Pecan Puffs

Before I have you convinced that all I ever cook is Christmas cookies, I wanted to share one last recipe. These snowball cookies are made from a rich pecan-flavoured shortbread and then rolled in icing sugar. As the cookies cool, the sugar melts creating a pretty, white glaze. I already am awaiting next December to [...]

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Candy Cane Cookies (Almond Crescents)

When I consider all my favourite Christmas cookie recipes, they all have nuts. Just a few tablespoons of almonds, walnuts, or pecans transforms a pretty regular cookie into something absolutely decadent. These candy canes are my mother’s favourite, and she has been known to hide them from my sister’s friends who devour them. My grandmother [...]

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Swedish Pastries (Thumbprint Walnut Christmas Cookies)

Swedish pastries may be my favourite of all Christmas cookies.  I have been known to eat them by the dozen (so does my sister!).  These simple cookies have it all: A rich shortbread cookie delicately covered in toasted walnuts, and finished with a jewel of jelly.  Only 11 more months until I have an excuse [...]

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Slice-and-Bake Icebox Cookies

Dare I admit that over the Christmas holidays, my family and I baked seven pounds worth of butter?  We made many a family favourite from tourtière to my grandma’s delicious coffee cake recipe.  And of course, we made half a dozen types of Christmas cookies to enjoy. Now I know a recipe is an old family [...]

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White Chocolate Cranberry Tart with Toasted Pistachios

 With Christmas lights sparkling on the street, I was recently inspired to make a fancy Christmas desert.  It is a truth universally acknowledged that The Three Tarts Bakery makes some of the most divine tarts in Ottawa, and one of my particular favourites is their white chocolate cranberry pistachio tart.   This tart recipe, which infuses orange [...]

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