened, condensed milk as evenly as you can over all the rest of the ingredients.

Bake at 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes until lightly borowned. Cool and cut in squares.


There is also a Santa's Fruitcake Bars version which replaces the apricots and jam with fruitcake fruit.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Into the Doris Pulaski Recipe File they go! I bet there's a way to make them less sweet. As long as there are chocolate chips in them, it's cool!
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
But I really should do one other type of cookies, and I'm not feeling anything but tired and indecisive.

What's your favorite Christmas cookie?
I don't celebrate Christmas, but I do love cookies! (who doesn't, right? ;)) Therefore, I'm not sure what would count as Christmasy cookies, but I have favorite recipes for pecan/golden syrup cookies, speculaas, Nutella chocolate cookies, butter cookies and various types of chocolate chip cookies - if anyone wants links, I'll be happy to post them.
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
What are speculaas? They sound interesting!
Also the Nutella cookies.
Speculaas are Dutch spice cookies (also found under slightly different names in other neighboring countries, but for me they're Dutch ;)). This is the version I make - can't vouch for authenticity but all the Dutch members of my family seem to approve of them.

And these are the Nutella cookies - I don't add hazelnuts, though, and I find that my batch sizes are smaller even when I don't eat much dough.
 

Dee4707

Ice Is Slippery - Alexie Yagudin
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Country
United-States
Instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing I'm here....visiting with all of you.

Anyhow I made cake balls and now I have to dunk in chocolate. There a little bit of work but ohhhh so good.

http://amandakjones.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-Cake-Balls

I dunk in chocolate and then drizzle white chocolate and vise versa dunk in white and you get the gist.

I'm going to make oatmeal raisin cookies and peanut butter cookies later this evening.

Ok time for me to run and start dunking.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
ooh, ooh, ooooooh.

Dunking in chocolate...I'm having fever just reading the words. It makes me want to go and melt something chocolaty and start dunking.
 
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