The experience of baking in the kitchen with music playing, divvying up tasks, measuring out ingredients, putting your food into the oven, and admiring the final product is one that is incomparable. Fall and winter breaks are the perfect times to brush up on your baking skills and indulge in wonderful and tasty holiday desserts either by yourself or with loved ones.
Here are some recipes to follow to make some delicious sweet treats this holiday season:
1. Pumpkin Spice Cake
Starting off with desserts to make early on in the holiday season, one that I made last fall was Pumpkin Spice Cake. Use this recipe to make it.
In the past, I made it in layers with frosting in the middle, which made each bite of it even more delightful (I recommend doing this for your cake if you have time!). For the buttercream frosting, I suggest using Duncan Hines Creamy Buttercream frosting to ice the cake with. If you have leftover cake, you could sprinkle some cake crumbs on the top as a garnish.
This recipe is fun to try with friends and to share with them and family. And it’s definitely worth the time put into making it, especially with the great mix of flavors that it has.
2. S’mores Brownies
Next is S’mores Brownies, which I believe are great to bake sometime during the remaining days of the fall season. Here is the recipe for how to make them.
These brownies are both enticing and easy to make. They contain graham crackers, a chocolate brownie in the middle, and toasted marshmallows, just like an actual s’more. And instead of making the brownies from scratch like in the recipe, you can also just use box-mix brownies, and they’ll turn out just as good.
3. Hot Cocoa Cookies
Moving on to desserts to bake for the winter holidays, Hot Cocoa Cookies are fantastic for this time of year. These cookies are definitely high on my list of my favorite type of cookies I have baked simply because of how unique they are. This is the recipe for them. (It requires a lot of steps, so it may be easier if you divide up the work among yourself and a friend!)
I love the flavors of the gooey chocolate and marshmallows paired with the cookie base and sprinkles, and it’s so satisfying to pull them apart. These are addictive to eat and will be gone before you know it if you decide to share them with loved ones.
4. Peppermint Chocolate Bark
This is a classic treat to make during the holiday season. Here’s the Peppermint Chocolate Bark recipe.
There are no specific measurements that you will need for this recipe, but I think six chocolate bars work best. When choosing chocolate bars, you can get flavors based on your preference, but the last time I made them, I got milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. And though the chocolate is supposed to be melted in the oven in this recipe, I recommend tempering it instead. While this will take more time, tempering is better if you do not plan on eating the finished product right away — if you do not temper the chocolate and only put it in the oven, it will quickly melt after a while of having them out or while you are eating it.
For the topping, feel free to add whatever you would like — you do not have to stick to just crushed candy canes. And when you break them apart, don’t worry about breaking them perfectly or evenly. It’s okay if they’re various shapes and sizes in the end as long as they’re still delicious!
5. Peppermint Meltaways
My last holiday baking suggestion is one of my favorite types of cookies I’ve ever baked: Peppermint Meltaways. Here is the recipe for these. The reason they are called Peppermint Meltaways is because of the fact that they melt in your mouth. That, combined with their sweet and minty taste, is why I love them so much. Even people who do not normally like peppermint have told me that they love these cookies, so I think you should try baking them whenever you have the chance.
A lot of the time, these cookies have pink frosting, so if you would like to, you can add red food coloring to give them a pinker color. If you don’t add coloring, it’s okay, since there will still be a light pink color from adding in the peppermint extract.
These are five holiday baking ideas that are lots of fun to create. I hope you’ll be able to associate baking holiday desserts such as these and many more with positive memories this upcoming season. Happy holiday baking!