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Christmas

The Tiniest Gingerbread Houses for your Mug

Die allersüßesten Mini-Lebkuchenhäuschen

I honestly can’t imagine Christmas without gingerbread. Every year at the end of November I am faithfully going to make gingerbread of some kind. Be it to decorate the Christmas tree, traditional gingerbread men, or be it gingerbread cut into stars, angels, and stockings. Today I am going to present the cutest mini gingerbread houses you can decorate your mugs with. Prefect for a dinner invitation or as a gift. You can print out the mini houses here.

Die allersüßesten Mini-LebkuchenhäuserI do agree that anything made from gingerbread requires a lot of work, but I feel nothing says Christmas more. I really do enjoy starting the season this way. Gingerbread may require a lot of work, but there is one advantage to it, you can take a break after every stage and you can make gingerbread in advance. You can easily store the gingerbread dough for a week in your fridge. Undecorated gingerbread will also keep for weeks if stored in an airtight container, and even fully decoarted gingerbread is safe for consumption. Mind you, I at least happily munch away my Christmas tree decoration every year after Christmas. So I invite you to decorate some gingerbread with some friends. Have them come over, prepare some hot cocoa and just give it a go!

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My 10 favorite Christmas Cookies

Weihnachtsbäckerei

I’ve decided to open the season, it is time for Christmas cookies! Have you started yet? Every year I promise to start early and then I end up with a long, long, long list of cookies I want to bake, but nothing happens other than the list getting longer. Well, maybe this blog entry with my ten favorite Christmas cookies will also make your list longer, but maybe you will actually bake some, that would be actually awesome. Please let me know in the comments if you do!

#1 Tiny gingerbread houses

Seriously, I feel Christmas is not complete without gingerbread. Gingerbread houses, gingerbread men, ugly sweater cookies made with gingerbread, you name it. My recipe also includes some printables for these cute little gingerbread houses.

Die allersüßesten Mini-LebkuchenhäuserI urge you to try these cute little gingerbread houses

#2 Alfajores with chocolate and a slight hint of orange

Hands down, my favorite cookie from my country of birth Uruguay. It is filled with dulce de leche, do I need to say more?

Alfajores, a cookie made with cornstarch, filled with dulce de leche and covered in chocolate

#3 Cute little Santas

These cute little santas are a simple sugar cookie with ermine frosting, I just love them, check the recipe for further details!

If you really want to get into Christmas, make these cute little Santas!

#4 Peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies with caramel and sea salt

This may not be the traditional Christmas cookie, but all these flavors, I promise, you won’t regret making these!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Caramel and Sea SaltAll my favorite flavors combined, peanut butter, chocolate, caramel and sea salt, yes!

#5 Meringue cookies that actually look like mushrooms

You have some egg white left over? How about these little cuties? They only contain two ingredients, egg whites and sugar and are glued together by some chocolate.

Pilze aus BaiserYou are making a yule log for Christmas? How about decorating it with these little mushrooms

#6 Linzer cookies

Another Christmas cookie I can’t do without. Who can say no to these cookies with a slight hint of almond and yummy jam filling?

Linzer PlätzchenThis is one of the traditional Christmas cookies in Germany, go ahead and try it!

#7 Stained-glass cookies

They are easier to prepare than you may think. Obviously I give a lot of tips in my blog post to guide you along.

stained glass cookiesThey look so cool and actually are not that hard to make, try these beautiful stained-glass cookies, they are a perfect gift and wonderful decoration.

#8 Snickerdoodles

These snickerdoodles are made with a lot of brown butter for extra awesomeness.

Snickerdoodles mit gebräunter ButterOh, this joy of cinnamon and brown butter called snickerdoodles!

#9 Heidesand cookies

You may not know this traditional cookie from Germany, but it has brown butter and real vanilla. So buttery, so good!

Heidesand-PlätzchenThese shortbread cookies are prepared with lots of brown butter and real vanilla. Traditionally from the north of Germany and so good for Christmas.

#10 Vanilla stars with chocolate ganache

If you are a chocolate lover, these cookies are for you. Instead of jam or buttercream, these cookies are filled with wonderful chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Star CookieIf you can’t decide if you want to do chocolate or vanilla, why not combine these two flavors? Make these vanilla stars with chocolate filling.

So which one is your favorite Christmas cookie you can’t do without?

Mushroom Meringue

Pilze aus Baiser

I have to admit, I love fall, especially if you check the ground of a dark forest, you will find mushrooms, just like the ones I am presenting today. No, I am kidding, you won’t find these mushrooms in the forest, they are actually made from meringue. However, I do find that they do look very much like their original, don’t you think? I am sure these mushrooms are going to be a show-stopper. And the best thing is, they are basically made from two ingredients. You beat egg whites with sugar, which you then pipe into mushroom caps and stems, you glue it all together with chocolate, and then dust them off with cocoa powder, voilá!Pilze aus Baiser Continue Reading…

Round-up of the Advent Calendar

Merry Christmas everyone! We did it, I am opening the last door of the food advent calendar “Spice It Up!”. I am still so honored to be the host of the event. If you have no idea what an advent calendar is, check out details here. Today I am doing a roundup of the calendar with Christmas recipes. So if you are still looking for last minute inspiration, look no further! We have main dishes, cookies (lots of them), desserts, breads, breakfast ideas, beverages, anything you possibly need to host an awesome Christmas menu.

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Happy Holidays with these Chocolate Star Cookies!

Chocolate Star Cookie

So, how is your cookie intake? Are you already done with them for 2017? In case you didn’t know, Germans have a special name for the cookies you bake during the holidays. They are called “Plätzchen” whereas everyday cookies are “Kekse”. Does tell you something about how important cookies are during the holiday season, doesn’t it? Two words for cookies, the boring normal ones and the fancy ones for the holidays. And since I love cookies (any for that matter), the holiday season is perfect for a cookie monster like me. Welcome to the Chocolate Star Cookie. This cookie is the star of the sweet combination of vanilla and chocolate – in all its glory.

Chocolate Star Cookie

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For Christmas: Chocolate Mousse Cherry Cake

Chocolate Mousse Cherry Cake

Warning, this is again a recipe that requires time. At least the chocolate mousse part takes its time. However, the good news is that you can prepare this beauty well in advance as it freezes up nicely. So how about a last minute change in the Christmas menu? Can I interest you in a rich and creamy cake, which combines the best parts of chocolate with cherry? I invented it for my birthday originally. And for that reason you get your heavy load of chocolate and also fruit. Because that’s me. Rich chocolate already in the pie pastry, a thick cherry filling and rich chocolate mousse to top it off with, so delicious and perfect for any special occasion!

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15 cool Christmas recipes

Weihnachtsmänner mit Salzstangen

I am still so honored I am the host of the Food Advent Calendar “Spice It Up!”. If you would like to get an overview, feel free to check out details here. As a host, I decided to recapture the recipes published so far as we are in half of the calendar today on December 12. So if you are still toying with ideas, figuring out the meal plan for Christmas, you need to have a look at all these wonderful recipes for inspiration. Be sure to check back, there will be another roundup at the end for last minute changes!

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Linzer Cookies

Linzer Plätzchen

Yes, I am German and yes, these cookies are one of the most traditional cookies for the holidays. Yet I only got to know them as an adult. That’s because I didn’t grow up in Germany. If you want to learn more about my excuse, read on here. But when I finally had the chance to try these Linzer cookies, they became one of my favorite holiday cookies very quickly. That’s why I had to post a recipe here. I really love the dough, which contains almonds and a lot of butter, sooo good! I also like the holidays spices. Do I need to say anything about jam with a touch of rum? Yum! I can only say, if you haven’t tried them, you have to! They are delicious, I promise.

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German Stollen

stollen

I am excited to say that today I have the privilege of opening the first Advent door of the Advent Calendar, see further details here. Advent what? The Advent Calendar is a tradition that originated somewhere in Germany at the end of the 19th century. The basic idea is to make waiting for Christmas more bearable. For that reason between December 1 and 24 you get a daily tiny treat. It is common in German to say to “open the Advent door” to see what treat is found. Traditionally the calendar is filled with little chocolates, which are hidden behind tiny doors, but the Advent Calendar I want to introduce to you is a Food Advent Calendar. Every day one blogger will open their blog door and show us a new recipe they specifially created for this event. I named the calendar Food Advent Calendar “Spice It Up!” and requested for participating bloggers to use a spice, which is commonly used during the season. I picked the tonka bean and wanted to introduce you to the German Christmas Stollen. Let’s open Advent Door No. 1!

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Easy Chocolate Raspberry Stars

Schokosterne

I had a little bit of chocolate pie pastry left. Originally I hadn’t planned to bake. But, you know, it just happened. So I decided to make these cute little chocolate raspberry stars. Thank God I have so many colleagues I can take my baked goods to, otherwise I would be about 200 pounds! Funnily enough, my colleagues loved them. Isn’t it interesting that the simple recipes are usually the best?

Schokosterne

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