For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.
Happy holidays from the Recipe Box Project kitchen to you and your family!
For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.
Today's task is to make macaroons (from macaroon mix, which evidently was a thing in the 1950s), and since I had two macaroon recipes to make from the box, I'm here with another recipe battle. (Previous recipe battle, for Apple Crisps, is here).
Anyway, I'm pretty meh on macaroons (macarons, on the other hand-- the French almond-based cookies-- are my very favourite dessert), but I was excited to try making them myself because I figured they'd probably be far better homemade than storebought, and I was right.
The simpler, three-ingredient macaroons ended up being far easier to make than the more complex 'Cornflake Macaroons,' but the overall flavour of each was pretty solid. Either way, I'm still on the fence about macaroons overall, but these definitely moved me from 'actively against' to 'tasty if homemade,' which is progress.
3 spoons out of five. They were insanely easy and definitely moister and tastier than I was anticipating, but overall they still lacked anything really interesting to set them apart as a dessert, and I was glad that each one was only the size of a truffle.
3 spoons out of five. These ones, although tastier and more interesting than the simpler versions, didn't hold together at all in the way they were supposed to be made, but I added a glug of condensed milk and that helped hold them together long enough to get them fully baked. Once they were cooked, they were super tasty, but putting a bowl of cornflakes into a mixer is probably not a great idea, and having to add extra ingredients at the last minute was not my favourite either.
Preheat oven to 175C/350F and grease a cookie sheet.
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
Bake 8-10 minutes until light brown.
Remove from pan immediately and place on a cooling rack.
Makes 24 cookies.
½ c condensed milk
2 c flaked or shredded coconut
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 190C/375F and grease a cookie sheet.
Beat egg whites until stiff and dry.
Fold in sugar slowly.
Add vanilla, coconut, cornflakes, and pecans, stirring well.
Add condensed milk gradually, stopping as soon as mix comes together and appears to stick together.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes until light brown.
Makes 3 dozen cookies
2 egg whites
1 c sugar
½ tsp vanilla
1 c coconut
2 c cornflakes
½ c pecans, chopped
¼ c condensed milk
For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.
As previously stated, I can't find candy canes anywhere in Scotland. Being only a mediocre candy cane fan myself, I'm actually sadder about the lack of Williams-Sonoma Candy Cane Bark than I am about the lack of actual candy canes, but when making as many Christmas-themed goodies as I have this month, it would be nice to have actual candy canes to work with.
In their absence, now I have these cookies, which look a little too much like Play-doh for my tastes. They're tasty enough (though the massive amount of handling required to dye, roll, twist, and shape these definitely make them a little tougher than I'd like them to be.
However, they are adorable, and if you have a kid you're excited to be baking with this Christmas, might I recommend them? I would have loved these as a kid, and I bet I'm not the only one.
2 spoons out of five. These taste fine, but they're just not worth all of the work that goes into them-- especially not two days before Christmas-- unless you've got a niece or a nephew or a godchild who loves to bake and wants to play in the kitchen with you.
Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and flavourings.
Add flour and salt and stir well to combine.
Divide dough in half and add food colouring to half of dough.
Roll 1 tsp red dough and 1 tsp plain dough separately into a round noodle.
Lay noodles on top of each other and gently roll together.
Twist noodle gently like a candy cane, then shape into candy cane shape and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Repeat until dough is gone.
Bake 7-9 minutes until just done but not yet brown.
Makes about 4 dozen.
1 c shortening
1 c powdered sugar, sifted
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp almond flavouring or Disaronno
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour, sifted
1 tsp salt
Red food colouring
