One of the shake flavors I love in the summer is a vanilla malt, all thanks to my dad. That’s his favorite flavor and even though chocolate is always a good option for me, I find myself ordering vanilla malt shakes when asked now. Dipping french fries in a vanilla malt? Perfect mix of salty and sweet and a little bit of caramel (how I feel malt tastes). We are always looking for a twist on a sugar cookie that will beat our classic almond sugar cookie, and this one is definitely a contender!
While my mom and I are adamant about chocolate cakes on our birthday (and really all things chocolate), my dad and brother have always preferred carrot cake. I remember the first year I made my brother a carrot cake for his birthday all by myself. I was so proud, it was probably more than a little rough on appearance and I likely made the cream cheese icing too sweet because that’s what I thought frosting should be at 12. His birthday is the day after Christmas so making this cookie to celebrate the 4th day before Christmas reminds me of how far I have come in my baking skills from that very first carrot cake for him.
I love when I get to go on a learning adventure about something that has happened in history. Whether it’s a large sequence of events or in this case the history of eggnog. This research project I stumbled upon on accident. I was looking up questions for a virtual Christmas trivia game for my team at work and “Where did eggnog originate?” was a suggestion. Of course, a history enthusiast will always fact check so I began digging. It’s the truth! I had no idea how old the traditional drink was though.
It originated during the medieval times as a hot wintertime drink for the aristocracy. The famous name evidently came from two words – grog, another word for rum, and noggins, a word for the small wooden mugs that it was served in. We have to go back to that wintertime drink again. Eggnog was served hot for most of its existence! Who knew? It wasn’t until around 1960 that it became a cold, non-alcoholic drink that we see at grocery stores today. Forbes has a great article on the history of eggnog, including a bit about The Eggnog Riot of 1826 (it’s true, it’s a thing that happened in the US). It definitely convinced me to make my own homemade eggnog soon, maybe George Washington’s (He loved eggnog and had his own recipe)!
My favorite pie during the holidays is easily a pecan pie. A cold slice of homemade pecan pie is the best leftover from Thanksgiving, am I right? I’ve even thought about asking for pecan pie for my birthday in April! This little bar is packed with all the ooey gooey crunchy pecan pie tastes and textures. If you are a fan of pumpkin pan like my family and I, you should definitely give this one a go!
Is pecan pie your favorite? What is your favorite around the holidays?
I’ve come to love marzipan after I tried a slice of cake with it at a famous local bakery near my house. I have had it before in desserts however, it was normally overpowered by whatever flavor it was with. This sweet slice of cake had the marzipan as the star and it has since become a favorite of mine. Between my new found love of marzipan and my Italian heritage, this Chocolate Amaretti cookie seemed like the perfect 8th day of Christmas cookie.
This cookie used a food processor and only took 5 ingredients to make! Super fun, easy, and they are delicious! We did make them a little big larger than tablespoonfuls, the cookie scoop used was 1 ½ tablespoons. I preferred these to be larger than the normal cookie and would highly recommend trying it as well.
We are in the single digits in our countdown to Christmas 2020! What better way to celebrate than with a little booze? Mimosa’s are a tried and true brunch drink with our families. For mother’s day we do mom-osa’s and every other time it’s the classic orange juice sweet drink as an option on the menu. Mimosa’s are my favorite brunch drink so the idea of putting that into a cookie, hello perfection. Excuse me while I drink a mimosa while eating these mimosa butter cookies and celebrate only 9 days before Christmas! We have to finish the champagne we opened right?
This citrusy butter cookie gave a new flavor profile to our 12 days of cookies after the peanut butter and oreo brookie, peanut butter crackles, and pudding thumbprints. Do you have a favorite drink at brunch?
This cookie stood out to try because it looked super easy and the biggest bonus… we already had the ingredients! I always love when we have the ingredients for a cookie! At my house, vanilla pudding mix is a staple for one reason: cinnamon rolls. My cinnamon roll dough uses vanilla pudding mix and you never know when you need to make a batch right? We were right about this cookie, it was fun and came together beautifully. The smooth pudding with the crumbly vanilla and chocolate cookie made for an enjoyable combination.
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It was a busy day at work but being able to have a calm, delicious moment of bliss with a cookie was much needed. I flipped on some Christmas music, sat by our beautifully decorated tree, and enjoyed the moment. I’m definitely team coffee most of the time but this peanut butter cookie called for a cold glass of milk. It’s so easy during the season to get so stressed out that we don’t stop to just enjoy. Enjoy the lights, the music, the love that surrounds us. If 2020 gave us one gift, it was the gift of remembering to be embrace these moments.
I hope all of you have a chance to take a minute to eat a cookie and enjoy the season.
We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to continue our annual tradition of 12 Days of Cookies leading up to Christmas because… well… 2020. However, with all the events in 2020 cancelled, I’m happy to announce that our families 12 Days of Cookies will continue this year! It might feel a little different but with extra precautions in place, we decided it was a tradition we could keep this holiday season.
What better way to start out with a gooey, crunchy flavor explosion! I’ve made a brookie in a brownie pan, so putting that into a bite sized cookie seems like quite possibly the best idea since sliced bread! This one was a hit because not only was it a nice gooey chocolate brownie, but it is combined with a peanut butter cookie that has actual peanuts for a crunch. This one will be hard to beat, but there are 11 more days so we will see!
Comment below with an annual tradition you are excited to continue this holiday season!
It’s Christmastime and I am so excited to have a new project to show everyone. I started on this project in October and yes I was definitely listening to Christmas music through all the steps! This project got put after a few other ones on my list based on when they needed to be done, hopefully you have already checked out the stocking I made for my mom’s birthday or the start of the interchangeable O home sign (this one is ready and the only thing left is to take photos and share with all of you!)
It’s the first Christmas in our new house and I am so thrilled to decorate the outside with our own personal touches. I’ve done wooden cutouts before (Anyone remember the Thanksgiving Minions?) but this will be the newest and first addition to my fiancé and I’s collection. I might already have plans to add more of the memorable characters to the front yard in the coming years!
Which character would you like to see next? Comment below with your idea!
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