- A crispy-chewy gingersnap is a classic holiday cookie, but you probably haven’t had anything quite like the Bacon Fat Gingersnaps that The Tart Tart baked up. The fat, which was rendered from bacon that ended up in sandwiches and other dishes, gives the cookies a smoky and somewhat savory note that is a definite change of pace from your average cookie. The cookies don’t really taste like bacon, however, since they have plenty of spice and molasses to balance it out. It might be fun to see if your holiday guests could guess what the secret ingredient is in these.
- The Orange Cranberry Swirl Bread from A Finn in the Kitchen is a holiday twist on cinnamon raisin bread. The soft, white bread has orange zest, orange juice and a pinch of nutmeg in it to give it a nice orange flavor. The dough is rolled out and spread with a filling made with dried cranberries, cinnamon, cardamom, sugar and nutmeg before being rolled up again to give the loaf its swirled interior. This bread can be baked and eaten as-is, or it can be toasted or turned into french toast for serving.
- Coconut fans will want to try Cupcakes and Kale Chips‘ Coco-Doodles, a coconut-infused take on a simple snickerdoodle. The cookies use a combination of coconut oil and butter in the cookie dough, which gives the cookies a very faint hint of coconut. Regular snickerdoodles are rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture before baking, but these are rolled in a coconut and cinnamon mixture. To make the coconut easier to work with, it should be finely ground in a food processor before using it. This coating gives the cookies a nice coconut crust and makes a cookie that any coconut fan would enjoy.
- Technicolor Kitchen has another take on gingerbread in the form of Gingerbread Linzer Tartletes. A traditional linzer tart has a nut-rich dough, not unlike a cookie dough, that sandwiches a jam filling. These tarts are small, single serving version of that type of tart. What makes these tarts a little different is that they have a spicy gingerbread dough that forms both the base and the top layer of the tarts. The filling is made with any red jam – raspberry works, but cherry might be a better flavor combination – and is just visible thanks to a star cut out from the top of the crust. The tarts are quite easy to make, but are a lovely holiday dessert.
Loretta | A Finn In The Kitchen
December 19, 2012Thanks for featuring my bread here! Next time I’ll have to try it as French toast. Then my hubby will really love me 🙂
Patricia Scarpin
December 20, 2012Thank you for the shout out, Nic! Happy Holidays!
xx