Recipe Roundup

25 Treats Of Christmas Review- Week 1

Hello and welcome to this edition of “I’m Scandinavian and can’t stop feeding people.” 😁

I’m sharing the treats with two of the three offices that my center operates, and with the Husband’s office. The third of our offices only has two people working there, so my director beings cookies over when she goes there, as it’s a bit far for me.

The butter count started at 22 lbs and is down to 18-19 lbs. We bought another 25 lb of flour (probably had 30 ish lbs with that bag when I started) and 3 lbs of brown sugar. A lot of my cookies call for brown sugar this year. The Husband and I both eyed the pile of butter doubtfully when we bought the second batch, but it’s holding out so far.

I was much more organized this year while planning my 25 Treats of Christmas list. I have a few lists that include a running master grocery list, which magazine they are from, whether or not I need additional items, and if the dough is chilled or can just be made and baked right away. The Husband is very impressed. I think everyone else just thinks I’m a little crazy.

I’m making 2-3 batches at a time and bringing them in twice a week. It evens out to about a batch a day. People have started making requests! 😁 I tend to make a chilled dough the night before and bake them the morning of. I’m getting into quite a routine. It’s a lot more fun and a lot less stress than in previous years.

But you don’t want to hear the management side of things! On to the cookies!!

These were the first two batches. I brought them in right before Thanksgiving. The stars are Maple Star Sandwich Cookies and the others are Orange Molasses Snickerdoodles. Both are from previous editions of the Food Network Christmas Cookie collections.

I used my friends’ homemade maple syrup for them and they were good, but not maple enough for meοΏΌ. I would use more maple next time. Everyone else enjoyed them though. Even people who weren’t sure about the maple said they were good. I would make them again.

People were intrigued by the snickerdoodles. They reminded me more of gingersnaps than snickerdoodles though and weren’t my favorite. I think they were a touch dry for me.

The next cookie is a vegan and gluten free banana bread cookie. The picture is from the Husband’s work about 2 hours after he put them out. The tin was full when it went in. They are from this website: https://www.simplyjillicious.com/banana-bread-cookies

These have almond flour and no butter. They are naturally sweetened with the bananas and maple syrup. I could probably actually give these to Fancy, although I’d have to check on the almond flour first. They needed a heck of a lot more spices than the recipe called for, but were pretty good.

The second recipe I sent with the Husband was gone even faster. These are Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies. The Husband has requested them again for Epiphany.

These are from the recent Better Homes and Gardens Christmas cookie edition. I have been having issues with my FN subscription, so haven’t received the December edition yet and needed a cookie fix. They are delicious! I will definitely be making these again.

The next three recipes are also from that magazine.

Chocolate Mint Chip. These were a big hit at my offices. I accidentally forgot the baking powder, but they were good regardless. I subbed Nestle peppermint baking truffles for the Andes pieces because it was what I had.

These are Citrus Meltaways. They have lemon and orange peel, lime, and lemon juices.

They are a slice and bake and were delicious. They would be a good summer cookie too. They are a bit delicate, but that just meant I could snack on the broken ones. πŸ™‚ I will make them again.

Sweet and Salty Butterscotch Cookies

Judging by how many came back, these weren’t as big of a hit as some of the others. They also had cashews in them. The picture looked so good, but I did find them a little bland. I probably wouldn’t make them again.

This recipe got rave reviews from everyone and I will probably share the it at some point. It’s from a Food Network magazine.

They are gluten and dairy free Coconut Snowballs. I subbed Country Crock plant based sticks for the butter and it calls for rice flour. I completely forgot the coconut, but even so, they were good.

These will be made for the Epiphany Party too, as they are technically vegan when made dairy free. We don’t have a ton of vegan friends, but it never hurts to have something, just in case.

Which one do you think would be your favorite? Mine were the citrus melt aways and the chocolate mint.

Stay tuned for an overdue Recipe Review coming up this weekend! I hope your day is sweet!