Few things remind us about the joy of holidays past like smell and taste of our favorite treats. Cookies, brownies, warm apple pie, and more recently for me, Latkes all touch some deep part of our souls.
The smell of Christmas dinner wafting through the air brings back memories of childhood and a more innocent time. The joy of sneaking down the stairs early Christmas morning to peak at the spoils from Santa, is a magical memory for me. I can picture the plate of cookies and milk left on the kitchen table waiting to be eaten in the middle of the night.
Can you smell food from your childhood just by thinking about it? I sure can. While I loved the holiday food, it was all the festivity that went along with the food that brings the most joy to me.
Hanging the lights, decorating the tree, picking out the perfect gift at the school gift sale, and of course the family time – those memories are so special to me.
While I don鈥檛 have all the recipes my mom or grandparents used to make, I did find some recipes for my wife and my favorite holiday treats.
Be careful when making the Spritz Cookies. You don’t want to accidentally put too many sprinkles on them if it is someone’s deceased grandmother’s recipe. And don’t EVER eat the cookies off the tray for the same reason. 馃槀
Scroll down to see the recipes and drop your favorite recipes in the comments below.
Pizelle
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup butter melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoon anise or vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 eggs
Instructions –
- Preheat pizzelle iron and lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, butter, anise or vanilla extract, baking powder, and eggs. Drop slightly rounded tablespoons of batter on to pizzelle iron and close.
- Bake as directed by manufacturer or until golden brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Using a nonstick spatula, remove each pizzelle to a cooling rack; repeat with remaining batter.
- Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar if desired.
This recipe was found at the Culinary Hill website. Need a Pizelle Iron, try this one.
Original NESTL脡庐 TOLL HOUSE庐 Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (12-ounce package) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
- 1 cup chopped nuts
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375掳 F.
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
This recipe was found at the verybestbaking.com
Classic Spritz Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 1/4cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla
- Food color, if desired
- Currants, raisins, candies, colored sugar, finely chopped nuts, candied fruit or fruit peel, if desired
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400掳F. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, salt, egg, almond extract and a few drops of food color.
- Place dough in cookie press. Form desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with currants.
- Bake 5 to 8 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. To decorate cookies after baking, use a drop of corn syrup to attach decorations to cookies.
This recipe was found at BettyCrocker.com. Need a Spritz Cookie Press, try this one.
Classic Ultimate Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup butter or margarine
- 5oz unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into pieces
- 1 3/4cups sugar2teaspoons vanilla
- 3 eggs all-purpose flour1cup chopped walnuts
Steps
- Heat oven to 350掳F. Grease bottom and sides of 9-inch square pan. In 1-quart saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool slightly.
- In medium bowl, beat sugar, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture on low speed. Beat in flour just until blended. Stir in walnuts. Spread in pan.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes or just until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack. For brownies, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.
This recipe was found at BettyCrocker.com
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