What's your favorite holiday recipe?
Is it a cookie? Is it a ham? Is it a drink (please let it be a drink)?
Share it here. We may not be able to get together and do a cookie exchange, but maybe we can find a new favorite recipe.
I, personally, don't have a favorite holiday recipe. I have some autumnal recipes I love, but I (yes, the lady who loves to bake) don't have 'my' go-to holiday recipe yet.
What I will share, however, is cinnamon star bread. That lovely Instagrammable thing that is easy to make, insanely delicious, and will totally win at your office party. I made one last year and will probably make it again for the party I'm going to in a couple weeks.
Saying the quiet parts out loud since 1996.
We should rename this thread and just do general recipes, lol.
Racism isn't Tinkerbell. It doesn't need you to believe in it for it to exist.
@Derp said in Holiday Recipe Exchange:
We should rename this thread and just do general recipes, lol.
there is a general recipes thread you knob.
This is HOLIDAY recipes. I WANT COOKIES AND THEMED ALCOHOL.
and maybe a delicious honey ham.
Saying the quiet parts out loud since 1996.
Is there?!
Anyways all the stuff I like is dead simple. White chocolate pretzels. Green bean casserole.
These cookies are great for folks that love pumpkin quickbread (though they don't keep super well because they are very moist, no matter how big of a batch I've made for potlucks or holiday parties that's not a problem because I never have any to take home after).
Oh, also you can substitute 2 mashed up bananas and the spices you usually use for banana bread in this recipe to get banana bread cookies, which are also a hit, but the pumpkin ones get requested of me a lot.
Pumpkin bread cookies
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 t baking powerd
1 t baking soda
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (it's okay to use pumpkin pie filling but I'd cut back of the spice)
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift/combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt, set aside
Cream together butter and sugars. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on ungreased cookie sheet by T/tablespoonful or equivalent cookie scoop.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, cool on wire rack.
Fun mixins to the batter: mini chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, crushed nuts of your choice. I haven't tried the butterscotch chips with the banana bread version but the chocolate chips and nuts do well in those as well.
My bigs used to love making these when they were little (they could do it themselves pretty much), and this year they're going to teach my youngest. They are great (if a little messy) to make with kids, and are pretty much a variety of rice krispies treats.
Cornflake christmas tree/wreath cookies:
1/2 cup butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
1 t green food coloring, add less if using paste. Or don't and have emo trees/wreaths and blue/green poop for awhile.
1 t vanilla extract
4 cups cornflakes cereal
1 package of cinnamon red hots OR a package of mini m&ms. Or both, plus sprinkles or candy stars or edible glitter, especially if you're giving the children back to someone else at some point.
Microwave marshmallows and butter on high for 2 mins. Stir, then microwave on high for 2 minutes more. (This is with our elderly microwave so if you have a powerful or newer one might be a good idea to keep a close on it).
Add in and mix quickly the coloring and vanilla, then quickly mix in cornflakes. Drop by buttered spoonfuls onto greased wax paper or silicone baking liner in clumps and then shape quickly into wreaths or trees, add candies (we use red hots for the wreaths, m&ms for ornaments on the trees). Once cool, transfer to airtight storage container with a wax paper lining between each layer.
Cranberry Jello Salad
Mix jello and 2 cups hot water until gelatin is completely dissolved; add 1 cup cold water (or 1 cup pineapple juice). Add remaining ingredients and mix very well. Chill until set. I like to finely chop the celery and cranberries in a food processor.
So I was wrong. Ha ha. I'm not doing the star bread. I'm gonna make buchteln. I've been wanting to make buchteln for a while now, but the jam is expensive and then I remembered: oh yeah I bought a number of fancy jams at the charity sale at work the other week they're even sitting on my counter still hurr durr.
Mash all leftover potatoes together, sweet and yam and regular. Put all the marshmallows and syrup and everything right on in. Then add egg and milk and flour by sight until you have a batter that looks like pancake batter. Cook like pancakes. WIN.
@Sunny said in Holiday Recipe Exchange:
Mash all leftover potatoes together, sweet and yam and regular. Put all the marshmallows and syrup and everything right on in. Then add egg and milk and flour by sight until you have a batter that looks like pancake batter. Cook like pancakes. WIN.
(Wafflemaker.)
I made knishes for the first time ever. Is this a holiday recipe? I made it on the holidays...
@saosmash
Knishes I made:
12 ounces butter (unsalted, softened)
8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1 cup lite sour cream
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg + water + salt + for egg wash
Mixed up the above into a dough. I used a hand mixer and made a huge mess because I do not have a stand mixer. Once the mess was cleaned up, I wrapped it in seranwrap and put it in the fridge to chill overnight. Took it out the next day, let it rest for 15 mins and then rolled out until it was 1/4 of an inch thick.
For the filling:
8 medium potatoes
Approx 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
canola oil (enough to cook onions & garlic)
1/4 cup milk
salt & pepper
I peeled, chopped, and boiled the potatoes, then pan-cooked the onions with the sugar and the garlic. They were pretty brown although not allll the way to caramelized. Whipped the onions and garlic with the potatoes with my hand mixer until they were pretty smooth, added milk and salt and pepper.
Then I cut the dough into squares with a pizza cutter, painted egg wash over the squares, put a dollop of filling in each one, and folded them up into a package. Once they were all packaged up I put them on a floured and pam-sprayed cookie sheet and baked them on 350 for 45 minutes.
I got the seal of grandma approval!! (Uh, and this amount of filling was about twice as much as I needed, so you could probably cut it down if you wanted to make them.)
@saosmash I'm so excited, I'm def. going to try these!
Well, if you're making knishes, you need to know how to make latkes too.
Potato Latkes (pancakes)
1 1/2 lb potato - finely grated
1 1/4 cup onion - finely chopped
2 eggs - beaten
1/2 cup flour
1 cup matzo meal
3 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbl chicken fat (optional)
cooking oil
Note: adjust potato/onion ratio to your taste.
Press potato in a strainer to remove excess water
Combine all well
Heat oil and chicken fat in skillet till sizzling
Form patty out of mixture
Fry in oil till golden brown on each side
Remove to paper towel
Eat while hot
Good with a dollop of sour cream. Apple sauce isn't bad either.
Notes:
Check Jewish section of supermarket for matzo meal
Chicken fat can be excluded but improves the flavor
How to make chicken fat (schmaltz):
Remove fat from raw chickens/pieces: small bits of skin should be included
Freeze fat till you've got about 8 ounces
Chop a small onion and garlic clove(s)
Season with 1/2 tsp salt
Add fat/skin and simmer
Fat will be rendered into a liquid
Simmer for 15 minutes or so to get it well seasoned
Strain into a jar
Refrigerate for later use: stays a long time
Eat leftover skin and onions for a yummy, artery clogging snack (gribines)
now I want latkes goddamn you @TNP
Saying the quiet parts out loud since 1996.
@Auspice That recipe is from an actual NY kosher Jewish deli that's been around for over 70 years. Happened to stumble across it channel surfing and it was Jewish recipe episode on some cooking show.
ETA: making schmaltz is a bit of a pain in the ass but it really does improve the flavor 10 fold. And it stays forever in the fridge once you've made it.
@TNP That looks v similar to our family recipe for those, but our potato to onion ratio is way more potato and we've never added baking powder.
Cranberry Apple Compote
Ingredients
2 cups apple cider
6 tablespoons light corn syrup
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons panela
(*- I'm a sugar snob. See below)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground clove
¾ teaspoon ground allspice
*- Panela is an unrefined sugar you can usually find in Caribbean or Latin American markets. It's generally sold in 'cones', but you can get it ground as well (sometimes sold as 'evaporated cane juice'). If you can't find it, turbinado or Demerara works almost as well. It's different than 'brown' sugar in that, in brown sugar, the molasses is refined out then added back in - in the raw sugars, it's never removed in the first place. If you can't find any of these, 1/2 cup of white + 2 tbsp of dark brown will work, but the syrup won't be as rich or flavorful.
I also tend to grind the whole spices rather than buy pre-ground. They pack more of a punch and last longer on the shelf.
Preparation
Whisk apple cider, corn syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice and 2 tablespoons (brown, if you're using it) sugar in heavy large saucepan. (I use a cast iron Dutch oven)
Boil over high heat until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes.
Add butter; whisk until melted.
Add apple pieces to the reduced syrup, cook for 2-3 min.
Add cranberries and ½ cup (white) sugar. Stir until cranberries begin to pop, about 2 minutes.
Boil until reduced to syrup consistency, about 6 minutes.
Stir in more sugar, if desired. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Stir over medium heat until heated through.)
Transfer compote to bowl and serve warm.
These are a huge hit with my family, and requested every year. Especially by my mother. She calls them 'crack cookies.' lol
Chocolate Triple Ginger Cookies
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons very hot water
6 ounces milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup diced crystallized ginger
Sugar, for dusting (I use Sugar in the Raw)
My board game and other crews don't drink as much anymore, so I don't get to make cocktails very often. 
But here are my two favorites for the season (and they're both sweet as fuck, though):
Coquito
1 can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups white rum (though I think just about any tastes pretty good in it)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon plus dusting for serving
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups coconut cream (one big can or 2ish smaller ones)
cinnamon sticks for garnish
You can lessen the rum if you don't want a warm kick.
Blend/wisk everything together, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (I think it's better chilled at least overnight). Probably you want to start with a SMALL glass first. And you can double/triple the recipe really easily as well as experiment with the ratios.
North Pole Cocktail
Found this recipe a few years ago and uh...accidentally got my youngest kiddo's toddler teacher drunk off her ass at an adults only Christmas party, if you like gingerbread flavor they go down really quick. Probably it'd taste really good even without the molasses but I've only made it with it in there.
4 oz vodka
2+ oz kahlua
4 Tbsp chocolate syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp molasses
1/8 tsp ginger
1/2 cup heavy cream
whipped cream, crushed peppermint candies, and crushed gingerbread cookies for garnish.
In a cocktail shaker combine vodka, kahlua, chocolate, vanilla, molasses and ginger, shake until well combined. Add ice and shake again. Strain into 4 glasses. Top off each glass with heavy cream. Dollop with whipped cream and use crushed peppermint candies and/or cookies as garnish.
Mash all leftover potatoes together, sweet and yam and regular. Put all the marshmallows and syrup and everything right on in. Then add egg and milk and flour by sight until you have a batter that looks like pancake batter. Cook like pancakes. WIN.
