15 Timelessly Wonderful Vintage Christmas Dessert Recipes

Halloween wins out as my favourite holiday ever, as many of you know, and as much as I adore cooking and baking for it, there's no other seasonal event that I create quite as much food for, nor love cooking/baking in celebration of, quite like Christmas.

I think that stems in part from the fact that while Halloween is just one day. Yes, I start celebrating well in advance, but it doesn't usually call for the same degree of feasting or the endless trays of baked goods that early December  straight on until the first new days of January does.




{As soon as the calendar flips over the twelfth month of the year, you'll find me - like jolly old St. Nick here - in the kitchen, apron on, oven fired up, and mountains of scrumptious holiday fare being churned out more days than not (and I wouldn't have it any other way!). Charming mid-century vintage Santa Claus illustration source}


Christmas food is nostalgic. It calls to mind our earliest days, (often) relatives that sadly are no longer with us, and good times that we may very well have memorialized in our memories. It is the first distinct bite of fruitcake, the luxuriously rich feeling of eggnog on your tongue. Christmas tastes like cranberries, all-spice, roast turkey, chocolate fudge, mincemeat, pumpkin pie and countless other flavours each so common to the human experience and yet individual to each of us an our own culinary lives.

Throughout the duration of each year, I delight in finding vintage recipe posts with a festive flare to them, which I tuck away for safekeeping until December rolls around. Most of these recipes are wonderful classics that many of know and love dearly, but a few are more - how shall we say - whimsical mid-century offerings that might be new to your Christmas dessert repertoire. Whatever the case, they all share in common certain tastes, scents, and even textures that we automatically associate with the holiday season and that are bound to make both you and all who gather around your seasonal table pleased as punch about what you've set down before them.

Today, with precisely two weeks to go until Christmas Day and festive food making really starting to hits its stride for many of us, I wanted to take this opportunity to share fifteen of the most delightful, timeless, family pleasing vintage holiday recipes that I've encountered online this year. Whether they're old favourites or new-to-you treats, I hope that any and all of them that you should happen to try out prove to be firm favourites that only add to the many terrific Christmas food recipes you already cherish.



The mid-1940s delivers this classic recipe for Grandma'a Molasses Cookies, which is low on sugar but big on old-fashioned gingerbread taste and seasonal appeal!




This mid-century recipe for Walnut Fruit Ring not only looks elegantly pretty (wouldn't it make for a marvelous Christmas Eve or Christmas Day breakfast treat?), but sounds thoroughly delicious as well. If walnuts aren't your favourite, you could easily substitute them with another nut that holds up well to baking, such as pecans, almonds, or macadamias.




Orange and almond extras add seasonal flavour and a sublime aroma to this wonderful looking Merrie Companie Cake from 1960, which you could further jazz up with candied peal or citrus slices inside or as a decorative finishing touch on the outside (in lieu of the fruit and nuts that are suggested). A dark chocolate icing or ganache (instead of the fluffy egg white icing) would also pair excellently with the flavours at work here.




Don't let the potential hurdles of making candy from scratch at home put you off, especially when there are so many dead simple recipes out there that involve little to "staging" of sugar, such as this classic Chocolate Marshmallow Creme Fudge, which spends a few minutes on the stovetop and that's it in terms of the cooking involved. Fudge is one of my favourite treats to make - and to give as a gift - at Christmas time, and I love whipping varieties such as rocky road, cherry nut, maple pecan, creamsicle, and classic chocolate versions such as this great fifties offering alike.




If dark fruitcake finds favour with you and your family, then why not step several decades back into the past and make this classic, tasty sounding vintage fruitcake recipe offering from 1927.




This recipe from 1949 for Peppermint Tapioca Cream is just the thing after a rich, heavy main meal, when you still want dessert, but nothing too substantial. If tapioca isn't your cup of tea, you could easily make as a rice, quinoa, or even oat based treat instead.




I don't know about you, but this lovely early fifties recipe for Peppermint-Stick Cake sounds December on a fork to me! It marries the always awesome combination of peppermint and chocolate together for a fun, crowd pleasing dessert that would be fabulous in cupcake form as well.




Need something sweet, fun, and apt to please everyone in your family from the ages of three to 103? Whip up a batch of these charming Chocolate Krackolates (and do feel free to rename them to something that rolls off the tongue a little better, if so desired). They're quick, delicious, and fairly easy on the wallet, too boot - something we can all use during the expense filled holiday season!




No other time of the year suits, or calls for, raisins better than Christmas season, if you ask me, and as I'm a huge fan of these sweet, zingy little dried fruits, I always stock up well in advance and use them in all manner of sweet and savoury dishes alike throughout December. This fun California Raisins recipe ad from 1962 provides ideas for two festive ways to use of some of those that you might have kicking around - the raisin bars in particular are calling my name!




A well known breakfast cereal (Weetabix) is the unexpected star in this creative early fifties take on the centuries old beloved classic that is Christmas Plum Pudding.




Three vintage molasses recipes - each splendidly well suited to the holiday season - call this lovely Brer Rabbit ad from 1950 home. I'm really intrigued by the the brownies and look forward to giving them a spin!

If jelly candies are a hit at your house, why not try making this 1940s recipe for Holiday Danties? Knox gelatin helps speed the process along in the kitchen, and the festive colours and flavours are bound to impress your friends and family alike when you bring them to the table!

{To learn more about a specific vintage recipe above, please click on it, or the name of the recipe I the description below it, to be taken to its respective page.}

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Yum, yum, merry yum! :) All of these recipes appeal to me and though I would have to modify most of them for my own medical dietary needs, that never stops me in the slightest! There are workarounds for so many different special diets these days (thankfully), so it's well worth at least experimenting - even if it means deviating a fair bit from the original recipe - to try and still enjoy as many of your seasonal favourites as possible.

Speaking of which, if you're looking for more thoroughly fun vintage holiday season dishes and sweet treats, be sure to check out my vintage recipes page, where you'll find all of the others that I've shared here over the years. Between today’s selection of fifteen desserts and those from years past, there's bound to be at least one or two awesome old school Christmas recipes that call your name and send you rushing to see how much cinnamon, candied fruit, molasses, or cocoa powder you still have in the pantry!

Enjoy this marvelous time of the year and all the food, be it homemade, store bought, or created by others in your life, that it delivers. Before we know it, Christmastime will be over for another year and our meals will go back to their wintertime norm.

Feast now, bake often, treat those you love to your scrumptious seasonal eats, and don't shy away from vintage holiday recipes - after all, they've been the backbone of many of our holiday meals and memories alike for generations now and that alone is well worth baking a fruitcake or two in celebration of! :)

Super easy two-ingredient 1950s Chocolate Peanut Bark (plus 25 great alternative versions)

The holiday season always seems to throw some curveballs one's way, and more often than not, they require either larger volumes of food than expected or sudden gifts that you hadn't been planning for ahead of time.

To cover my bases on both fronts, I try to always have both some wonderful all-purpose store bought gifts (such as scented candles, timeless holiday ornaments, good quality kitchen linens, gift certificates or cards to popular stores or restaurants, and other items that most everyone likes and will be apt to use) and some homemade treats to hand that I can wrap up in a mason jar, cellophane, gift bags, fun tins or other festive packaging and take with me at a moment's notice.

The nearer we get to Christmas, the more I find myself whipping up batching of quick, scrumptious, crowd pleasing baked goods and candies that require little time and minimal ingredients, yet still pull out all the stops on the taste bud pleasing front. This classic 1950s vintage recipe for Chocolate Peanut Bark does just that and is really one of the quickest holiday dessert recipes you'll ever encounter.




{Even in the midst of the absolute busiest of holidays weeks, chances are you can find a few quick minutes to whip up this ultra straightforward, easy and thoroughly yummy 1950s recipe for Chocolate Peanut Bark, which I find has a tendency to vanish nearly as quickly as I can make it! Vintage recipe image source.}


Now, I want to point out of course that if you're serving or taking peanuts or foods containing peanuts or peanut butter with you anywhere, you will want to ensure as much as possible that no one there is allergic to peanuts. This can be a truly deadly food allergy and is not something to take lightly for one moment.

Though allergies to nuts (peanuts themselves, interestingly, are not actually nuts, but instead members of the legume family) certainly exist as well, they're less common and less likely to be potentially fatal when they do occur, so if you'd feel more comfortable creating this delicious vintage chocolate bark recipe with your favourite nuts, then certainly go for.

I'm partial to the following alternatives and combinations myself (I sometimes like to add in other ingredients on top of the mere two called for in the original recipe):


-White chocolate (instead of milk or dark) and dried cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, apricots or other fruit

-Pretzels and cut up (store bought or homemade) caramels

-Crushed candy canes, peppermints, or other flavourful hard candies

-Almonds, dried bananas (banana chips), and a sprinkling of pink Himalayan salt

-Candied citrus peel

-Pieces of Turkish delight candy

-Sunflower or pumpkin seeds

-Granola or breakfast cereals such as Rice Krispies or Cornflakes (my husband especially enjoys the latter)

-Cut up or mini Marshmallows (I like using the multi-coloured mini fruit variety from Kraft for this purpose)

-Graham crackers (combine them with marshmallows for a great s'mores inspired treat that makes for the perfect treat to savour in front of the fire)

-Toasted coconut (I love it with dried pineapple or mango and a sprinkling of Maldon salt for a great tropical inspired dessert)

-Instead of peanuts or other nuts, swirl peanut butter or your favourite nut or nut alternative butter through while the chocolate is still completely melted for a great marbled effect (you can also do this and still add in other ingredients, too)

-Crushed cookies or macarons (white chocolate and Oreos or similar sandwich cookies make for a fabulous cookies and cream bark)

-Dried figs, fresh thyme or rosemary and cashews

-Whole or chopped hazelnuts and pieces of hard toffee

-Fresh pink grapefruit, lemon, lime, mandarin or navel orange zest

-Raisins and oats (or brown rice porridge style flakes)

-Popcorn or kettle corn

-Maraschino cherries, pieces of ice cream cone, sprinkles and (optionally) peanuts or other nuts to create a seriously appealing ice cream sundae inspired bark

-Candied pecans and a sprinkling of dried (food grade) lavender

-M&Ms candies (use the red and green Christmas variety if possible, for an extra festive touch)

-Pieces of meringues, dried berries and the tiniest dash of crushed pink peppercorns

-For a great 1990s throwback to when this cookie was all the rage, use white chocolate and macadamia nuts

-Pop Rocks candy (this makes for a super fun New Year's Eve treat, as the "explosion" of the Pop Rocks on your tongue symbolizes celebratory fireworks)

-And if you're in the mood to be extra trendy, bacon - which I especially like with toffee or caramel bits

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These are but a few delicious bark recipes that you could serve your guests and family alike, and/or bring as holiday gifts this month. Many, I find, also make for stellar Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween sweet treats as well, and can of course be served and enjoyed at any other time of the year (a tin of dried apple, cinnamon and toffee chocolate bark is one of my favourite autumn go-to homemade desserts and would make for an especially lovely teacher's gift come September).

There's just six more days to go until Christmas and if you suddenly need or simply want to add to your holiday table's spread or bring a thoughtful homemade gift with you wherever you're headed this season, you really can't go wrong with a fabulously easy, timelessly tasty candy like the vintage recipe and my alternative suggestions here. In fact, you could even skip the cookies this Christmas Eve and leave a much appreciated plate of chocolate bark out for Santa! :)

A festively fabulous 1950s recipe for Coconut Candy Cane Cake

When my family meet sup for a meal, there are a lot of diverse dietary needs (most medically based) amongst my relatives and I that must be taken into consideration. Though there will always be some types of dishes that no everyone can partake of, when cooking for a crowd of my nearest and dearest, I do really like to create recipes that can safely be eaten by as many folks as possible. And certainly at no time of the year does that ring more true than this month, with the merriment and excitement of Christmas starting to hit its stride.

I'm always on the prowl for tasty, crowd pleasing, easy to prepare foods that I can bring to, or prepare and serve at home for, holiday get-togethers, and when I happened upon this fabulously fun 1950s Coconut Candy Cane Cake earlier this year on Flickr, my eyes lit up my Christmas bulbs! With a few tweaks (using gluten-free flour or a GF cake mix and swapping eggs for an egg substitute), it's something that both myself and most of my relatives can safely eat and that makes it an instant winner in my books.

With December 25th just nineteen days away and plenty of wonderful social occasions on my busy calendar this month, I'll be whipping up this great vintage Christmas cake soon for at least one of them and hope that it proves to be every bit as delicious and appealing as it looks.



{There's no need for a fancy cake pan to create this festively shaped dessert. Just cut and arrange squares, frost and adorn them with coconut, and you'll have an instantly eye-catching, completely Christmas season perfect vintage cake to bake and take (or serve) anytime this season. Image source.}


The recipe above suggests using boiled (aka, 7-minute) frosting, but as it traditionally contains egg whites, I'll be skipping it in favour of butter cream or another egg-free frosting myself. Aside from that and the two tweaks mentioned earlier, I won't be doing a thing to this wonderful vintage Christmas cake recipe - short of tucking into a big piece of it that is!

You could easily tint some shredded coconut green, too, if desired, to create the look of an iconic three-colour candy cane. If coconut isn't a hit with your family, you could easily skip it and use coloured sprinkles/sanding sugar or icing instead to produce the desired candy cane look. Small candies, such as mini jujubes or mints, could also be put to work in the same capacity.

I love that this vintage holiday season cake looks fabulously impressive, but isn't time consuming or challenging to make in the slightest (always an extra big plus at this time of the year). Partner that with the fact that I can serve a slice to just about everyone in my family, and I'm one seriously happy Christmas time baker! :)

12 timelessly lovely vintage Christmas cookie recipes

'Twas three mornings before Christmas and all through the house, every creature was actually stirring - a mixing bowl, that is. That's right, my lovelies, Christmas is just half a week away and I'm happily up to my eyebrows in holiday feast preparations. I don't mind in the least. Yes, it's taxing on me from a health standpoint, but this whole chunk of the year is, and it's a small price to pay to get to enjoy the magic, wonder and togetherness of Christmastime with my darling husband and our loved ones.

Like many families, cookies and bars have always been an integral part of our holiday season feast. Growing up, my mom often baked upwards of ten or more different types of Christmas cookies, bars and similar goodies for our family, as well as to take some of to when we went places such as my grandparent's house or to give as gifts to treasured neighbours.




Of course our family isn't alone in this delicious tradition by any means. Christmas baking has been a part of the season since pretty much the very get-go, and most of us who celebrate on December 25th enjoy indulging in at least one special treat on the big day - which often means reaching for the plate of cookies.

Over the years here, I've posted a handful of terrific vintage Christmas cookie recipes, some of which hail from my own family's recipe book, whereas others were online finds that really caught my eye. These include:

-Cherry Nut Shortbread Cookies

-Cherry Snowball Cookies

-Christmas Trees

-Chocolate Mint Brownies

-Gingerbread Men

-Swedish Crisps


Today - always a day devoted largely to Christmas baking at my house - I wanted to share 12 more really charming looking vintage Christmas cookie recipes from the 1940s and 50s (one each to represent the twelve days of Christmas), all of which I've tucked away over the past year as I've come across them.

Any one of the following recipes could be altered a bit here or there, as desired, but I'll leave it up to you and your imagination, if you feel inclined to alter them. I think they each sound mighty yummy just as they are right now! :)










 
 

{To learn more about a specific image, or in some cases to find a larger version of it, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

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All of my holiday baking is gluten and egg-free (as well as devoid of other ingredients that I'm not able to eat due to medical reasons), and this has meant the rejigging of most of my favourite recipes, as well as those I've found online, over the years. Happily however, about 90% of my experiments have turned out well (Ener-G egg replacer is a huge help you also need to forgo the real deal in any kind of baking), and my repertoire of tasty holiday desserts continues to grow with each passing Christmas season.

My very favourites from my family's classic recipes will always be the Mint Chocolate Brownies and Cherry Snowballs mentioned above, but I whip up several others most years as well, and am always game to try any new recipe that I can safely eat.

There's a reason why we leave cookies and milk out for Santa. These homemade, fantastic little treats are an integral part of the holiday season for most people and it's hard to image December without them ready and waiting, whenever the craving for something sugary hits, to give as gifts, and to sneak down and enjoy late at night in the beautiful glow of the Christmas tree. Each one is a special gift for your taste buds, a nostalgic reminder of holidays past, traditions handed down in the kitchen, and a symbol of the inherent sweetness of this amazing season.




I hope that you find a new vintage Christmas cookie recipe or two (or 12!) to try amongst those listed here today that sparks your interest, and who knows, perhaps becomes an instant classic at your house. Have fun baking and enjoying these awesome early winter days that lead up to the 25th, Christmas cookies never far from hand throughout the whole majestic season.

This vintage cranberry cake recipe is bound to be a surefire holiday dessert hit

While a few late season pears and apples continue to trickle onto the local supermarket shelves, by and large autumn's fruit harvest is behind us. As the last wisps of faux cobwebs and suddenly smooshy pumpkins are removed from the front porch, one notices an icy wind rush to greet their cardigan clad arms. The official start of winter may still be more than a month away, but already the telltale signs of the next season are upon us.

Where just last week we were up to our eyeballs in candy corn, caramel apples, and pumpkin shaped sugar cookies, today one's thoughts can't help but shift towards Thanksgiving (if you live in the US), which falls on November 28th this year, and further down the road a little ways, Christmas. With November comes foods laden with hearty flavours and scents, ingredients all but forgotten during summer's blazing reign of warmth, now become beloved dinner table companions once more.

Once supper wraps up and a hankering for something sweet sets in, out are the light and airy Italian ices, angel food cakes, and pastel hued macarons of the past few months, and in their place come everything from gingerbread cookies to stewed fruit, rum balls to pecan pie - and of course, plenty of desserts teaming with cranberries.

It is this mainstay of the cold weather culinary repertoire which shines like the jewel that it is in today's super easy, wonderfully tasty vintage Holiday Topsy-Turvy Cranberry Cake (so called because, much like a pineapple upside-down cake, the fruit goes into the pan first, followed by the cake batter, then the whole shebang is turned right-side up with the cranberries on top once it has finished baking).



{Perfect for everything from Thanksgiving Day breakfast to a mid-afternoon coffee break on Boxing Day, this quick to prepare, economical vintage cranberry cake recipe is a fun mid-century take on one of the best flavours of the season. Image source.}


Other than swapping out the lard for butter, margarine, or a vegan margarine substitute (just depending on the crowd I was baking for), I wouldn't do much to this recipe at all. It's lovely - pleasingly tart and sweet in the same forkful - as it is.

For those, like me, who need to go the gluten-free route, sub in your favourite GF white or golden cake mix (I used two boxes of Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Golden Cake Mix when I made this recipe last and it delivered the perfect amount of batter for a pan of approximately the same size as the one indicated here) or homemade white cake recipe instead.

One thought that occurred to me though (not to contradict what I just said about leaving things as they are) is that, if you were making this recipe at a different time of year, such as for July 4th, is that you could swirl some blueberries through with the cranberries for a patriotic/festive red, white and blue upside-down cake. The colour palette would of course work great for celebrations in those countries (such as France and the UK) that have flags in these same hues.

With US Thanksgiving (we had ours back on October 14th here in Canada) and Christmas little more than a snowball's throw away however, I'll stick with just the cranberries for now - save perhaps unless a few pomegranate seeds - another treasured cold weather fruit - want to make their way into the mix for an extra dose of red-as-Rudolph's nose festive fruit fun.

Speaking of important celebrations this season, I want to take a moment to wish each of you a peaceful, lovely Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day tomorrow, depending on which side of the 49th you live.

This is a truly important day and one which I think those of us with a deeply rooted passion for the 1940s are especially in tune with, as we know and honour the sacrifices and triumphs made by all those that fought - whether on the battlefield or home front - to ensure freedom would reign supreme continually through our devotion to the history of this unforgettable era the whole year round.

Betty Crocker's delicious vintage recipe idea for leftover Christmas turkey

There is a certain distinct beauty to Boxing Day - and often a renewed sense of serenity, too (assuming one stays away from the hoards of shoppers out at the plethora of sales today, that is!). Christmas Day, hard as it is to believe, is behind us once more. The presents have been unwrapped, the feast tucked unto, and the nearly infamous holiday cards long sent out.

The merriness of the day, its bright, ageless spirit and unmatched importance remain on December 26th, however, and will for most people for several more days to come. Unlike other holidays that generally come and go with a bang, Christmas is more than just one day. It a tiny season of joy, celebration, gratitude, and festivity unto itself, and I think that's part of the reason so many of us adore this time of the year so dearly.

Though some folks feel a renewed since of energy on this lovely day, a good deal of us are quite tuckered out after days, or even weeks of solid holiday preparation, which means this isn't the time for huge meals made completely from scratch again - especially not when we likely have a fridge that's bursting to capacity with scrumptious Christmas dinner remains.

However, you may want a slight change of pace from yesterday's grand meal with all the trimmings, and thus may I - and the every wonderful Betty Crocker - present to you a delightful vintage recipe for Turkey Roulettes that calls from a couple of cups of leftover turkey and few store cupboard staples staples.

Ready in a flash, and perfect to serve with any of your other holiday leftovers that you desire, this recipe is a gem to have on hand for anytime of the year you may have extra turkey (or chicken) in the fridge.

{Leftover Christmas turkey and few other basic ingredients, plus less than an hour's time, is all it takes to whip up this taste bud pleasing vintage recipe for Turkey Roulettes. Image via Eudaemonius on Flickr.}



I'd be tempted to add a little bit of cranberry sauce in each roulette (or perhaps thin it out a touch and drizzle it over the finished pastry parcels), and would definitely serve these with gravy or a white sauce, as the original recipe suggests (a nice, sharp cheese sauce or even a flavourful tomato sauce would both be splendid here, too). By the same token, you could add in a handful of stuffing (dressing), diced cooked vegetables (say Brussel sprouts or carrots), or even some yummy mashed potatoes.

Our Christmas was absolutely marvelous – filled with everything and more, from family to wonderful gifts, countless tasty morsels to gorgeous seasonal decor that one could possibly hope for. The buzz and gaiety of Christmas is still going strong today at our house and will, I'm sure, for several more days to come - especially when there's so much scrumptious turkey to enjoy still in classic recipes like this.

I hope deeply that you're each having a tremendously lovely holiday season, and that you're Boxing team is teaming with happiness, fun, fantastic food - and should you decide to brave the mall crowds, plenty of good bargains! :)

How to keep the cookie jar filled

...all through the holidays!

It's the time of year again, ladies and gents. Time to don favourite apron, give the electric beaters a good work out, tint frosting red and green, and go to town on whipping up scads of holiday cookies.

Like many people, I have a certain set of Christmas cookie recipes that have been a part of my holiday celebration throughout my entire life. They're beloved classics that were handed down from my mom and grandmothers, and which (though I now make gluten-free versions for myself) I could scarcely imagine December without.

There are others as well that have hopped on board over the years from various sources, and a few I created myself, too. I'm always open to adding new additions to the line up and vintage sources are certainly one of the first places I turn to if I'm in the mood to christen a new holiday cookie recipe.

With Christmas just twenty days away, I felt that more than one recipe was called for, so today's vintage recipe page from 1961 features three different Christmas cookie recipes, all of which include molasses to help give them an extra deep flavour and beautiful aroma that instantly puts one in the mood to curl up in front of the Christmas tree and listen to your favourite Burl Ives or Bing Crosby holiday album.




{Whether you fancy stars, gingerbread men, or Christmas trees, they're a festive cookie shape for one and all to be had amongst these delicious early 1960s recipes. Image via kristineroy on Flickr.}



These three recipes are, admittedly, quite similar to one another, though they do differ a tad (chiefly when it comes to which spices are used and the shapes they're cut out into). If you adore molasses or really need to bake up a mountain of cookies, you could certainly give all three a spin, if not, try out one or two this year and perhaps the others during holiday seasons to come.

I've always loved the flavour of raisins and molasses together, so if I was going to whip one of these tasty Christmas cookie recipes up, I'd be quite inclined to throw in a handful (particularly with the Swedish Crisps), but otherwise really wouldn't tamper with these recipes much at all.

The baking fest hasn't quite begun on this end yet, but soon enough it certainly will, and the days of a kitchen warm with the sublime aroma of sweet holiday treats will soon be here once more. I love cooking and baking for the holidays, so this point sets me smiling just thinking about it - not to mention the fact that it easily gets the ol' tummy rumbling, too!

Hmmm, perhaps I better go see if we have any molasses in the pantry and do a little pre-official Christmas baking cookie making.

Wonderful Cherry Nut Shortbread Cookie Recipe

✯ Day 354 of Vintage 365 ✯

Call me biased, but my mom - who is a stellar home cook, period - is amongst the best bakers I've ever encountered in my whole life, and there are few arenas where her culinary skills shine more brightly than when she makes her annual trove of flat out amazing holiday desserts and sweet treats.


Today's recipe, the second in this week's series of my family's classic Christmas dishes, is amongst my favourite holiday cookies of all time (and is one that I often make for friends and family to enjoy during this festive time season, just as my mom still does, too).


{Utilizing classic mid-twentieth century ingredients, including margarine, these festive shortbread cookies have the sort of timeless appeal ensures they'll continue to be loved by generations to come. Beautifully illustrated 1950s margarine ad via Paul.Malon on Flickr.}
Much like turkey gravy, mincemeat pie, or plum pudding, for me the aroma of these delightful little rounds of glistening red fruit studded cookies instantly evokes memories of Christmases past and is endlessly tied to holiday meals, past and present, for me and my family.



Cherry Nut Shortbread Cookies


Ingredients

-1 cup softened (but not melted) margarine
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup chopped nuts (my family usually uses walnuts, but anything from pistachios to almonds would work nicely, too)
-1/2 cup finely chopped (drained) maraschino cherries
-Sifted icing sugar (to dust cookies with after they're baked)


Directions

In a medium to large sized mixing bowl, thoroughly cream the margarine and sugar together either by hand or with an electric mixer; blend in the vanilla. Add flour and salt, sifted together, and stir well.
Fold in chopped nuts and cherries, then chill dough (in mixing bowl) in the fridge for at least one hour.

Shape dough into one inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about half an inch apart (these cookies really don't expand very much upon baking). Bake at 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3) for 18-20 minutes, placing cookie sheet on an oven rack that is a little higher than the center of your oven.

Transfer cookies to cooling racks and while still a warm, dust liberally with icing (powdered) sugar.
Store in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze (and these do freeze really nicely - they even taste delicious when eaten frozen!) for four months.

I love how easy this recipe is to make and that one can often prepare it simply based on ingredients you have in your pantry already (especially at this time of the year).


You can multiple it as your heart desires, and also (for a fun change of pace) use green maraschino cherries instead of red, if you'd like. Either way, the inclusion of these splendidly sweet jarred fruits lends this scrumptious holiday cookie recipe such a marvelous vintage vibe.


Happy cookie baking and a very joyful Christmas countdown to all of you!

Two terrific vintage cornbread stuffing recipes

✯ Day 348 of Vintage 365 ✯

When done well, there are few elements of a holiday meal that I love more than a great stuffing. My mother made an extremely lovely, traditional white bread version complete with raisins, celery, lashings of poultry seasoning and bacon when I was growing up that I still model my (albeit adapted to use gluten-free bread instead, so that I can eat it these days) annual Christmas stuffing on.

Whether you prefer the term stuffing or dressing (some people see them as one in the same, others feel that "stuffing" applies to something that is placed inside of the bird, whereas "dressing" is cooked alongside it or in a separate baking dish all together), there's much to be said for this marvelous holiday side dish.

The act of filling one food with another has been in place since at least the Romans (stuffed meat recipes appear in Apicius, a classic Roman cookbook that dates back to around the end of the 4th century AD), though I'd venture to guess even earlier. It's convenient (saves space, cooks two dishes at once) to stuff foods as we do with Christmas turkeys and (more so in days gone by) geese, an act which usually helps impart taste to both the meat and stuffing as the two infuse one another with their delectable flavours.

Though I do give my mom's stuffing pride-of-place in my Christmas cookery book, that it isn't to say I haven't experimented and enjoyed other turkey dressings over the years, too (both during the holidays and when I've roasted birds at other times).

In fact, some of the loveliest stuffing recipes I've ever tried were those that I found in vintage cookbooks and December editions of ladies magazines, such as as Woman's Day, which is precisely where today's pair of vintage Christmas stuffing recipes first appeared in 1960.

{Both of these marvelous vintage turkey stuffing recipes are timeless culinary gems that are well worth keeping in your holiday meal repertoire. Image via Charm and Poise on Flickr.}

 

Given that cornmeal/cornbread appears in both of these delectable recipes, it's fair to say that they telegraph a certain wonderfully Southern feel, especially the "Time Saver Corn Meal Dressing".

The second recipe is for "Oyster Corn Bread Dressing", which to me marries the Southern charm of cornmeal with a slightly more New England vibe care of the inclusion of oysters (though oysters do certainly appear in many recipes hailing from south of the Mason-Dixon line, too, such as the classic seafood filled po' boy sandwich).

Each recipe says that it will stuff a 10 to 12 pound bird, but you could always half the quantity for a very small turkey (or extra large chicken). By the same token though, you could double it for a hefty sized turkey or if you'd like to cook some extra dressing on the side (if like in my family, you find that a tasty stuffing always gets snapped up quickly by Christmas dressing fans who eagerly wait all year for it).

On a non-holiday meal related note, I'd like to sincerely send out my deepest thanks to all those who left wonderfully kind comments and/or sent email message by way in regards to my post yesterday about my injured foot. Your sweet, caring words mean a great deal and are definitely helping me feel better. ♥

Delightfully decorated 1950s Christmas Cake Recipe

✯ Day 341 of Vintage 365 ✯

With just eighteen days left until Christmas morn, the time to start really filling in any gaps in your holiday season menu is fast approaching. Before long it will be time to shop for every last delicious ingredient you'll need to procure a winning holiday feast, be it for two or fifty-two, and that means knowing what you're going to serve is a must before venturing out to the shops.

Like many people, I tend to stick with several of the classics each Christmas, varying some of the side dishes, but generally adhering closely to my mother's home cooked Christmas meal (which, at the risk of sounding biased, was indescribably good), with the addition of various Italian culinary treats for my beloved husband, Tony.

In the dessert department I certainly have many tried-and-tree recipes as well (some of which have been handed down to me by my parents and grandparents, as well as others I've discovered or created myself over the years), but am always on the prowl for a new dish or spin on a classic to try.

Swayed, no doubt, by the immense cuteness of today's wonderfully festive Candle-Light Cake from the 1950s, I knew the moment I saw this charming vintage white cake recipe, that it would be perfect for a holiday recipe post this year.

{A timeless white cake is festively jazzed up thanks to green frosting, citron peel "leaves", and maraschino cherry "holly berries" in this terrific Christmas recipe from 1951. Image via sugarpie honeybunch on Flickr.}

 

Even if you're not a fan of using shortening in your cakes, or upping the kitsch factor by sticking a large glowing candle in the middle of them, I hope that you'll find Christmas dessert inspiration in the darling white, red and green icing and decorations of this lovely holiday cake (which you could always make with your favourite , butter or oil based white cake recipe).

If one large cake wasn't quite what you had in mind for your next event this season, why not opt for delicious little white cake cupcakes instead, which you could just as easily ice (frost) and decorate in much the same way, topping each with the sweet, completely edible holly leaves and berries in todays recipe.

Undoubtedly one of this cake's strongest appeals is the fact that it looks so splendidly well suited to December, yet really don't require much skill (cake decorating, after all, is an art and talent that not all of us are blessed with by any means). Indeed, this white cake is so marvellously simple to create that you could easily let your kids help out by tinting the icing (frosting) and cutting up the decorations, if they're old enough.

So cheerfully fun in this great recipe, that you might just be tempted to forego the cookies and leave out a slice of this festive cake for jolly old St. Nick come Christmas Eve.

Wonderful Wednesday Recipe: Cherry Snowball Cookies

Hi, 2010, this is Jessica, care to explain how on earth you whizzed by so quickly? Ok, honestly this year wasn’t always as fast as grease lightning for me, but looking back at any year it almost always seems to have vanished faster than one can blink their mascara coated eyelashes. The particular happening today that made me reflect on just how incredibly quickly this year as rolled past was when I checked to see how long it had been since the last time we had an edition of the “Wonderful Wednesday” post, and discovered that it was way back in the sun-kissed days of early June!

Here we sit half a year later, snowflakes dive bombing themselves into my balcony, the screeching wind rattling every window and floorboard in my home, and June suddenly seems to far removed that it might as well be on a different planet.

Yet spring will return in a few months, and all years pass at their own unique speed - depending on our perception of time. While I won’t be lounging in any toasty sunshine for a while, that’s not the end of the world. There is much to love, celebrate and derive happiness from in this chilly time of the year – starting with the delicious splendours of holiday season baking!

Some of you may have started whipping up cookies, candied fruit studded cakes, bars, squares, pies, candies, and other treats already, whereas some of us may be holding off until the 25^th draws a bit nearer. Either way, if you’re like me, you have a tried and true set of beloved holiday recipes, but also enjoy experimenting with new one sometimes.

In order to revive the “Wonderful Wednesday Recipe” (it won’t appear each week, but fingers crossed it won’t be MIA for six months again either!), I wanted to share one of my most treasured of Christmas recipes with you today.

This delightful, super easy to make (and relatively inexpensive) cookie (which is similar to a shortbread cookie) is one that appeared on my family’s holiday table every year when I was growing up. It’s a simple classic that pairs marvellously with other sweets on a dessert tray, as well as with warm beverages like hot chocolate or Irish coffee.

{There’s no denying that walnuts go splendidly with chocolate cake, as this charming illustration from 1925 suggests, however they can also do wonders for your holiday baking and are a key ingredients today’s Cherry Snowball Cookie recipe. Vintage Diamond Walnuts ad via eBay.} 

Homey, delicious, teaming with glistening little flecks of maraschino cherries, these festive morsels also make for a great last minute cookie when time is off the essence and you know a little in advance that you'll have a peckish crowd to feed (or simply want to bake an extra batch of cookies to have on hand for when company stops by).

Cherry Snowball Cookies

·         Ingredients

·         1 cup margarine, softened (but not melted)

·         ½ cup white (granulated) sugar

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         ½ tsp salt

·         1 cup chopped walnuts

·         ½ cup (though I’ve gone as generous as ¾ cup and the recipe still came out great) chopped, very well drained maraschino cherries

·         Sifted icing (powdered) sugar

Directions

Preheat your own to 325°F/160°C/gas mark 3.

With an electric mixer or by hand in a large mixing bowl, thoroughly cream the margarine and white sugar together, then blend in the vanilla. Next add the salt and then the flour in three part increments, stirring well to combine ingredients after each addition.

Fold the nuts and cherries into the cookie dough, again stirring well to combine, and then place the dough (in the mixing bowl or other similar dish) in the fridge for at least one hour.

Remove dough from fridge and form into one inch sized balls. Place balls on an ungreased, non-stick cookie sheet, spacing them at least an inch apart (though these cookies do not spread out much at all, retaining their adorable snowball-esque round shape once baked). Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, then remove cookies from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack.

While still warm, lightly dust icing (powdered) sugar over top of all of the cookies. Cool, and transfer to the airtight storage container of your choice (where these cookies should keep for at least five days). These delightful cookies can also be frozen (once baked), and stored for at least two months in a freezer-safe container.

Recipe yields approximately 40-45 cookies.

Bon appétit!