Christmas Baking

I used to go to all the baking exchanges and bake all my families favourites.  And when New Years came along, Id throw it all away!  Well in the spirit on simplifying, now I only bake a few of the yummiest.

Ive had a couple of people ask for recipes this year, so I thought I would share on my blog.  Warning... writing a blog on Christmas baking by no means makes me an expert.  My cookies aren't particularly pretty, but they get gobbled up!

Excuse my hand written recipes.  I think that is more for me than you.  There is something about a hand written recipe.  Svea wrote these out for me years ago.  And my sister texted me pictures of them - no professional photography here!

First, the ones I actually didn't bake this year.... Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread cookies are one of my absolute favourite.   I'm not much for gingerbread cookies, but the strong ginger flavour paired with the chocolate chunks are just oh so devine!  You can find the recipe here.  However, not many kids are into the strong ginger flavour, so I end up eating the whole batch myself... and I gotta stop doing that!!

Cranberry Bliss bars are a winner when I have company.  (My family won't eat them - too many ingredients grown in the ground!)  You can get these at Starbucks, although I like my version better.  But again, unless I am having company or gifting these beauties, they have been nixed from my to do list.  They are a little on the labour intensive side.  You can find the recipe here. 

Now on to the ones I made this year:

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.  My kids can't take these to school so I don't make them regularly.  They look forward to them at Christmas!  If you don't want to try and read my old hand written recipe, you can find the recipe here.

Julie's Rolo Cookies.  I don't think my friend Julie made the recipe, but I got it from her!  You can get the same recipe online here.  I skip rolling them in sugar before I bake them. (Don't tell my kids!)

This recipe has been in my family for a long time.  Myrna's Butter Tarts.  The only Christmas making that my husband eats.  Im not sure how you can be human and not be tempted by the other goodies.  Some people have all the luck!

As you can see, all we need to know is the amounts.  But I will fill you in on the steps... because I love you.

Preheat oven to 350 (my mom made almost everything at 350...  when in doubt it usually works)
Beat 2 eggs and add 1 cup of brown sugar.
A lump of butter is about 2 Tbsp. melted
Add 1 tsp vanilla
I use ready-made unbaked pastry shells.  I add a few raisins to each shell.
Then fill each shell about 2/3 full with the egg/brown sugar mixture.
Bake until bubbly.  This recipe makes about 18.

No Niklasson Christmas would be complete without Nanaimo bars.  My Mom was famous for her Nanaimo bars.  However in the last few years she bought them.  You couldn't buy the ingredients to make them for the price you could buy them for!  My favorite are from Save On Foods.

So there you have it.  I made 3 things this year and bought 1.  And I think it will just be the perfect amount to share some with friends and have enough to keep us company on the cold/dark winter nights here in the mountains.