My father in law has one weakness: coconut macaroons! Since he was going to be at our Christmas gathering, I wanted to make him his favorite treat.
I’ve tested a lot of different macaroon recipes – the ones that use condensed milk seemed promising, but ended up too dry. The ones based on egg whites sounded okay, and they ended up being PERFECT.
When I was growing up, every year we would make Christmas Cut-Outs and leave some by the fireplace for Santa. I have a shortbread recipe that I love to use for cutouts (I’ll post this before Christmas, don’t worry), but over the past few years, I’ve grown quite fond of Alton Brown’s Sugar Cookie Recipe.
Here are some Winter Wonderland Cupcakes that I came up with for my husband. He loooves peppermint and chocolate, so what could be better than combining these flavors in a scrumptious cupcake???
This is the most balanced, easy-to-eat fudge recipe I’ve ever made. The perfect amount of sweetness, creaminess, crunchy nuts, and chocolate decadence. It was a big hit at our Christmas party!
These tender, buttery cookies are bejeweled with sweet and tangy raspberry preserves. Fresh out of the oven, these cookies melt in your mouth. Just be careful because the preserves will be hot!
Here they are – my dad’s favorite cookies! I hadn’t made these in almost 10 years, but when we decided to have a little Christmas gathering this year, and it was going to be my dad’s very first time seeing where my husband and I live, I knew I had to make something special just for him.
Here are my Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies!
This is a great old-fashioned recipe for melt-in-your-mouth cookies that cook on the stove and then set up on wax paper. There is nothing in the world like enjoying one of these tender, chewy, chocolatey gobs of goodness fresh off the wax paper, when they are still just a tiny bit warm. This is an easy recipe to make, even for beginners – but people are always wowed by the deliciously addictive taste of these cookies!
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One of my favorite Vintage Victuals tips is to use fresh, pure ingredients when you can. After Halloween, we slice open the pumpkins that we don’t carve, clean out all the stringy junky stuff and the seeds, cut the flesh into chunks, and put it in a pot! Add a little bit of water to the bottom and cook on low for about 45 minutes, or until the pumpkin is fork-tender. Drain well and smash with a potato-smasher (or a food processor, depending on what texture you like). Voila! You have a great, fresh ingredient to put in your pies, breads, and soups! Also, cooked pumpkin freezes well. I put mine in ziplock freezer bags so that I can thaw-and-snip.
