Happy Holidays!
Spend time with loved ones and make memories by baking sweet and savory treats together. Get your aprons on, play some Christmas music, and try out my favorite cookie and dessert recipes. Let’s bake!
🍪🎄🧁🎄
the softest sugar cookies recipe
Ingredients:
- 3.5 Cups Bob’s Red Mill Organic All Purpose Baking Flour (or their Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
- 1 ¼ Cups Bob’s Red Mill Fine Cane Sugar
- ½ Cup Butter (melted)
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- ¼ Cup Cream Cheese
- ¼ Cup Sour Cream
- 4 TSP of vanilla
- 1 TSP Bob’s Red Mill Baking Powder
- ⅓ TSP Salt
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 355 degrees.
- Start by mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt)
- In a separate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients with the rest, while mixing in between each add.
- Once you have a smooth, fluffy mix, you can cut into the shapes you desire.
- Cook at 355 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Immediately put on cooling rack once baked to completion.
- Let cool, then frost and serve.
no flour monster cookies
(my mother-in-law recently made these and wow they are so so good)
Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs
- 1¼ cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter softened
- 1½ cups creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4½ cups quick oats
- 1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup mini m&m’s or regular m&m’s
Instructions:
- Heat oven to 350°. Prepare a cookie sheet (or a few) by spraying with cooking spray, lining with parchment paper, or a silpat liner.
- In a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, or use the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and combined.
- Add the softened butter, peanut butter, baking soda, vanilla, and salt. Beat together until combined.
- Add the quick oats, mini chocolate chips, and m&m’s. Beat on low speed (increase speed gradually as needed) until everything is mixed well and combined.
- Use a cookie scoop and bake for 7-9 minutes
from: https://togetherasfamily.com/no-flour-monster-cookies/
Grinch Cookies
Ingredients:
- 15.25 ounces white cake mix 432 g box
- 8 tablespoons unsalted buttersoftened
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract or mint extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- green gel food coloring
- ¼ cup powdered sugar 32 g
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- red heart-shaped sprinkle or cinnamon
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a hand-held mixer or stand mixer to mix together the cake mix, butter, and eggs until well combined.
- 15.25 ounces white cake mix, 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 large eggs
- Add in the peppermint (or mint) and vanilla extracts and enough green food coloring to achieve your desired color. Mix on low speed just until combined. The batter will be thick and sticky.
- 2 teaspoons peppermint extract, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, green gel food coloring
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cornstarch.
- ¼ cup powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarcn
- Scoop the dough with a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop and roll the cookie dough balls in the powdered sugar mixture to coat.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are set and the top of the cookies appear dry.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately place a heart-shaped sprinkle on each cookie, gently pressing it down so it sticks to the cookies
Banana Gingerbread (Refined sugar free)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup mashed banana from about 3 medium ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup mild tasting oil ex: avocado oil, coconut oil, extra light tasting olive oil
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt optional
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Prepare a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan by either lining with parchment paper or greasing it with butter, oil, or cooking spray. Set aisde.
- Mash the bananas in a bowl until smooth.
- To the bowl with the mashed bananas, add in the eggs, oil, molasses, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla, and stir until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Optional: Sprinkle the top of the batter with gold sugar sprinkles for a festive touch.
- Bake the bread for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Let the loaf rest in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing it and slicing it to serve.
From: https://feedingtinybellies.com/banana-gingerbread/
Gluten-Free Gingerbread Waffles
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 tbsp mild-tasting oil
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Add all of the ingredients to a high-powered blender.
- Blend at high speed until the mixture is smooth. Let the batter sit in the blender for at least 5 minutes to ensure that the oats can absorb all of the liquids as you preheat the waffle maker.
- Preheat the waffle iron for 5 minutes. Once preheated, pour an even layer of batter into the iron and cook according to your waffle maker’s instructions.
Christmas Cranberry Energy Bites
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup rolled oats
- 3 tablespoon white chia seeds
- 3 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¾ Cup nut butter (almond, cashew, peanut)
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ Cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ cup pistachio nuts
Instructions:
- Place the rolled oats, maple syrup. nut butter and chia seeds in the food processor. Blitz quickly until combined
- Add the cranberries, nuts, and chocolate chips, pulse until they are distributed evenly in the mix
- Set the mix aside for 20 mins, this allows the chia seeds to gel a little and will mean the mix is easier to roll into balls
- Scoop out tablespoonfuls and roll into balls (my tablespoons hold 15ml)
- Refrigerate
From: https://mykidslickthebowl.com/cranberry-pistachio-energy-bites/
5-Ingredient Oreo Cheesecake Cookies
(This are not christmas cookies, but these cookies are my husbands favorite!)
Ingredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 8 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 10 Oreo cookies, broken into pieces
Instructions
- In the body of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Add the sugar and beat well.
- Add in flour, a small bit at a time, beating in on low speed, just until incorporated. Fold in oreos until evenly distributed.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes, and up to 2 hours.
- 30 minutes prior to baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop out 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough, roll them into rounds, and place them on the cookie sheet. Lightly press down on each cookie.
- Place pan in the oven to bake for 10-11 minutes, or until *just golden at the edges.
Cranberry Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Graham Cracker Crust
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
Cheesecake Filling
- 32 ounces block cream cheese, room temperature
- 8 ounces sour cream, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
Cranberry swirl
- 2 cups cranberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare a 9-inch spring form pan by wrapping the outside with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
- Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a bowl. Add the crust mixture to the springform pan and use a cup or flat-bottomed glass to press the crust into an even layer and about 1 inch up the sides.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Cranberry Swirl
- While the crust is in the oven, make the cranberry sauce. Add cranberries, sugar, and water to a saucepan. Cook until cranberries begin to pop and sauce thickens, about 8-10 minutes. Use an immersion blender to blend the cranberry mixture smoothly. Set aside to cool completely
Cheesecake Filling
- To a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add cream cheese and sugar, beating on medium-low speed until smooth. Add sour cream, vanilla, and salt, and continue to mix on low speed until fully incorporated.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating on low speed between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Mix until just combined.
- Pour half the cheesecake mixture into the baked crust. Add spoonfuls of the cranberry sauce and swirl into the cheesecake filling with a knife or toothpick. Top with the remaining cheesecake batter and the remaining cranberry sauce, and swirl again.
- Tap the pan on a flat surface to remove any air bubbles. Place in a large roasting pan and carefully pour the boiling water ½ the way up the springform pan.
- Bake for 55 minutes or until the edges are set, and the center is slightly jiggly.
- Gently run a knife around the edges of the pan and carefully release the ring of your springform pan.
Baking Supplies:
- Cookie Cutter: https://amzn.to/48mtz5o
- Christmas mini bread loaf https://amzn.to/3RttZAh
- Christmas silicone spatula https://amzn.to/48iI0HM
- Christmas kids apron https://amzn.to/3v7Ei5B
- Gingerbread mini waffle maker https://amzn.to/3v9Q8vY
- Christmas tree mini waffle makerhttps://amzn.to/3RReFyA
HAPPY BAKING + MERRY CHRISTMAS Y’ALL!
