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next_to_normalHeh, I am not good at posting around holidays. Posting has already gotten scarce as I've been sucked into shopping and parties and such. Christmas kind of snuck up on me this year? I felt like I had all this time, and then all of a sudden, it's a week away and I'm only half finished my Christmas shopping and hadn't even put my tree up yet. (It's up now, don't worry.) One thing I made sure to get done, though, was my Christmas baking. :)
As I've probably mentioned before, my parents have the market cornered on Christmas butter cookies, so I like to try out new recipes to provide some variety. Here are this year's experiments, all delicious!
As I've probably also mentioned, newly-acquired members of my family have Celiac's disease, so I try to include at least one gluten-free recipe in the mix. This year it was Flourless Chocolate Brownies. I fiddled with the recipe a bit and added toffee bits to the ganache topping, which turned out to be an excellent addition. I'd left out the nuts, and because the brownies came out super rich and dense, it was nice to have some crunchy texture in there. Plus, I love toffee and it's a nice little flavor surprise in the midst of all that chocolate. :)
If you're a peanut butter fan, these Peanut Butter Caramel Gooey Chocolate Cake Bars, despite their unwieldy name, are a great choice. They're really easy to make and definitely live up to the "gooey" part of their name. I should note that for both these and the brownies I used a 9x13 pan, since I didn't have a 9x9, so they weren't as thick as pictured, but since they're both so rich, small sizes are quite satisfying. Just keep an eye on them in the oven so they don't get overdone. I got 2 dozen bars out of each recipe. But since I was working with a larger pan, instead of splitting the peanut butter cake mix in half as the recipe suggests, I put all of it on the bottom and didn't bother with breaking it into pieces over the caramel. I think it came out fine that way (and thought the cake pieces looked a bit silly in the picture).
I showed this next recipe toper_aspera_ad_astra and she said it made her sad because they were called "breakup bars," but regardless of your relationship status, Lemon Berry Crumble Breakup Bars are yummy! I did as directed and made half raspberry and half blueberry, but having tasted them (quality control!), I think I'd prefer if the berries were mixed together. Your choice. Once again, I got 2 dozen bars out of this recipe, but this one actually called for a 9x13 pan, so maybe I just cut them smaller?
Anyway, we had three winners this year (for once, lol - usually I have at least one dud), so I hope my family and friends enjoy them! In related news, it has come to my attention that I have close to EIGHTY recipes bookmarked on Delicious that I haven't tried yet. Clearly I am a serial bookmarker, but I lack follow-through. So I think next year requires a New Year's resolution to try a new recipe at least once a week. That way I can clear out the not-so-good ones and recommend all the yummy ones!
As I've probably mentioned before, my parents have the market cornered on Christmas butter cookies, so I like to try out new recipes to provide some variety. Here are this year's experiments, all delicious!
As I've probably also mentioned, newly-acquired members of my family have Celiac's disease, so I try to include at least one gluten-free recipe in the mix. This year it was Flourless Chocolate Brownies. I fiddled with the recipe a bit and added toffee bits to the ganache topping, which turned out to be an excellent addition. I'd left out the nuts, and because the brownies came out super rich and dense, it was nice to have some crunchy texture in there. Plus, I love toffee and it's a nice little flavor surprise in the midst of all that chocolate. :)
If you're a peanut butter fan, these Peanut Butter Caramel Gooey Chocolate Cake Bars, despite their unwieldy name, are a great choice. They're really easy to make and definitely live up to the "gooey" part of their name. I should note that for both these and the brownies I used a 9x13 pan, since I didn't have a 9x9, so they weren't as thick as pictured, but since they're both so rich, small sizes are quite satisfying. Just keep an eye on them in the oven so they don't get overdone. I got 2 dozen bars out of each recipe. But since I was working with a larger pan, instead of splitting the peanut butter cake mix in half as the recipe suggests, I put all of it on the bottom and didn't bother with breaking it into pieces over the caramel. I think it came out fine that way (and thought the cake pieces looked a bit silly in the picture).
I showed this next recipe to
per_aspera_ad_astra and she said it made her sad because they were called "breakup bars," but regardless of your relationship status, Lemon Berry Crumble Breakup Bars are yummy! I did as directed and made half raspberry and half blueberry, but having tasted them (quality control!), I think I'd prefer if the berries were mixed together. Your choice. Once again, I got 2 dozen bars out of this recipe, but this one actually called for a 9x13 pan, so maybe I just cut them smaller?Anyway, we had three winners this year (for once, lol - usually I have at least one dud), so I hope my family and friends enjoy them! In related news, it has come to my attention that I have close to EIGHTY recipes bookmarked on Delicious that I haven't tried yet. Clearly I am a serial bookmarker, but I lack follow-through. So I think next year requires a New Year's resolution to try a new recipe at least once a week. That way I can clear out the not-so-good ones and recommend all the yummy ones!
