In late October I decided to make cookies for all my friends this holiday season. I ordered the decorative cookie tins, ordered the festive clear cellophane to wrap the tins, and extra wax paper to go in between the layers of cookies, and ribbon. By now, mid-December, what seemed like a good idea at the time still seems like a good idea. I just hope I have the time to complete the job, because I have no fallback plan! I love delicious food treats, and they are so useful to have on hand over the holidays. They make thoughtful and very welcome gifts. Here are some of my favorites from this year.
Pecan snowballs are a traditional holiday cookie that everyone loves, and this is a good recipe. The dough and the cookies take freezing well if you want to make this recipe ahead. Either can be frozen for up to two months. I would recommend freezing the dough or the dough balls before baking or rolling in sugar.
Pecan Snowball Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup very finely chopped pecans
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup powdered sugar, or more as needed
Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth.
Gradually mix in flour, pecans, and salt until completely incorporated.
Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until bottoms are light golden brown but tops are still pale, 12 to 15 minutes. (Try not to let cookies get too brown: it’s better to undercook them than to overcook them.)
Remove cookies from the oven and let sit on the baking sheets briefly before removing to wire racks.
Place 1/3 cup powdered sugar in a shallow bowl; roll hot cookies in sugar to coat, then return to the wire racks to cool.
Once cooled, roll cookies in the powdered sugar once more.
Martha Stewart suggests that the best homemade gift is frozen cookie dough. That is a brilliant idea. The lucky recipient can pull out the frozen dough whenever he or she’s in a pinch for a dessert. These Brown Sugar Chocolate Chunk Shortbread cookies are delicious.
Brown Sugar Chocolate Chunk Shortbread (Makes 2 logs)
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup packed light-brown sugar
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ⅓ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 large egg white, beaten
- Sanding or turbinado sugar, for coating
Directions
Make dough; divide and shape into logs: Beat together butter, sugars, and salt on medium speed until creamy and combined, 2 minutes. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add flour, and beat to combine. Beat in chocolate. Divide dough into two pieces, each about 1 pound. Roll into logs (each about 8 1/2 inches long and 1 3/4 inches in diameter).
Wrap in plastic and chill: Wrap logs in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Dough can be made to this point, well wrapped, and frozen for up to 1 month. (It can also be sliced and re-formed into logs before freezing.)
Coat in sanding sugar; cut into slices: Remove from refrigerator or freezer (if frozen, let stand 10 minutes to soften). Brush with egg white and roll in sanding sugar to coat. Use a serrated knife and a back-and-forth motion to cut logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices (if any crack around larger chunks of chocolate, just press back together).
Bake, then let cool completely: Preheat oven to 325°F. Place cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until golden on edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool on pans on wire racks 10 minutes, then transfer to racks and let cool completely, about 45 minutes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month.
This One Bowl Lemon-Blueberry Quick Bread by Alexandra Stafford was a recipe that came to me on Instagram. It looked easy and delicious, and it was both. This might be the best blueberry bread/cake I’ve ever eaten. It is light, buttery and very, very tasty. It is baked in a loaf pan so it is easy to wrap in plastic wrap and put into a festive small holiday gift bag.
Use an 8.5” x 4.5” loaf pan for this recipe.
Ingredients
- softened butter for the pan
- zest from 2 lemons
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (118 g) extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil (I used one stick of unsalted butter)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (120 g) sour cream or whole milk yogurt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups (195 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (222 g) fresh or frozen blueberries
- turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with softened butter. Line with a sheet of parchment paper that extends up and over the long sides of the pan (like a cradle for your cake).
- Rub the lemon zest into the granulated sugar with your fingers in a large bowl until fragrant. Whisk in the oil and vanilla for 30 seconds. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, and then the lemon juice and yogurt. Sprinkle the baking powder and salt into the bowl, one at a time, vigorously whisking after each. Gently fold in the flour just until a few streaks remain. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Fold in 1 cup (145 g) of the berries.
- Scrape the batter into the pan, smooth the top, then arrange the remaining 1/2 cup (72 g) of berries over the top of the loaf, pressing down gently. Lightly sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, rotating at the halfway point. The cake is done when a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a moist crumb or two. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then lift the cake out by the parchment paper overhang and transfer to a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing and serving. Keep the cake, wrapped, on the counter for up to 3 days. It won’t last 3 days, it’s that good.
Eleven Madison Park’s Granola
This is the best granola I’ve ever eaten, and I don’t think I will ever get tired of it. It is salty-sweet and has pistachios, pumpkin seeds, salt, olive oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, coconut flakes and more – don’t those ingredients make your mouth water? Your home will also smell divine while the granola is baking.
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups rolled oats
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut chips or flakes– not shredded
- 1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup shelled pistachio nuts
- 1 tablespoon Diamond kosher salt
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup maple syrup preferably Grade B
- 3/4 cup dried sour cherries Note: I have used dried sweet cherries, apricots, and Santa Rosa plums with success.
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment (cut to fit) or a silicone baking mat.
- Move the oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat the oven to 300°F.
- Combine the dry ingredients (oats, coconut, seeds, nuts, and salt) in a bowl.
- Combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, and olive oil in a small saucepan and heat over a low flame until the sugar is just dissolved, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
- Fold the olive oil mixture into the oats and stir thoroughly to combine. Make sure all the oats are coated.
- On the lined baking sheet, spread the oat mixture in an even layer and place in the oven.
- Bake until dry and lightly golden, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring granola a few times along the way.
- Remove granola from the oven. Stir in the dried fruit. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a storage container.
- Note: Don’t worry if the granola doesn’t seem crispy. It will set up during the cooling process.
Recipe makes about 6 cups. The granola can be stored in an airtight container for a week. You can also freeze granola. A bag of this granola will make anyone happy.
For the home cook, here are two savory items that might be useful and interesting:
Rosemary – Infused Vinegar
This recipe comes from Damaris Phillips and Food Network and is great to use with slow-cooked meats, salads, and many other foods. It takes only 5 minutes to make!
You will need a 20-ounce bottle with a tight-fitting spout with a rubber stopper, and a funnel. The recipe yields 2 cups.
Ingredients:
2 cups rice vinegar
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 strips orange zest
2 cloves garlic
Pour the rice vinegar through a funnel into a 16-20-ounce bottle. Gently add the rosemary, orange zest and garlic cloves to the bottle until completely submerged.
$22.39 for a pack of 6.
You can use the vinegar right away or refrigerate it for up to 1 month to allow the flavors to marry and infuse the vinegar. The longer the vinegar sits, the more the flavors will infuse.
Citrus Salt
This recipe comes from Martha Stewart and yields 1 cup. It is a finishing salt with bright citrus flavor that will add zest to anything chocolate, pastas, salads, and roasted vegetables. You will need jars with tight fitting lids, like this 8 oz Mason jar. $14.55 for a 2-pack.
Or these wide-mouth 8 oz jars. 6 for $18.99.
Ingredients:
1 cup flaky sea salt, like Maldon
2 tablespoons freshly grated organic citrus zest from well-scrubbed grapefruits, oranges, lemons, or limes.
Heat oven to 200 degrees. In a bowl, mix salt and zest. Spread mixture on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until citrus is dry, about 1 hour.
Let cool completely.
An earlier article from ASE –
Sweet & Savory Treats for Holiday Presents and Entertaining
November 21, 2022