Highlights from 2024

It seems like each year gets busier and busier, but I hope that everyone had an excellent holiday season! While I don’t necessarily bake as much as I used to, I love the time that I do have in this create process. Life is hard sometimes and too busy, and these are distractions to look forward to. No recipe this week; I am looking back at some of my favorites from 2024.

Reese's Pieces Oat Cookies
This gluten-free cookie is a wonderful combination of peanut butter and oats. You would never know it was gluten-free, and it’s a great cookie to add to your repertoire.

Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars
I love snickerdoodles, as it was the first cookie I remember making with my Dad. This bar cookie, with an added cheesecake layer, is absolutely wonderful.

Bee Sting Bars
This cookie is based on the Bee Sting Cake, which I would love to make but looks tricky. These are much easier to bake and still contain the flavors of honey and almonds.

Cookie Dough Brownie Cookies
These are a substantial cookie, and they were the perfect choice for my friend’s birthday. Cookie, topped with cookie dough, covered in chocolate. What could be bad? 

Almond Frangipane Cookies
I made a couple of almond cookies this year, all of them have been so good. This one uses almond flour, some others use almond paste. Either have delightful flavor that can’t be beaten.

Paradise Slice
This is a Scottish Christmas cookie, and it is so different. It combines currants, almond flour, and glacé cherries. They were so good I ended up making two batches!

I hope you have a great 2025!

Chocolate Mint Truffle Snowball Cookies

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I try to make something that looks very festive for the Christmas holiday. By the time I get to Christmas, I have done a lot of baking, and then cooking for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We also celebrate Boxing Day, so I will be making something for that as well, but I plan that to be easy. This year I also remade a couple of recipes that were in great demand. I’m tired!

These cookies look fancy, but they really were easy to make. The dough is simple and doesn’t have any leavening, which means the cookies end up being the same size as when you start. I did add an extra egg yolk, as the dough seemed a little dry, and that was perfect. Shaping the dough around the Kisses was easy, as there was plenty of dough.

My only issue is melting the white chocolate, as I have discovered some brands melt well, and others don’t seem to melt at all. I need to remember this for the future! My first batch of melted chocolate didn’t work at all, so I tried again with different chips, and while there weren’t a lot of those chips, they were fine. I bought some fancy sprinkles so these would be extra nice, and I think they are a fun cookie for a holiday selection. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Truffle Snowball Cookies
24 mint truffle Hershey kisses
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cocoa powder
3-4 ounces white chocolate
1 teaspoon vegetable shortening
 Sprinkles

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Unwrap the Hershey Kisses and place in the freeze while you make the cookie dough. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium until combined. Stir in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, salt, and cocoa powder; mix just until a thick dough forms.

Roll the dough into 24 balls. Flatten each dough ball slightly and place a frozen Hershey Kiss in the center of each. Wrap the dough around the Kiss and seal it in completely. Reroll the cookies and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until set. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.     

Once the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate and vegetable shortening in a small microwave bowl. Dip the tops of the cookies in the melted chocolate and finish with sprinkles.

Recipe from Inside Bru Crew Life

Cranberry Pecan Christmas Fudge

There are quite a few Christmas fudge recipes that are out there, and sometimes they have similarities and sometimes they are very different. I actually made a Christmas Swirl Fudge last year, but that was a white fudge with red and green swirls. The recipe that I am making this year, also a variation of Christmas Fudge us a two-toned fudge, with a chocolate pecan layer and a white chocolate cranberry layer. It is very different from last year, but also very festive for Christmas.

I was concerned that it may be difficult to make the fudge layers and keep them completely separate, but that was no concern at all. I ended up using my 9” square pan, so the fudge is thinner than had a used a smaller pan. I worried at first, but when I cut the fudge, the pieces looked great, so I need to learn to worry less.

I made one change to the recipe- the original called for a cinnamon and chocolate chips in the chocolate layer, and I just used traditional chocolate chips. I do love cinnamon chips, and probably are festive, but I kept this one simple. I also used dried cranberries from Nuts.com and they were perfectly round! I had never seen that before, but they taste wonderful. My husband deemed this my best fudge of the year, and it is hard to disagree!

Cranberry Pecan Christmas Fudge
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 can sweetened condensed milk, divided
½ teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1 ½ cups white chocolate chips
½ cup dried cranberries

Line a 8" or 9” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, vanilla, and half of the sweetened condensed milk. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the mixture is smooth. Add the pecans and stir to combine. Spread the chocolate layer evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan.

In a separate microwave-safe bowl, combine the white chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons butter, ¼ teaspoon salt, and the remaining half can of sweetened condensed milk. Heat in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the dried cranberries.

Pour the white chocolate layer on top of the chocolate layer, spreading evenly.

Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. Once the fudge is chilled, remove the fudge from the pan and cut into 1-inch squares.

Recipe from Midwestern HomeLife

Berlinerkranser

When I make cookies for the holidays, they are often new recipes that I have never tried before. I think about the main categories of flavors (like mint, eggnog, spiced) but then I give myself the flexibility to find recipes that look interesting to me that still fall into holiday flavor categories. This cookie is one that I actually have made before, but it was a different recipe and many, many years ago.

When I started baking, I didn’t have as many recipe choices as I do now. I had some cookie cookbook that included these Norwegian Christmas Cookies, and they looked interesting. I made them, and when I served them, my uncle said that they were a cookie he’d had growing up but hadn’t had them in years. The recipe has changed over time, as the accessibility of ingredients differs. When I first made these, the only topping I could come up with was to crush sugar cubes. Now I am able to find pearl sugar at the store.

This dough is simple but does require the super unusual ingredient of hard boiled egg yolks. I have the worst luck peeling hard boiled eggs, so I did buy ones that were cooked (and I needed some others for a different recipe). I made the dough, let it chill and I ended up dividing the dough into 15 pieces. In shaping the dough, this made for big, hefty cookies, which cracked a little when shaping. Thankfully that is easy to fix, and next time I may make them smaller, but still shape them into a 7” log. They bake nicely, and there are a very different choice for a holiday cookie plate!

Berlinerkranser (Norwegian Wreath Cookies)
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
2 (raw) egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter, room temperature

2 egg whites, lightly beaten
Pearl sugar    

In a medium mixer bowl, mash the hard-boiled egg yolks with a fork. Add the raw egg yolks and sugar and mix on medium until light. Alternate adding the flour and butter, starting and ending with the flour. The dough will be soft; be careful not to overwork the dough.

Chill the dough for one hour.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into balls, then into a rope about 6-7” long. Twist the dough into a wreath shape, crossing the ends of the dough. Brush each cookie with beaten egg white and then sprinkle with pearl sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes, until slightly browned on the bottom and set on top. Cool completely.

Recipe from Adamant Kitchen

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cranberry Jam

While I tend to plan my holiday baking a bit in advance, it seems that I never quite bake according to the list I develop. This can be for many reasons; sometimes I find a recipe that I just have to make, or something ends up taking more time than I have, and sometimes recipes don’t quite turn out and I need to take the time to tweak the recipe before I try it again. I hadn’t planned on making these cookies, but I saw them and was convinced. Oh, and that other recipe needs some tweaking as well.

I saw this recipe and the only thing I needed to see if we had on hand was cranberry jam. We buy different jams all the time, so I was fairly confident! We did have a jar of Christmas jam, which was cranberry with some orange flavor added in, which sounded perfect for these cookies! The only difficult was the original recipe called for “walnut-sized balls” and I honestly don’t have a good reference for that. I just made each cookie weigh 25 grams. 

These cookies were fun to make, but they do take a little time and patience to get them shaped right. I found that shaping the cookies and then flattening slightly on the baking sheet helped maintain their shape when I make the indentation in the cookies. I also don’t list a quantity for the jam. I made about 30 cookies, and each cookie uses about 1/4 teaspoon, so you don’t use a lot. These are the most beautiful ginger cookies with a perfect, and perhaps unexpected, flavor or cranberries. This recipe is not one to miss.

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cranberry Jam
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
100 grams sugar
1 egg
160 grams molasses
420 grams flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cranberry/Christmas jam

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until well combined. Add the egg and molasses and mix until incorporated. It may look slightly lumpy, but it will work once all of the ingredients have been added. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture and stir until the dough comes together.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4 inch dough balls. Round them in your hands and then flatten them slightly. With your thumb or other tool, make an indentation in each cookie, pressing the edges back together if the cookies split slightly. Fill each indentation with a small amount of jam.

Bake for 12 minutes, until set. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Polabaker

Paradise Slice

I have waited and waited to make these bars! Any recipe with “slice” in the title usually tells me that the recipe originated in Australia or Scotland, and these bars are from Scotland. My friend was asking me about Scottish cookies, and while shortbread immediately comes to mind and maybe a few tiffin recipes, it is hard to think of other recipes. This recipe is from a Scottish blog, and I am really interested in exploring more of the site.

Another reason that I had to wait to make these was due to the fact that they used glacé cherries. When I order products from the UK, I often buy candied or glacé cherries, since they are so difficult to find in the States. I didn’t order anything this year, so I was at the mercy of American grocery stores, and they finally carried some glacé cherries. They are crazy neon red, but I figured mixed in with other ingredients they wouldn’t be quite so glaring.

These are interesting bars, or perhaps they are more of a dessert? You make pastry for the base, top it with jam, and then top it with a cherry, current, and almond flour filling. I don’t make pastry often, but I used to, so I have that down to a science. I used cherry preserves since the filling also contains cherries. The filling goes together well, although glacé cherries are very sticky. I baked them for 25 minutes then topped them with a generous amount of sugar, which partially melted into a lovely topping. These bars are great; a fabulous mix of festive flavors!

Paradise Slice
200 grams flour
100 grams cold butter, cubed
30 grams sugar
4-5 tbsp cold water
100 grams berry/cherry preserves

200 grams butter, room temperature
200 grams sugar
2 eggs
100 grams ground almonds
100 grams flour
120 grams currants
100 grams glacé cherries, halved
Additional sugar

Make the pastry: add the flour and butter to a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and pulse to combine. Add about three tablespoons of water, mixing and adding additional water until the dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Heat the oven to 390 degrees. Line an 8” or 9” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface until it is about ¼” thick. The pastry should roughly be the size of your baking pan. Place the pastry into the prepared pan and trim away any excess. You do not want the pastry stretching up the sides of the pan. Prick the dough with a fork, then cover with parchment and pastry beans.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden. Allow to cool partially before proceeding.

While the pastry is cooling, make the topping: in a large mixer bowl, mix the butter and sugar at medium speed to combine. Stir in the eggs. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the ground almonds and flour. Stir in the currants and glacé cherries.

Spread the raspberry jam over the partially cooled pastry base. Spoon the topping over the jam, smoothing with a spatula as needed.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with additional sugar. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Scottish Scran

Rum Raisin Fudge

One of the main requests in fudge making this year from my husband is his desire for me to make rum raisin fudge. On the west coast, rum raisin isn’t all that common, but I have seen more examples of it on the east coast and especially in the UK. This is a UK fudge recipe, flavored with rum and raisin, and it is quite different from traditional American-style fudge.

This fudge uses brown sugar (and a lot of it) for the base, which changes the overall texture of the fudge. The original recipe calls for muscovado sugar, which is a type of brown sugar. I was in the British shop and couldn’t recall if I needed muscovado sugar or demerara sugar, but I had already stocked up on regular brown sugar so I ended up using that. I do try to make different British recipes, but the best advice is to stay flexible and use what ingredients are available.

This is one of the fudge recipes that I made that does require the use of a candy thermometer. When I started doing that, I was so worried that I wouldn’t get the temperature correct, but it just requires a little patience to watch and make sure the fudge doesn’t get overcooked. You do want this fudge to crystallize somewhat, which is different than most of the fudge I made. This fudge is quite sticky and sweet, and has that grainy texture that is typical of British-style fudge.

Rum Raisin Fudge
100 grams raisins
3 tablespoons rum
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
100 grams butter
 500 grams brown sugar

Line an 8” square pan with parchment and spray the parchment with nonstick cooking spray.

Add the raisins and the rum to a small bowl and allow to soak for at least an hour.     

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sweetened condensed milk, butter, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring all the time to dissolve the brown sugar. Continue stirring (while boiling) for about 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 235-240 degrees (soft ball stage). The constant stirring will help avoid burning the mixture in the pan.

Once the mixture reaches temperature, remove it from the heat and add the rum/raisin mixture. Stir vigorously until the fudge begins to crystallize and thicken. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and allow to cool in the refrigerator overnight.

When fully set, remove from the pan and cut into 1” squares. Store in the refrigerator.

Recipe from Woman & Home