I find it interesting that many people who barely bake all year long suddenly bake up a storm during the holiday season. Baked goods is one of my favorite things about the holidays (aside from being with family and friends). It’s no wonder that most people’s diets go out the window during the holidays. It’s nearly impossible to resist freshly baked cookies, cakes, breads and pastries.
Many baked goods require ingredients such as Vanilla, Mint, Cinnamon or Ginger. Most people turn to McCormick for the seasonings and extracts they need for their holiday baking.
This year, the baking pros at McCormick are collaborating with Kim Ima, cookie-sharing expert and author of the new “The Treats Truck Baking Book,” to make sure flavorful cookies are at the top of everyone’s gift list. I’ve had a chance to check out this cook book and it’s filled with mouth water recipes such as Pecan Butterscotch Bars, Raspberry Rings and Gingersnaps.
“Making and sharing cookies can really be a gift from the heart,” said Kim. “That’s what ‘The Treats Truck’ is all about – sharing a little of myself through my fresh-baked treats. It really is one of the greatest ways to connect with people.”
I agree with Kim. Sometimes a simple gift like cookies baked with love make the greatest gift. I think people appreciate the fact that someone spent hours in the kitchen to bake a delicious treat more so than a gift card or a holiday sweater. I WISH I knew someone who baked. I’d be thrilled to receive a gift of freshly baked cookies. Only my sister bakes and she lives way upstate. 🙁
This holiday season McCormick is helping holiday bakers share their own delicious gifts from the heart through their “The Big Cookie Share” campaign. Visitors start off with a signature cookie recipe from the McCormick Kitchens then customize it with flavor twists to suit the tastes of the giver or the receiver. Visitors will be rewarded with virtual e-cookie that they can share with their friends on Facebook. The e-cookies even come with a frosted holiday message and the accompanying recipe to bake up a batch of holiday memories at home. What a fun idea!
To make your virtual e-cookies visit www.Facebook.com/McCormickSpice.
To get you excited about holiday baking, here are some tips from Kim. In addition, on select days this December, McCormick will be joining Kim’s “Treats Truck” for cookie-sharing events in New York City.
– Fantastic Flavor Combinations – Certain flavor match-ups are real winners around the holidays. Cinnamon and ginger are comforting classics, while a splash of peppermint extract adds a surprising hint of refreshment. The cool seasonal flavor pairs beautifully with dark chocolate in Double Chocolate Chunk Mint Cookies.
– Dress it Up – Spruce up versatile, go-to recipes like Spiced Holiday Sugar Cookies with seasonal flavors and creative decorations. Add a hint of almond extract to deepen the flavor, use the dough for jam thumbprint cookies, or play with festive cookie cutters and colorful frosting.
– Ready to Bake – Prepare dough in advance and keep it in the freezer, either rolled into a ball or cut into ready-to-bake cookie shapes. That way, you can bake a few cookies at a time or a whole batch as you wish. Prepped dough from Gingerbread Men Cookies makes a quick seasonal dessert on its own, or can be repurposed as a convenient crust for holiday pies.
– Gift It – In a mason jar, combine pre-measured spices, seasonings and other dry ingredients for a homemade “cookie mix.” With a strip of ribbon, attach a recipe card with baking and decorating tips. You can even include cookie cutters or a jar of sprinkles, for a complete holiday cookie kit.
To help you get even more excited about holiday baking, here are some recipes for you to try out for yourself and perhaps give as gifts too.
This recipe is for Little Peppermint Crispy Rice Squares. I have always loved Rice Crispy Squares, but I have never made them before. Others make them so I ASSUMED it would be easy for me. Ha! (read below).
I chose this recipe because the idea of Peppermint intrigued me.
“I love to use flavor to add twists to make holiday classics new and even more delicious. For a festive version of this favorite treat, I added white chocolate chips and McCormick peppermint extract to update a cookie platter mainstay and make Little Peppermint Crispy Rice Squares”, says Kim.
Little Peppermint Crispy Rice Squares
Prep Time: 25 minutes
4 tablespoons butter
10 ounces mini marshmallows
Ingredients:
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Peppermint Extract
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
3 coarsely crushed candy canes
Directions:
Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease an 8×8-inch or 9×9-inch pan.
Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in a big pot over low heat. When the butter has melted enough to coat the bottom of the pot, add the marshmallows. Stir often until melted, then remove from the heat. Add peppermint extract and stir well.
Pour the rice cereal, white chocolate chips and 2 crushed candy canes into the pot and stir until the marshmallows and other ingredients are mixed together.
Use a bowl scraper or spatula to get the mixture into the greased pan. Pat into place. Use buttered hands or buttered spatula to press into the pan.
Garnish with 1 crushed candy cane to create a festive look.
Let mixture set for at least 15 minutes. Cut into five rows of five, and once removing from the pan, also slice the pieces to half the thickness to make little peppermint squares the ideal size for including in holiday cookie gift baskets or boxes.
Makes 50 servings
I TRIED to make these. Since I’m not a great baker I figured these would be the easiest for me to make. HA! I was wrong. LOL! Mine just looked like a great, big, marshmallow mess. It doesn’t help that the kids couldn’t help but eat the mixture as I was trying to get it all in the pan. I don’t think I used enough butter on my hands because it was sticking to everything! Even when I tried to cut them they were sticking to the knife. I found it easier just to let the kids grab a chunk out of the pan. They were more then happy to oblige. 🙂
They were SUPPOSE to resemble small Rice Crispy treats with crushed up candy canes. Mine just kind of came out as a big glob of Rice Crispies and chunks of candy canes.
Here is this recipe, as well as two other recipes, to get you started on your holiday baking. Simply click on each title to bring up the recipe. They are Word Documents. You can save them to your computer or print them out for reference.
Little Peppermint Crispy Rice Squares
Sugar Cookie Thumbprints with Spiced Jam Centers
Nutty Oatmeal Ginger Cookie Sandwiches
I am going to attempt to make Gingerbread cookies this year, maybe even Gingerbread men because I FINALLY have the Gingerbread man cookie cutter. I even have some Ginger from McCormick to help me make them.
I also want to make Snickerdoodles. I read the recipe on the McCormick site and they seem easy enough. The Pecan Cookie Balls look good too.
FYI… a drop of McCormick Peppermint Extract tastes great in hot chocolate. 🙂
For more holiday baking (and cooking) recipes check out www.McCormick.com.
Kimberly
*I received free product samples in order to try out the cookie (Rice Crispy) recipe. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.