Yicks! Holiday baking time 2021
 

OK, time to get the baking sheets out. What is everyone making for the holidays? My mom and grandma used to make about 14 types of cookies plus a "white fruitcake". Now my sister and I only make about 8 kinds. There will be rolled overnight date cookies, ting-a-lings, spritz, sugar cookies, swedish peperkaka (not right spelling), peanut butter blossoms, peanut butter cups, cinnamon logs, fudge, and who knows what else. It used to be an all day event starting about 6 in the morning and going till midnight with my grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, cousin, and me. My aunt would host it as she had two ovens and a large kitchen. Now it is just my sister and I and we do about 2 kinds each day. We don't usually do the Krumkake or rosettes anymore just once in a while.

Baking and giving Christmas cookies is my one concession to the "holiday spirit". I use my mom's recipe, that we used to help her with as children. It's a very thin sugar cookie with half brown sugar. Delicious and very addictive. I'll probably make a couple of other kinds too.

pecan tassie's, sugar cookies, fudge, chocolate chip, rice krispie treats, pizzele's, date cookies (made in soup cans), toffee, I hope I have covered everyone in my family. So much fun

I make biscotti to give away in pretty canisters. It's so easy and cost hardly nothing to make. I dip some of them half way in white or dark chocolate. I add dried cranberries to some of the batter or coconut. Endless flavor but the favorite is plain. Great with a cup of coffee or tea.


Biscotti.

The ingredients:

1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 cups of sifted flour
4 eggs (or egg substitutes)
2 tsp of baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup sliced almonds

The process:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl at medium speed until well blended.
The consistency will be sticky and like most cookie dough. This takes about 3 minutes.

Sprinkle some flour on a board, rub your hands with flour, and place dough on board.
Knead the dough lightly, and keep sprinkling with flour until dough is smooth and
only slightly sticky.

Cut the dough in half, and roll out to the size of 4 by 12 inches,
and about 1/2 inch thick. Do the same with the remaining dough.
Place both rolled out biscotti on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees f .

Remove from oven, and cut each biscotti into slices 1/2 inch thick.
This must be done while the dough is hot.
You will end up with about 40 biscotti.

Turn each slice on its side and bake again at 425 degrees f. for 3 minutes.

This will toast the biscotti, and make
them nice and crunchy.
Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes.
Dip Biscotti in melted chocolate and sprinkle with crushed nuts if desired.

In retirement we have deleted a lot of things off the list and gone with our favorite things. Turkey, dressing and gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, five cup salad, and pumpkin pie. I use Libby's pumpkin only and follow their recipe on the can, except I use more cinnamon (it lowers my husband's A-1 C, he is diabetic 2) and nutmeg, cloves and ginger and brown sugar to give it a darker color. If the main dish is ham, I add a sweet potato recipe of sweet potatoes (ours is homegrown) canned apples, (canned pint with no sugar added) brown sugar and marshmallows. And a peach crisp for dessert. An 8 x 8 pan topping is 1 stick of butter, 1 c of brown sugar, 1 c rolled oats. Melt the butter first, then add the brown sugar and let it boil and combine with the butter before adding the rolled oats to the mixture. I turn my electric burner off as I add the oats, once folded in, I spread it across the peach filling and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Fruit filling usually has sugar and corn starch combined with the fruit. And I do broil it a bit after it cooks for an hour to get a browner crisp on top.

My holiday baking will be what the family always wants! Sugar cookies, and they will be only tree or star shaped. My boys used to argue about who was eating the most cookies, so I had them both pick a shape, and they could only eat "their" cookies. We've continued that tradition for 30+ years. Peanut Butter Blossom, rum balls, and home made fudge rounds out the baking.

On New Years Day, we make egg rolls, which has become another family tradition. Everything is pretty simple.

Spritz is the main cookie and I don't think I have missed a Christmas in many years. Mexican wedding cakes also are a favorite.

I love to bake this time of year. Peanut blossoms, sugar cutouts, pfeffernusse, springerle, rolled molasses, meringues, brown sugar lemon slice, spritz. Then of course the peanut brittle, fudge, stuffed dates, mints, Carmel corn, muddy buddies, chex mix, black forest cake and of course the stollen. I don't want to bake again until the end of February as I'll be with my sewing and crocheting in front of the wood stove for the winter.

My Aunt used to make at least 50 different kinds of cookies for Christmas. Every bowl, container, etc. she had was filled with some type of cookie dough. They were all made bite sized too, as she had 21 grand children.

I used to make several kinds of cookies, but now I only make 4 or 5 kinds. Boston Rocks, peanut butter, chocolate chip/maple syrup, berry shortbread dreams (shortbread cookies with red raspberry jam) & if time & energy permits raisin filled. I make 2 kinds of fudge, peanut butter & chocolate. I also do chocolate covered strawberries & chocolate covered pineapple. Youngest daughter takes some & I give some to our neighbors.

We bake our ham & make baked corn the day before Christmas. I make long grain & wild rice, crescent rolls, on Christmas day. The rest is just heat & eat Christmas day.