I don’t know about you guys, but the holiday season is not just about cookies for me. It’s also about lots of yummy appetizers! Puff pastry pinwheels are fun because you can fill them with so many different things, sweet and savory. These pesto pinwheels are really easy to make and you can use pre-made pesto if you want to save even more time. When it comes to hosting holiday parties, I am all about any shortcut I can take and still get a good result. And you can never go wrong with pesto! I kind of want to put it on everything and it pairs perfectly with buttery pastry dough. This little appetizer requires just a few ingredients and only takes about 20 minutes to prepare from start to finish!
French Onion Soup Crostini
Don’t you just love this this time of year? This exact week, to be specific? It’s that time when friends haven’t quite yet scampered off to their respective family locales for the holiday, parties are in full swing, and there’s never a lack of reason to pull your favorite sequined dress out of the closet. Festiveness is at its peak, and everyone’s trying to squeeze in all the holiday cheer they can before it’s over in a flash!
I usually like to host small, casual gatherings this time of year. After all, the last thing we need is to add more stress to our lives during the month of December. An appetizer party is a great way to accomplish this. I love whipping up appetizers that are particularly warm and cozy, like this French Onion Soup Crostini…it holds all the flavor of the beloved soup, but in an easy to eat, party-friendly fashion.
Instead of topping the soup, the crouton becomes the base…the vessel for holding all the yumminess.
The onions are caramelized to a lovely, deep brown, but just a bit of stock is added so that it keeps the consistency nice and thick and spreadable. All that gets topped with a healthy dose of gruyere and emmental…the essential ingredients!
Riscotti Cookies
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This recipe was shared from Becky (and her Mom) from The Cookie Rookie.
This was my mom’s recipe given to her from my Aunt MaryLou. It isn’t Christmas until we have a Riscotti (what we call them, but nobody else does). This is a simple log cookie with a dash of anise then dipped in a butter glaze. Yummy, cute and freeze perfectly.
Ingredients:
- Cookie Ingredients:
- 1 c. Sugar
- ¼ c. Butter – unsalted – room temp.
- ½ c. Crisco Shortening
- 3 Eggs
- ¼ t. Anise Extract – add a little more if desired or substitute with Almond Extract
- 3 c. Flour
- ¾ t. Salt
- ½ t. Baking Soda
- ¾ t. Baking Powder
- Icing Ingredients:
- 1 t. Vanilla Extract
- 1 c. Butter (1 stick)
- ½ c. Milk (at least 2%)
- 2½ c. Powder Sugar – sifted
Instructions
Cookie Directions:
Cream together sugar, butter and shortening for 3 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at-a-time – mixing well after each egg.
Add the Anise Extract and mix well – about 1 minute.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and whisk together.
Add the dry ingredients all at once to the sugar mixture.
Beat just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the wet ingredients.
*Add 1 T. of milk if the mixture is too dry*
This should make into a soft dough.
Separate the dough into thirds of fourths and roll into long ropes 2-3 inches across.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours of overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Take the dough ropes out of the fridge and cut into ½ inch thick slices.
Place on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees until set and a little golden on the bottom.
Take out of the oven and place the cookies onto cooling racks.
Let cool completely, then ice.
Icing Directions:
Melt the Butter in the top of a double-boiler or in a heat-proof bowl which has been placed over a smaller saucepan.
Add the Milk and Vanilla stirring constantly until the mixture is hot.
Once the mixture is hot, add the Powdered Sugar.
Mix or whisk until the consistency is smooth.
Being very careful, remove the icing from the heat. (Using a hot-pad, hold the pan or bowl with the icing in it with one hand and wipe the water/steam off the bottom with a towel – you don’t want your cookies accidentally getting wet.)
Dip each cookie into the icing and place on a cooling rack. (Place aluminum foil under the rack, so clean-up is easier.)
Sprinkle with Christmas or party sprinkles or coarse sugar while still wet.
I usually will dip eight cookies, then sprinkle them before they dry.
Let set overnight or at least for several hours until completely dry.
Store in an airtight container.
These freeze beautifully.
ENJOY!!
To see all the fab photos and even more cookie recipes, be sure to check out The Cookie Rookie.
Holiday Spiced Dutch Baby
The seasonal fruit selection at our Seattle area farmers markets has plummeted to our standard winter options of apple and pear varieties. While there are plenty of tasty things to be made with both fruits, I thought I’d share what can be made with some of the other goodies I routinely pick up at the market. Quality wise – there’s nothing better than farm fresh eggs and butter. Both blow their store-bought counterparts away. At the Ballard Farmers Market, my favorite eggs come from Stokesberry Farm and butter from Golden Glen Creamery.
While thinking of recipes to highlight these two everyday ingredients, I immediately gravitated towards one of my favorite indulgent breakfasts. Dutch Babies, also known as German Pancakes, are incredibly simple to make and are a great canvas for all kinds of special flavors or additions. Now that we’re deep into the holiday season, I thought it was about time to create a holiday spiced version – perfect for enjoying in front of a morning fire on a cold blustery day.
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