If pressed into answering what my favorite kitchen duties are, I would have to admit that it is baking. It goes almost without saying then that my most favorite part of the culinary year is baking cookies for Christmas, when I have the express permission to give away nearly all of my labors. I pull out the mental list of ideas I’ve seen over the past year, throw in a few rum balls, gingersnaps and other yearly staples, and never bake more than one batch of a single kind of cookie. I have coined the phrase “batch a day baking,” and once I start, I usually adhere to at least a batch a day until Christmas Eve.
This year, I am getting a later start on my cookies, and I have a need to really cut back on volume. Since I’m baking fewer cookies myself, I thought it would be fun to share a few recipe links and just a bit of what I’m up to personally this year. Hopefully you will be inspired to bask in the glow of your own oven, and give some stellar homemade treats as gifts this holiday season.
Self-Frosting Anise Drops.
I just started my baking yesterday, with two recipes from King Arthur Flour’s amazing recipe archives. Both recipes need time to sit, so I started them last night before bed. These Anise Drop cookies are probably my new favorite (they taste like the ones I get occasionally at the Italian bakeries, but have a different texture). They have a curious mixing regimen that lasts 20 minutes, and then the batter is portioned and sits overnight to harden on the parchment sheets. I found it best to cool them almost completely before trying to remove them from the sheets – otherwise their delicate bottoms can tear apart a little. (They still eat the same, mind you!)
After a lifetime of sugarplum images dancing in my head, I finally gave Sugarplums a try. I already loved this recipe because it is designed to be different every time you make it. The heart of it calls for 10 oz. of dried fruit, and I used a mixture of apricot, pineapple, sultana, and cherry. I went heavy on the ginger, allspice and cassia cinnamon, and I have to say they are worthy of their own dance. If you are fond of the intensified sweetness of dried fruits, these cookies are right up your alley.
Sugarplums. One commenter on the King Arthur site thought they looked like meatballs. She wasn’t wrong.
With two varieties done, I turn to what will come in the future. I will likely make the aforementioned rum balls using the same recipe I have used for years, but if time permits, I’ll first make the vanilla wafers myself. I have to make these gorgeous Corn Cookies from Deena at Mostly Foodstuffs, and Cardamom Snickerdoodles from Alanna (a.k.a. the Bojon Gourmet). Since my rosemary I carried in this fall is still thriving (and it probably just heard me say that, and is now fixing to expire…), I’ll roast up some Rosemary-Maple Glazed Nuts from Marisa at Food in Jars. Every year, she features a number of gifts in jars, and those are posts I always look forward to. There are many blogs that I like to cook from where I’m almost guaranteed a terrific result, and recipes found on those I’ve just mentioned above will never disappoint you.
When December rolls around, it’s not unusual for me to read something and then go start my oven, and I am counting on the fact that this will happen. I don’t always tell everyone about what I’ve been up to over here, but if I find it irresistibly exciting and even remotely photogenic, I like to post about it over on flickr. Keep an eye out over there for recipe links and tweaks.
Not much can beat homemade chocolate syrup…
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a few other homemade food gift ideas, may I suggest:
Chocolate Syrup or Homemade Nutella
Spicy (and super easy!) Guinness Mustard
Spice Rubs, this is just one link, there are hundreds of recipes to choose from!
Ginger-Cacao Nib Granola
Vegan Pumpkin-Coconut Bread
Sparkling Cranberries (try these, and you will be addicted – and they are so pretty to scatter around a cookie plate)
Even non-Gluten-Free eaters polish off these crackers!
Or, if you need something to bring to a party, why not try some of my favorites:
Lentil-Walnut Pate
Gluten-Free Crackers
Alton Brown’s Seedy Crisps
(Sweet Potato) Cheese Ball
Pecan Tarts
Onion Jam
Introducing tried and true favorites to new baking recruits has always made me feel more excited about Christmas baking. It keeps each year from feeling stale, and it makes the recipients feel extra special. I hope my little plate of ideas will serve as a jumping off point for you in your own kitchen this season!
