It's My Last Holiday Post, I Swear.

I baked for six hours on Saturday.

Gingerbread. Sugar cookies. Chocolate chip. Seven-layer bars. Brownies.

I’d like to say I did it because I’m a slave to the Christmas baking tradition, but that’s not exactly true. The holiday season is just a happy excuse to plug in the Kitchen Aid mixer, switch on some music, and bake for a long and lovely while. It’s relaxing. It’s cheerful. It makes the house smell heavy with butter and flour, rather than the perpetual aroma of morning pancakes.

Plus, in spurts, I had company. H decorated a “Ginger Daddy.”

…and O iced a “Ginger O, and a Ginger Mama.” According to O, the Ginger Mama was white because “she put on too much lotion.”

Dairy/Egg-free Sugar Cookies

I can’t even begin to tell you how delicious (and easy) these are, courtesy of The Gluttonous Vegan.

You’ll need:

2 cups all purpose flour

a pinch of sea salt

1/3 cup vegan margarine

3/4 cup icing/confectioners sugar

1/4 cup canola/sunflower oil

1 tsp almond extract (optional)

Instructions:

PREHEAT your oven to 325 degrees.

CREAM together the margarine, sugar, oil and almond extract until smooth. Add the flour and salt and mix again until it’s a squishy dough.

COVER a baking tray in some grease-proof paper.

PULL OFF small lumps and shape into balls. Place each ball on the tray and flatten into thin discs.

BAKE for 10-14 minutes. You’ll know they’re finished when the edges are just slightly golden.

ICE and DECORATE at will.

Dairy/Egg-free Brownies

It hurts my heart to say this, since I prefer to bake from scratch, but check out Cherrybrook Kitchen’s allergen-free brownie mix. These brownies are better than any non-mix allergen-free brownie recipe I’ve tried.

Dairy/Egg-free Gingerbread

See Monday’s post.

GB’s Most Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies*

You’ll need:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks of butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) of semi-sweet chocolate chips

*I’m leaving out the secret ingredient.

Instructions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

7-layer Bars

You’ll need:

1 stick of butter, melted

1 sleeve of graham crackers, ground

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 12-oz. pkg. of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 12-oz. pkg. of butterscotch chips

½ cup coconut flakes

½ cup chopped pecans

Instructions:

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.

POUR melted butter into a 9×13-inch baking dish.

GRIND the graham crackers in a food processor, then pour evenly over the butter, pushing down to make a crust.

POUR sweetened condensed milk evenly over the graham cracker crust.

ADD the semi-sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut flakes and chopped pecans evenly, one ingredient at a time.

BAKE for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

The best part was packing up the cookies and giving them away. Now, I have an excuse to bake again in a few days.

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