Christmas Treats—Our Secret Recipes

Dear friends,

The Advent and Christmas season is all about the treats we especially enjoy with our families right now. These include delicious cookies, cakes, spreads, salads, the festive dinner, of course, and much more.

I’d like to encourage you to share your own (secret) recipes with all of us. It doesn’t matter what ingredients they’re made with. If they’re vegan or vegetarian recipes, it would be great if you could note that at the top.

Together, we can put together a very special collection of recipes here—for everyone’s enjoyment. And who among us doesn’t like to try something new every now and then? :)

I’ll just go ahead and start with the first recipe in my next post.

Wishing you all lots of fun, Monika

Healthy Nut-Chocolate Spread (vegan) 

This spread tastes good all year round. At Christmastime, I also add cinnamon or gingerbread spice. 

I heat and stir it in the Thermomix. If you don’t have one, you can also do it in a pot on the stove, but only over medium heat. It must not boil, just melt.

Ingredients:
250 g coconut blossom sugar (alternatively birch sugar or a mixture of both)
250 g coconut milk
210 g coconut oil
50 g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
60-100 g hazelnut butter 
tsp cinnamon or gingerbread spice (in winter)

Preparation:
Put all ingredients into the Thermomix at once and stir for about 6-7 minutes at 70 degrees on speed 2.
In a pot over medium heat, stir until everything has melted and is well combined. It should be a homogeneous mixture.

Then fill into screw-top jars and let cool. After that, place in the refrigerator. 
Very tasty!


Have fun making it, Monika wishes you all

Dear Monika,

that’s a wonderful idea. I’ll see if I can find an old family recipe to contribute. Your chocolate-nut spread sounds delicious. Unfortunately, we have people in the family with nut allergies, so I have to steer clear of anything with nuts.

Best regards, and see you later—Ina

I’m sharing our family recipe for Speculaas. It’s been passed down through several generations. Of course, you could also buy them cheaply at the supermarket. But homemade is always better because you know what’s in them—and besides, they smell and taste wonderful. My husband is definitely addicted to them. He always bakes so many speculaas cookies that they last until Easter.

Best wishes and have fun baking them—Ina

PS. You can read the ingredients authentically from our baking book. The grease stains have accumulated over decades. The preparation works just like with “regular” cookies. Decorate as desired.

Wow, Ina, that’s a great recipe. I’m going to try it. Thank you so much!

The chocolate spread tastes delicious even without the nuts. You can leave them out—unless you’re also allergic to coconut.

The last time I made it, I added nuts for the first time to give it a little extra something. Otherwise, it was just a chocolate-coconut spread. ;-)

Yes, dear Monika, that would be a doable option! Thank you very much for the recipe and the tip!

That immediately reminds me of another one ...

When we have “breakfast visitors” (whether at Christmas or otherwise), we like to bake quark rolls early in the morning. The aroma greets the visitors right away, which immediately makes it much cozier. This is also an old “Eastern recipe” that everyone loves. Our 14-month-old grandson Oskar swears by them. We baked a supply for the young family, which they froze. Whenever they are out and about for longer, they now take one of these rolls with them—and they don’t have to buy one that also contains lots of chemicals. This way, you simply know what’s in it.

We have one of those roll-baking mold mats with 12 wells for rolls. That way they all come out roughly the same size, too. If you put the dough on the baking sheet in little heaps, you end up with small roll mountains. The recipe is for 250 g quark. I always use the one with 40% fat because it tastes better, but 20% would work too. That makes 6 large rolls. If you double all the ingredients, you get 12 rolls. It is mixed pretty much like a normal cake batter.

Here is the recipe:

These are wonderful recipes.
Thanks, Ina—I’ll have to try those quark rolls.
Until now, I’d only known about these quark pretzels (my aunt always used to bake them and take them along as travel snacks).
I’ll see what other recipes I can find.

I only have one recipe for sweet muffins on hand right now. It’s quick and easy (I got the recipe from the nursing home where we used to bake for the residents to go with their coffee).
You can enjoy muffins during the Christmas season—or really, any time.

Ingredients for 12–15 muffins (depending on the size of your muffin tin)

150 g softened butter
150 g sugar
1 packet vanilla sugar
1 egg
250 g plain yogurt or similar
220 g flour
2 heaping tsp baking powder

For the filling: Fruit of your choice, small apple pieces, or raisins (as desired, or omit the fruit)

Instructions : Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, and egg together with a mixer; then stir in the plain yogurt; finally, fold in the flour and baking powder.

Divide the batter among muffin cups (I use these silicone cups—you can fit them all on a standard baking sheet, and it’s enough for 15 muffins).
Bake at 180 degrees Celsius on the convection setting for about 20 minutes until golden brown (or adjust based on how dark or light you prefer them).
They always turn out perfectly. Enjoy them—you can top them with powdered sugar or a glaze, or sprinkle with streusel.

Ina, I love your authentic recipes! I also have an old cookbook from my mom with grease stains just like that! It just goes to show how popular these recipes were.

Dear Andrea, thank you so much for the muffin recipe. I really like it because it seems so simple, is probably quick to make, and you can vary it with fruit, for example.

Dear Ruth, I’m so glad you see it that way. After posting the two photos, I almost felt a little embarrassed about the grease stains that have become permanent over the years. But it’s real. When do you ever see a handwritten recipe these days?

Yes, Ina, I also think it’s great that you included the original photo here.

Bastelfan, thanks for your muffin recipe. That sounds good, too. I’ll try baking it with vegan quark sometime. And Ina’s rolls, too.

My recipe isn’t as old as yours, but I’ve refined it time and again through countless attempts until it’s now perfect. You can spice it up for Christmas or enjoy it throughout the year with just vanilla. Chocolate spread is a favorite for most people, after all.

Here’s my mother’s old cookbook—certainly over 75 years old and (as you can see) well used.
And so you’re not the only one with a grease-stained recipe, Ina, here are two recipes from the book:

Printen are especially appreciated by those who don’t like things too sweet.

I think this recipe collection is a great idea!

I’ll contribute a delicious hot drink:

Grate SOME fresh ginger into a teacup (be careful with the amount, or it’ll be too spicy!), add a finger’s width of elderflower syrup, and pour hot water over it—when it’s cold outside, there’s nothing better for me.

By the way, I still have some of my mom’s handwritten recipe books here, and I think it’s really lovely that things like this seem to still be around… they’re such great memories.

Wow, you guys have some great secret recipes—and in their original form, too. Yes, I’m one of those people who’s written down recipes. I’ve even got three little notebooks now where I write down everything I’ve tried and liked. I’ve created a lot of them myself.

I’ll flip through them a bit and see what I can find. And I already know what else I’ll be sharing here… my tried-and-true sheet pan gingerbread. It’s an absolute hit every year. 

My favorite Christmas recipe, which I’ve refined every year—including just recently.
You can see its origins in the photo below, in my very own personal recipe booklet.
I’ve made it healthier year after year.

Quick Gingerbread Traybake

Ingredients:

• 350 g whole-grain spelt flour
• 100 g runny honey
• 100 g birch sugar
• 200 g ground hazelnuts (roast the whole nuts in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes beforehand)
• 4 tsp gingerbread spice
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 packet of cream of tartar baking powder
• a little vanilla
• 1/4 liter homemade almond milk
• 150 g liquid coconut oil
• 4 eggs (if you want it to be vegan, use an egg substitute)

Mix all ingredients together with a mixer, then spread the mixture onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 180 degrees on the convection setting for about 15–20 minutes (depending on your oven).

Then let it cool slightly and coat with chocolate glaze.

If you keep the gingerbread traybake in a cool place, it will last about 2 weeks. But it never lasts that long—we eat it all up before then. ;-)

Here’s a photo of the original recipe:



Thank you so much for your additional recipes, dear Ruth, Claudia, and Monika. It all sounds sooo tempting. Why buy gingerbread or Printen when you can make them yourself so easily? At least that way you know what’s in them—and you get a whole baking sheet full :-)

I also like Claudia’s quick hot drink. But since I don’t have any elderflower syrup, trying it out will unfortunately have to wait.

Old cookbooks like these have a special charm. They’re simply precious keepsakes. Anyone who owns such a handwritten treasure is truly lucky.

Hi there, everyone!
I also have my handwritten recipe book with stains. I’d like to join in too. Here’s the little gem—and the recipe.

Here’s my honey cake recipe (freshly baked yesterday).

Ingredients : 250 g flour
1/2 packet baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger you can also use
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon these ingredients in a jar as a baking mix
               1/2 tsp ground cloves to give as a gift
 1/2 tsp baking cocoa
100 g brown sugar

You’ll also need : 100 g softened butter
150 g liquid honey
2 eggs
                                       100 ml cold milk
200 g powdered sugar
2–3 tbsp lemon juice

Cream together the butter, sugar, honey, and eggs until smooth, then alternately stir in the flour mixture and the cold milk.
Pour the batter into 2 small loaf pans or 1 large loaf pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees until done, about 50 minutes.
Finally, pour the glaze (lemon juice and powdered sugar) over the top. Add sprinkles if desired.
Enjoy!

What do you guys usually cook for Christmas? I’m currently “test cooking.”
Since we’ll be staying with my in-laws over the holidays and I’ll be cooking one day there, I need something simple that’s easy to prepare in advance—today I made salmon fillet with rutabaga and potatoes, which was really delicious and will probably be the main course.
For dessert, we’ll have portokalopita (Greek orange cake) with vanilla ice cream.... I’m just missing a starter (preferably vegetarian...). Do you have any tried-and-true recipes for that?

By the way, I have another great sweet potato recipe for you.

Peel the sweet potato and cut it into slices about 1.5 cm thick.
Arrange the slices side by side in a baking dish, top them with small pats of butter, and season with a little salt and a generous amount of cinnamon.
Bake in the oven at about 160°C for about 10–15 minutes—the edges should turn very lightly brown.

They’re great as a side dish, like a baked potato—but also make a fantastic snack for in between meals.

Thank you, dear Andrea, for the great honey cake recipe! That sounds delicious.

Claudia, your recipe sounds very tasty, too. I’ll write that down in my little notebook.

A salad would be just the thing as a Christmas appetizer. What do you think?
For example, we’re having lamb’s lettuce with mandarins, dressed with salt, pepper, pumpkin seed oil, and raspberry vinegar as an appetizer.

I’ve already bought and frozen some salmon trout fillets for Christmas. We rarely eat fish, and when we do, it’s always from local waters.

I don’t know yet what I’ll make to go with it. I’ll let myself be inspired right before the meal. It’s the same for me as when I’m designing knitting and crochet projects—it all comes together as I go along. :)

In any case, I’ll have plenty of vegetables on hand and will just pick something on the spot. I’ll probably cook the rest in the Thermomix—that always makes such a lovely vegetable sauce to go with it.

Craft Fan: In your honey cake recipe, I came across the term “baking cocoa” for the second time today—what exactly is that? I’m only familiar with the cocoa powder in the can… By the way, the cake looks delicious!

Monika, the fruit salad is served as a side dish with the main course... otherwise, it’s a good idea...

If I could cook at home, I wouldn’t prepare and plan ahead quite so much either—but I’d like to bring the ingredients with me as prepared as possible, since we’re staying with my in-laws (about 350 km away...) and I’ll be cooking there for one day. It’s actually a great arrangement, except that I’m missing a lot of things there that I take for granted here. My mother-in-law, for example, doesn’t have a measuring cup because she weighs everything... that’s why I often cook something ahead of time and take it with me frozen—that works really well with the orange cake, for example. It does take a bit of planning, but it also takes some of the burden off her. I always end up lugging half my household with me.... :-)

Wollbaerli, the baking cocoa is only for baking, not to be confused with drinking chocolate or Trinkfix. So check the baking supplies section.
I hope I was able to help you.

I’ve got some baked apples in the oven right now… my sweetheart ordered them and called to say he’s coming home now. Yeah, yeah… my little sweet tooth.

I cut the apple in half, remove the stem and core, hollow it out well, and chop up the flesh, then mix it with cinnamon, vanilla, and marzipan. I put that back into the apple, add a pat of butter on top, and then bake it at about 160* for about 20 minutes—best enjoyed warm with vanilla sauce.

For my husband, this is the absolute best...

That sounds really delicious, Claudia. Thanks for reminding me about baked apples. I’ll have to make those again sometime.

Today I further refined a cookie recipe I created myself. The result is absolutely delicious!

The cookies are quick to make—plus, they’re vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free. They’re made with only natural ingredients and are super tasty:

• 70–80 g dates
• 180–200 g bananas (2 small bananas)
• 150 g oat flour
• 150 g ground ingredients of your choice
  (for example: millet, amaranth, coconut flour, nuts, etc.)
• 80–90 g soft coconut oil

Today I mixed 150 g oat flour with 140 g almonds + 10 g apricot kernels (all ground).

Add all ingredients in this order to the Thermomix or a blender and blend for 10–15 seconds.
Set the Thermomix to speed 5.

Use 2 teaspoons to spoon the soft dough in small mounds onto two baking sheets and flatten the mounds.

Then bake at 180–200 degrees for about 20 minutes, until they’re a nice light brown and crispy.
For convection ovens, 180 degrees is sufficient.
Enjoy your cookies!

Monika

Yeah, exactly—baked apples. I’m going to try those soon, too, with some delicious vanilla sauce. Thanks, Claudia

Everything sounds delicious.

When my daughter comes with her girls at Christmas, I bake waffles for her girls

Ingredients: 
gluten-free flour
1–2 eggs
cream of tartar baking powder
lactose-free milk
vanilla sugar
lactose-free margarine

Of course, I’m looking for other recipes along these lines.

Best, Gabi