Bake Along with The Tyee This Holiday Season

There are a lot of good cooks and bakers staffing The Tyee’s newsroom — perhaps unsurprising given our penchant for writing about food and food systems.

We share recipes (and mouth-watering photos of the resulting products) regularly on Slack. This year, we’re sharing them with our readers, too. Let us know if you make any of our recommendations, and share your own seasonal favourites in the comments!

“Last night I made some of those peppermint candy cane brownies Dave introduced us to last year,” Katie Hyslop shared over The Tyee’s internal messaging system last December. “New Christmas tradition for me, if two years in a row counts as a tradition.”

The brownies — which are a recipe our founding editor, David Beers, snagged from his wife, University of British Columbia professor Deirdre Kelly — combine chocolate with the opportunity to smash a bunch of candy canes in a bag with a hammer. That was festive enough for me — I was in.

As with Katie, they’ve become a Christmas tradition for me, too.

— andrea bennett

Peppermint candy cane brownies

Adapted from Barbara Bakes.

Ingredients:

Brownies

• 1 1/4 cups (150 g) flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 oz (113 g) unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups (400 g) sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Frosting

• 2 cups (240 g) icing sugar
• 1/4 cup (57 g) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tbsp milk
• 3/4 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 drop of red food colouring (optional)

Chocolate ganache

• 6 oz (170 g; about 1 cup) semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 3/8 cup (6 tbsp; 85 g) butter

Peppermint topping

• 1/2 to 1 cup peppermint candy canes, crushed

Directions:

Brownies

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9-by-13-inch pan with parchment paper, making sure the paper extends over the edges by at least 1 inch. Butter the parchment paper.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Chop the baking chocolate squares and butter into chunks and place them in a separate microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until barely melted. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
• In a stand mixer or with electric beaters, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla for 2 minutes. While the mixer is running, slowly add the melted chocolate and beat to combine.
• With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
• Pour into the prepared 9-by-13-inch pan.
• Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the centre comes out mostly clean, but with some crumbs — this is “done” for a chewie brownie.
• Cool the brownies in the pan, on a wire rack. When they are completely cool, put them in the fridge to chill.

Frosting

• Combine all of the frosting ingredients and beat them together until they are light and fluffy. Add more milk, 1 tsp at a time, if needed.
• Spread evenly over the chilled brownies and place back in the fridge to chill again while you do the final step.

Chocolate ganache

• Place the chocolate chips and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until just melted. Stir until smooth.
• Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• When it’s room temperature, spread on top of brownies.
• Sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top and return to the fridge to cool.
• When the chocolate has hardened, use the edges of the parchment paper to remove the entire sheet of brownies from the pan. Cut them into squares and serve.

This recipe came to me via my mom’s mom, Lily Rose (née Peddle), better known to me as Nanny. The recipe card in the collage at the top of this recipe roundup is in Nanny’s handwriting, but it is one of three versions my aunt located in preparation for my entry. The version I bake, detailed below, cuts the lemon flavouring and some of the sugar, eggs and baking time, and adds more butter.

Nanny passed away when I was just seven years old. So my only baking memories associated with her are the sturdy spoon she smuggled out of her hospital cafeteria job, perfect for creaming butter. And wearing a clean pair of underwear on my head to keep my hair out of the batter.

I wear a headband or scarf to keep my hair back now. But if there’s one inheritance fight my sister and I are geared up for, it’s ownership of that Department of Health spoon.

— Katie Hyslop

(A version of) Nanny’s cherry cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (227 g) butter
• 1 1/3 cups (267 g) sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp almond flavouring
• 2/3 cup hot milk
• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 227 g halved cherries (I use candied; maraschino also works)
• Optional glaze: 1/2 cup (60 g) icing sugar; a few tablespoons of cherry juice from the jar

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a Bundt pan.
• Cream the butter and sugar together.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time.
• Add the almond flavouring.
• Add the hot milk (family trick: microwave 1/2 cup of evaporated milk and add 1/4 cup of water after).
• Save 1/3 cup of the flour to coat the cherries. Mix the remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and then stir into the wet mixture until creamy.
• Coat the cherries in flour, and then fold them into the mixture.
• Bake in the prepared Bundt pan (loaf and cupcake pans also work) for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The cake is done when a cake tester comes out clean.
• Optional glaze: Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add cherry juice, 1 tbsp at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. You want to be able to drizzle it over the cake.

No, this isn’t some classic handed down from the mists of holidays past — I saw someone sharing about these on Instagram four years ago and wanted to make them myself. This recipe is adapted from the one for passion fruit caramels on the Love and Olive Oil blog. I opted for raspberry because they have a lovely tang.

Come winter, don’t bother spending money on fresh berries from goodness knows where; buy them frozen instead. I love making them (and The Tyee office seems to love eating them) because, unlike cookies, they can be kept sitting around in a tin for the duration of the holiday season and still taste just as good.

— Christopher Cheung

Raspberry caramels

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup raspberry purée (from frozen raspberries)
• 1/4 cup (57 g) unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 5-by-5-inch cellophane candy wrappers or waxed paper cut to the same dimensions

Directions:

• Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan, or 2 small containers of equal size (I use the glass food storage ones from Ikea), with parchment paper. Gently grease the paper or use cooking spray.
• Blend frozen raspberries into 1/2 cup of purée.
• Strain the purée for seeds. Save about 1/2 tsp of seeds and set aside. (This is very important because any of the seeds that get into the caramel you will boil later will burn.)
• In a large pot, combine the sugar, cream, raspberry purée, butter, corn syrup, salt and vanilla.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring as it heats up so that the sugar and butter are dissolved.
• Now comes the crucial part of the recipe: boiling the caramel down. Reduce heat to medium-high. DO NOT STIR. The caramel will bubble and become increasingly viscous. Get a meat thermometer (no need to buy a candy thermometer) and check the temperature occasionally, until the caramel reaches 252 F — this happens gradually, but the temperature will spike quickly as it approaches 252. All in all, this takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let the caramel heat up beyond 252 because it will lose the chewiness and turn into hard candy.
• Act fast here. Once the caramel hits 252 F, take it off the stove and quickly stir in the raspberry seeds, distributing them evenly in the thick mixture. Then pour the caramel into your pan or container.
• Let it sit at room temperature for about an hour or so.
• Take the slab of caramel out of the container. You can start cutting it now, into 1 1/4-by-3/4-inch strips. I like to use my veggie cleaver but you do you (you can grease your knife slightly to help with the stickiness).
• Wrap your caramels and enjoy!
• You can store them up to a month in an airtight container or zip-lock bag.

My friend Amanda Huynh is simply great at bringing people together, no matter what’s going on in the wider world. When pandemic shutdowns drove many into isolation, she started a newsletter called “Design in the Time of Corona” to keep in touch with her industrial design students, who at the time were scattered across time and space. The newsletter quickly gained momentum among friends and colleagues who were likewise reaching for a steady, welcoming space of connection and whimsy during a time when things felt uncertain and strange.

When the leaves started to fall near her home in Brooklyn, Amanda shared a recipe in her newsletter called “Midterm Matcha Rice Krispie Treats.” This was something she’d bring to her students during crunch time.

Amanda recommends swapping the matcha with ube powder for bold purple squares. As some of us have discussed excitedly at The Tyee, ube has gained recent renown as the 2023 tuber of the year.

Some notes from me, a Type B baker and home cook to a fault: I’ve only ever made this with salted butter, I don’t have Maldon salt, and I use an old 9-by-13-inch ungreased lasagna pan. Instead of adding salt directly to the mixture, I’ve been sprinkling a bit of pink Himalayan rock salt on top of the finished squares.

All of this is fine! The recipe is forgiving and friendly.

— Jackie Wong

Amanda’s brown butter matcha Rice Krispies squares

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan
• 10 oz (285 g) bag marshmallows (sometimes they’re 12 oz bags and that’s fine too)
• 1 1/2 tbsp matcha powder
• Heaping 1/4 tsp Maldon salt or another coarse salt
• 6 cups (160 g) crispy rice cereal
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

• Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides.
• In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do.
• As soon as the butter takes on a nutty colour, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows with a silicone spatula. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it isn't, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.
• Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the matcha powder until smooth. Add the salt and cereal together, and finally the white chocolate chips (these may melt and become less chip-like and more just a part of the mixture but that's fine).
• Quickly spread into the prepared pan. Using some greased fingers or the spatula, press firmly and evenly into the edges and corners.
• Let cool and then cut into squares. My move is 12 squares, then each halved diagonally into triangles.

I often make an army of gingerbread people around the holidays, roping in my kids to help with the cookie cutting. But this recipe is a lighter, chewier version... almost, dare I say, fluffy? At my request, my mom texted me a photo of the original recipe card in my grandma’s writing. We don’t know the original source of this cookie recipe, but my mom says that as a homemaker raising six kids throughout the ’50s and ’60s, my grandma loved to trade recipes with friends in her neighbourhood in Red Deer, Alberta.

I hadn’t made these cookies in a while, and my first batch turned out way too big and spread out. I also overbaked that batch, so those ones will be tea-dippers. To get the desired shape, roll these cookies into small balls (around the size of a bouncy ball), then roll the ball in sugar and set it on the cookie tray. (These are not actually the instructions that come with the recipe so feel free to experiment!)

This recipe is also huge! You can cut it in half if you’re not feeding a family of eight plus various Christmastime guests.

— Jen St. Denis

Gingersnaps

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (285 g) shortening
• 2 cups (400 g) white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (165 g) molasses
• 4 cups (480 g) flour
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp ginger
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Blend together the shortening, sugar, eggs and molasses.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
• Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
• Roll into long rolls and cut with a knife.
• Dip each cookie in granulated sugar.
• Bake on a cookie sheet for 10 to 12 minutes.

How Chrissy fit into our family I’m not entirely sure. What I remember about her is that she was small and kind and used the formal “missus” and “reverend” when addressing my grandparents, despite being nearly a full generation older.

And I remember her shortbreads. The first secret to their perfection, I was always told, is the forearm-busting 20-minute kneading process. Over the decades, my mother and I continued to make them for each other at Christmas, batches of Chrissy’s shortbreads criss-crossing the country by air in reused cookie tins. Which is fine, because the second secret to their perfection is letting them sit one week before eating.

— Amanda Follett Hosgood

Chrissy shortbread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups (270 g) sifted all-purpose flour

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 300 F.
• Stir together the butter, sugar and vanilla.
• Slowly add the flour until you can no longer stir, then knead for about 20 minutes.
• Roll onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and pierce with a fork.
• Bake until just browned, about 30 minutes.
• Once cooled, break into pieces.

Recipes vary in their details, and some bakers are fussy about types of flour, quality of water and just what should go into the dough. But the bagel is a food of liberation and should never become the instrument of culinary tyranny. One should bake them as one eats them, in a spirit of amiably gluttonous experiment.

— Crawford Kilian

Bagels

Ingredients:

In a bowl, mix:

• 2 tsp sugar
• 2/3 cup lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsp dry granulated yeast

Into a large bowl, sift together:

• 6 to 7 cups (1.5 to 1.75 L) flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp sugar

In another bowl, combine:

• 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
• 6 tbsp salad oil

In a third bowl, beat together:

• 2 large eggs and 2 egg yolks

For baking:

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• Butter for greasing
• 3 egg yolks
• Toppings: coarse salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds

Directions:

• Allow the yeast to double in volume.
• Pour the foaming yeast into the flour, salt and sugar mixture. Add the water and oil, and finally the beaten eggs. Mix with a wooden spoon.
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth, about 15 minutes. The dough will be velvety, not tacky.
• Place the kneaded ball of dough in a greased bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place. When it doubles in bulk, punch it down and allow it to rise again until doubled.
• While it’s rising the second time, put a large, heavy pot on the stove with about 4 litres of water and 2 tbsp of sugar. Bring the sugared water to a boil.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F.
• Punch the dough down a second time, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Prepare 2 or 3 cookie sheets by greasing with butter. Also beat 3 egg yolks with a little water and set aside. Have toppings ready: coarse salt, sesame seeds and poppy seeds are all good.
• Pull off a fistful of dough and roll it into a ball in your hand. Flatten the ball into a disc and poke your finger through the middle to make a sizable hole.
• When you have 4 or 5 bagels made, start dropping them into the boiling water. (While they boil, go on making more bagels.)
• The bagels will sink briefly, rise to the surface and begin to swell. Let them cook for about a minute, turn them over and cook for another minute. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain for a moment and place on a buttered cookie sheet. The bagels may continue to swell.
• Brush each boiled bagel lightly with egg wash and sprinkle the topping on while the egg wash is still moist.
• When the cookie sheet is full, place it in the oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The bagels will rise in the oven and may crowd one another, but that’s no problem. (The next batch can continue to rise on the counter while the first batch bakes.)
• These bagels will be lighter and less regular in shape than commercial bagels.
• Test for doneness by tapping; they’ll sound hollow, like a loaf of bread. If left in too long, the bottoms may burn. Allow to cool on a rack for a few minutes.

Is it just a stick in water? It is. But it looks fancy and we all need to hydrate. Plus your in-laws can't say you didn't contribute to the holiday potluck again. You brought fancy water. Fancy water with spicy sticks in it. Congratulations on winning the holidays.

— Michelle Gamage

Cinnamon water

Ingredients:

• Water
• Cinnamon sticks

Directions:

• Put a cinnamon stick in water. The longer you leave the cinnamon stick in the water, for example overnight, the more tea-coloured and cinnamon-flavoured the water will be.
• Enjoy.

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With contributions from andrea bennett, Christopher Cheung, Michelle Gamage, Amanda Follett Hosgood, Katie Hyslop, Crawford Kilian, Jen St. Denis and Jackie Wong.