This time of year brings to mind all kinds of sweet treats for the holidays. Here are a few of my family favorites. The shortbread is easy to make, and oh, so rich. The cookie bars are quick to put together for holiday events, and the mocha roll, although a bit more involved to make, is fancy enough to crown a dinner party. I know you’ll find these to be great adds to your family traditions.
Cranberry Blondies
This recipe is requested every time I bake them for a meeting or potluck. Scrumptious!
Ingredients
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup white chocolate, chopped or chips
1 cup fresh (or thawed) cranberries
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Line an 11x7 or 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper or foil. Coat with non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, beat butter until well-softened. Beat in sugars, baking powder, soda, and salt. Then add eggs and vanilla. On low speed or with whisk, mix in the flour.
- Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle in fresh cranberries; press in lightly with spatula. Bake 25-30 min, plus an extra 5 min if using a glass pan, until toothpick in center comes out clean.
- Cool on wire rack for an hour. Lift out by the foil or paper, and cut into bars
Mocha Almond Cream Roll
Beautiful to look at, sliced into pinwheels of cream and mocha cake. Light and airy enough to demand seconds!
Ingredients
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp almond extract
¼ cup sifted flour
1/4 cup cocoa
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp instant coffee or espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup sliced toasted almonds
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Lightly oil a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan. Line with parchment paper, and lightly oil the paper as well. Beat eggs in a medium-size bowl until foamy; gradually beat in sugar until mixture is very thick (about like whipped cream). Stir in almond extract.
- Re-sift or whisk flour with cocoa, baking powder, and salt; fold into egg mixture. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly to edges. Bake for 25 min or until top springs back when touched lightly.
- Sprinkle a smooth tea towel with powdered sugar. Loosen cake from sides of pan with small spatula; invert cake onto the tea towel and carefully peel off the paper. Cut crisp edges from the cake to make rolling easier. With the towel inside it, roll up the cake very gently from the narrow end. Lift the cake onto a wire rack to finish cooling, at least one hour.
- Whip the cream, gradually adding powdered sugar, coffee powder, and vanilla. Continue beating until the cream is stiff.
- Unroll the cake carefully, and spread evenly with about 2/3 of the cream mixture, to within an inch of the cake’s edges. Reroll the cake, finishing with the open edge on the underside. Place on a serving plate, and frost with the remaining 1/3 whipped cream mixture. Sprinkle with almonds. Chill at least one hour.
- Slice crosswise into about 1-inch pieces. Also, you can freeze the cake as an ice cream roll.
Christmas Cheese and Sage Canapes
From Mary Berry's Ultimate Christmas, these savory, bite-sized herb cheese scones topped with Christmas flavors are a big hit in my household.
A couple baking tips:
- Be sure not to handle the dough too much, as the scones will become tough.
- Don’t use a small biscuit cutter (usually 2”). If the scones are too big, the topping proportions will be wrong. Try a vase or shot glass to get the 1” diameter for perfect, tiny bite-sized scones!
Yield: About 70
Old-Fashioned English Shortbread
My son’s favorite, these old-fashioned cookies really must be kneaded by hand. Which makes them a bit messy to create, but delightful to savor with tea or a hot cocoa.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) butter, only slightly softened (do not microwave)
¾ cup powdered sugar
3 ½ to 3 ¾ cup sifted flour
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- Mix the butter and powdered sugar together by hand. Gradually sift in the flour. Knead the dough very well with hands; do not mix with a spoon. Pat out the dough to ½ inch thick, and cut into desired shapes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, and prick the top with fork. Bake for about 20 min, until set but not browned.
Date Bars
Another family favorite from my husband’s English-born grandmother.
Ingredients
1 cup flour, + 2 tbsp for the topping
½ cup melted butter
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup chopped dates
1/8 tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
For the crust:
- Mix 1 cup flour, ½ cup melted butter, and ½ cup brown sugar well, and pat into a 9x13 pan. Bake 10 min. Cool for a few minutes.
For the topping:
- Stir together the eggs, 2 tbsp flour, baking powder, shredded coconut, chopped dates, remaining brown sugar (1 cup), salt, vanilla, and chopped nuts, mixing well. Spread the mixture over the crust. Bake for about 20 min.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool, cut into bars.
Lemon (or Lime) Curd
This easy version uses plenty of zest and doesn’t need to be put through a sieve. It keeps for a week or two in the refrigerator – but it’s so delicious that it won’t last that long.
I find 2-3 medium lemons provide the juice and zest needed. You can use frozen whole lemons; just zest before thawing, then thaw and juice the lemons.
Ingredients
4 tsp grated lemon (or lime) peel
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
5 eggs
1 cup sugar (add additional 1 tbsp if using Meyer Lemons)
½ cup = 1 stick butter, melted
Directions
In a blender, combine first four ingredients and process until smooth. On lowest setting, pour in the melted butter until just blended. Pour into heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir as mixture bubbles, until thickened, about 5-10 min. Pour into heated jars and seal while hot. Cool and place in the refrigerator. Can be frozen.
*Original source: Sunset Magazine, “Gifts from Your Kitchen” (1988)
Cover photo by Hassan Bouamoud, courtesy Pexels
