The holiday season is my favorite excuse to amp up on baking. It's a year-round sport for me but come late November through the month of December, baking takes on a whole extra level of sweetness. I'm savoring this time in the kitchen, and I thought it'd be fun to once again cobble together pics of some of the baking that's been going on in my kitchen. We're baking plenty of family-favorites, with some new recipes mixed in.
Let's start with the peppermint-chocolate macarons shown above. I'm no stranger to trying macaron recipes and even though it's always a high-wire act with uncertain results, I can't help myself. Since it's the holidays, it's all about the peppermint - my son's favorite flavor this time of year - so I went with the chocolate and peppermint combo using Martha Stewart's recipe in her latest book, Cookie Perfection. I wish I could say my macarons were perfection but I did have some cracked shells. Overall, though, we ended up with a solid batch of macarons. It was the first time I flavored the macaron shells with peppermint (as opposed to adding it in the chocolate ganache filing) and we really liked the result.
Did I mention it's all about the chocolate-peppermint right now? I snuck in an early batch of my son's favorite peppermint brownies a few weeks ago. By request, I'm actually making another batch today as I type this.
For me, it's time to stock up on almond paste during the holidays. A batch of pignoli cookies hit the table this season and I also made the cherry-almond macaroons just yesterday.
They bake up, and disappear, very quickly. I love having almond paste around and making some version of these chewy almond macaroons whenever I have extra egg whites on hand.
During this season of warm drinks, it's also nice to have simple cookies like hazelnut biscotti around for dipping. I love a dry, crunchy biscotti filled with nuts! It's also a great option when you want something a little less rich - that way, you have space for all the other chocolates and treats around us this time of year.
