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Have you started baking for the holidays?

Porridge|1292350393|2796664 said:
I finished icing my last cake today! I'm dead proud :bigsmile: I made a few of these as presents. The colours didn't come out too well in the photo, but the fondant bow and snowflakes are a lovely glittery gold. It's a fairly standard christmas fruitcake.
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Porridge - that is so cute and yummy looking!

I've done some baking and have paid the price (pants are a bit tighter!). My son and I are going to make peppermint bark next week...not sure if that's considered "baking." ;)
 
Soocool- Yes! Many of the comments said regular limes worked fine.
 
Yes and I am almost finished. We are hosting our family get together this weekend. I have one more type of cookies to bake and a pan of fudge which I am contemplating going to make right now. My freezer is getting very full and not with things to cook for dinner.
 
Porridge|1292350393|2796664 said:
I finished icing my last cake today! I'm dead proud :bigsmile: I made a few of these as presents. The colours didn't come out too well in the photo, but the fondant bow and snowflakes are a lovely glittery gold. It's a fairly standard christmas fruitcake.
Click to expand...

Fairly standard christmas fruitcake my ass!!! that's beautiful!! :)
 
Ok, breaking down and starting today. I am only doing this to stay warm!
 
Okay...

Pinkstars: Can you share the home made gingerbread recipe from mom?

Purselover: what are spice cookies?

bebe: What are black gold cookies?

Amber St. Claire: Tell me about this coconut bread!

Mrs. Val: Thank you so much for sharing that recipe, I'm going to try it. Great for gluten free! Going to share that with a friend. I just made some today... actually chocolate chip cookies with a huge scoop of peanut butter, a little cinnamon and a tad extra flower... but I want to try your recipe!

Bunny007: I love buckeyes! Thank you for reminding me I need to make those! Thank you for sharing your key lime meltaways, and what are those blood orange tarts?

THEY DON'T HAVE CANDY CANES IN CHINA!!! They don't have peppermint, gingerbread, or pumpkin spice at starbucks (for the holiday they got dark cherry ::sigh::) I'm so bummed. And they NEVER have white chocolate mocha. What is christmas without at least ONE peppermint white chocolate mocha??
 
I think the best chocolate chip cookie recipe is that old hoax neiman marcus $250 cookie recipe... I hadn't made it in years and actually forgot about it (It's always easier to use the toll house recipe as I have it completely memorized) but someone made these a couple weeks ago and she said it was her secret recipe and I said wow this tastes just like... and she kinda blushed, I think I busted her! Anyway - google it, it's all over the web, and it's a really good recipe. Don't skip grating the chocolate!
 
Bunny007|1292383189|2797237 said:
Soocool- Yes! Many of the comments said regular limes worked fine.
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Sorry, please excuse my aged brain. It doesn't work as well as it used to and lately, not at all! :lol:
 
I so need to bake.
 
Thank you MC and Sara! LTP - I am totally going to make my own vanilla extract, starting right now. I spend a fortune on it.
 
Porridge|1292435463|2797623 said:
Thank you MC and Sara! LTP - I am totally going to make my own vanilla extract, starting right now. I spend a fortune on it.
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Me too, Porridge! I always have about 2-3 jelly jars of the stuff steeping in my wine buffet. :bigsmile:
 
I haven't started baking yet, but really, the only thing I make somewhat regularly is Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. I'll probably make them on my first day of vacation next Thursday.
 
Soocool -- your first post reminded me of the chocolate chip meringues that my mom used to make. They're SO good and maybe I'll try them this year.

It's funny because my mom used to make Christmas cookies but she stopped years ago. She now buys them from different bake sales throughout the year and freezes them until Christmas. My sister and I always thought her cookies were too dry (the dough was good though!) and we mentioned it once. Well, my mom joked around about how offended she was and she stopped making them altogether. Now I'm craving those crumbly, dry Christmas trees and candy cane cookies. :bigsmile:
 
pinkstars|1292067773|2794131 said:
MagsyMay|1292040542|2793999 said:
NO! But I have a cookie exchange on Sunday and am in desperate need of some good (relatively easy, I'm not the best baker!) recipes, so keep on posting them!! :appl: :twirl:
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http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Allys-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx This is my absolute all time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I keep looking for one that could be better, but I haven't found one yet!
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Pinkstars -- how does the taste of those oatmeal chocolate chip cookies differ from Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies with oats mixed in differ? I haven't tried other recipes other than what's on the bag of the Tollhouse bag, so I'm curious about the one you posted.
 
I am done. I made Christmas M&M cookies (plain and peanut), candy cane, sour cream sugar cookies cut out in Christmas shapes topped with red or green sugar, peanut butter sandwiches (made PB cookies and put them together with cocoa frosting) and some PB/chocolate fudge. I am so glad to be finished. :appl:
 
I think I'm going to get a KA Professional 600. I'm still going to get my Artisan fixed though.
 
Baked yesterday and today. The whole house smells so good. Pizzelles this weekend since I am giving them out as gifts. Now I am really getting into the holiday spirit!
 
Cehrabehra|1292420744|2797492 said:
Okay...

Pinkstars: Can you share the home made gingerbread recipe from mom?

Purselover: what are spice cookies?

bebe: What are black gold cookies?

Amber St. Claire: Tell me about this coconut bread!

Mrs. Val: Thank you so much for sharing that recipe, I'm going to try it. Great for gluten free! Going to share that with a friend. I just made some today... actually chocolate chip cookies with a huge scoop of peanut butter, a little cinnamon and a tad extra flower... but I want to try your recipe!

Bunny007: I love buckeyes! Thank you for reminding me I need to make those! Thank you for sharing your key lime meltaways, and what are those blood orange tarts?

THEY DON'T HAVE CANDY CANES IN CHINA!!! They don't have peppermint, gingerbread, or pumpkin spice at starbucks (for the holiday they got dark cherry ::sigh::) I'm so bummed. And they NEVER have white chocolate mocha. What is christmas without at least ONE peppermint white chocolate mocha??
Click to expand...

No white chocolate mochas?? That's disappointing.

The recipe for spice cookies came with our cookie gun, they just have a lot of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in them, it gives them a wonderful spicy flavor.
 
Porridge - that cake is beautiful!

I'm being lazy this year as Daisy is still a bit too little but once she's old enough I'll be doing gingerbread biscuits with melted sweeties in the centre for the tree (like stained glass) and I've got out of doing a cake as we are at my IL's this year.

I have made the green and yellow marzipan though (1 kilo of it) and have the orange, red and purple to go. I make marzipan fruits every year and am doing them for all the grandparents as well as parents. I had a nightmare getting the ground almonds... I've got 2 kilos of them now so a lot of marzipan coming up.

Also making chocolate rum truffles for everyone as well.
 
Alright, so this is my mom's recipe.

Gingerbread

3/4 cup shortening 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup molasses 2 eggs
2 1/2 cup sifted flour 2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ginger 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water

Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy, add eggs 1 at a time add molasses. Add dry ingredients and boiling water by alternating till blended. Bake at 350 for 40 min. to 1 hour. Poke with toothpick to see if done.

So the only thing I do differently is that I use butter and I go ahead a sift all of the dry ingredients together.

I found this recipe http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010...n-whipped-cream-and-bananas-sugar-rush-5.html and it looks really similar. I might give it a try just to see, but I know I'll try to make my mom's tonight though.


Zoe - I asked BF what he thought about the cookies and he said they go down smoother, haha.
But what's different for me is that since the oats are soaked before, instead of coming out and being able to see individual oats, they expand and it changes the texture of the cookie. I'm trying to think of how the flavor differs and I'm not sure since I don't eat too many oatmeal cookies.
 
Okay truffle recipe? YES PLEASE!

and what goes into marzipan? Aside from the ground almonds of course...
 
so that's actual gingerbread - not the kind for cookies?

Even better! I love gingerbread!! There is this place on the oregon coast that specializes in gingerbread. YUM.

BUT..... I don't think I'll be able to find molasses here. However, the brown sugar they make here is quite obviously white sugar way loaded down with molasses so I wonder if I just cooked some with some water until it dissolved to the consistency of molasses if it would work....
 
My mission is to bake gingerbread cookies that are soft.
 
pennquaker09|1292555920|2799240 said:
My mission is to bake gingerbread cookies that are soft.
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wouldn't that be lovely? I want one that gets up off my pan and forces me to go for a run ;)
 
I do not bake for Christmas because several people in DH's family way over-do-it with the cookies and we can never eat all that we are given. Plus mine and DH's favorite cookies are also his father's favorite so MIL has always made them and it was no big deal. Last year however, GMIL (MIL's mom), bought a POS car and FIL spent days of his Christmas vaction working on it for her. I went to pick up DS and got the cookie tour at GMIL's house. I asked where the other cookies were (I am so lame I don't even know the name of them. I had never had them till I met DH and they were always "FIL's cookies".) Both MIL and GMIL told me "What? He's out there working on the car, we had to make the cookies, he wasn't even in here". WTH? First of all that man is slaving out there working on your piece of junk! For free! All the more reason, IMHO, to make the poor man his favorite cookies this one time of the year. Second how is this year any different from the past I-don't-even-know how many years? And third I have known DH and his family for over 13 years and never once have I seen that man bake anything. I was thinking about just making them this year and surprizing his dad when they got here. Then MIL called and brought it up that she wasn't going to make them so I guilt tripped her into it. :Up_to_something:
 
I made the super easy (already memorized) peanut butter cookie recipe today and I have mixed reviews. I will definitely make it again, they do puff up, they have a nice chewy texture, and they are SUPER easy to do, we got them in and out in 30 minutes and using my little scooper I got about 28 cookies out of it. But I kind of miss the flour... this won't be the only recipe I use forevermore... but it's a great one to have on hand, especially if you have someone in your life who can't eat flour! I might try adding maple flavor instead of vanilla next time.
 
Thanks Pinkstars! I'll definitely have to try your recipe -- I love oatmeal cookies.
 
Cehrabehra|1292570350|2799367 said:
I made the super easy (already memorized) peanut butter cookie recipe today and I have mixed reviews. I will definitely make it again, they do puff up, they have a nice chewy texture, and they are SUPER easy to do, we got them in and out in 30 minutes and using my little scooper I got about 28 cookies out of it. But I kind of miss the flour... this won't be the only recipe I use forevermore... but it's a great one to have on hand, especially if you have someone in your life who can't eat flour! I might try adding maple flavor instead of vanilla next time.
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Also decided to make a double batch and some ganache and fill them with chocolate ganache to make sandwich cookies.
 
Haha. I haven't even started cleaning the house.
 
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