Christmas 2020 Bakes

evanbillups
Dec 27, 2020
3 min read

Despite a year like no other, Christmas still came like it does every year and with it the usual goodies, treats, and festivities (albeit scaled down). This year more than ever I took comfort in the kitchen, trying out new recipes for myself, family, friends, and neighbors. I've expanded my baking horizons, experimenting with more complicated and time-consuming recipes as well as classic favorites. I've also gained confidence in my cooking; I now feel like I can whip up something without a recipe, trusting my instincts with flavors to churn out something halfway decent.

Apple pie bars (scroll down for the recipe)

Usually for Christmas Eve we go over to our family friends' for a larger gathering and I go all out with elaborate desserts (past examples include yule logs, layer cakes, and cookies decorated in royal icing). However, I still kept myself busy baking simpler cookies that I just thought would taste good. That's what we need this year - stuff that tastes GOOD.

So here are my Christmas bakes this year:

Cookie boxes

I spent much of this year baking large quantities of dessert, and while I could have saved it all for my mom and I, that was not going to be the healthiest long-term practice. Consequently, at least once a week from April - June my neighbors would receive a knock from me delivering my latest confection.

For Christmas I decided to bake cookies (as usual) and put them in little boxes for the neighbors.

For these Christmas dessert boxes I made German chocolate cookies which were rich, not-too-sweet, little chunks of deliciousness. I'm not usually a nuts-in-desserts person, but I love the combination of chocolate, pecan, and coconut here. They nicely complemented the light little spritz cookies that my mom made (with a cookie cutter since we misplaced our cookie gun). We also added in mini cranberry almond loafs (not pictured) to round out the neighbor boxes.

"Lofthouse" sugar cookies

No secret I LOVE the super-processed, soft as clouds, Lofthouse sugar cookies from the grocery store. Seriously, if these are at a party or something I am all over them. I just love how light and fluffy they are! So when I saw that NY Times Cooking released a video and recipe for imitation Lofthouse cookies I knew I had to try it out.

I was skeptical if the homemade version would live up to the perfection of the store-bought ones, but these turned out pretty well! While mine weren't as perfectly round and smooth as the actual Lofthouse cookies, the texture was on point. The cake flour made them super soft and pillowy and really, it's hard to go wrong with a classic, frosted sugar cookie.

Apple pie bars

Is it Christmas without some sort of apple pie? There's just something so comforting and cozy about apple pie (I always have to resist eating the filling while making it).

These apple pie bars were a super easy alternative to actually making a pie. I find the hardest part of making a pie is rolling out the crust so just pressing the crust into the bottom of a pan was way less work for an almost equally satisfying result.