Homemade Holidays

Sandwich-cookie recipe passed down through generations

Heather Penno’s date-filled cookies have a long matrilineal history.

Her great-grandmother made this tender sandwich cookie filled with jammy dates a Christmas tradition and passed the recipe on to her eldest daughter.

“I always remember my grandmother having a dainty tray and this was definitely on it,” Penno says, adding the cookies only ever make an appearance during the holidays.

The tradition of seasonal baking and bequeathing has continued, with the recipe passed down to the eldest daughter of each subsequent generation.

Eat and greet

The next dozen issues of the Free Press are going to be high in sugar content and sentimentality.

Our annual Homemade Holidays series kicks off Tuesday and features 12 festive dessert recipes published over 12 days. The goal is to highlight family traditions, while providing readers with inspiration for their own holiday baking adventures.

Past editions have included vintage treats from the Free Press’s archives, reader-submitted recipes and staff favourites.

This year’s batch showcases the connective power of cookies.

Pucker up for this oh-so-sweet and easy lemon trifle

Homemade Holidays is back for another year of festive cookies, cakes and treats.

From now until Dec. 17, we’ll be sharing a sweet daily recipe to inspire your holiday baking. This year’s batch of 12 recipes include Free Press Favourites shared by newsroom staff and a selection of previously unpublished reader recipe submissions from our 2022 Homemade community cookbook project.

We’re kicking things off with an impressively easy trifle recipe from Free Press office manager extraordinaire Margaret McMillan. It’s light and fruity, making it an ideal end to a heavy holiday feast.

Almond cookies melt in your mouth

Today’s Homemade Holidays feature is a recipe for delicate, melt-in-your-mouth Almond Crescent cookies.

“This is a cookie my Nana used to make, not necessarily for holidays specifically, but it’s one of my favourites, so now I make them every year. Almond and vanilla is such a classic combo and I love that this recipe isn’t super sweet,” writes Erin Lebar, the Free Press’s manager of audience engagement (and a heck of a baker).

Rich, spicy hot chocolate a decadent treat

Today for Homemade Holidays, we have a spicy and satisfying stovetop hot chocolate recipe from Free Press reader Sandy Rubinfeld. Hot tip: If you don’t finish the whole pot, you can store the leftovers in the fridge and mix it into your morning coffee for a fancy faux-mocha — make sure to stir well, as the hot chocolate thickens further in the cold.

“This is the very best hot chocolate I have ever tasted! It is perfect for a chilly Winnipeg winter day. It is incredibly rich, like a hot chocolate pudding, so I save it for rare occasions. I came across it decades ago in The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two. It is authentic to northern Spain,” writes Sandy.

Castilian Hot Chocolate

Submitted by Sandy Rubinfeld

Get holiday baking on a roll with snowballs

These delightful little orbs go by many names: Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Pecan Puffs. Whatever you want to call them, these nutty, subtly sweet cookies are a family-friendly bake — with easy and potentially cathartic steps (crush your holiday angst while crushing pecans) for kids of all ages.

Would pair well with a tall glass of milk on Christmas Eve.

Today’s Homemade Holidays recipe comes from Free Press copy editor David Fuller and is an adaptation from an older edition of Joy of Cooking. This recipe makes about 30 small cookies.

Snowballs

Traditional Dutch dessert a deep-fried delight

Deep-fried dough is delicious any time of year, but today’s Homemade Holidays recipe holds special holiday meaning for Free Press graphic artist Leesa Dahl.

From Leesa: “Olieballen is a traditional Dutch treat that my dad made every New Year’s Day. They’re basically round doughnuts that are served with a sprinkle of icing sugar. He made them with and without apples, but the plain ones were always more popular with me and my siblings!”

Oliebollen with Apples

Free Press Favourite submitted by Leesa Dahl

Crowd-pleasing classic requires no baking

Today’s Homemade Holidays recipe is an easy, crowd-pleasing classic. Also known as clodhoppers, this big batch of White Chocolate Treats requires no baking and few kitchen tools.

“It is a go-to for bake sales and quick treats for a hostess gift at Christmastime. It is so simple!” says submitter Leianne Lea.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Nutmeg adds depth to classic Christmas dainty

For many, the holidays aren’t complete without a batch of butter tarts. Today’s Homemade Holidays entry is a family fave from Free Press reporter Nicole Buffie. The addition of nutmeg adds warmth and depth to this sugary dainty.

“Everyone has their own take on it, but this tried-and-true Manitoba recipe has been passed down through generations and is the first sign of Christmas for my family,” writes Nicole. “Not too sweet, the perfect pinch of warm spice — they make a great addition to any holiday treat tin. This recipe also raises the ultimate question: do raisins belong in butter tarts?”

Elsie’s Butter Tarts

Free Press Favourite submitted by Nicole Buffie.

Chili paste adds dash of heat to caramel cookies

Chewy and balanced with a dash of lingering heat thanks to the inclusion of gochujang (fermented red chili paste), these treats would make a memorable addition to any cookie tray.

Today’s Homemade Holidays recipe comes from Free Press Arts and Life editor Jill Wilson and is adapted from Eric Kim’s New York Times Cooking recipe.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Sugar cookie recipe sweet sentimental favourite

Sweet, soft and simple. Today’s Homemade Holidays feature is a sentimental sugar cookie recipe from Anne Thoroughgood, who inherited these sweet treats from her mother via her grandma. This recipe previously appeared in the Teulon United Church Circle Cookbook circa 1953.

“We make cookies from this recipe for Christmas and Valentines. It is a fun family day each year,” writes Anne.

“Even COVID-19 did not stop us as my daughter distributed balls of dough to each family and we made cookies in our own kitchens and visited over FaceTime.”

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

Recipe for no-bake rolls harkens back to the ’50s

On the 12th and final day of Homemade Holidays, we have a charming, no-bake Chocolate Marshmallow Roll recipe from Ellen Karr.

The assembly technique is similar to rolling sushi and the result is a light, coconutty dainty that looks like stained glass.

“My mother used to make this when I was a little girl in the 1950s,” writes Karr. “The recipe I have submitted is an updated one that I use on festive occasions.”

We hope you’ve enjoyed baking along with us this year. May your holidays be full of fun and good food!

Nuts and nostalgia mingle in not-too-sweet nuggets

On the seventh day of Homemade Holidays, Free Press copy editor Denise Duguay gives to us a sweet, sentimental cookie recipe for Nutty Nuggets.

From Denise: “This recipe comes from my mother-in-law, who got it from her mother-in-law. Both are gone now (2021 and 2020, respectively) but I had the opportunity to make the Nugs with both my in-laws, who personified perfectionism in the best possible way: all things done for loved ones should be done to utter perfection. Great stress for me that first time and although they both hovered, they did so with a wink and a smile. ‘Are these nuts chopped finely enough?’ and when rolling the dough into balls, ‘Are these the right size?’ Multiple do-overs were required, but the results were 100 per cent.

“After mother-in-law Shirley’s passing, my father-in-law tentatively asked if I’d like to make the Nutty Nuggets with him. I was in a new apartment with an oven I wasn’t fully familiar with and we were both trying very hard not to cry but we managed a full batch, parcelled into plastic tubs for him, me and my brother-in-law’s family, which includes a fourth generation of Nutty Nugget lovers. One year, we’ll invite that new generation to join us in the annual bake. And that will be another lump in the throat.

“Beyond the sentimental connection, I love this recipe because it has all the buttery goodness of shortbread with only a fraction of the sweetness (I roll only half the cookie dough balls in sugar) and a satisfying nut-and-chocolate crunch.”