It wouldn't be a holiday or change of season on my blog without a baking recipe from me! I recently wrote a post with my DIY Halloween Treats and wanted to do something similar for Christmas. I choose four that are easy and inexpensive to make and hopefully there's at least one you might like to have a go at.
First up is an alternative to mince pies, I know not everyone is a fan so these little jam tarts I feel are a sure winner with both adults and children alike!
Ingredients
- 320g Ready To Roll Shortcrust Pastry (it's ok to cheat sometimes!)
- Jam of your choice
- Tart Tin
- Cookie Cutters
Method
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees celsius. The pastry sheet is ready rolled so all you have to do use a circular cutter (I use one designed for scones!) and cut out rounds of dough then pop them in the tart tin. I used a fork to prick holes in the bottom to ensure the pastry didn't puff up. Spoon in a tablespoon of your preferred jam, anymore then that and it WILL leak. I speak from experience! You can then roll out any left over dough into shapes with the cutters to decorate the top of the tarts, of course this is optional. Place the tarts in the top of the oven for about 15/20 minutes, until they are golden brown. The jam may still have a slight wobble to it but that's ok, it will harden up as its cooling.
Next up is my Sticky Toffee Gingerbread Muffins, these I took a gamble on. I adapted my own cupcake recipe and added in bits, it could of gone horribly wrong but thankfully it payed off. Plus,
how cute are those little cake cases?
Ingredients
170g Unsalted Butter ( I like Stork)
170g Soft Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
170g Self Raising Flour
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp Cinnamon
2 tbsp Groung Ginger
1 tbsp Monin Gingerbread Syrup
To Decorate -
Caramel Sauce
Christmas Cupcake Cases (mine are a couple years old but
I found them on Not On The High Street website!)
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a cake tin with cupcake/muffin sized cases of your choice. If you have a mixer then place all the ingredients in together. If not, cream the butter and sugar together until all is combined. Next add in the eggs, one at a time and beat together. Mix in the flour, again gradually so your not covered in it, if the mixture looks a little thick you can pour in a splash of milk to loosen it. Lastly mix in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger syrup and the ground ginger. You can taste the batter at this point to make sure it's the right level of gingerbread for you! I like mine strong. These need to go in the oven for 15 - 20 mintues or until golden brown and they spring back. Leave to cool for about a hour before you add on the caramel glaze. You don't have to do this bit, they taste just as good without.
So onto my very traditional (if not a little messy) gingerbread biscuits! Its just not Christmas without gingerbread is it?
Ingredients
350g Plain Flour
1tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
2tsp Ground Ginger
1tsp Cinnamon
1tsp Nutmeg
125g Unsalted Butter
175g Light Brown Sugar
1 Egg
4tbsp Golden Syrup
Cookie Cutters
To Decorate -
250g Royal Icing Sugar
Method
Start off by sifting together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into a bowl. Add in the butter and mix it (by hand or with an electric mixer) until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Beat in the egg and golden syrup, if at this point you haven't eaten any of the golden syrup out the jar then what are you doing with your life! Mix all the ingredients together until it forms a dough. Its best to wrap it in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes so it makes it a bit easier to roll out.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and line two trays with greaseproof paper. Roll out the dough about 1cm thick, you can use whatever cutters you fancy. I personally bought a very cute Gingerbread Stamp Cutter with all the features on but i lost it, only to find it again today. Typical!
Place them on a baking tray leaving a gap between or they will all blend into one big blob. Bake for 12-15 mintues or until golden brown. I would leave them for a good hour before you attempt to ice, you can use normal icing sugar but I think royal icing works best for biscuits as its thicker. If you fancy making your own, then go for it but really who has time. Just buy the ready made Tate & Lyle box that you add water too.
I made some Halloween bark a few months ago and it was actually really easy yet super yummy so thought I would have a go at a Christmas one. You can put absolutely anything you want on it but here's what I used.
Ingredients -
150g Milk Chocolate
150g White Chocolate
Wilton Christmas Jimmies
Candy Cane
Method -
Melt the bar of milk chocolate in the microwave or over boiling water and pour into a small rectangular pan. Its a good idea to pop a piece of greaseproof in the pan first as it makes it easier to peel the chocolate off. Leave it in the fridge for 20 minutes whilst you melt the white chocolate. Once its hardened up again pour the white chocolate over the top and make sure it goes right to the edges so you cant see the milk chocolate. Now its time to decorate, the fun bit!
I used some Red Velvet Oreos that I already had as the colour seemed fitting, plus you normally use crushed up candy canes in traditional bark so I wanted to add them in too. I literally poured on the sprinkles because seriously, is there such a thing as too many sprinkles? I thought not.
I left my bark in the fridge overnight just to make sure it was completely set, then just broke it into pieces.
So that's my festive bakes for this season. I'm sure I will also make some cupcakes at some point too. Let me know if you would like to see an Easter edition next year, which seems AGES away!
What do you like to bake at this of the year?
Until Next Time xo
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