Christmas

No-Bake Chocolate-Dipped Fluffernutter

December 11, 2018

I’ve mentioned a few times on here that my mamma, bless her heart, is not much of a baker. Like, she can’t bake to save her life and she’s perfectly fine with that. As she would tell you, that’s why I’m here. When I was a child though, she tried to bake a couple times and each time with a disaster. (She’ll kill me for saying that, but it’s true). She would even burn those slice and bake holiday cookies that my sisters and I would beg her to make for us. Those sugar cookies with a Christmas tree or a jack-o-lantern in the center. Burnt to a crisp, each and every time. Because of her lack of baking skills, she did get pretty savvy with the no-bake recipes. She could make rice krispie treats all day long with her eyes closed. My favorite treat she would make me, and only me because my sisters didn’t care for them, were her version of fluffernutters. Before I go in that though, let me explain what a fluffernutter is, for those of us that aren’t familiar. A fluffernutter is white sandwich bread spread with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff and sandwiched together. She would make that but instead of sandwich bread, she’d use Ritz crackers. I can’t even begin to tell you just how delicious this combo of ingredients are. I kid you not. It’s the easier thing ever but so good. It’s the treat of my childhood. I wanted to make them for my blog but, give them a festive twist. I’ve dipped them in chocolate and topped them with sprinkles and they are the easier no-bake treat you’ll make all season long!

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Edible Gingerbread Men Garland

December 6, 2018

I’m hitting you fast with as many holiday posts as possible because last year I really dropped the ball and didn’t give you enough holiday cheer on this here blog, and so I told myself that this year things would be different. This year, I wouldn’t be such a Grinch. Just a couple days ago I shared this edible baked brie and bread centerpiece that you all really seemed to love and so today I thought I’d share another edible decorating hack, a simple but festive garland made of homemade gingerbread cookies. This Edible Gingerbread Men Garland is super easy to make and a great way to get your family and friends together for a fun project! Make and bake the gingerbread ahead of time and then gather everyone around for a cookie decorating party. Watch as everyone gives life and personalty to these delicious cookies and then string them together into a cute garland that you can hang up as a simple decoration around the house. Then once you are done admiring your beautiful garland, just go ahead and start taking a bite out of them.

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Baked Brie and Bread Wreath

December 4, 2018

The holidays are in full swing and that means we really need to start thinking about our entertaining menus. 9 times out of 10 I wait until the last minute to plan things out, and then I’m left scrambling around trying to get my life in order like a chicken with it’s head cut off. It’s not a pretty sight. This year however, I’ve decided to take initiative and de-stress my holiday gatherings, so to speak. I’m getting a head start by sharing this beautiful holiday recipe for a show-stopping Baked Brie and Bread Wreath. Not only does it act as a delicious appetizer, but it can also double as an awesome centerpiece for any holiday party. I don’t know about you, but an edible centerpiece is just the kind of thing we need more of because they kill two birds with one stone. (Sorry for all the gruesome bird metaphors). I guarantee you 100% that if you place this on your table, everyone will be blown away and you’ll be the talk of the town. If you’re not ready for all that fame, perhaps don’t give this recipe a try. I’m kidding, you most definitely should give it a try because it’s ridiculously delicious!

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Holiday Danish Butter Cookies

December 19, 2014

I have very few store bought guilty pleasures that I not so secretly love, and have loved ever since I was a kid. Zebra cakes, frosted circus animal cookies, powdered sugar tiny doughnuts and those Danish butter cookies that come in a blue tin are my all time favorites. I’m obsessed. Now I know they’re not healthy treats, and who really knows what kinds of crazy unpronounceable ingredients they have, but I can’t help it, they remind me of my childhood. In my defense, it was the nineties and no one was really scared about crazy chemicals in food back then (or at least I don’t think they were). It was a different time, for sure. Don’t judge me! I’m sure I’m not the only one out there with guilty food pleasures. Sure, I’m a baker and I can easily make any dessert at home, but no matter what I do, those treats up there are irreplaceable. I’m not saying to go out and eat these cookies, cakes and doughnuts every single day, but I am saying it’s totally okay to treat yo’ self every now and then. You deserve it.

I most commonly get a craving for Danish butter cookies during the holidays. Maybe because that’s when I see millions of those blue tins around grocery stores everywhere. My favorites are the wreath shaped ones and the small pretzel shaped cookies. Those are the best. I recently decided it was time to make my own version of those cookies at home. I browsed online and found that I’m not alone in this Danish cookie fascination. I was lucky enough to find lots of recipes on the internets that I was able to piece together a few to make the ultimate butter cookie recipe. It’s great because they’re made with everyday ingredients that you (most definitely) probably have on hand already. No need to take a trip to the grocery store for anything fancy. Well, maybe just sprinkles but you know what, that’s totally worth a trip to the store because these cookies need to get they’re sprinkle on.

With the holidays around the corner, I think they fit perfectly with the season. Plus, who doesn’t love a good cookie recipe in December? Let’s get into the holiday spirit and whip up a big batch of these cookies and make it rain down the most delicious buttery treats you’ll ever encounter. Let’s also run down to the grocery store, while we’re at it, and try those guilty pleasures I mentioned earlier. Let’s keep it just between us and not tell anyone that we’re living our lives. Most importantly let’s have a good holiday season filled with lots of guilty pleasures!

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Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Cinnamon and Pecan Rugelach

December 12, 2014

Well hello again! If you haven’t already noticed by now, I’ve been away for a while. I sincerely apologize for that. Believe me, it hasn’t been by any choice of mine. The holidays have kept me quite busy. Thanksgiving taught me that there is no limit to how much turkey I can eat. I know that it seems like I haven’t been working on the blog, but if you really think about it, I have been working on new recipes for the blog to share with you guys. I’ve teamed up with a few companies that I’m super excited to work with and although I can’t share the recipes or all of the details right at this moment, I do want you to know that some new and exciting recipes (that I’m most proud of, mind you) are coming to the blog very soon. And by very soon I mean a couple of weeks. I’m just itching to tell you guys all about them. To let the cat out of the bag and spill the beans but unfortunately I can’t just now. I can tell you though that these recipes I’m talking about are going to blow your socks off. Blow them clear across the country. I think that justifies my absence, right?

The other day I was video chatting with my mother—which by the way, I had no idea she even knew how to Facetime, but I gotta tell you she’s more of a pro than you and I could ever dream of being—so she proceeds to tell me that I’ve been neglecting my blog for far too long. She hasn’t gotten any email updates from me recently, and she’s worried that I’m going to lose all of my followers if I don’t post anything soon. Thanks mom. Now, I’m no cookie pro baker but I do have to inform you that I am a professional cookie eater. Don’t believe me? It’s on my resume. (It really isn’t on my resume, but how cool would that be?) Anyhow, as I was saying, my mother was throwing shade my way so I knew that I needed to get my act together.

After that, I wanted to get into the holiday cookie-baking spirit so I decided to think outside of the box for a bit. I didn’t want to share an easy recipe of something we’ve all seen far too many times. I wanted something that was unique and perhaps maybe even new to some of you. Rugelach sort of made all the sense in the world because you can easily fill it with whatever your heart desires. These are loaded with butter, cinnamon sugar, dark chocolate, cherries and pecans. I don’t think it gets any better than this, but luckily for me, I’m not complaining about the situation. Rugelach kind of look like croissants but the doughs are completely different from one another. This one is a little more dense than pie crust, but it’s still super delicious. If you’ve never made these before or have never tried them for yourself, I think it’s safe to say that you’ve been missing out. Don’t worry, you still have time to catch up to the rest of us. I’ll even help you eat your way through. I’m willing to take one for the team.

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Gingerbread Cookies

December 23, 2013

When I was a kid all I really wanted to do was eat gingerbread cookies. Like all the time. Gingerbread cookies, night and day. It wasn’t because I loved gingerbread cookies so much that I just had to have them. The truth was, I just wanted to bite their heads off. And then eat them. But definitely not in the weird way that it sounded just now. Sometimes I’d go easy on them (I was a reasonable kid) and start with an arm, or a leg and then work my way up. Okay, that does sound weird, now that I think about it, but come on, I was a kid. You can’t blame me. What child doesn’t get pleasure out of torturing cookies by eating them, limb by limb? I think that’s totally normal, right? Doesn’t everyone do that? Nothing screams “Happy Holidays” like a cookie massacre, and by massacre I of course mean feast. A cookie free for all. A buffet of cookies. A never-ending supply of cookies. I envied Santa Claus (maybe because of his red suit) but it was mostly because of the fact that he got to eat cookies and drink milk all night long. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Talk about a dream job. Professional cookie eater sounds like the kind of thing I would be great at. I can eat cookies for a living. I would’t mind. I’d do it like my life depended on it, and as if every cookie I ate, saved a life. I’d save a million lives, in that case. It would be a tough job, but one I would hesitantly excel at, you know, for the good of the people. I’m saving lives after all.

It’s fun sometimes to just forget about everything and decorate some cookies. Especially during the holidays. There’s something about gathering everyone together in the kitchen and getting all those creative juices flowing. The holidays can be so stressful at times, brought on by the pressure of fighting the crowds and purchasing gifts, but if you really think about it, it isn’t about the gifts but rather the good times and the memories you create with those you love. Those are the things we carry with us throughout our lives. Material items come and go, but memories, those will last a lifetime. No assembly or batteries required. Just the willingness to have fun. It doesn’t even matter how old you are, you can still have a good time at any moment of your life. I mean, I’m a quarter of a century and I still get a kick out of biting the heads off of gingerbread men. Some things never change. Especially my love for gingerbread. That will always be there.

As a child, I often wondered if Santa Claus had a favorite cookie. It would keep me up at night. “What if he doesn’t like sugar cookies?” I would ask my mom, (which were the ones we always left for him). I felt bad, as a kid, for forcing him to eat just the one type of cookie, year after year. What if the man loved gingerbread and I had no idea? Of course it was impossible to leave a variety for him because my mom wasn’t much of a baker, and the cookies we left Mr. Claus were from out of a tube. It wasn’t until I was older when I saw the red markings left behind on the glass of milk and the leftover cookie pieces one year and I thought to myself, “Santa Claus wears lipstick?!” Who am I to judge? Whatever floats your boat Santa. Whatever floats your boat. Of course it was then that I realized it didn’t matter what cookies we left behind because my mom (aka the best Santa in the world) was just like me. We don’t discriminate against a cookie. We welcome each and every one of them. I’ll never say no to a spicy gingerbread cookie that’s for sure, and something tell me, Santa wouldn’t either.

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