Holiday Goodies
Linda Soderberg McKay
- Sift 2 cups flour and 2 cups white sugar together and add to a bowl.
- Bring to a boil 1 stick of butter, 4 tbs. baking cocoa, 1/2 cup Wesson oil, 1 cup water.
- Remove from heat and add to flour/sugar mixture. Mix well.
- Slowly add 2 eggs to the mixture. I usually mix the eggs in a separate small bowl and then add to the mixture.
- Add 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon baking soda. I suggest adding each one separately and mixing well between each addition.
- Pour into a 16×11 sheet cake pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes in preheated 375 oven. To test put toothpick one inch from center. If toothpick comes out clean cake is ready to ice.
- Remove from oven and ice immediately.
New Orleans Sheet Cake Icing
- Sift 1 lb. box of powdered sugar and set aside.
- As the sheet cake is cooking bring 1 stick of butter, 6 tablespoons of milk, and 4 tablespoons of baking cocoa to a boil. When mixture comes to a boil, remove from the stove and slowly add the powdered sugar beating well after each addition.
- Spread on sheet cake immediately after removing from the oven.
This sheet cake freezes well. Here is the original recipe card:
Skip Granger
Here are some of my favorite Christmas cookie treats. Happy Holidays!
“The More, the Merrier”
Marilyn Tompkins Bellert’s Most Requested Holiday Treats
My mother and I spent days making Christmas cookies, especially elaborately decorated sugar cookies. We added other types of cookies and candies, which were piled onto gift plates for friends and neighbors, a tradition I continue today, but on a reduced scale. Following are recipes for three items that have devoted fans.
My All-time Most Popular Treat Ever -Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies
1. Preheat oven to 350. butter baking sheets or line with parchment.
2. Melt in microwave or top of double boiler 1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup butter, and 4 ounces of best quality unsweetened chocolate. Stir until smooth and cool briefly.
3. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes 4 eggs, 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee, 2 teaspoons vanilla. Stir in the melted chocolate and butter. Mix well.
4. Add combined dry ingredients just until mixed – 1 and 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt.
5. Stir in another 1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips.
6. Drop by teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. The batter is very soft, so this is not easy. Use a second spoon to scrape off each luscious blob. The “dropping” gets easier as the batter sets up.
7. Bake 8-9 minutes at 350 until tops are shiny and cracked. Do not overbake. Store in airtight container. Makes 5 or 6 dozen.
Praline Cookies – A 1950’s Pillsbury Bake-off Winner
Cream together 1/2 cup butter and 1.5 cups brown sugar. Beat in one egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Mix together dry ingredients and add to dough – 1 and 2/3 cups flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Do not overbake. While cookies cool, make praline topping.
Boil for 2 minutes – 1/4 cup light cream and 1 cup brown sugar. Add 3/4 cup chopped pecans. Spoon onto cookies immediately. 4 dozen.
Peppermint Bark
- Crush 10 or 12 regular size candy canes by placing inside a brown paper bag and pounding out holiday tension with a hammer or heavy-duty rolling pin. Small chunks are OK.
- Melt 2 pounds white chocolate. (I use Ghiardelli.) Stir together the melted chocolate and the crushed peppermint.
- Pour onto a cookie sheet and let cool.
- Break into pieces and store in refrigerator.
Diane Rusch Zinn, Our Family Favorite
This recipe is from the Betty Crocker cookbook I received as a wedding gift from my grandmother in 1962 and this sugar cookie recipe was what Dick’s mother, also named Mary, used.
The first Christmas I endeavored to make these, frosted of course, I was overwhelmed with the time and effort. To think that I would be doing this every Christmas forever was unthinkable. But I did bake them, every Christmas for the next 59 years. When all four kids were at home, I tripled the recipe and they didn’t last long. But over the years the quantity dwindled to one batch. Most of those were saved for Dick, as they were just about the only cookie he would eat, and the rest were devoured by our kids. Any extras went to friends. I won’t be making them this year because Dick is no longer with us, and our daughter Lauri will maintain the tradition for our family Christmas at son Rob’s home. Maybe next year, when memories are not so bittersweet, I will resume.
Barbara Hammond
When my grandson Gus was thirteen, he started karate lessons. At Christmas I happened across a set of “Ninjabread Men” cookie cutters and sent them to him.
My daughter, diligent mom that she is, set him up to bake some for me using her “secret” recipe that she got off a bag of Wilton sugar. This is how it all went down.
How did he even know what he was doing?!! Walter, the Ninjabread Dog skulks in the background
His favorite part, applying the icing according to the diagram
I don’t think he ever tried to bake cookies again, but this 21-year-old Ninja achieved his 2nd Degree Black Belt last summer.
P.S. Here is my “secret” internet cookie recipe that I made one Christmas for Gus’s current NinjaDoggos!
Editor’s Note: We hope you will share your own recipes and memories of holiday treats. Send to Diane at ddzinn@aol.com
