The holidays are all about traditions and, for most of us, that tradition includes baking. Even people who don’t use their oven at all the rest of the year often pull out an old favorite recipe and bake a batch of cookies before Christmas. Of course, I’m going to be an advocate for baking year-round, but there are definitely some treats that only pop up around the holidays and they are things that we look forward to as part of the holiday season. That makes me wonder: what is your favorite holiday treat to bake?
I like to keep things simple and Butter Cookies topped with sprinkles and Gingerbread Men are typically treats that I save for the holidays. I also save peppermint treats, like Candy Cane Cupcakes and Peppermint Snickerdoodles for the holidays because they pair perfectly with hot chocolate, another favorite winter treat. Finally, I always cook up a batch of crepes to have a special breakfast on Christmas morning, too.
So, what are your favorite holiday treats to bake? Do you save a special recipe just for this time of year?
Frieda
December 22, 2011Your happy gingerbread people are cute! My Christmas morning tradition is baking a super moist pecan coffee cake. Yum!
Valerie
December 22, 2011Even though I go crazy with the cookie baking during the holidays, I love layer cakes. There is something so sweetly appealing about their texture and taste that makes the perfect holiday indulgence (not that I’m wouldn’t make a layer cake on any ordinary Thursday…) 😀
Donna
December 22, 2011I like to try new recipes each year, but my one constant is a Gingerbread House. On the savory side, I only make Mushroom Turnovers at the holidays. Super, sinful, yummy! Love your blog Nichole. Merry Christmas!
http://whatthedogate.blogspot.com/2010/12/mushroom-turnovers.html
Jennifer
December 22, 2011My favorite holiday treat is mexican wedding cakes. They are so simple, but so delicious. This year I am going to try and make baklava, too and homemade marshmallows. I always try to make at least one fun different item each year.
Melissa
December 22, 2011Every year I make mexican wedding cakes, 7-layer bars, peanut butter krinkles, and pignoli nut cookies. This year I made all of that plus your Mexican Chocolate Icebox Cookies. They came out amazing!
Sarah
December 22, 2011Gotta be my mom’s shortbreads and Challah. It’s just not the holidays without it!
Anna
December 22, 2011It’s not Christmas without our confections. We’ve always been baking much, so that’s not such a unique thing about Christmas. The confections are! Little rounds of marcipan and a dot of pistachio, fold the circle and dip in melted chocolate. It’s wonderfully tasty! 😀
Traci
December 22, 2011Gingerbread is always a favorite. And butterscotch cookies too! http://burntapple.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/butterscotch-cookies/
Yatee
December 22, 2011It’s a family tradition to have cranberry orange bread as breakfast in the morning, sometimes slightly toasted, as we open our presents on Christmas Day.
stephanie
December 23, 2011I like to make these cranberry almond shortbread. You roll them into balls, then granulated sugar and then press them with a bottom of a glass. Something about the smell of almond extract and the rolling and pressing puts me in a zen like state.
Joy
December 25, 2011I like to try new cookies each year, but I always make spritz cookies, I just change the flavor. This year I gave away homemade granola, I think this will be a new tradition for me. I bake year round and my usual cookies are chocolate chip because those are my husband’s favorite, I also bake breads.
Em
December 26, 2011I always make ginger spice cookies (chewy and spicy), and my family has a long tradition of making “Bad Cookies” (Chocolate thumbprint cookies, coated in crushed pecans, filled with caramel and drizzled with chocolate – it’s not that the cookies are bad, but people will do bad things to get them…). I always try at least one new recipe, and have a few favourites that I rotate through each year depending on what’s inspiring.
I also try to always make overnight cinnamon rolls for Xmas morning, and fresh challah rolls for dinner.
northbysudouest
December 27, 2011Well, as a chef who moved from the UK to France 3 years ago, christmas treats involved foie gras and pintade (guinea fowl) but to reflect the english side of me I had to make ginger cake (or parkin as its known) and my own mince meat to make the traditional pies. I finished it all off with the king of english christmas pies, the pork pie, which frankly turned out rather well! If you would like to take a look at what it looked like, please follow the link to my blog…
http://www.northbysudouest.blogspot.com
Hope everyone had a good one! nbso
One final thing, down here in the South of France there is a tradition to make baby Jesus’ out of pink sugar!