When I was little, my mom used to say “we could totally make that” to just about everything she saw, from ornaments to wreaths to exquisitely crafted holiday treats at our local bakery. I would roll my eyes as all sassy children do and quietly vowed that when I was a grown-up, I was going to BUY everything. But alas, as I grew up and started my own family, I quickly realized that per usual, my mom was right. Making is way more fun than buying, especially when it comes to holiday sweets and treats. All you need is a great jingle bell inspired playlist, willing and able helpers, and a collection of incredible Cuisinart appliances to whip everything up with total ease.
CAKES, CUPCAKES, COOKIES & BREADS
If there is one Cuisinart appliance that you are going to put on your registry or splurge on for yourself, make it the Cuisinart Stand Mixer. It changes everything. Your bakes become more consistent, your confidence builds, you start to conquer everything from pretty cake and holiday cookies to cinnamon rolls and babkas. The stand mixer is my number one, no holds bar kitchen soul mate and rarely a day goes by where I don’t give it a hug and a kiss.
MARSHMALLOWS
The one thing that we make every holiday season, usually the day after Thanksgiving, is homemade marshmallows. The soft pillowy goodness runs circles around store-bought marshies and I end up using them in everything from hot cocoa to hand pies. And if you stick with the Cuisinart Stand Mixer, using the whisk attachment, they are 10x easier than you could ever imagine. Recipe via The Flavor Bender.
Ingredients
14. 5 oz white sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup water for the gelatin
7 tsp gelatin (about 3 packets of Knox gelatin)
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup white chocolate, melted
1/4 cup milk/dark chocolate, melted
*you might not use all of the chocolate so feel free to go down to 1/4 cup of each
1. Place the corn syrup and water in a pot. Stir until the sugar is moistened and mixed with the water. Heat over medium-high heat until the sugar syrup comes to a boil. Gently swirl the pan to evenly distribute the heat. Cover the saucepan with a lid and lower the heat to medium. Let the syrup cook for 2 minutes, keeping the lid on the entire time.
2. Clip the sugar thermometer to the side of the saucepan and continue cooking until the mixture reaches 242 – 245°F.
3. While the sugar syrup is cooking, prepare the gelatin by placing ½ cup of water in the Cuisinart stand mixer bowl. Add the gelatin to the water and gently stir until gelatin is moistened. Set aside to allow the gelatin to bloom while the sugar syrup is cooking (at least 10 minutes).
4. When the sugar syrup reaches the 242-245 degrees, remove it from the heat and allow the bubbles to subside. With your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and set to a low/medium speed, pour the sugar syrup into the gelatin letting it run down the wall of the bowl to prevent the gelatin from being scorched by the hot sugar syrup. Add the salt and increase the speed to medium/high.
5. Whisk on medium/high for 10-12 minutes until the marshmallow base triples in size and is white, fluffy, and smooth.
6. While the marshmallow base is whisking, prepare the pan and all of the utensils you will be using by rubbing with shortening. An 8 x 8 pan is great for thick, puffy marshmallows. A 9 x 13 is great for those you want to cut with cookie cutters. Make sure you also brush all utensils – spoon, spatulas, etc. – with the same shortening.
7. Back to the marshmallows. Add the vanilla to the marshmallow base and whisk to combine, no more than a minute.
8. Scrape the marshmallow base into the prepared pan using an oiled scraper, we like a silicone spatula, then spread evenly.
9. Sieve confectioners sugar over the top of the marshmallow and allow the marshmallow to set for at least 6 hours.
10. Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board. Completely coat a round cookie cutter (minimum of 1. 5″ up to about 3″) in margarine and cut out your shapes. Brush off the top of the cut marshmallows to ensure the chocolate will stick. Use your melted chocolates to make the eyes, carrot nose, and mouth. We used a toothpick to apply the nose and placed our milk chocolate in a pastry bag with a #2 tip for the eyes and mouth.
DONUTS
My Cuisinart Air Fryer is the best thing that ever hit my kitchen counters. We use it constantly for just about everything. But the hands-down favorite air fryer recipe that is so quick and easy it’s almost embarrassing, are the air fryer donuts that my kids have no idea come from a can of biscuits.
1 can of biscuit dough (1 can makes 6 donuts)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup confectioners sugar
1″ round cookie cutter
1. Preheat your Air Fryer. Using a small, 1″ round cookie cutter, punch a hole in the center of the biscuit. Place the “donuts” into the air fryer for 2-3 minutes, then flip and allow them to cook for another 2-3 minutes.
2. Remove from the oven, brush melted butter on both sides, then sift powdered sugar all over! Alternatively, you can place them in a plastic baggie filled with powdered sugar and shake them until they are coated! Best if served nice and warm!
CINNAMON ROLLS
Every Christmas morning (and with the current times, maybe even more,) we have Cinnamon Rolls. Homemade ones, because #specialoccassioncooking is real. I use my Cuisinart Stand Mixer, fitted with the dough hook, to ensure a perfect bake every single time. Also, I always double the frosting recipe because everyone loves a heavy hand when it comes to frosting.
The Ambitious Kitchen’s Recipe for BEYOND good Cinnamon Rolls. I have tried a million others and wish I could take credit for creating my own killer cinnamon roll recipe, but alas, why mess with a good thing!? Don’t forget to double the frosting!
WHITE CHOCOLATE BABKA
We used the dough recipe from The New York Times, as it’s a favorite of my family that never ever lets us down. We often switch up the fillings from chocolate to cinnamon sugar, but the one variation that gets devoured in mere hours is… White chocolate. I would love to see this layered with fresh jam but my purist kids just don’t agree. And they are normally the house winners
Ingredients
½ cup whole milk
1 package active dry yeast
⅓ cup granulated sugar, plus a pinch
4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, more as needed
1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing bowls and pans. 1 cup white chocolate chips
For the Syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1. In a small saucepan, warm the milk until it’s warm, around 110 degrees. Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes until it’s bubbly.
2. Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add the yeast mixture and the eggs, beating until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl. If it is still very sticky, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time. Add 1/2 of the butter (5 tablespoons) and pulse until the dough is nice and smooth about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the butter and beat for another 5 minutes.
3. Grease a medium to large-sized bowl with butter. Add the dough, gently rolling the base of the dough around the greased bottom of the bowl, then flip the dough over so that the buttered side is facing up. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and allow it to rise in a warm spot for 1. 5 hours or until it has doubled, or nearly doubled, in size (very warm spots will reach a double rise at about an hour, cooler might take as long as 2). Press down the dough and refrigerate overnight.
(Sometimes, I am very lazy about this step and while it does make a significant difference in the finished flavor, the unrested babka is still utterly delish)
4. When you are ready to bake your dough, remove the dough from the fridge and divide in half. Roll 1 of your pieces out to a large rectangle, about 9×17 or so. Let rest for 10 minutes. Melt 1 cup of white chocolate chips. Spread half of this all over your rectangle, leaving 1″ all the way around the border. Rolling from the long side, gently roll your dough much as you would a cinnamon roll. Repeat with the 2nd dough.
5. At this point, the easiest thing to do is wrap the roll in plastic wrap and freeze for about 15-20 minutes.
6. Once chilled, slice the roll in half lengthwise – you will have 2 long halves of the roll. Pinch the top points together and twist the halves together as if you were braiding them, then fold the braid in half so it’s about 9 inches long. Place into a prepared pan, letting it curl around itself if it’s too long. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until puffy (it won’t quite double). Repeat with the other dough.
7. Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes watching very carefully. I like to bake mine for 30 minutes with foil on top, then remove the foil for the last 20 minutes. They should be 185-210 degrees on an instant thermometer.
8. While they are baking, make a quick simple syrup. Mix 2/3 cup water with 2/3 cup sugar and mix for about 2 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
9. When the cakes are still warm from the oven, brush them liberally with the simple syrup. Try your hardest to let them cool completely before you eat them.
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Cookware: Cuisinart
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