In our last blog, we were ramping up for the holiday season and showed you how to make Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments with the kids. Now it is even closer to Christmas and that means it is time to start thinking about family gatherings and what Christmas treats you want to bring! As a busy mom, this can be a stressful time trying to figure out what to bring that is fast and easy to make. In this blog, I wanted to help you out and give you two easy recipes for this holiday season. Not only are they delicious, they are also cute and fun!
Read our favorites from last Christmas here!
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Recipe #1
First up, we have a Pinecone Cheeseball with Almonds. This is a perfect appetizer! What I love about this recipe is it’s both adult and kid-friendly! When making this recipe my toddler was very intrigued and could not wait to get his hands on it!
Ingredients
1-8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
5 strips of bacon cooked crisp + crumble
1 Tbsp diced green onion
1 tsp chopped fresh dill weed
1/8 tsp pepper
1 1/4 cup whole almonds toasted
fresh rosemary sprigs for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spread almonds on a baking pan and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden. Let cool.
- Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise and mix well in a food processor or blender.
- Stir in the cooked bacon, green onion, dill weed and pepper.
- Cover and chill overnight.
- Shape the cheese mixture into two small pine cones on serving plate.
- Starting at the narrow end, place almonds into the cheese on a slight angle, forming rows.
- Garnish pine cone cheese ball with rosemary twigs to resemble pine needles.
- Serve with crackers.
I got this recipe from the blog Living Locurto and hope it is a Holiday Hit in your home!
Recipe #2
I don’t know about you, but when I think of a Christmas dessert, I instantly think of Gingerbread Men Cookies! One of my favorite local cook books is named Flour & Grace. I love the recipe for Gingerbread Men and I wanted to share it with you guys!
Ingredients
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Icing
3 cups powdered sugar- sifted
2-4 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Decorative candies and sprinkles
Instructions
- Combine butter and sugar and beat until well-creamed. Add molasses and beat until combined. Stir in egg and vanilla
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour , baking soda, salt and spices. With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until completely combined. Wrap completely in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Once dough has chilled, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Flour a clean surface and lightly flour dough as well. Use a rolling pin to roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness, and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Transfer to parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, transfer to oven, and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on a baking sheet for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely before decorating. Once cookies have cooled, prepare frosting and decorate.
- Icing: Combine sugar, 2 Tablespoons milk, honey and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl and stir until combined. If frosting is too thick, add more milk until frosting is thick but pipe-able.
- Transfer to a piping bag with a piping tip, or place in a Ziploc Bag and snip a small piece of the corner off. Pipe frosting on the cookies and decorate with decorative candies, if desired.
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If you like this recipe and want more from Flour & Grace, we sell this cookbook at our S. Flynn Home store!
Follow this link to check it out! Flour and Grace
