holiday baking

The Holiday Spritz

~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

I am baking up a storm over here in the land of incredulous liberals who are (to a person, I believe) avoiding the news. (I did take a quick peek at Facebook earlier and saw that the incredible Randy Rainbow has just dropped a new video, which basically says it ALL.)

Back to baking…the holiday spritz is a tradition for my family. I received a fine Italian-made cookie press from my childhood friend Bethanne at my bridal shower 30+ years ago and have been making these cookies pretty much every year since. (My mother had a cookie press and she made them for years too.) They are strictly a holiday cookie. I’ve never made them at any other time of year.

I also received a cookie cookbook from Bethanne at my bridal shower (we had baked many batches of cookies together as girls), and I still use the recipe from that very same cookbook:

If you’re not familiar with how a cookie press works, you stuff a pump/barrel full of cookie dough and then squeeze it out through little silver discs, which form various decorative shapes. (There are about 12 shapes to choose from.)

Based on input from my son, the fleur-de-lis 🇫🇷 was added to the more seasonal snowflake and tree shaped cookies this year.
Voilá
And just for fun, here’s a photo of Bethanne (top right) and me (bottom right) with my mother and two other friends, circa 1977.

More white chocolate

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments

I know that nobody really cares about my baking besides me. But hey… it’s my blog and I like to have a record of stuff I’ve made, with a link to the recipe and photos.

In case you’ve been lying awake at night wondering what I did with the rest of those white chocolate chips after I made Sally’s White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, rest assured. I used them up in yet another holiday cookie recipe from Sally: Snickerdoodle Blondies.

Studded with white chocolate chips and ribboned with sweet cinnamon-sugar, they’re a bit like thick and chewy cinnamon-vanilla brownies. No dough chilling or individual cookie making required.

Recipe

I didn’t have a 9×9 pan, so I used an 8×8 pan and baked them at a lower temperature (325 degrees) for about 6 minutes longer than the recipe said – about 41 minutes.

Here’s how they looked before I cut them.
I got 16 square bars from my 8×8 pan.

Yum. Especially good with a glass of milk. I’m going to bed now and I’ve only had one. My self-control is off the charts tonight…but I’m pretty sure they’re going to make a delicious breakfast cookie.