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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