Five Must-Bake Holiday Desserts
With the holidays just around the corner, I wanted to highlight my five favorite holiday desserts that I have posted. Without further ado, here they are:
Gingerbread Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting – Gingerbread and lemon make such a great combination. The spices of the season are highlighted in these cupcakes.
Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies – I love peppermint and chocolate together in the wintertime. These cookies are festive in color and flavor.
Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake – This was my first cheesecake cake. The vibrant colors are perfect this time of year.
Candy Cane Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes – I took my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe and combined it with my favorite Oreo cupcake recipe and used Candy Cane Joe Joe’s to make these cupcakes.
Peppermint Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake – Brownie bits are baked right in to this cheesecake. With peppermint extract, and crushed candy canes, it has a minty-chocolatey flavor that just screams winter.
One Year Ago: Massaged Kale with Pear and Pumpkin Seeds and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla-Pecan Butter
Two Years Ago: Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Patty Frosting and Homemade Green Bean Casserole
Three Years Ago: Cookie Dough Brownies
Four Years Ago: Lumberjack Cookies and Peppermint Sandies
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I’ve been brewing some vanilla extract since about August or September, and I can’t wait to give it to my friend who also loves to bake (and who, coincidentally, just pinned something on Pinterest about making her own vanilla – at least I know she’ll like it!). I need to find a nice bottle for it first though, and she’ll have to be OK that a label may be part 2 of her gift in January. I’m also going to make my sister some of the Fire Roasted Ketchup.
Last year I did the salted caramel sauce for the same friend, and it was amazing. It took me 3 tries to get the taste right (I kept overcooking it and it tasted a little burnt) but it was totally worth it!
beantownbaker — December 9th, 2013 @ 5:48 pm
Oh the homemade vanilla will be perfect for her! And, once you have one batch, you can just keep adding to it so you never run out of vanilla.
I’d love to be on the receiving end of these 😉 great ideas!
Oh! I love making homemade gifts too! This year i made a ton of stuff: orange ginger marmalade, blueberry jam, lemon curd, vanilla sugar, caramelised walnuts, spiced honey, cardamom coffee beans and orange&clove loose leaf tea. Im working on my mustard and your recipe sounds nice!
Love your blog, i always make your blueberry curd, yum!
beantownbaker — January 4th, 2014 @ 10:38 am
Wow – you made a LOT this year! I bet people loved all the homemade gifts. Thanks for reading (and commenting!)