Hmmm! The aroma of nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cinnamon are permeating throughout my home and it’s putting the whole family in a festive spirit. Yes, our holiday baking is in full swing and we’re having so much fun testing out some new recipes. What would the holidays be without visions of sugary and yummy treats?
You can never have enough recipe books that contain mouth water recipes that will fit perfect during the holiday season. New to our home is The 250 Best Brownies, Bars, & Squares recipe book. The ultimate collection of easy and sumptuous desserts!
There is nothing like homemade snacks and desserts and this newest book has a plethora of decadent recipes to choose from to satisfy any sweet tooth. Whether you’re a novice or an expert, you can jump right in and make any of these recipes. The book is very well laid out and lots of beautifully colored images to drool over. It starts off by giving sound advise on making all your recipes successful, like only buying small amounts of spices, store them tightly and replace them annually. Okay, I didn’t know you should replace them every year; I have new spices sporting my kitchen now. Did you know you should keep your marshmallow in the freezer?
There are 9 separate categories to ponder and pick through:
Brownies
Chocolate Bars and Squares
Coconut Bars and Squares
Fruit Bars and Squares
Nut and Peanut Butter Bars and Squares
Specialty Bars and Squares
No-Bake Bars and Squares
Esther’s Special Favorites
Frosting and Glazes
We love all the categories but the ones that resonated with us were any recipes that include chocolate, peanut butter, and all kinds of dried fruit. The recipes are really easy to follow and the ingredients are easily attained at your local grocery store. Some of the recipes will call for a base, filling and a topping so they are a little more time-consuming.
I absolutely love the no-bake section. No-bake does not mean any work, it just means you don’t need your oven. Many of these recipes call for ice cream or pudding as an ingredient that you expand on. One of our favorites is the No-Bake Crispy Peanut Butter Squares, the kids completely loved this treat and it was a breeze to whip up. Perfect for a time crunch event or get-together.
Another of our favorites it the Coffee Bran Squares. If you’re a big coffee fan then you will love this recipe. It has lots of spices, coffee and fiber-rich bran; the combination is so delicious. I found the section on Frosting and Glazes really helpful. Adding a special frosting can really add some pizzazz to an ordinary snack. The chocolate chip frosting has become our favorite; we even added some flavored extracts like peppermint, chai, cappuccino, or tangerine. The combinations are endless.
We love to hang out and create new holiday memories, and to me that includes cooking and baking. We also think it’s special to make a batch of cookies, brownies or squares and give them away as gifts year round, but especially for Christmas! The Holidays have never tasted so good!!
Disclaimer: I received product to facilitate a review. All opinions are my own, yours may differ.
I love making raspberry shortbread cookies!
it is my Cherry Nanimo Bars; instead of using Birds Custard I make the filling with chopped up cheeries and Cherry juice. The base and the top are the same as Nanimo bars.
My favorite holiday recipe is Lemon Squares made with fresh lemon, sweetened condensed milk and graham wafer crumbs.
Nanaimo bars – I can never resist them. I also like making chocolate bark — so easy, but looks nice, and everyone enjoys it.
My favorite is thumb prints.
My mom makes these wonderful homemade peanut clusters, she makes a special bag just for me and I manage to eat one every few days so they last through the new year!
I like making peanut blossoms 🙂
Whipped Shortbread!
My favorite is oatmeal, raisin cookies.
peanut butter fudge…yumm!!
milk, sugar and peanut butter
Snowflakes, small cookies that melt in your mouth and so easy to make. The difficulty is getting them out of the oven whilst they are still white but cooked.
Peanut brittle! So good.
My favorite is uncooked chocolate/coconut cookies, thank you:)
spiced nuts for christmas
My mom makes the best chex mix. My whole family eats it up. She keeps recipe a secret.
I like making eggnog cream pie
Uncooked chocolate/coconut Recipe is take: 1 cup coco 1 cup sugar, 2 table spoons butter, and 1/2 cup coconut, stir together put smaller blobs of cookie mix on wax papered pan and put in fridge till hardened.
Choc cream puffs!
Nuts ‘n Bolts
pumpkin cookies
I usually bake almond biscotti
Chocolate covered Eggnog Cheesecake bars.
Sugar cookies.
shortbread cookies and sugar cookies with icing
mine would be anything with chocolate 😉
My favorite is snickerdoodles! I don’t know why I don’t just make them year round… oh yeah i do, my waist line!
My mom makes these amazing Eatmore squares every year at Christmas. They are soooooo yummy 😀
I love to make my hungarian yeast tortes.
My favourite is shortbread.
I love making gingerbread cookies with my son!
Caramel corn or shortbread!
No bake chocolate peanut butter cookies are my favorite snack.
Peppermint patties!
my nuts and bolts
Kris Kringle cookies
cinnamon almonds
shortbread cookies are my favorite
We make red hot popcorn over the holidays. Red hots melted with marshmallows mixed with air-popped.
Homemade peanut butter cups
…Maple Walnut Fudge !!!
I love making puppy chow. The chocolate and powdered sugar covered crispex cereal. So easy and yummy to snack on.
i like chex mix
snickerdoodles
shortbread. thanks
puppy chow mix
My favorites are Banana Split Cake and Cherry Topped Cheesecake.
Brownies
My family absolutely loves St. Louis style Ooey Gooey Butter cake! We can’t make it any other time because its just so unhealthy…but so so tasty!
I love my family’s recipe for cutout cookies. They’re so delicious!
chocolate covered peanut butter balls with rice crispies, rumballs and gingerbread, also apple cider
Homemade fudge!
my family loves cookies at christmas, some peanut butter squares, butter tarts and a killer chocolate cake i make. thats just a few snacks we have around at christmas
we love chocolate peanut butter balls
Best holiday snacks are nuts, cake, my mom use to make Greek cookies.
Peanut Clusters and Martha Washington Candy
I bake quite frequently, but have not baked specifically for the holidays yet.
I try to stay away from sugar but Nanaimo bars catch me off guard very time I see their delicious goodness just waiting for me on a serving platter.
I usually make a few types of healthy cookies,like oatmeal and date squares.I haven’t started yet though.Way too early for me.
I make gingersnaps for the holidays and I love, love, love them…which reminds me; i need to add molasses to my shopping list!
sugar cookies with frosting decoration
around the holidays I like anything made with eggnog
I like gingerbread biscotti.
love peanutbutter balls with chocolate!!
Chocolate marshmellow log
I love bars <3
Homemade Irish cream is my favorite treat this season.
Chocolate fudge!
I love shortbread
I love meringue!
My aunt’s home made almond roca (or any almond roca really – it’s my favourite!).
peanut blossoms
I love soft gingerbread cookies!
I have an awesome (but fattening) recipe for shortbread that uses 1 lb of butter – yummy.
Snowballs. White cake cup up and dipped in chocolate sauce and rolled in coconut. Messy but everyone loves them.
I really enjoy fudge at the holiday time (or anytime).
Christmas pudding
Gingerbread Cookies!!
I love the basic rice crispie treats with the green and red in
I like to make fudge
My favourite snack during the holidays is sugar cookies!!
buttertarts and there is also magic cookie bars hmmmmmm good.
I love making peppermint bark.
I give up, I am not a canadian, well I like apple cake but I am not eligible, sorry 🙁
I love peanut butter blossoms.
brownies
Jam thumbprints!!
Sweet Maureen bars
Chocolate chip cookies:)
tum tums
I love frosted & decorated holiday sugar cookies!
my fav. snack is popcorn.
great and tasty giveaway too.
I love peppermint cheesecake!
That would probably be a recipe for Dark Fruitcake that I modified from ‘The Joy of Cooking’-I make about six each year and give most of them to my adult children.
My favourite holiday snack is Chocolate Shortbread cookies
making my grandmas delicious cookies
I love Butter Tart Squares!
shortbread cookies
Apple crumble, I know it’s not specifically Christmas but my fiance has a wonderful recipe.
i love all the different kinds of cookies!
I really love stolen