Кулинария

6 Delicious Christmas Treats To Make This Holiday Season + Recipes

M&M's Christmas Cookie Bars

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of firmly packed golden brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
3 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of Christmas M&M's , plus more for topping
1 cup of mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 9x13 baking dish with foil, leave some overhang to make removal easier.
Spray foil generously with nonstick cooking spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until fluffy.
Add in eggs and vanilla extract and continue to beat.
Lower speed of mixer and add flour, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
Add M&M's and mini chocolate chips and give a final stir, reserving some M&M's, mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chips for topping cookie bars.
Transfer cookie dough to prepared baking dish.
Press additional M&M'S, mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chips into top of cookie dough.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes on oven rack in lower third of oven to prevent over browning.
Let cool completely and cut.

Christmas Tree Brownies

Ingredients

1 box Brownie Mix
1 tub white vanilla icing
green food colouring
small round sprinkles
small star sprinkles
candy canes

Instructions

Line an 8"x8" baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
Prepare the brownie mix according to the package directions and bake as directed.
Allow brownies to completely cool, approximately 1.5 hours.
Remove the brownies from the pan, and cut into triangles.
(Cut in three rows, then cut in alternating diagonals, as in the photo shown above).
Unwrap the candy canes, and use a sharp knife to gently cut/break the candy canes into 1.5" long pieces.
Press the sharper end of the candy cane into the bottom of the brownie triangles.
Spoon out approximately ½ of the tub of icing into a bowl.
Add green food colouring until you're happy with the colour.
Spoon the green icing into a zip lock bag.
Seal the bag and cut off a small corner of the bag with sharp scissors.
Starting at the top of the brownie triangles, gently squeeze out the icing in a curvy zigzag as you go down the tree.
Add your favourite sprinkles and a small star sprinkle at the top

Candy Cane Cupcakes

Ingredients
120ml (or ½ cup) boiling water

½ teaspoon instant coffee granules
145g (or ⅔ cup + 2½ teaspoons) granulated sugar
120g (or ½ cup + 2 teaspoons, packed) light brown sugar
130ml (or ½ cup + 2 teaspoons) buttermilk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
60ml (or ¼ cup) sunflower oil (or canola oil)
1 large egg
100g (or ¾ cup + 2½ teaspoons) all-purpose flour
80g (or ½ cup + 3 tablespoons) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

For the candy cane buttercream:

130g (or ½ cup + 2½ tablespoons) granulated sugar
130g (or 4.5 ounces) candy canes, about 12 medium-sized candy canes*
45ml (or 3 tablespoons) water
2 egg whites
120g (or ½ cup + 1½ teaspoons) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
crushed candy canes to decorate

First, make the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F (standard oven setting) and line a 12-cup muffin pan (or 2 6-cup muffin pans) with cupcake liners. This recipe will make 10-12 cupcakes.
In a small heatproof bowl, combine the coffee and boiling water. Stir to dissolve the coffee. Add the granulated sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Adding the sugar will also cool the coffee. Add the brown sugar and stir to incorporate. The brown sugar won't dissolve completely, but that's fine. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the egg and oil until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. It will kind of look like mayonnaise. Whisk the wet ingredients (the coffee mixture) into the egg mixture until the mixture looks smooth.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Divide the batter over the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full with batter. Place on a wire rack in the middle of the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

In the meantime, make the buttercream:

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, candy canes and water. Place over low heat, stirring with a metal spoon until the sugar and candy canes have completely dissolved. Stop stirring and crank the heat up to medium-high. Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
n the meantime, add the egg whites to a medium-sized, heatproof bowl and mix (with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment) until foamy and the whites are almost able to hold soft peaks.
Once the syrup is boiling, clip on a candy (or sugar) thermometer.
Cook until the syrup reaches 116°C/240°F, then take the pan off the heat and slowly drizzle the hot syrup into the bowl with the foamy egg whites, mixing continuously to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Don't pour the syrup onto the whisk, or the syrup may splatter against the sides of the bowl (or into your face!). Instead, aim for a spot close to the whisk.
Once all the syrup has been added, keep mixing until the bottom of the bowl feels cool to the touch and the meringue has completely cooled.
Once the meringue feels cool, you can start adding the butter one cube at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once you've added all the butter, the mixture may start to look as if its separating. Don't panic! Just keep mixing and whipping and the buttercream will magically come together and become smooth and gorgeous.
Once the buttercream is smooth and fluffy, make sure the cupcakes have completely cooled. If the cupcakes are even a tad warm, the buttercream will melt! Frost the cupcakes any way you like. I used a large closed star tip and a piping bag (duh!).
Cupcakes are best served the day you make them (in which case you can keep them at room temperature), but they can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. If the cupcakes have been stored in the fridge, allow to come to room temperature before serving (this takes about 1 hours in a warm kitchen).
Decorate with a sprinkle of crushed candy canes just before serving.

Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (sifted) 1/4 cup black cocoa (sifted)* 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp sea salt 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature) 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 2 large eggs (room temperature) 1 tsp peppermint extract (optional) 1 bag Bright White Candy Melts or white chocolate (melted)** crushed candy canes
Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powders, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars on med-high until light and fluffy (approx. 2-3mins). Reduce speed and add egg and peppermint extract. Beat until well combined. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
Chill dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Using a medium cookie scoop, portion dough onto baking sheet (I did 9 cookies per sheet). Bake for approximately 10 mins, or until the middle is set. Cookies will deflate and crinkle a bit upon cooling.
Cool on pans for 5 mins then transfer to to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dip in melted candy melts or white chocolate, place on a parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. Allow to set.

Mint-Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients Box Devil's Food Cake mix 2 eggs1/2 C. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Mint Frosting: 3/4 C. butter, softened 1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract 2-3 C. powdered sugar milk, if needed green food dye, if desired

Chocolate Glaze: 1 1/2 C. chocolate chips (I like to use chocolate "melts") 4 Tbsp. butter

Andes Mint Candies, roughly chopped

The rest is pretty self-explenatory!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients

Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookies

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons coconut oil, at room temperature
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Maple Cream Cheese Glaze

2.5 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients -- oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Set aside.
In another large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter, coconut oil, brown sugar and maple syrup until smooth with a hand mixer (or a stand mixer using the paddle attachment).
Add the egg and the vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
Slowly measure in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Beat until combined.
Using a 1" greased cookie scoop, dollop the cookies onto the lined baking sheets, spacing them about 1½" apart.
Transfer the baking sheets to the oven, and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies have set and are slightly soft (but not too soft.)
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the glaze.
Measure the cream cheese, maple syrup, powdered sugar and vanilla extract into the bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth. You can also do this step by hand or with a hand mixer, though I've found the glaze doesn't come out as smooth.
When the cookies have cooled, drizzle the glaze over them, and enjoy!