There’s no gift more heartfelt than a homemade one. My collection of cookies, candies, and truffles is perfect for packaging up and sharing with friends, family, and neighbors. They travel well and taste like pure holiday magic!
Candy has the bad rap of being difficult to make. It often requires a thermometer that registers 350°F but it isn’t that difficult and no one will believe you made it. Think Heath bars or brickle.
At the bakery we were known for our chocolate. These Chocolate Chocolate Truffles were the same ones we made – hundreds and hundreds that were hand dipped and I’m going to share the secret to perfectly coated truffles.
These Apricot Pistachio Biscotti are festive looking with the green pistachio nuts and vibrant orange apricots. An uncomplicated recipe with easy to obtain ingredients, these biscotti last a long time in an airtight container. They also ship well. I’ve made them in a large size as well as mini’s which are perfect with a cup of coffee or tea on a cookie tray.
I wait for the winter holidays for Ghirardelli to send out its peppermint squares again just to make these Peppermint Ravioli Cookies. This once a year treat is delicious on its own, but incorporated into a cookie can’t be beat.
These fantastic looking Baci di Dama cookies consist of two hemispheres of buttery hazelnut cookies sandwiched with a rich gianduja filling – think Rochers and Nutella. The recipe for this Italian cookie is as easy to remember as your name. It is equal parts, by weight, of four ingredients for the cookie. Forming the cookies is just as easy.
These Best Spiced Shortbread Cookies are one of the easiest and simplest to make. Three ingredients plus the two flavorings are all that is needed and I’ll bet they’re in you pantry and fridge already. Now imagine these are sandwiched with a chocolate sour cream ganache. This shortbread uses Chinese 5 Spice powder or cinnamon.
These melt-in-your-mouth Serbian Walnut Cookies are also known as Vanilice and were quite the surprise to me. When I first saw the recipe, I thought it was just another butter cookie, but the toasted ground walnuts give these cookies quite a boost. While in the West we use pecans because they are indigenous to the Americas, walnuts are used in the Balkans because they are plentiful.
Macadamia brittle is a treat anytime, but add a bit of heat and it becomes Sweet and Hot Macadamia brittle, a candy not to be forgotten.
