You may have noticed by now that we Crouch girls love to bake. It’s a family thing. 🙂 Christmas is the perfect excuse to try out new recipes! There are parties, potlucks, family get-togethers, and all kinds of fun holiday get-togethers that revolve around food. I always make my favorites but also love trying new things!
In the past, I tried making Chocolate Rolo cookies (which were a HUGE hit), a brownie cheesecake (which was kind of a flop) and went on a hunt for the best fruit dip and found a keeper in the midst of the duds!
Here is a link to the Rolo cookie recipe I love!
And here is the recipe for the best fruit dip out of the dozen or so I tried.
This year I decided to continue the tradition and try out some new recipes! I’ll share my experience with you after you hear from Mariah about her new recipe this year.
Mariah’s Christmas Recipes
Being a mom is a joy!
My kids LOVE to be in the kitchen, and together we make a new Christmas baking recipe every year in December. In 2016, we made these delicious Jumbo Nutella Cinnamon rolls from the Family Circle magazine. Â
2017- We chose to make Oreo Truffles, but Grinch-style.. This recipe from The Cozy Cook is a winner! I only got a picture of the “Grinch” truffles, but we also did a batch of “Elsa” truffles with white chocolate and blue sprinkles. I love how Claire didn’t hold back with the sprinkles. You can’t really have too many sprinkles.
2018- We made these cute Christmas Lights cupcakes inspired by a random picture on Pinterest.
2019- This year we created our own Ice Cream Santas! Sooo fun and easy to make! Grab our how-to here.
-Mariah
Yule Log Cake (Attempt 1)
The childhood bookworm in me has always longed to make a yule log cake. I have read so many stories where the children are anxious to cut the holiday cake for the chance to get the coin hidden inside one of the slices. After doing some research, I learned that the yule log cake doesn’t always have coins hidden inside although many other cultures traditionally hide coins in their holiday desserts. So for fun, I decided to add one anyway.
Since this cake has always been a symbol of fun fanciful Christmases in the worlds I love reading about, it’s really about time I tried making one! I looked through several recipes and settled on this one from allrecipes.com.
I gathered all of the ingredients and happily started mixing the initial set together. Then I kept stirring, and stirring, and beating, and mixing for 40 minutes. All I had to show for my efforts was a soupy chocolate mixture with some froth on top. I’m pretty disappointed with my initial attempt at this recipe, but I won’t be deterred! I’m going to try making this cake again this week and if I get a little further along in the process this time, I’ll be sure to post some pictures to share with you all. 🙂
Wassail
My second recipe this year is not a baking recipe, but it is traditional! I’ve been searching for a new wassail recipe. You all know how I dote on my slowcooker (and for good reason!) so it should be no surprise that I found a recipe for wassail that can be made in one!
My boyfriend is the wassail lover in our relationship. Taylor waits every year for the week of Christmas just so he can sip on a glass of the delicious drink. He agreed to help be my taste tester this year as I scout out new wassail recipes.
The first wassail recipe I tried this month was one from Real Housemoms and can be found here.
It was a pretty simple recipe and did not take very long to put together. You basically pour the majority of ingredients into the slow cooker and turn it to low for 6-8 hours. Here is a picture of mine before I turned on the heat.
After waiting the initial 6 hours, we excitedly poured glasses of the wassail. It was very warm and smelled amazing. Just opening the lid of the crockpot filled the whole apartment with an incredible holiday smell. It certainly looked delicious as well!
However, it was not my favorite taste. The drink turned out very “spice-y” and I could barely get the whole glass down around the full flavor of the cloves and cinnamon together. Taylor drink all of his but agreed that it was not his favorite wassail. I wanted something a little lighter or brighter, maybe with more apple or berry flavor and he was expecting something a tad sweeter. I am now officially on the hunt for an easy but delicious wassail recipe this year! I’ll post another link here for you all as soon as I find something. 🙂
As you can see, it has not been my most successful year for finding new holiday recipes. However, I’ve had a ton of fun in the kitchen trying them out and I’m super excited to continue my pursuit this year of the elusive yule log cake and the perfect wassail. That’s the best part of this tradition: even if the recipes don’t turn out the way you expect, they are still fun to try and share with your loved ones.
-MaLee
Which new recipe are YOU going to try making this month?
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