Hello there!

K.A, Harper, Ava, and Josh here. We wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season. Of course we’re staking out Carina real estate today to promote the Men Under the Mistletoe anthology, but since the season is already ringing with sales calls and marketing messages, we thought maybe we’d take this opportunity simply to say thank you to all of you who’ve bought the book or plan to, or even just popped by the blog out of curiosity.
To that end, we’re sharing our favorite holiday cookie recipes, and if you’d like to chime in with your own favorite holiday cookie recipe, we’ll put your name in the Santa hat for a $20 gift certificate to Stahl’s Famous Original Bakery. Remember to leave your recipe in the comment section before Midnight EST on December 8th.
Harper’s Favourite Holiday Cookie Recipe – Yule Log Cinnamon and Orange Crisps
Well, here it is, and I can tell you it’s Harper’s favourite because she never makes it herself. That would spoil it – for Harper and for everyone else, but in the hands of the talented SO it’s divine, and she’s kindly agreed to share the recipe. She assures me it’s so easy that even my Winter Knights Gavin could learn it as part of his campaign to fatten up his lean and hungry Piers. And it’s clever and Christmassey because you roll the dough into a log before slicing it up to make about cookies! The cinnamon is warming and the orange zesty and fresh.
So, here we go. This makes about 30.
You need:-
225g/8oz butter, softened
200g/7oz caster sugar
grated rind of one orange
4 tsps orange juice
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
280g/10 oz plain flour
2 tsps ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 baking sheets
Roll of baking parchment

And this is how you do it:
Put the butter, 140g/5 oz of the sugar and the orange rind into a bowl and mix well, then beat in the egg yolk and tsps of the orange juice. Sift the flour and salt into the mixture, then add the rest of the sugar and stir that in too. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for half an hour to an hour. (You can use this valuable time to reflect on your culinary genius. I’d be in awe of myself for getting this far.)
Roll out the dough between the sheets of baking parchment into a 12-inch-ish square. Brush with the rest of the orange juice and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Give it all a light roll with a rolling pin and roll up the dough like a Swiss roll. Now it’s back in the clingfilm, I’m afraid – the roll, not you – and you fridge it for another half hour.
Fire up your oven to 190C, 375F or Gas Mark 5. Line your two baking sheets with baking parchment. Now (this is the fun part) get a good sharp knife and cut your roll into thin slices. You’re getting about 30 out of the roll so they should be fairly skinny, to make little crispy biccies rather than wodges. Put them on the baking sheets, spacing them well apart, and bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool on the sheets for 10 mins more, then use a palette knife to transfer them onto wire racks to cool completely. Well, actually, I recommend snitching a couple while they’re still warm, if you don’t mind getting your hands slapped by the cook.
Happy holidays, and enjoy! I’d be delighted to hear about any favourite festive cookies you like to bake, buy or steal around this time of year, so do leave a comment and tell me all about them.
Ava’s No Muss, No Fuss, No Baking Holiday Mints
There are those who are blessed with talent in the kitchen and those that are not. I fall into the latter group. About a month ago, I would have said my favorite holiday cookie recipe involved a box of Pillsbury cookies, the ones available in the refrigerator section of the grocery store and that only involve opening the package, turning the oven on and popping them in. They come in Santa, reindeer or tree varieties. But after a little incident involving charred-to-the-point-of-smoking jack-o-lantern Halloween cookies and a burnt cookie pan, my favorite holiday yummies recipe no longer involve an oven.
Holiday Mints:
1 tsp peppermint
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
¼ cup butter
½ tsp salt
Green and red food coloring
Mix corn syrup, butter, peppermint, salt and sugar until smooth. Divide into thirds. Knead 1 drop of red or green food coloring into each third. Shape into small balls. Flatten on waxed paper. Let dry several hours. Then enjoy the minty, no-risk-of-charring goodness.
Josh’s Instant-Family-Tradition Rugelach (Filled Cream Cheese Cookies)
Confession time. I’ve never tried this recipe, although this might be the year. Usually I’m rushing from deadline to deadline and Toll House chocolate chip cookies are as exotic as I get. But my Irish granny used to bake these every holiday season. She believed the recipe was Italian, but it turns out Rugelach has Jewish Ashkenazic (Polish) origins. The name means “little twists.”
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 ounces chilled cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 tablespoons cherry preserves
8 tablespoons dried tart cherries
8 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips
8 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (about) whipping cream
Preparation For dough:
Blend first 3 ingredients in processor. Add butter and cream cheese and cut in using on/off turns until dough begins to clump together. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
For filling:
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 9-inch round. Spread 3 tablespoons cherry preserves over dough, leaving 1-inch border. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons dried cherries, then 2 tablespoons chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar and 2 tablespoons walnuts. Press filling firmly to adhere to dough.
Cut dough round into 8 equal wedges. Starting at wide end of each wedge, roll up tightly. Arrange cookies, tip side down, on prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart and bending slightly to form crescents. Repeat 3 more times with remaining dough disks, preserves, dried cherries, chocolate chips, cinnamon sugar and walnuts. Place baking sheet in freezer 30 minutes.
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Brush cookies lightly with whipping cream. Bake frozen cookies until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. (Can be made ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.)
Makes about 32 cookies
Helpful hint: Freezing the rugelach before baking helps the cookies maintain their shape.

K.A.’s Chocolatey, Christmas Crumble
Though neither Mel nor Bryce is particularly useful in a kitchen, this has become a holiday favorite at my house.
**Note from Josh** If this recipe is half as good as K.A. closely guarded ginger snap recipe, these will be a surefire hit at any holiday gathering!
CRUST
1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1 TBS sugar
6 TBS unsalted butter melted
Heat oven to 350. Combine ingredients and press into a buttered 9″ glass
pie pan. Bake about 5 min. Cool on rack. Maintain oven temp.
(You know, they sell those already made at the grocery store, too. Just saying. Chocolate crumb crusts, too.)
FUDGE LAYER
6 TBS flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c unsalted butter (cut in pieces)
4 oz semisweet choc. chopped
1 oz unsweetened choc. chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 lg egg
1 lg egg yolk
1 tps vanilla extract
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Combine butter and
chocolates in a double boiler and stir until melted and smooth. Cool
slightly. Using an electric mixer beat sugar, egg and egg yolk in a
medium bowl until slightly thickened. Add vanilla and cooled chocolate
mixture and mix until well blended. Add dry ingredients and mix until just
combined. Pour into crust and bake until almost set ( about 17 min.) Cool
on rack for 10 min.
(Yes, you can totally lick the bowl. In fact, have a few spoonfuls. There’s plenty.)
Cut up about 8 1/2 oz Snickers bars and place on fudge layer. (Hey, go ahead and press them in a little so you can jam on a few more.)
CREAM CHEESE LAYER
10 oz cream cheese, room temp.
1/3 c sugar
1 lg egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
With an electric mixer, combine cheese and sugar, add egg and vanilla and
beat until smooth. Spread mixture over Snickers and bake for about 15
min. or until set. Cool on rack.
(If you’re not getting a little queasy by now, you’re not sampling enough. Go back in there and lick the beaters.)
Melt 2 oz milk chocolate and 2 TBS whipping cream to drizzle on top. Ref.
and serve chilled.
(Or, develop firm biceps just by doing curls with the pie as a free weight. Can also be eaten directly out of the pie pan. Just pass out forks.)
Thanks again, everyone! And enjoy!