Often, during the holidays, people come together to cook. Cooking and learning from others is a way to get closer to people, especially family. People all over the world have different kinds of recipes that are shared with people that they care about, making their feast more special for everyone.
This first recipe is called “Christmas Brownies” The ingredients include:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing the pans
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
½, teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
16 mini candy canes, broken up
White sprinkles
To prepare them, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of two 8-inch round cake pans. Cut two 8-inch circles out of parchment and line the bottoms of the cake pans with the parchment. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between. Then add the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet, mixing slowly at first. Increase the speed until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Put the batter into the greased pan, topping with the candy cane pieces and white sprinkles. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Pull out the pan when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (other than melted chocolatey goodness). Allow to cool on a wire rack. When cool, remove the brownies, cut squares, and enjoy!
This next recipe is called “Soft Christmas Cookies.” These are little cookies that are perfect for the holidays, they are easy to bake and fun to decorate. The ingredients include
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
To prepare the cookies, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients until fully absorbed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours. On a clean floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are barely brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.
Enjoy!
By Eve Cunningham
The Claw 