Wednesday 12 January 2011

Christmas Baking

I  am sorry for still showing Christmas posts but I really wanted to show you the baking the girls and I did before Christmas.  I am not normally one for spending long periods of time in the kitchen, but after continually reading such wonderful cooking posts over at Verity's blog Cardigangirlverity, I couldn't stop myself.
We did the big food shop for Christmas on the Wednesday so that we could devote the Thursday to baking.  It was lovely to spend the whole day trying out new recipes and cooking as a family. It was a shame that I started to feel ill as the day went on but I wouldn't give up until we had finished.

 Firstly we made M&;M Cookies. I got the recipe from here. Our ones didn't look like the ones on the website and were a little crunchy, but they still tasted good. The girls made them using chocolate M&M's and I made some using the Peanut M&M's.  I would love to know from any established cookie makers, how you keep them soft as I really only like soft cookies.
 Next we made Peanut Crisps, which are peanut butter biscuits that are supposed to be crunchy. We made these for hubby as they are one of his favourite recipes. The recipe is rather an old one, so if you want it at all then please send me a comment with your email address in and I will email it to you.
Then we moved on to making cinnamon Christmas trees to decorate the Christmas table.  Unfortunately they got a little bit burnt and then one of my daughters decided to shower them with icing sugar.

 The following recipe was my favourite of them all. Cinnamon and pecan buns which I found here. These came out a little bit hard, but once we warmed them up in the microwave they were yummy. I am sure my oven cooks a lot quicker than it is supposed to.
 The sleigh below comes from a kit from Lakeland. Now before you comment on the messy icing, I have to tell you I didn't do it, the girls decorated this on there own. The kit was very easy to assemble and it stayed on the table all Christmas ( we didn't eat it!). Next year I hope to get a Gingerbread House kit.
I am hoping to keep up with the baking this year as I really enjoyed spending time with my girls in the kitchen. This week we managed to make oat and fruit slices as well as banana and chocolate muffins.  Next week I hope to make key lime pie and chocolate shortbread, which I will include in a post next week.

This weekend I will be off to my scrap day, so I will hopefully be able to show you more of my Christmas journal which I desperately need to finish.

21 comments:

  1. Ooh wonderful! I'm touched that you found my baking inspiring! I would quite like the recipe for those peanut butter biscuits to try (except I currently have no peanut butter so it may have to wait until I've used up that mass of goodies that I posted about!!)

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  2. Yummy. A disaster in the kitchen, for many years I at least attempted cookies - alas they always came out too soggy or rock hard. Well done the girls.

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  3. I am just amazed how much baking you and girls accomplished over the holidays!

    We have made gingerbread houses every year since 1992 --- this year was the first year we did not; we were simply too busy :( Our tradition was to leave the houses up through the holidays - eat them on New Year's Day - at which point all candy was thrown away and I would nibble on the rest of the gingerbread with a cup of tea through the month of January.

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  4. yummy!! to keep my cookies soft, I like to take them out of the oven just before they are done, then I let them sit on the baking sheet for a minute or so to finish cooking.
    Its hit or miss I think, a minute too long in the oven and they overcook. Your cookies do look really good!

    The sleigh is very cute!
    you and your girls did a great job baking :)

    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  5. Baking with daughters is the best! Your results look delicious. My mom gets a gingerbread house kit every year and decorates it with the grandchildren... they all look forward to this tradition. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Trying really hard to imagine having one of these treats with my cup of coffee right about now. Everything looks yummy!

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  7. Verity - I practically drool over your cakes. They always look so perfect to. A master chef. I wish mine turned out a little more professional.

    Petty - Mine always come out a bit too crunchy too.

    Molly - I wasn't going to even attempt to eat it after the cat kept jumping up and sniffing around. Ours was purely decoration.

    Naida - I shall try that next time. I really do want soft cookies.

    JoAnn - the girls did enjoy it, although they have wanted to cook since. I wonder if we cooked too much in one go and now they don't want to do it anymore!

    Mary - you can imagine the key lime pie I made yesterday instead as that is fresh and my first time at making it.

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  8. i love the quality family time!! the cookies look scrum and the sleigh is too cute. my sis and i made gingy houses this year and it was such fun!

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  9. Mmmmm, cookies! Those look really yummy. I on the other hand did not bake anything at all this xmas

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  10. What a fun way to spend a day with your girls! When we make M & M cookies, we mix the M & M's in with the dough and bake them until the edges just start to brown.

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  11. Beautiful and delicious-looking. I miss Christmas already :(

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  12. Nat - I am pleased to hear you are still making them together even though you are grown up.

    Blodeuedd - I normally don't bake, so this is the first time for us.

    Kathy- I will try that next time. I didn't think to mix them up with the dough. Daft, I know.

    Nymeth - thankyou.

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  13. They all look fab! I look forward to more posts about cakes.

    I agree Verity's posts are always so inspiring and look so professional.

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  14. As far as I'm concerned, you can post pictures of your Christmas baking any time of the year. These look fabulous! What a wonderful way to spend time together!

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  15. These all look so yummy. I love cookies of any kind. Oh man, totally my downfall.

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  16. I love your Christmas cookie photos! I have tried different things to make cookies softer, one of which is to add more flour - which gives a more cake-like consistency. Another is to substitute oil for half of the butter in the recipe. It makes the cookies softer, but sometimes it is harder for me to gauge when they are done.

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  17. That is a ton of Christmas cookies. It was wonderful to make this a tradition with the girls.

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  18. Ooooh my gosh it looks like you guys had a great time but were busy busy busy! But definitely yum!

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  19. Oh wow, it all looks so good! I would have been in line for the little bit burnt cookies - I love them!

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  20. Now I'm over here slobbering after looking at your great pictures! :-D

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  21. I just had some cookies and after looking at yours, I want more! Gotta love 'em cookies!

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