I realize that I’m a month or two late for the PUMPKIN-EVERYTHING craze that annually arrives in September, but I finally gathered the time, the initiative, and the pumpkins to try my hand at making my own pumpkin puree. I’ve always been a big fan of Libby’s, but I’m pretty pleased with both the results and the ease of making this myself. Right after Halloween, it’s easy to find pumpkins for just a couple dollars, so it’s a great time of year to stock up for all your coming holiday desserts, as it freezes wonderfully.

And it’s sooooo easy. I urge you to give it a try for your own pumpkin recipes this year! Here’s how it’s done:

1. Select 1-2 small-ish pumpkins, or as many as you want to make in one batch. You can definitely puree pumpkins of any size, but they flavor and texture will be better from smaller pumpkins. These are often sold as “pie pumpkins” or “sugar pumpkins”.

2. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the stem-end of the pumpkin off, slicing off as little of the orange part as possible. Then, cut each pumpkin in half.

3. Use a metal spoon or a pumpkin scraper to clean out the cavity of each half. And don’t pitch the seeds! They make a delicious snack when they’re roasted.

4. Place the pumpkins cut-side down on the parchment paper. You can also place them cut-side up, but you’ll want to add a tablespoon of water to the cavity of each half.

5. Bake the pumpkins for 45-50 minutes. To ensure they are done, flip one half over and prick the flesh with a fork. It should be soft and easy to prick.

6. Use a metal spoon to scrape the flesh off of the skin of each half. Place the flesh in a food processor or blender. I work with one half of the pumpkin at a time to help the pureeing go quickly.

7. Empty the puree into a separate bowl and continue until all of the pumpkin flesh is pureed.

And that’s all! My sugar pumpkins yielded about 32 ounces of puree per pumpkin, or roughly the equivalent of two cans.

You can use this puree immediately if you have a dish ready to cook. Or, keep it in the fridge for up to five days.

I, however, freeze mine. I like freezing it in eight-ounce baggies. Just use regular zippered sandwich bags and a food scale to add the puree, then press them flat before freezing to maximize your storage space.

Looking for new ways to feature pumpkin at your festivities this year Try these Mini Pumpkin Cream Pies, Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream & Sugared Pecans, or Pumpkin Chiffon Pie for dessert. Or! Kick off the party with Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Dips. Then when you’re done eating them, the dip bowls will make you another great batch of pumpkin puree.

I’m so happy to say that. You may have thought that I had given up the goat, abandoned this little blog and buried it in the snow of this long, deep winter. But the truth is I just, quite simply, haven’t had the time or creative energy to handle it these last couple of months. Between the final events push of the fall semester at Duke, co-hosting a holiday party, moving out of my sublet, traveling for the holidays, camping on a friend’s couch for two weeks, saying goodbye to Durham, moving to Columbus, unpacking, organizing, starting a new job, visiting old friends, re-organizing, visiting more friends, and enjoying the company of Brad again, my camera has sat dormant for just over two months.

This move was a toughie. I started my new job almost immediately  upon my arrival in Columbus, and the cold weather provided me with little incentive to do much more than curl up in blankets when I got home each night. It’s taken several weeks to get used to my new kitchen. I’ve spent several evenings lamenting the fate of meals I nearly burned to death as I try to get used to cooking on a glass-top stove. I keep reaching for things where they used to be in my old kitchen. The pantry, still, is a total nightmare, as I have yet to find several hours to sit down and really consider where everything should go (doesn’t everyone do that?)

But finally, the time came this weekend for me to break out a recipe I’ve wanted to share with you since I started this blog. I must say, glass stove and messy pantry aside, I can’t deny that my current kitchen is far more equipped for blogging than my last, primarily due to one giant feature.

Light, glorious light! Flooding in to every corner of our apartment, these gaping sunny windows line the southern and western walls of our new home. They overlook a park and a river and trees and some sort of weird oyster-and-pearl sculpture. Admittedly, also a freeway, but I confess it is somewhat fascinating to watch the sludge of evening traffic heading north after Brad and I have already arrived home.

The point, here, is that not only did I shoot one recipe this weekend, I shot three! Complete with the natural, angular light that I love to shoot in. No more toting cutting boards topped with carefully balanced ingredients to the office!

Let’s get started, shall we Three years ago, about two weeks BEFORE I decided to start a food blog, I made these compact cheesecake bars to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Thinner than normal cheesecake, they can easily be eaten without a fork and can be made in any shape you so desire.

Like most decent cheesecakes, this one starts off with a pile of graham crackers. Now yes, I know you can buy graham cracker crumbs, but I always feel like they taste stale and are far to fine-grain for my liking, so I prefer to buy graham crackers whole and then grind them up to my liking in a food processor. You can also put them in a zippered bag and snack them repeatedly with a meat tenderizer or rolling pin, which may not give you as even a consistency, but is certainly more fun.

Combined with butter and a bit of sugar, the crumbs are pressed into the bottom of a spring form pan. Don’t have one You could also use a pie plate, so the side will be sloped and you won’t have quite the same effect. I picked up a set of three spring form pans for less than $15 I think, so if cheesecake is your thing, I recommend the investment.

Next! While the crust hardens up a bit in the oven, the luscious cheesecake itself can commence. The ingredients themselves are fairly simple: cream cheese (obviously), eggs, sugar and four, lemon juice and vanilla. And sour cream, which in my opinion is the most important element of making this cheesecake tangy and tart.

Though this is delicious enough to eat immediately (raw eggs or not) it needs almost an hour in the oven. After which you’ll be glad you cooked it!

While the cheesecake cools to room temperature, you can cook the berry topping. Now honestly, I tend to prefer cheesecake plain in most instances, but I really love the way these bars taste and look with a ruby red layer of fruit atop the creamy filling. Three layers are so pretty!

Our mission with these berries is to create a quick jam. And that is exactly what it sounds like. Berries + a bit of sugar + heat + time = jam. With such a small quantity, it doesn’t take more than about 10 minutes to get a berry topping that will hold its shape on the cheesecakes.

Once the cheesecake and the jam have cooled to room temperature, it’s time to make bars! For this particular set, I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter, but you could also just as easily slice them into narrow wedges, squares, rectangles, whatever shape you like. Using a cookie cutter requires a bit more time as you have to carefully ease the cheesecake out of said cookie cutter. I also rinsed mine after every cut to make the cuts smoother.

Once the cheesecakes are cut, it’s topping time! Again, this takes a little finesse so that your topping doesn’t become siding, but it’s nothing a small cake knife can’t handle.

I love raspberries above all other fruit toppings, but you could easily swap them out for strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries. Or further still! You could top these with chocolate, caramel, whipped cream… if you can imagine it tasting good on a cheesecake, you can use it.

And the best part Once your showy little hearts are ready to go, you still have allllll theeeeese leftovers.

I’ll give you one guess as to what happened with those.

So Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Let’s eat cheesecake together to celebrate!

Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
Adapted generously from The Pampered Chef

Makes one 10″ cheesecake, which can be sliced or cookie-cuttered into about twelve bars

For the Crust
1 c graham cracker crumbs (one package from a box of graham crackers)
4 T unsalted butter
1 T white sugar

Preheat oven to 300°F. Crush or grind the graham crackers into fine crumbs. In a medium bowl, melt the butter until liquid. Add the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar and mix with a fork. Press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of a 10″ spring form pan with a fork, keeping the mixture on the bottom and not spreading it up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes and remove to a cooling rack while you prepare the filling.

For the Filling
16 oz cream cheese (2 packages) at room temperature
2/3 c white sugar
1/8 c all-purpose flour
2 eggs at room temperature
scant 1/2 c sour cream
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and flour for several minutes until fluffy, scraping down the bowl with a spatula once or twice. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each one. Add sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat on medium for about five more minutes, scraping down the bowl a couple of times throughout.

Pour filling into the crust and spread evenly with a spatula. or knife, all the way to the edges. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the center of the cheesecake is not jiggling. Remove to a cooling rack and run a knife around the edges of the pan. The cheesecake will deflate as it cools. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.

For the Topping
6 oz fresh or frozen raspberries, thoroughly rinsed
1/4 c granulated sugar

Combine berries and sugar in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Stir often, breaking down the berries as they heat up. Once the mixture begins to boil lightly, stir more frequently and cook for 8-10 minutes. The mixture should thicken slightly until it slowly runs off the spoon. Remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl and set aside to cool.

Assembly
Carefully remove the ring from the spring form pan and set aside. Gently slide the cheesecake off the bottom of the pan onto a cutting board, using a flat spatula or knife if needed. For shaped bars, use a cookie cutter (as deep as you can find!) to press all the way through the cheesecake. You may need to use a knife or flat spatula to get the cheesecake out of the cookie cutter. If you don’t want to hassle with a cookie cutter, slice the cheesecake into rectangles, triangles, or wedges.

Carefully spread a layer of the raspberry topping over each bar, about a quarter of an inch thick.

Refrigerate for at least four hours or until ready to serve.

Oh dear friends.

October is doing that thing again where it goes by too quickly. It’s my favorite month: the peak of autumn on most of this continent, and I may have mentioned once or seven-hundred times that autumn provides me the greatest joy of any season. A plentiful harvest of food to enjoy in the moment and store for the winter, repressed pigments unleashed in the forests in a glorious display of color, a chance to layer every article of orange, green, purple, and brown clothing I own in endless combinations for my daily attire (it is the only season I feel my wardrobe is remotely fashionable).

And of course, autumn recipes. This one in particular is the pinnacle of fall flavor unity: a basic caramel sweetened with maple syrup and punched up with a quart of apple cider boiled down to pure apple goodness. And now is really the best time to make them because it’s the one time of year you can buy fresh-pressed, unpasteurized apple cider.

And while yes, the primary purpose of my annual expedition is a supply of local fruit to get me through the winter, the added perk is access to this incredible cider. Unpasteurized apple cider, contrary to its grocery store counterparts, is thick, opaque, and must be refrigerated. But it’s filled with the most incredible flavor: you can still taste which varieties were used to press the cider. Most apple orchards sell it, but you can also occasionally find it in specialty grocery stores or farmers markets. Get out there and get some!

I also had a bottle of maple syrup that I bought in Wisconsin. It seemed appropriate to add to this autumn candy, right?

The cider and the syrup won’t make a caramel on their own though. Bring in the butter, the cream, the sugar, and the spices!

Once all the ingredients are prepared, the first step is to boil down the apple cider, waaaaaay down. The quart of apple cider you’ll start with takes 30-40 minutes to boil down to about half a cup, which is what we’re aiming for. That 30-40 minutes is a great time to line a square pan with parchment paper and make wrappers for your pretty little candies. Waxed paper works best, and you’ll want squares about four inches across. No need to be fussy, you’ll be wrinkling them up so this is not the time for perfection.

In no time, you’ll have your concentrated apple cider. You may have to remove the pan from the heat to make sure  you have the right amount. Then, it’s time to mix in the butter, cream, sugar, and maple syrup to make your candy.

Now comes the tricky part. After the butter and sugar have dissolved, return the pan to the heat with a candy thermometer. It only takes a few minutes to bring the candy to temperature. Cook it too little and you’ll end up with a caramel sauce, (which would be out-of-control-delicious, mind you) but cook it too much you’ll end up with toffees (also delicious).

Once the caramel reaches 250°, into the mold it goes!

And now the waiting. The caramel will cool for about two hours. I cooled mine on the counter. You can try it in the fridge, but I would let it come back to room temperature before attempting to cut it to help prevent it from cracking.

Once it is cool, it’s time to turn that giant block of caramel into sixty-four tiny blocks. Make sure you wipe your knife with oil between cuts so it doesn’t stick in the caramel.

And soon, after gently wrapping each and every one, you’ll have a mountain of caramels bursting with apple-y, autumn-y flavor. Though candy can be intimidating, I urge you to give these a shot. They’re perfect for fall parties, fall birthday and wedding gifts, or just as a treat on days when you want to savor all the flavor of fall in one little bite. Even though October is escaping quickly, these will help the season last.

Apple Cider Maple Caramels
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

4 c apple cider (use fresh, unpasteurized cider if you can find it)
1/2 c unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized chunks
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c maple syrup
1/3 c heavy cream
2 tsp flaky sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
canola or vegetable oil (for greasing the knife)

Heat apple cider in a 3- or 4-quart pot over medium-high heat. While the cider boils, prepare your remaining ingredients and have them standing by near the stove. Use two strips of parchment paper to line an 8-inch square pan sitting on a trivet, crossing the parchment so that the bottom and all sides are covered. You can also use this time to cut wrappers out of wax paper, about 64 four-inch squares.

Boil cider for 25-35 minutes until it has reduced to about 1/2 a cup, stirring occasionally. You may have to remove it from the heat as it gets close to get an accurate idea of how much is left. It will form a thick, dark syrup.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in butter, sugar, maple syrup, and cream. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and return to the heat. Stirring occasionally, keep a close eye on the caramel. Once it reaches 248°F, quickly mix in the salt and spices. Cook just a bit longer until the mixture reaches 250°F. Immediately remove the pot from the heat, remove the thermometer and place it in the sink, and pour the hot caramel into the parchment-lined square pan, scraping out as much as you can. Allow the caramel to cool until it is room temperature and firm. This will take about two hours.

Once caramel block has cooled, use the parchment sling to lift the block out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Wipe oil on both sides of a knife and cut into one-inch wide strips, re-oiling the knife after each cut. Turn the strips 90 degrees and make perpendicular cuts, essentially cutting the caramels into one inch squares. Wrap each caramel in a four-inch square of waxed paper.

Caramels will store for up to two weeks in an airtight container on the counter.

I’ve never been a particularly voracious celebrator of Valentine’s Day. Perhaps I spent too many years as a single teenage girl, pining for the magic of rom com love and commiserating with fellow single teenage girls about the fairy tale love affairs we surely were soon to have. I supposed that Valentine’s Day for those lucky ladies in relationships were whimsically romantic and that I was sure to celebrate this holiday with fervor when I, someday, became an un-single lady.

What’s interesting is that, once I did find a smart lad to be my companion, I virtually stopped caring about Valentine’s Day all together. Those romantic candle-lit dinners at tables with red rose centerpieces were wildly extravagant for college students on a budget (and I was probably in rehearsal anyway). The idea of receiving gushy Valentine’s gifts, which seemed so appealing when I was younger, seemed borderline silly. You’re more likely to find Brad and I ordering pizza in and laughing ourselves to tears watching funny YouTube videos this Thursday night. And you know what I wouldn’t want it any other way.

What I do love about Valentine’s Day is the opportunity it offers me to bake pink, chocolatey, heart-shaped little treats to share with the people around me. These cookie sandwiches have it all. Crisp, deeply chocolate cookies sprinkled with course red sugar press together around a layer of creamy icing studded with raspberries. And despite their showy appearance, they are incredibly easy to make.

We start by making the crisp, chocolate cookies. I’ve been eyeballing this recipe from Smitten Kitchen since she posted it a couple weeks ago. In addition to cocoa, these chocolate sables contain a whole bar of rich, dark chocolate.

This dough is a little more delicate than, say, sugar cookie dough. However, it holds its shape nicely during baking, even without re-chilling the dough before it goes in the oven. For obvious holiday reasons, I chose to shape my cookies into little hearts, but any small cookie cutter shape will do.

In the midst of chilling dough and cooking sheets of cookies, you can quickly whip up the filling. It’s based on a cream cheese icing I use for Carrot Cupcakes, and I can’t get enough of it. I still had some raspberries frozen from the summer, and they lend both a tart fruitiness and a stunning pink shade to this creamy icing.

I ended up with extra icing, but I don’t foresee any problems putting it to good use for other snacking. Perhaps even a second batch of cookies is in order.

These cookies are best served cold, with your favorite companion, and with a box of pizza and some YouTube videos.

Chocolate & Raspberry Cream Cookie Sandwiches
Adapted liberally from Smitten Kitchen

3 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c Dutch-process cocoa
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
course red sugar

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 c fresh or frozen raspberries

Break chocolate into chunks and place in the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment. Pulse several times until chocolate resembles a powdery, coarse meal. Sift together flour, cocoa, and baking soda onto a sheet of parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer or in another large bowl, cream together butter, salt, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix well. Scape down the sides of the bowl and add the ground chocolate and sifted cocoa mixture. Mix until a crumbly dough is formed, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate all ingredients. Dump the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper and wrap tightly, which will help the dough to come together. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow the dough to firm up a bit (not too much or it will be hard to roll).

While the dough is chilling, you can prepare the filling. Clean out the mixer bowl and beat cream cheese and butter on high speed for about 5 minutes until light and creamy. Add powdered sugar and beat for 5-8 more minutes on high. Reduce speed to low and add raspberries, blending until thoroughly combined. Place bowl in the refrigerator until the cookies have been baked.

Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350°F. On a floured surface, roll dough out until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Roll it out slowly, as the dough will still be somewhat crumbly. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut the dough into shapes and carefully lift each cookie to the lined cookie sheets, spacing them about an inch apart. Gather all dough scraps together and roll out again, continuing this process until all dough has been used. Sprinkle each cookie with some course red sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove cookie sheets from oven. Leave cookies on the trays for about 5 minutes, then carefully remove them to cooling racks and allow to cool completely.

Spoon filling into a piping bag (you can also use a sandwich bag with the corner trimmed off). Flip over one cookie and pipe a mound of filling onto it, making sure to keep the filling 1/4-inch away from the edge. Gently press another cookie on top until the filling squeezes to the edges. Repeat until all cookies have been used. You will have some leftover filling, which makes a wonderful dip for everything from graham crackers to apples.

Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Durangoans are particularly proud of our beautiful state around the holidays. While many people send seasons greeting cards adorned with wintery vistas, evergreen trees weighed down with glistening mounds of snow, and woodland animals making their way silently through the drifts, those of us who spend Christmas in Colorado usually have the great fortune of watching those holiday cards come to life around us. This year, the first major snow of the season hit my hometown just a few days before I came home, and a gentle snowfall on Christmas Eve really sealed the deal for a white Christmas.

Having resided primarily in non-mountainous locations outside of Colorado for the better part of the last decade, I start getting really antsy for snow right around Thanksgiving but rarely actually see any until I’m flying over the Rockies a few weeks later on my way home for the holidays. For my holiday party (I swear, I’m almost done posting recipes from that dang party) in early December, I wanted to pay some small homage to the spectacular winter beauty of my home state, and I also was lacking a chocolate-y dish on my menu.

Enter the brownie.

Most often, I see brownies served with a light dusting of powdered sugar arranged in a pyramid of sorts on a serving tray. And boy, they never last long, do they But what if, I thought, I rearrange those brownies like a little mountain And top them with funny little trees! And DEER?

I was committed.

But despite all the décor, the truth of the matter is that this is a REALLY yummy brownie recipe. It’s rich, fudgy (as brownies should be, sorry Mom), hugely chocolate-y, and is honest-to-god just as fast as using a brownie mix. It starts with, not cocoa, but a mound of unsweetened cocoa melted into some butter.

With the chocolate melted, the rest of the prep is really the easiest thing you’ll ever meet. Whisk in some sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla, and flour, and you’re just about half an hour away from brownies.

Now, if you’re not having a bout of nostalgia for snow-covered mountains, you can just stop right here, dust the whole pan with powdered sugar, and slice these brownies up for eating. But let’s operate under the assumption that you DO want to turn your brownies into a little wonderland, shall we?

Okay!

First, you need some trees. Otherwise you’ll just have snow-covered rocky crags, which are interesting but probably will just alarm your guests into thinking you had some sort of accident when arranging your brownies. I found my trees in the miniature ornament section at a craft store. They came with adorable wooden bases that I chopped off immediately so I could stab them into the brownies. And I couldn’t resist adding a couple of deer, as well. To celebrate Bambi. Or James Potter. Or just because deer live in the forest.

I arranged my mountain in a long panorama, but this could also be a round-ish mountain. However you arrange them, I do hope you serve them at a party or gathering where you can watch people pick up the brownie of their choice. It’s quite amusing to watch the trees and deer gather closer together as people work their way in.

And there you have it! A winter wonderland of chocolate, sugar, and butter inspired by Colorado scenery.

I can promise it tastes much better than actual mountain.

Winter Wonderland Brownies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes one 13”x9” pan of brownies about one inch thick

6 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chopped
2 2/3 c granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/3 c all-purpose flour
powdered sugar for dusting
miniature tree decorations, and forest animals if desired

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13”x9” pan with parchment paper that extends up all four sides. Spray parchment lightly with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large microwavable bowl, combine chopped chocolate and butter. Heat in 30 second bursts at 50% power in the microwave, stirring between each burst. When the mixture is about 2/3 melted, stir without any further heating until all butter and chocolate is melted. Whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Shake off whisk and switch to a rubber spatula. Add flour and mix well. Scrape batter into the lined baking pan and spread evenly throughout pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out with just a speck or two of brownie. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Once brownies have cooled, lift the parchment from the pan. If using decorative trees, snip off any wooden bases and shake thoroughly over a trashcan to remove loose “snow”. Cut brownies into two-inch squares. Arrange about half of the brownies on a narrow, rectangular serving platter or plate. Place 2-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar into a fine mesh strainer or sifter and dust the bottom layer of brownies until sugar coats the top. Arrange remaining brownies as desired to create multiple levels and a mountainous effect. Continue dusting the tops of the brownies as you place each layer down so that every brownies is dusted with sugar.

Carefully arrange trees and forest animals as desired just before serving.

Leftover brownies should be covered with foil or plastic wrap or can be stored in an airtight container or zippered bag.

I’ll always love my mom’s classic sugar cookie recipe. It tastes like tradition and family gatherings and anticipation for what Santa might put under the tree. But I must admit: these cookies, based on a recipe I’ve been eyeballing for a while, are definitely worth repeating. And while I only make classic sugar cookies at Christmas, these maple-rockin’ ones qualify for year-round baking.

The stars of this little cookie show are maple syrup, nutmeg, and sea salt. I’m not certain I’ve ever tasted cookies so magical and complex in flavor before. I also added a bit of cinnamon to bring even more seasonal flavor to the mix, but the combination of sweet maple and the occasional punch of salt make each bite a pleasure.

Like most cutout cookies, this dough needs a good long chill in the fridge before rolling. And like pie crust, it’s best to keep it as cold as possible. I work with only a quarter of the dough at a time AND return the unbaked trays of cookies to the fridge for a few minutes before they go in the oven. The cold helps the cookies keep their shape so your reindeer look like reindeer and not bulbous root vegetables.

These cookies are darn good right off the pan. But it’s Christmas, so I wanted to add a little extra panache. While still warm from the oven, each cookie gets a final kiss of maple syrup and a sprinkle of large grain sugar (I found mine in the sprinkles section at the grocery store). The result is a chewy but crisp, flavorful cookie with just the right amount of sparkle.

I’d love to sit here and chat cookies with you, but I have a lot of actual cookies to bake right now. And I bet you do, too.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Salted Maple Cutout Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 5-6 dozen cookies

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 c pure maple syrup (Grade B)
3 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or 3/8 tsp ground nutmeg, which packs more tightly)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 c additional maple syrup (for decorating)
large grain sugar sprinkles (for decorating)

Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy. With mixer on medium, add egg yolk and drizzle in maple syrup.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sea salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix just until combined, making sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl several times to incorporate all dry ingredients. Gather the dough onto a two-foot stretch of plastic wrap and wrap well. Place dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Remove about a quarter of the dough from the fridge and place on a floured surface. It’s important to keep the dough cold as long as possible, so working in small batches is best. Roll dough out to about 1/4″ thick and cut into desired shapes. Lift each cookie onto the lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2″ between cookies.  Once the first sheet is full of cookies, place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Chilling the uncooked cookies will help them retain their shape while baking. Gather scraps into a ball and return to the fridge. Remove another cold quarter of the dough and repeat with second cookie sheet.

Once first cookie sheet has chilled, bake on a center rack for about 10-12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and carefully lift each cookie onto a cooling rack. Pour 1/4 c maple syrup into a small dish. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush each cookie with maple syrup (think kisses, not puddles). Once all cookies from the first sheet have been brushed, lightly sprinkle each cookie with the large grain sugar.

Continue this process of rolling out dough, cutting cookies, chilling cookies, baking cookies, brushing with maple, and sprinkling with sugar until all dough has been used up.

Cookies can be served warm (obviously) or can be stored in an airtight container for several days.

As we move into the final days before Christmas, I imagine that your holiday baking agendas are already full. That’s cool. Mine certainly was for my holiday party. Every year, I like to make a mix of old, traditional Horvath holiday favorites and new recipes. One of my favorites from this season are these possibly-overly-cutesy-but-outrageously-delicious vanilla Christmas tree cupcakes.

The reallybeautiful thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t have to happen at Christmas AT ALL. It’s simply a vanilla cupcake with whipped cream icing, and therefore is appropriate in all scenarios in the universe. What, you say, another vanilla cupcake Doesn’t the world have enough of those?

No.

Never.

And these vanilla cupcakes are a step above any I’ve had before. They are the softest, fluffiest, smoothest, vanilla-y-est cupcakes, and the clouds of simple whipped cream atop them offer just the right touch. What makes these cupcakes better than anything else A secret ingredient: whipped cream, folded into the batter ITSELF, in addition to the icing that will finish these little bites of heaven.

Just a half cup of heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks, gets folded into the icing at the end. This recipe is also punched up by the use of vanilla sugar, which I happen to keep in my pantry at all times. Sound too fancy Next time you use the scrapings from a vanilla bean, don’t throw out the pods (never throw out the pods)! Scoop a few cups of sugar into a jar or other airtight container and nestle the beans into them. You can continue adding sugar as you use it, and the result is vanilla-infused sugar whenever you want it.

If you don’t already have vanilla sugar waiting in your pantry, not to worry. You can use regular sugar and just amp up the vanilla extract a bit.

Again, the really magical party of these cupcakes lies not in the type of sugar you use but in the whipped cream added to the batter at the end of mixing. Then into the cupcake liners it goes! These cupcakes don’t raise too much, so you can go ahead and fill the liners 2/3 of the way full. I use an old ice cream scoop, but you can use anything you want to get the batter into the liners.

Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, it’s time to ice them. This icing is best when it is piped immediately onto the cupcakes and eaten within the hours after that. Over time, the whipped cream will slightly collapse, but we ate these as leftovers the day after the party and they still tasted fabulous, if a little deflated. We start, of course, with the basics for whipped cream: cream, sugar, and vanilla. For Christmas magic, I also added green icing color.

To decorate my trees, I found some great little star-shaped sprinkles. (I’m linking to them here so you can see them, but I found them in the baking aisle at my grocery store.) I also used a few pearl sprinkles, also from the baking aisle, to adorn the trees with baubles. Whatever you decide, make these trees your own!

Dreamy Vanilla Christmas Tree Cupcakes
Adapted from Sweetapolita

For the Cupcakes
1/2 c heavy cream, very cold
2 1/2 c sifted cake flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c whole milk, at room temperature
2 egg whites, at room temperature
1 whole egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract (cut to 1/2 tsp if using vanilla sugar)
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 c granulated sugar (or vanilla sugar if you have it)
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 12-slot cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Place one pan on a cookie sheet (this will help prevent the cupcakes from browning on the bottom) and set aside. The second tray will go on to the cookie sheet once the first tray is baked.

Pour the cold cream into a standing mixer and whip to soft peaks using the whisk attachment. The cream should be fluffy and smooth but should not hold stiff peaks. Use a spatula to scrape the whipped cream out of the mixer bowl and into a separate small bowl. Place in the refrigerator until needed. Wipe the mixer bowl clean.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the milk, egg whites, egg, vanilla, and almond extract.

In the bowl of the mixer, combine sugar and butter using the whisk attachment and mix until it has lightened in color and is smooth & creamy. Place the mixer on medium speed and add the dry and wet mixtures, alternating between each (3 dry additions, 2 wet additions). Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix for a few seconds more. Remove the whisk attachment and scrape off as much of the batter as possible.

Retrieve the soft-peaked whipped cream from the fridge and add to the batter. Fold in the cream gently with a spatula just until combined.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. I use an ice cream scoop, and it works well to give evenly-sized scoops.

Bake one tray at a time on the center rack (with the tray placed directly on a cookie sheet) for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out barely clean. Remove from oven and allow to rest in tray for about 5 minutes, then remove each cupcake to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before applying icing. If storing overnight, store un-iced on the counter covered with a sheet of waxed paper, NOT in an airtight container.

For the Icing
2 1/2 c heavy cream, very cold
5 T granulated sugar
scant 1 tsp vanilla extract
a few drops green icing color
star-shaped yellow sprinkles
white pearl sprinkles (or your “ornaments” of choice)

Pour very cold cream into the bowl of a standing mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high until cream begins to thicken. Add one tablespoon of sugar at a time while cream continues to whip until soft peaks form. Add vanilla extract and green food coloring and whip until stiff peaks form, taking care not to whip too much or the icing will become grainy.

Assembly
Scoop icing into a piping bag with a large flower tip attached. Pipe icing onto cupcakes to form a gradual conical shape (a Christmas tree!) Carefully place the yellow star-shaped sprinkles on the top of each tree. Lightly sprinkle each tree with white pearl sprinkles so that they catch in the grooves like ornaments.

Serve and enjoy!

And there is no better time of year for party food. Whether it’s an office bash or a neighborhood block party or simply a gathering of friends and family, you can never go wrong with a table filled with edible holiday splendor. Many of the posts in the coming weeks will focus on party-ready treats that make worthy contributions to any festive spread. And what classic shall we feature today The cheeseball!

This isn’t just a cheeseball. This is THREE cheeseballs.  Better still: this is three cheesePRESENTS. We’re taking an already-classic holiday favorite and raising it to the tenth Christmas power. Plus, this way you don’t have to choose between your favorite cheeseball flavors… you can make them ALL!

These cheeseballs start, conveniently, with the same base. A mixture of cream cheese, butter, and seasoning, it’s already delicious and could easily be a dip on its own at this point. But to turn this white goop into cheeseball magic-times-three, you’ll need some glorious mix-ins.

Each of these cheeseballs has a distinct personality. The cheddar & cranberry is rich and sweet, the feta & pecan is crunchy and has just a little kick, the chèvre & scallion is creamy and fresh. While most cheeseballs are rolled in an ingredient to give it lots of color on the outside, I elected to scrap that technique and mix those ingredients right into the cheeseballs so the flavor and texture would be spread throughout and the “ribbons” I’d apply soon after would pop a little brighter on the finished products.

With the mixtures made, all that remained was shaping them into packages and adding some finishing touches. I had originally planned to use some squarish pan or serving dish as a mold, but I found that I could just as easily wrap the cheese in plastic wrap and shape them with my hands. A bit messy, yes, but ultimately quite effective.

At this point, the cheeseballs are rather soft. Give ’em a chill for an hour or two in the fridge so they harden up before adding the final decorations. You can really jazz these up however you like. I opted for some simple, classic-looking bow-and-ribbons on two of the three, and a slightly more abstract “bow” for the third.

Surrounded by crackers, this platter of cheeseballs makes quite the centerpiece of a party spread. And it’s superfun to watch people trying to eat them without disturbing the ribbons. Kind of the same as real packages, right?

Pile o’ Presents Cheeseballs
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes three package-shaped cheeseballs

Note: If you don’t need three cheeseballs, you can easily make just one or two of the flavors at one time. Simply cut the first section ingredients to the needed proportions, and then omit the mix-ins that you are not planning to use. Options are lovely, aren’t they?

1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
24 oz (3 packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 T lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground white pepper

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated
3/4 c dried cranberries, finely chopped
2 T ginger apple chutney (or other flavorful chutney)
6-8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 shallot, finely chopped (should yield about 1/4 c)
1 c finely chopped pecans
8 oz chèvre
1/2 c green onions, finely chopped (whites & greens)
1/3 c fresh parsley, finely chopped
additional dried cranberries, green onions, parsley leaves, and pecan halves to “wrap” packages
various crackers for serving

Combine butter, cream cheese, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper, salt, and white pepper in a large bowl. Mix well until smooth & creamy. Divide the mixture evenly into three separate bowls, using the original mixing bowl for one third. To the first bowl, add the cheddar, cranberries, and chutney and mix well. To the second bowl, add the feta, shallot, and pecans and mix well. To the third bowl, add the chèvre, green onions, and parsley and mix well.

Find a serving platter large enough to hold three cheeseballs and crackers and set aside. Stretch out a piece of plastic wrap to about 2 feet long. Scoop the contents of one bowl onto the plastic wrap and fold the wrap around the cheese. Mold the cheese to the desired shape using your hands. Gently pull the plastic wrap away from the cheese and carefully place the cheeseball onto the serving platter. Repeat with new plastic wrap for the other two mixtures, shaping each one slightly differently to make your pile of packages more interesting. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

After an hour, the cheeseballs should be fairly firm. “Wrap” your packages by arranging the additional cranberries, green onions, parsley leaves, and pecan halves (each to their respective flavor) as you would ribbons and bows. Use your creativity! Return the cheeseballs to the fridge until 1 hour prior to serving.

Remove one hour prior to serving. Arrange crackers around the cheeseballs, providing an additional bowl of crackers on the side.

If fall is pumpkin-everything season, then early winter is certainly the moment for the tart, gem-like cranberry to rise to prominence. I find myself recently obsessed with the immense versatility of cranberries, but this simple recipe is, by far, the best way I’ve found yet to feature these beautiful little berries.

Cranberries are, on their own, incredibly tart, and I rarely see them served raw and unaltered. But they are also so fashionable in that state, aren’t they It’s sort of a shame that most of us consume the majority of our cranberries either liquified in fruit juice cocktails or gel-ified in classic, ruby-red sauce served aside turkey and cornbread stuffing at Thanksgiving.

This method gives the cranberries a nice level of sweetness to cut the sour but lets the berries glisten as a centerpiece of your holiday party spread. And while the berries require several hours of soaking in the fridge, these are incredibly easy to make. All you need is a bag of cranberries, sugar, and water.

The first step is to make a simple syrup, or, a mixture of sugar and water in equal parts. Once the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes just to boiling, the cranberries get a nice, long soak. I like to make the mixture the night before I need the berries and allow them to sit in the fridge overnight, but you can also start the morning of your festivities if you’re short on time.

After several hours of absorbing simple syrup, the berries are certainly sweeter, but still quite sticky. That stickiness is perfect for the final step: giving these pretty little rubies a glistening, sparkly coat of sugar!

I used a cookie sheet, shaken back and forth on the surface of a table, as a vehicle for covering the berries evenly with sugar. I attempted to roll them with a fork on my first batch, but the cookie sheet works much better. And a little sugar goes a long way: I used about 1/2 cup to give each and every berry its shiny coat.

And how shall we use them OH. LET ME COUNT THE WAYS. They would make an elegant topping to cheesecake. They make a great garnish for cocktails. I tossed a handful in a bowl of cranberry lemonade punch. But mostly, we ate them straight up, one by one, right out of the bowl. Sweet, tart, perfectly festive finger-food.

Let the season of the cranberry begin!

Sparkling Cranberries
Adapted from Tokyo Terrace

1 bag cranberries (picked through, removing any berried with soft spots)
1 c granulated sugar
1 c water
1/2 to 3/4 c additional granulated sugar

Wash cranberries thoroughly and drain in a colander. Combine 1 c sugar & water in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and heat just until mixture comes to a boil. Remove the simple syrup from the heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Pour cranberries into a glass or metal dish, preferably with a lid. Pour the simple syrup over the cranberries. Place the lid on the bowl or cover with aluminum foil and place in the refrigerator. Chill berries in the simple syrup overnight or for at least 8 hours.

After berries have chilled, pour into a colander and drain for about 10 minutes. Dump berries onto a medium cookie sheet. Sprinkle a bit of the 1/2 of sugar over the berries. Slide the cookie sheet back and forth over the surface of a table or counter so that the berries roll around in the sugar. Continue adding sugar a bit at a time to cover berries evenly and thoroughly. Allow berries to rest for 1-2 hours on the counter to allow the simple syrup to begin forming a hard shell. Sprinkle with additional sugar to cover any final sticky spots.

Serve as is, as a cocktail garnish, as a topping for cheesecake, or in any other way you can imagine. Keep refrigerated when not serving.

I’m not entirely sure where November went, but December (and with it, the holiday cooking season) seems to have arrived quite suddenly. Before Thanksgiving, I felt like I was finally on it for my holiday planning: I had lists, I had a rough cooking schedule (don’t judge me), I had some hard-to-find ingredients ordered. But now we’re here, hurtling through the first week of December, and I feel overwhelmed and scrambled and concerned that I won’t get everything done. As usual, I’ve probably scheduled waaaaaay too many recipes to try, I decided months ago that throwing a food-filled holiday party this weekend would be a good idea, and I have a fantastically busy schedule at work.

However, at least one of my gift-giving projects is already under way and is actually right on schedule. And just in case you think it’s a swell idea too, I’m gonna go ahead and ruin the surprise for those of you on my Santa list this year.

Everyone on my list is getting homemade mulling spices! And, because it’s fun and I like sharing, I’m hosting a little giveaway so that three of you readers can have some too!

Last year, my holiday crafty-gift-project was making these little hot chocolate sticks. They were a hit, and they make a mean mug of hot chocolate, but this year I wanted to come up with something a bit more versatile. After seeing tiny containers of mulling spices being sold at a market in Ohio, I knew I had found my next project.

Mulling spices, if you’ve not heard them called that before, refer collectively to the spices generally used to turn apple cider and red wine into mulled cider and mulled wine. I’ve seen dozens of recipes, and used a few myself, but mulling spices typically include cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, orange peel, and lemon peel in a variety of combinations.

The first step Buying those dang spices. And lots.

I already buy most of my herbs and spices in the bulk spice section of the co-op grocery store, which is MUCH less expensive than buying them one bottle at a time, and I knew I could pick up a cup or two of many of the spices I’d need that way. But the dried orange peel, lemon peel, and candied ginger were not available. But it turns out you can order whole bags of these in bulk, and they’re fairly reasonably priced. Hooray for Amazon!

With spices in hand, I now needed a way to make tiny bags of them. You can use cheesecloth and tie it up, but I wanted to use something with a more finished look. T-sacs, which are essentially empty tea bags, seemed to fit the bill just right.

With spices and satchels in hand, all that’s left is mixing and constructing. The cinnamon sticks and nutmegs require just a bit of breaking, which can easily be achieved with an old, heavy pot and a freezer bag, and the ginger needs to be chopped, but that’s all you need to get all your spices in a bowl and turn them into mulling spice.

Once the mix is ready, each tea bag gets two heaping tablespoons of the mix. Then each bag is pinched closed, tied off, and trimmed of excess paper.

And look! Each little bag is perfect for mulling one bottle of wine or one 1/2 gallon of apple cider. I tested a bag for myself in apple cider, and the result was perfect. The tea bags are thin enough to allow the flavor of the spices to flow through the liquid, but sturdy enough to stay in the pot for 30 or 40 minutes while the cider simmers.

Now the bags are ready to give away as is, but I’m giving mine as sets of four in these cute little quarter-pound candy boxes I found online. Along with some pretty ribbon, I added a label for each box with instructions for making both mulled cider and mulled wine.

So here they are! Little packages of mulling spices to perk up your holiday party beverages. My friends and family will have to wait for Christmas to receive theirs, but not you! I’m doing a little giveaway and mailing a box of these little spice satchels to three readers. Want it to be you Here’s how to enter:

GIVEAWAY CLOSED: How to Win A Box Of Mulling Spice Mixes

1. Leave one comment on this post to answer this question: What is your favorite holiday party treat or drink?
2. BONUS! To enter twice, head on over to 30 Pounds of Apples on Facebook and like the page. Then, come back to this post and leave me a comment saying you liked the Facebook page, and you’ll be entered twice. Fancy!
3. Enter before 11:59pm EST on Sunday, December 9. Winners will be announced on Monday, December 10.
4. Open to US residents only (sorry to my international readers, shipping is so dang expensive!)

Homemade Mulling Spice Mix
Adapted from About.com

Makes 32 spice bags

Supplies
32 empty tea bags (I use #3 T-sacs)
cooking twine
quarter-pound candy boxes (optional)
instruction labels (optional) Here’s the template I made!
ribbon (optional)

Ingredients
6 oz whole cinnamon sticks
10 whole nutmegs
2/3 c dried orange peel
2/3 c dried lemon peel
3/4 c whole cloves
1/2 c allspice berries
1/3 c finely chopped crystallized ginger

Place cinnamon sticks and nutmegs in a zippered freezer bag and close, pressing out all the air from the bag. Place the bag on a cutting board and pound with a heavy pot or frying pan until sticks and nutmegs are broken into pieces. Chop ginger into small pieces.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside. Cut kitchen twine into 32 six-inch pieces. Place two slightly heaping tablespoons full of spice mix into each tea bag and tap gently on a hard surface to settle the spices in the bottom of the bag. Fill all bags until spice mixture is completely used up.

Pinch each bag closed about one inch above the top of the spices so they have enough room to expand and move around while in the liquid. Tie a double knot around the pinched point with the kitchen twine, and add a bow if you like.

If you are giving these as gifts, make sure to include the instructions below for your recipients.

To Make Mulled Apple Cider
Combine 1/2 gallon apple cider and 1 spice bag in a crock pot or a large pot on the stove. Heat for 30-40 minutes or until hot. Remove spice bag and discard. Serve hot.

To Make Mulled Wine
Combine 1/3 c sugar and 1/2 c water in a large pot on medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add 750 ml of red wine and 1 spice bag. Reduce heat to low and heat until wine is hot. Remove spice bag and discard. Serve hot.