Holly Jolly Holiday Recipe Collection

I often get asked about my favourite Christmas recipes. And I have to be honest – many of them are from my Mom. Probably because that nostalgic feeling you get around Christmas – that feeling you had when we were young and waiting for Santa to arrive, midnight mass, family around, and staying warm inside as it was freezing outside. Its those same feelings I try to create for my kids and then I hope these recipes will be passed down to them as well.

But these recipes have also peaked the interest of my friends and so I thought I would share them. Sorry Mom, they are too good to just keep in the family.

So I’m going to share them all in one post – making your life super easy. Here we go…

First up:

The Nuts and Bolts

• 2 cups of Cheerios
• 2 cups of Shreddies
• 2 cups of Corn Bran Squares
• 2 cups of of Crispex
• 2 cups of Pretzels (sticks or twists)
• 1 cup of Peanuts (can be omitted for peanut free)

The Seasoning

• 1/2 cup of butter
• 2 tbsp of worchesterchire sauce
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1 tsp of garlic salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp of onion salt

*Note, this is a light seasoning. If you like your snacks a little more flavourful, you can increase the seasoning proportionately.

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees
2. Place all the Nuts and Bolts in a roasting pan
3. Melt the butter and add the rest of the seasonings
4. Pour the seasoning over the Nuts and Bolts while stirring.
5. Bake for 1 hour, covered – stirring carefully every 15 minutes
   • Note that when it is done, the Nuts and Bolts will still be moist. It will dry as it cools.
     Enjoy once cool.

I usually store in Christmas Tins to bring out when guests come over or I give it as a Holiday/Host gift (peanut free of course).

Ingredients

• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of icing sugar
• 2 cups of flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Cream butter
3. Add the icing sugar and mix well.
4. Add flour gradually (1/2 cup at a time)
5. Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface (or like me, parchment paper)
6. Roll to be about 1/8” thick
7. Cut with lightly floured cookie cutters and transfer to cookie sheets
8. Repeat steps 6 to 7 with the remaining dough, until all the dough has been used
9. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown
10. Carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack

The next few recipes are not ones from my family, but have become annual traditions at our house.

Apologies for the picture, I couldn’t find any nice ones and I haven’t baked it yet this year 😉

Cake

• 15 oz can of Pumpkin Puree
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• 1 tsp of baking soda

Crumble Topping

• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 4 tbsp of melted butter

Glaze

• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine the first 5 ingredients then add the cake mix and baking soda – mix until combined
3. Pour into a 9×13 pan which is lightly greased
4. In a different bowl, combine the crumble topping ingredients and mix together with your hands to produce the crumble
5. Spread out over the top of the cake batter
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted
7. Poke holes in the cake using a toothpick – this will allow the glaze to really absorb into the cake
8. In a saucepan, combine the glaze ingredients and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat when all the sugar has dissolved
9. Pour the glaze evenly over the entire cake

Serve warm from the oven or at room temperature for best taste

*Note this recipe is from a blog called Charming Charleston, that is no longer available therefore I cannot link it.

This recipe has never failed me, since I found it. So flavourful and moist, but with a nice crispy skin – it is a crowd pleaser.

The recipe is from a blog called Baked Bree and can be found here. If you need a bit of convincing in order to click on the link and try it out, just imagine (like seriously close your eyes and picture the sight and savour the smell of)…

A juicy turkey stuffed with onion, garlic, oranges, lemon and herb and slathered with a herbed butter and cooked to perfection.

Now go check out the link. 😉

I use this recipe every year and everyone loves it.

Now – I do have a couple more go-tos over the holidays. But those are either simple, like Rice Krispie Cake (which the recipe is on the box) and then Chocolate Mint Truffles, which is from a friend in which I haven’t asked for permission to share. Plus some recipes are better kept among friends/family, right?

Happy Holidays Everyone!