Holi-bakes

I bake more than the average person during the entirety of the year, but add in quarantine and the holiday season and you get a never-ending supply of sweet treats.

12.9.20:

ps. click the photos for the recipes!

I made these brown-butter toffee chocolate chip cookies as part of a two day cookie frenzy, but I’ve made them several times before. I mean… this is kind of the ideal cookie: soft, crisp edges, gooey chocolate and an extra hit of toffee to make it interesting… it’s no wonder these are a staple in my baking repertoire.

This time around I used pre-chopped heath chunks which was absolutely NOT the way to go. If you can, 2-3 score bars chopped in larger chunks is much tastier. also I usually substitute the chocolate melts for regular baking chocolate (70% is best) because its easier to find.

12.10.20:

Day two of my cookie extravaganza and I tried out a NEW recipe from Claire Saffitz’s first cookbook: Dessert Person. If you don’t know who that is, clearly you did not have a BA test kitchen obsession like the rest of us, and were not heartbroken to see its decline—though obviously it was necessary and for good reason (as this is not a gossip blog I won’t go into more detail). However it’s really cool seeing the chef’s new ventures from Claire’s book to Gaby’s youtube channel to Molly’s recipe club, and these cookies do NOT disappoint.

I had a bit of trouble at first, though I maintain that it was my oven’s fault for turning on the broiler for no good reason. I burnt the first batch of pecans (even though they were only in the oven for 2 minutes!!) and then I forgot to add water to the caramel and burnt that too. FINALLY I succeeded in making the pecan brittle and the rest was smooth sailing. My advice is to make sure your oven is in a good mood before starting, and set a timer and keep an eye on that caramel.

The only downside is that my boyfriend can’t eat them because he’s allergic to pecans, but the rest of my family l-o-v-e-d them, even more than the brown butter toffee cookies. they definitely take a bit more effort than classic chocolate chip cookies, but in my opinion its worth it. between the two recipes I ate so much cookie dough I literally couldn’t eat anything else for a couple days….worth it.

12.16.20:

Lussekatter! I’ve been itching to make these ever since I heard about them last spring. but I knew they were uniquely a festive treat in Sweden and so i patiently waited until december rolled around and then continued waiting for Will to return so we could make them. finally the day came and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out!

A bit of background on Lussekatter, they are traditionally eaten on St. Lucia (Dec 13th) and, strangely, based on the anecdotal evidence I have from the swedes in my life, are always super dry. I sort of think of them as the festive version of

Kanelbullar and Kardemummabullar (cinnammon/cardamom buns) because it’s the same base dough (sort of a brioche) but they’re made with saffron and have little raisins in their swirls.

there are many different versions, the classic dry ones with no filling, ones with cinnamon sugar filling, and others still with chopped raisin filling. We made the cinnamon sugar filled ones and excluded a few tablespoons of flour from the mix to incorporate later while rolling. This, along with the filling, effectively ensured that they were not super dry! I definitely reccomend adding these to your holiday rotation.

12.18.20:

I have the youtuber Darling Desi to thank for these delicious German Lebkuchen. I was watching one of her (breathtaking!!) winter-themed videos and she raved about this soft german gingerbread. I’m definitely more of a soft/chewy cookie person than a crispy cookie person so I was intrigued.

I did NOT know what I was getting myself into

First of all, the dough must rest for 1-2 days before baking in order to develop flavor. this technique is often used in pizza dough so it wasn’t particularly surprising. the odd part is that AFTER baking, the cookies must sit in an airtight container for a minimum of three days or up to two weeks.

Honestly I love complex baking projects because how else am I supposed to improve my skills?? but I definitely messed this one up. I didn’t read the instructions close enough so the container I put them in post-bake was not airtight and they ended up drying out instead :(((

The flavor was still good, what makes them different I think is the hint of lemon. I revived some by steaming them, but in the end this was a bit of a failure due to human error. but best bet I WILL be making them again next Christmas to prove how delicious Lebkuchen can be.

12.21.20:

I had kind of low expectations for these bad boys. when I think of shortbread cookies I think of those extremely buttery crumbly cookies you find in tins. not that those aren’t delicious, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to make them.

But these?? they were legitimately addicting. They reminded of one of my favorite childhood treats: the checkerboard cookie from Café Besalu. Also, bonus, they look fancy but they’re actually super easy to make! If you’re in need of a christmas cookie recipe and you’re sick of regular sugar cookies I would definitely give these a whirl.

12.24.20

If I were on the Great British Bake Off, this would be my signature bake. My Host mom in France, Anne-Cécile, gave me her recipe, and I’ve used it loyally ever since.

My mom requests about one brioche loaf a month, except for december in which I make anywhere between 2-4 loaves to be eaten on christmas morning. This year I made my family one plain loaf and one chocolate babka, I made one loaf for my grandma, and one for my boyfriend’s family.

It’s a pretty simple recipe, as long as you’re patient and have a stand mixer, but there is one European quirk. it requires fresh yeast. Every time I make brioche I have to call an average of three grocery stores to see if they carry fresh yeast which becomes quite a wild goose chase.

This year was worse than most because I couldn’t find fresh yeast ANYWHERE. I had three cubes but two of them rotted and somehow no stores in the seattle area had any fresh yeast left. Christmas eve crisis! I ended up, begrudgingly, substituting in active-dry yeast. did it rise? yes. but I had to proof it in water and then add more flour so the ratio got messed up and it was a touch too dry. Made a banging french toast though!