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Italian Chifferi Cookies with Espresso and Cinnamon-Sugar

December 18, 2015 By Laura 22 Comments

Italian Chifferi Cookies with Espresso and Cinnamon-Sugar are a sophisticated and delicious twist on crescent cookies. They are perfect for Christmas cookie exchanges and Holiday cookie tins! The minute I saw these Italian Chifferi Cookies I knew I was making them. Actually, if I am honest, I felt that way about these cookies and another one in… 

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Filed Under: coffee desserts, cookies, hazelnuts, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, Italian Tagged With: christmas, coffee, cookies, crescent cookie, espresso, hazelnuts, Holidays, Italian, nuts

Cranberry Stuffing with Apples, Mushrooms and Wild Rice

December 8, 2015 By Laura 4 Comments

Cranberry Stuffing with Apples, Mushrooms and Wild Rice will be the vegetarian hit of your holiday meal!

Cranberry Stuffing with Apples, Mushrooms and Wild Rice will be the vegetarian hit of your holiday meal! The fresh cranberries really elevate this casserole into something special. This post was sponsored by Hurst’s Berry Farm, who sent me some fabulous Pacific Northwest cranberries to create a recipe with, and all opinions are my own.  I… 

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Filed Under: apples, casseroles, cranberries, mushrooms, rice, Stuffing/dressing, vegetarian, wild rice Tagged With: apples, casserole, christmas, cranberries, dressing, Holidays, rice, stuffing, Thanksgiving, vegetarian, wild rice

Polish Vanilla Hazelnut Crescent Cookies (Ciasteczka Waniliowe); #CreativeCookieExchange

December 16, 2014 By Laura 13 Comments

Polish Vanilla Hazelnut Crescent Cookies (Ciasteczka Waniliowe)

These Ciasteczka Waniliowe, or Polish Vanilla Hazelnut Crescent Cookies, are traditional at Christmastime and therefore perfect for this month’s Creative Cookie Exchange, which is celebrating the traditional cookies served during the various holidays occurring around the Winter Solstice all over the world. Affiliate links were used in this post to link to items I am discussing. So many cookies… 

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Filed Under: almonds, blog events, cookies, hazelnuts, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, Polish cuisine, vanilla sugar Tagged With: #CreativeCookieExchange, almonds, christmas, cookies, crescent, egg free, eggfree, hazelnuts, Holiday, holiday baking, nuts, Polish

Cocoa Peppermint Cookie Bark: Creative Cookie Exchange

December 17, 2013 By Laura 11 Comments

Cocoa cookie drizzled with bittersweet and white chocolates and topped with crushed candy canes

Cocoa Peppermint Cookie Bark is a play on traditional chocolate bark, but make with crispy cocoa cookies instead. Perfect for the holidays and your Christmas cookie tray! Keep reading to check out everyone else’s fabulous peppermint cookie creations from Creative Cookie Exchange. Affiliate links have been used in this post to link to items I… 

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Filed Under: bar cookies, blog events, chocolate, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, mint chocolate Tagged With: #CreativeCookieExchange, bark, bark cookies, bittersweet chocolate, break apart cookies, chocolate, christmas, cookies, dark chocolate, Holidays, mint, peppermint, peppermint bark, white chocolate

Double Chocolate Glazed Peppermint Bundt Cake: #Bundtamonth

December 6, 2013 By Laura 6 Comments

Chocolate Draped Bundt in shape of a tree stump

Double Chocolate Glazed Peppermint Bundt Cake is a mint chocolate lover’s dream come true–and the perfect bundt cake for the holidays! Keep reading below to see what other holiday bundt cakes Bundtamonth bakers came up with. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing. I have a baking public service announcement:… 

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Filed Under: blog events, bundt cakes, cakes, chocolate, mint chocolate Tagged With: #BundtaMonth, bundt, bundt cake, cake, chocolate, chocolate glaze, christmas, dark chocolate, Holidays, mint, peppermint, white chocolate

Chocolate Butter Balls AKA Lump of Coal Cookies

December 14, 2012 By Laura 5 Comments

Chocolate Butter Ball Cookies

Chocolate Butter Balls are a fantastic and chocolatey twist on wedding cookies, which makes them perfect for the holidays, when I love to refer to them as Lump of Coal Cookies. My kids love them, so when Sammy made them for the holidays in 2020 I updated my pictures. Original photos are still included because… 

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Filed Under: chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cookbooks, cookies, hazelnuts, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, reviews Tagged With: baking, butter balls, chocolate, christmas, cookbook, cookies, hazelnuts, Holidays, lumps of coal, nuts, wedding cookies

Spice Crusted Beef Tenderloin: How to Slide a Non-Conventional Holiday Meal past Your Conventional Family

January 5, 2012 By Laura 7 Comments

Spice Crusted Beef Tenderloin is the perfect way to jazz up a traditional holiday meal–or any formal dinner. And if you can afford beef tenderloin for an informal meal, more power to you! I updated the photos for the Spiced Crusted Beef Tenderloin in January 2017. Affiliate links have been used to link to items… 

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Filed Under: beef, cauliflower, cranberries, Indian recipes, peas, potato dishes, potatoes Tagged With: beef, beef tenderloin, cauliflower, christmas, Indian, mashed potatoes, potatoes, spice crusted, spice rub, tadka, tarka, tenderloin

Peppermint Chocolate Biscotti for the Holidays

December 5, 2011 By Laura 12 Comments

Peppermint Chocolate Biscotti with white chocolate chunks are one of the most requested cookies that I bake during the holidays. My family goes crazy for these--and they are my Christmas favorite as well!

These Peppermint Chocolate Biscotti are my favorite Christmas cookie, and a holiday family favorite as well! I make these every year, so I have updated the photos more than once. However, since my original post bemoans the fact that they are tricky to take pictures of, I have left some of the originals. And yes… 

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Filed Under: biscotti, chocolate, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, mint chocolate Tagged With: biscotti, chocolate, christmas, Holidays, mint, peppermint, white chocolate

"Hawaiian" Wedding Cookies

December 10, 2010 By Laura 11 Comments

Growing up, wedding cookies were always present in our Christmas cookie tins. I did not like them–I wonder if they are a taste you need to mature into, because I adore them now, while my kids in turn do not care for them. Karma–what are you going to do? Anyway, my mom uses Rose Levy… 

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Filed Under: cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, Macadamia nuts Tagged With: christmas, cookies, Holidays, macadamia nuts, nuts, tea cookies, wedding cookies

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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