Search Results for: blog hawaiian style christmas cookies

A Very Red Christmas Velvet Cake

Nothing says Christmas like a festively decorated dessert that features the traditional colors of the season. If you are like me and are tired of making (and eating) the same red and green Christmas cookies this next recipe might get you back in the holiday spirit. It’s a take off on the traditional southern favorite red velvet cake. The recipe for the cake is untouched save for the festive green frosting that borders the deliciously moist red interior. You could stick with the traditional white frosting, but I enjoy hearing the oohs and ahhs from my family members as I … Continue reading →

Christmas Morning Brunch Bake and Cranberry Eggnog Muffin Tops

One of our family’s favorite holiday traditions is hosting a big brunch on Christmas morning. It’s the one of the few days when my mom allows others to help her in the kitchen. Preparing this holiday meal has always been a way we spend quality time together and when you’re surrounded by comfort food everyone seems to be in a great mood. The following recipes are ones that we’ve been making for years. And the best part is you can prepare it in advance, which means you won’t be slaving away in the kitchen while the rest of the family … Continue reading →

Have a Merry Choco-Christmas

How much is too much? Is it possible to have too much chocolate? My sister-in-law certainly doesn’t think so. With less than two days until Christmas she is in her kitchen whipping up her famous chocolate macadamia nut clusters. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that if I see one more Christmas cookie I may just run in the opposite direction. But, that’s just because I spent the last three weeks churning out more than 300 cookies to give to friends and neighbors. (Did I mention I sampled a few dozen along the way?) My sister-in-law is by … Continue reading →

Cookies for Breakfast

Come on… admit it… you’ve done it once in your life… downed a few cookies during the first meal of the day. Eggs, bacon… and cookies. No? It’s not exactly the breakfast of champions, but what about bacon and eggs in your cookies? I’m not kidding. I’ve baked more cookies this month alone than I have all year and every person I’ve seen on a regular basis knows this as they have been forced to hear me lament about my kitchen failures, and likewise rejoice (and share) in my cooking successes. Last week when I was kvetching about being up … Continue reading →

Spiced Up Christmas Cookies

In a previous blog I mentioned that everyday spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, contain tiny amounts of vitamins, minerals and potent antioxidants that can help reduce heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Since then I have been trying to find additional seasonal recipes, which feature beneficial spices. Valorie has been kind enough to allow me to share the litany of Christmas cookie recipes I’ve experimented with (or enjoyed via others) this holiday season. The following cookies were included in a Christmas tin I just received from a former colleague of mine. It took me a couple of days but … Continue reading →

Have a Very Minty Christmas

My 3-year-old daughter has been on a mint kick since tasting her very first chocolate mint Drumstick in August. So when it came time to pick out the cookies she wanted to take home from our friend’s holiday party last Saturday she made a beeline for the chocolate mint cookies. The bite sized morsels are not overwhelmingly minty. Rather, the chocolate presence gives it a familiar taste similar to those popular Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies, only the texture is different and these cookies are topped with “snow” (powdered sugar). Another of my daughter’s favorites was a hit with all … Continue reading →

Low-Fat Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookies are the perfect way to end a festive meal, but after Saturday’s cookie-a-thon I really don’t have the desire to consume anymore of the sweet morsels until next year. I also don’t have the desire to get on a scale (and don’t plan to) until well after the holidays are over. If you are reluctant to undertake holiday baking because you are concerned that you will inhale the fruits of your labor before they make it to their final destinations I offer you the following recipes. They prove there’s no reason to eliminate Christmas cookies from the holiday … Continue reading →

The Ultimate Christmas Cookie

What is your idea of the ultimate Christmas cookie? For most people the answer is—-Gingerbread Men (or Women). I’ll never forget the first time my then-toddler daughter bit into an intricately decorated Gingerbread Man cookie. The sweet treat was spectacularly detailed with gumdrops, icing, mini-chocolate chips and licorice. It looked too good to eat. But that didn’t stop my daughter, who prior to that moment had very limited exposure to cookies besides her favorite chocolate chip and the occasional sugar cookie. She sunk her teeth into the Gingerbread Man’s leg and the look on her face was priceless. Her eyes … Continue reading →

Christmas Cookie Exchange: Pinwheels and Tassies

My daughter and I finished up the last of our major Christmas baking projects on Friday in anticipation of Saturday’s big cookie exchange. It wasn’t an official cookie exchange, rather a holiday party with a ton of sweet treats (I’m still peeling my 3-year-old off the ceiling). Still, we returned home with a tin full of cookies neither one of us had ever tried before PLUS this afternoon I got my hands on the recipes for two of our new favorites. Take a look: REFRIGERATOR PINWHEEL COOKIES Ingredients: 1-1/2 cups sifted flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 … Continue reading →

Hawaiian Style Holiday Gifts—Fruit Salsa and Passion Fruit Dressing

While my daughter and I have been icing cookies and dipping pretzel rods in chocolate my best friend in Hawaii has been busy whipping up her own holiday treats. Though hers are decidedly more savory than sweet. My pal Lisa’s handiwork serves as the inspiration for this blog. Her holiday recipes for fruit salsa and passion fruit dressing prove that fancy sweets aren’t the only homemade holiday treats that can be doled out to friends and co-workers. In fact, these recipes offer a welcome change to the traditional sweets given this time of year. Just package each in individual jars … Continue reading →