christmas Archives | The Vanilla Bean Blog

White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 16:56:45 +0000

White Chocolate Cheesecake BarsCheesecake bars less finicky that their cake counterparts, and just as delicious. I used my favorite cheesecake bars base found in my book 100 Cookies, which has a traditional cheesecake filling, topped with with white chocolate ganache and a white chocolate drizzle. You could turn the drizzle any color you’d like, but I love using red for Christmas or Valentine’s Day. A quick tip: Room temperature ingredients will help your cheesecake bake faster; if your cheesecake is taking longer to get to the right temperature, don’t worry. Using White Chocolate White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, and you’ll quickly learn that not all white chocolate is created equal. Use feves or white chocolate bars, as white chocolate chips do not melt well. Also, white chocolate melts more quickly than dark chocolate so be sure to stir it more frequently, especially when using the microwave. More Cheesecake Recipes: (Almost) No-Bake Cheesecake with Jam Swirl Vanilla Cheesecake Cookies Crème Fraîche Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache and Mint Meringue

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Top 25 Holiday Cookie Recipes!

Sarah Kieffer — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 02:33:55 +0000

Each year at Christmas I like to put together a cookie box for family, friends, and neighbors. The content changes somewhat over the years; some cookies come and go, others are staples that stick around. I’ve put together a list of favorite holiday cookies that I’ve featured here on my site. Many of these recipes come from both my cookbooks: 100 Cookies and The Vanilla Bean Baking Book. My friend Amanda has a list of gluten-free christmas cookie recipes, if you’re looking for those too! I find that cookies bake most evenly on these half-sheet pans, and I like to use this cookie scoop. To remove cookies from the baking sheet, this spatula (actually labeled a pancake turner!) is the best. Freezing Baked Christmas Cookies Most cookies are best eaten the day they’re made, or within a day or two of baking. If you can’t finish off a baker’s dozen in 24 hours flat, the good news is that you can freeze them! Make sure your cookies are cool, then place them on a lined sheet pan in a single layer. Let them freeze for an hour or two, then once they are frozen solid, move them to labeled freezer-safe bags […]

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chocolate mint cake (otherwise known as candy cane cake)

Sarah Kieffer — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 09:00:00 +0000

This is an older post, originally posted in 2011, that I’m highlighting this December. My daughter and I were looking through old blog posts, trying to decide on a birthday dessert for her upcoming day, and she died laughing at how terrible the photos were for this post (they were pretty bad). So I remade the candy cane cake this week updating not only the photos, but the recipe as well. I’ve used peppermint candies here instead of candy canes (ground into sparkly dust in the food processor), and the chocolate cake from my cookbook. I also added some gold leaf just because, but it isn’t necessary. Original post: This past week we celebrated my daughter’s birthday. The last two years I’ve let her ‘design’ her own cake, meaning she gets to pick colors and flavors and a basic theme, and I try to make something not quite as elaborate. Last year was a very vibrant purple cake , and I had assumed this year it would be something similar (or something worse – she had been eying those Barbie cakes at the grocery store). So I was slightly shocked, when after asking her, she yelled ‘A PINK CANDY CANE CAKE!’ […]

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homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream

Sarah Kieffer — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 08:06:03 +0000

Several people asked for this recipe after I posted a photo of the pie on Instagram, so here it is. This is the pumpkin pie I’ve made at the last couple Thanksgivings, and it’s gone over quite well my family gathering. It is dreamy-creamy, and boasting of pumpkin flavor. This one is adapted from several favorite pumpkin pie recipes, but the main two it is borrowed from is Yossy’s Winter Luxury Pie from her beautiful book Sweeter Off The Vine, and Cook’s Illustrated’s Pumpkin Pie from Baking Book. If you don’t want to use crème fraîche (it will add a subtle tang of flavor), you replace it with whole milk instead (so one cup whole milk total). I decorated the cake with whipped cream and roasted pepitas. I personally love the crunch they give. ********************************* I am going to admit publicly that I am one of the many that start playing Christmas music in November. However, I am well aware that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for holiday tunes (for instance, if I look over and my husband has crazy eyes, I know it’s probably time to put on something else, ha). I’ve created two playlists in Apple music that have […]

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Panettone Swirl Buns

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 03:43:47 +0000

I’ve mentioned quite a bit on this site that I contribute over at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day – I’ve been working with Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François for about six years. While I write some blog posts for them and spend a good deal of time over on their Instagram account, one of the highlights of my job is helping them work on cookbooks. About this time a year ago Zoë was baking piles of bread and I was photographing them for the new book, Holiday and Celebration Breads in Five Minutes a Day (affiliate link). We spent a lot of time together talking and not talking, laughing hysterically, singing, and ranting about the state of the world. It was a lot of hard work, but I enjoyed every moment of it. I was a fan of the Bread in Five series before I met Jeff and Zoë, and now after spending time with the two of them, I can’t rave about them, and their books, enough. I’ve made boules, baguettes, bagels, doughnuts, beignets, coffee cake, sandwich bread, dinner rolls, bostok, and cinnamon rolls with their dough. This new book is one of my favorites in their collection – filled with breads of the world, for […]

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Ginger Cake With Crème Fraîche Buttercream And Sugared Cranberries

Sarah Kieffer — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 03:29:40 +0000

“Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors.” -Andrew Boyd The theme of Christmas is a tale of benevolence, no matter what version of the story you are celebrating. We purpose to turn to our neighbor and offer what we have: there are good intentions of shoveling sidewalks, delivering cookies, donating money. Our children are reminded there is more to all of this then receiving, although it gets harder each year to convince them. They are introduced to Rudolph and Charlie Brown and Frosty on the screen, while adults everywhere paste on a smile and try to tune out the ill-will demonstrated across the lands. ‘Peace on earth,’ we sing together, in churches and on snowy walks, while decorating sugar cookies and sitting quietly by the fire. This year the words fall flat; hands that could be stretched out to give are too busy […]

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Holiday Cut-Out Cookies

Sarah Kieffer — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:22:41 +0000

Cut-out cookies have been a Christmas tradition in my family since I was a little girl, and while I have many happy memories of cutting out shapes with my mom, I also have plenty of memories of my sister and I fighting over cookie cutters and getting in trouble for hiding all the pretty sprinkles from everyone else. Now, these cookies are always in my holiday cookie boxes. Growing up we never iced our cookies (it was sprinkles all the way), but I’ve included an icing option here, a simple glaze that is easy to make and tastes delicious. If you prefer, a sugar coating is also an option. Photos and writing from 2014, when I first published this post. This past weekend the kids and I headed to my sister’s house for a holiday cutout cookies decorating party. It was really a few hours to eat cookie dough and spill sprinkles all over Auntie’s floor, but we all sure had fun anyway. This December has been rather odd for me; our house troubles are still ongoing (we are now currently gutting our entire basement and can’t run our furnace in freezing Minneapolis) and my father-in-law has temporarily moved in […]

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