Our team at Washington Parent is embracing the holiday spirit so much – especially the way food plays such an important role in every family’s holiday, no matter what they celebrate – that we started swapping family memories and recipes of our favorite sweet treats growing up and ones we’ve made with our own kids. We hope these inspire you to create special moments and make your holidays a little sweeter!
And we’d love to hear your family holiday food memories, too – reach out at contactus@washingtonparent.net.
Bourbon Balls
From Debbie Benke
Her son Brendan reminisces, “The only thing that really sticks out in my head is Bourbon Balls. Deb was a Kentucky-born-and-raised-girl and while somewhat of a teetotaler herself, had the Kentucky bourbon spirit. Our family friend Roseanne would often spend Christmas with us, and we’d all make this together in the days leading up to Santa’s visit. It was a highlight for all the kids of a certain (but not totally legal!) age.” Roseanne shares this “Adult Cookies” version (which she prefaces by saying she gave it to the family when the kids were no longer small children).
Makes 50-60.
Ingredients
3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1 cup ground pecans
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
½ cup bourbon
Directions
Combine wafers in a food processor and grind to a powder. Add
nuts and do the same. Add sugar, syrup and bourbon and pulse.
Form into balls about an inch in diameter and roll in powdered
sugar. Let them air-dry before storing in airtight tin.
PUMPKIN FRITTERS WITH CINNAMON SUGAR
From Ronel Hentschel
“Every Christmas, our kitchen fills with the warm, spiced aroma of Pampoenkoekies – South African pumpkin fritters that evoke a sense of home during the holidays. This tradition, passed down through generations, has its roots in South Africa’s Dutch culinary influences. The name Pampoenkoekies translates to “pumpkin little cakes” in Afrikaans, and they have become a beloved sweet treat at family gatherings. To make these delightful fritters, we mix mashed pumpkin with cinnamon, sugar and flour. We fry each dollop until golden brown and dust it with cinnamon sugar. Each bite brings comfort and nostalgia, connecting us to our heritage and to one another, making Christmas truly feel like home.”
CHOCOLATE PUDDING SUNDAE
From Djinni Field
Servings: 1 pie filling or 4 individual servings.
“Since my mother was widowed very young, she was busy raising two daughters on her own and our family did not often cook or bake anything from scratch. This might be why I have such a huge chocolate chip cookie obsession. Thank you Nestle easy-bake cookies. However, in the cold winter months of New England, nothing was more warming than a bowl of vanilla ice cream covered in hot chocolate pudding (from a box – you know the one). As an adult I discovered a wonderful way to make chocolate pudding from scratch. This is an easy and delicious dessert. It can be thrown in a pie shell and chilled, then add whip cream for an easy and wholesome chocolate-pudding pie. However, I highly recommend pouring it hot from the pan over cold ice cream at the end of a chilly day.”
Ingredients
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 whole eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups milk (I use skim or almond milk)
1 tablespoon butter
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
Beat sugar and eggs until creamy (use a saucepan to save a dish)
Mix in dry ingredients (cocoa powder, cornstarch, salt)
Slowly stir in the milk
Place pan over medium heat
Stir constantly until boiling and thickened for 5-7 minutes
Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla extract.
Enjoy!
MELTAWAYS
From Karen Washburn’s Mother
“My earliest memory of making Meltaway Cookies was formed at Christmas. As Christmas approached, my mom would slowly show us how to make the dough for the cookies and slowly roll each one as they cooled to coat them gingerly in powdered sugar. Puffs of sugar would fill the air, as we practiced coating and recoating the moist spots on the once warm cookies. Sometimes my mom would freeze the cookies; if she made a double batch she’d sneak two or three as a midday snack from the large crinkled freezer bag. Often, I would sneak in the kitchen and scan the freezer to see how many were still left for consumption, then quietly sneak my own selfish share of those delightful, sweet bites. Meltaways were my signal that the holidays were near as a child; now they are a sweet snapshot of my best memories of my childhood and Mom.”
Ingredients
2 sticks of real butter, softened
1 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar (1 box)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups sifted flour
3/4 cups very finely chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Beat butter and ½ cup powdered sugar until fluffy & light. (Put remaining sugar aside for later).
Slowly stir in flour, vanilla and nuts.
Blend well to make stiff dough.
Roll dough to make quarter sized balls. Keep the balls on the small side.
Keep a small bowl of flour on hand to keep hands non-sticky, use as needed on palms to roll cookies.
Put on a cookie sheet to bake 7-9 minutes per round.
Once cookies cool, roll around in leftover sifted powdered sugar.
Consume within a few days or freeze and bring cookies out to eat at your leisure – they are very good frozen!
MIMI COOKIES
From Liam McCrickard’s Mother
“These cookies, essentially chocolate covered peanut butter crackers, have been a favorite of mine all my life. My mother got the initial recipe from a family friend before making it her own. I have many fond memories of helping her put these together to bring to holiday parties back when I was small enough to need a stool to reach the stove so I could help stir the chocolate.”
Ingredients
1 bag Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate chips
Creamy Peanut Butter
Ritz Crackers
Vegetable oil
Directions
Put chocolate chips in a double boiler on the stove over low heat and stir continuously until smooth and melted.
Add one capful of vegetable oil and stir in for consistency.
Spread peanut butter on one side of half your crackers and place another cracker on top to create a sandwich with peanut butter in center.
Prepare a cookie sheet with wax paper on top.
Dip cracker sandwiches in melted chocolate using tongs. Ensure each sandwich is fully coated in chocolate then place on wax paper
Place cookie sheet into refrigerator until chocolate is hardened
Store in an airtight container in refrigerator until ready to serve.
NANA’S SUGAR COOKIES
From Karen Kullgren’s Grandmother
“These were a double treat: the cookies themselves were no ordinary sugar cookies, but were big and puffy and soft and had just a little something special that made them delicious (I think it must have been both the love and the lemon extract!). But the real fun when my brother and I were kids and then when I made them with my mom and my son (and hope to someday with my grandson) is the decorating. I still have all Nana’s and Mom’s wreath, Santa, Christmas tree, ornament and other holiday cookie cutters. “
Once the icing was completely set we’d put these in a variety of holiday tins, with wax paper between the layers. These cookies are amazing as they stay fresh for weeks this way, or they also freeze well. Once when my son was just 2, we piled into a rented van with another family and headed out West just after Christmas, and I swear we ate the decorated sugar cookies for breakfast, lunch, snacks, everything, several tins full, during that weeklong trip!
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 F
Cream 2 cups sugar and 1 cup shortening
Add 2 whole eggs. Mix and beat
Add 1 cup sour milk (or buttermilk) alternately with adding flour mixture below
Flour mixture: Flour (try 3 cups first, add more flour if necessary), 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Roll dough to 1/4 inch or better, cut with holiday shaped cookie cutters and sprinkle with granulated sugar
Bake for about 12 minutes
Decorating
Make icing from powdered sugar and water. Add food coloring to some so you have several bowls of icing for little hands to choose from. Wait until the cookies have cooled completely before icing. Leave the cookies on cooling racks or place on plates. Line up all the little jars of sprinkle decorations. We used and ate real silver ball “dragees” now said by FDA guidelines to be “for decoration only” and removed before eating — so those are a no-no now! Also red and green sugar crystals; red, green and white and mixed-color holiday nonpareils; and tiny heart-shaped cinnamon candies. (Of course there are hundreds of choices of sprinkles and other decorations at craft and other stores and online.) Then prepare to get creative and get messy and have fun!
AUNT FANNY’S CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BUCKEYES
From Meredith Hancock
“[These] have always been a favorite Christmas treat to me, thanks to my aunt’s amazing recipe. Every holiday season, she’d bring out a big tin full of these little treats, and they’d disappear fast! They’re one of my absolute favorite holiday treats, and it just wouldn’t feel like Christmas without them!”
Ingredients
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (3.5-ounce) dark chocolate (70% cocoa) bars, roughly chopped
Directions
Combine creamy peanut butter, softened butter, vanilla extract and powdered sugar until smooth and slightly stiff.
Roll the mixture into small balls and place them on a lined baking sheet. Chill in the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm them up.
Melt chocolate in a microwave or double boiler. Using a toothpick, dip each peanut butter ball into the chocolate, leaving a small circle of peanut butter exposed on top.
Set them back on the baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator until the chocolate hardens.
Transfer the buckeyes to a shallow, airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.
