Give Comfort, Share Joy - Holiday Recipes 2021

As another holiday season rolls around, there is very little better than baking - and sharing. 

These new recipes of ours are dedicated to all of you out there who will carve out some time to spend in the kitchen, to give of yourselves to your families, friends and perhaps even those not yet friends but are in need of one...

Breakfasts and Snacks

Cinnamon pancakes with compote & maple syrup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups(8½ oz/240 g) Organic Einkorn Pancake & Baking Mix (spooned lightly into a measuring cup)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 to 1¼ cups milk, buttermilk or yoghurt (depending on how thick or thin you like your pancakes)
• 2 tbl melted butter
• ½ quantity Apple, Pear & Cherry compote, to serve

For the compote:

• 8 eating apples (Red Delicious, Gala, etc), peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 4 medium cooking  apples (Granny Smith type), peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 8 firm pears, peeled, cored and thickly sliced
• 6 tbsp sugar, or to taste
• 10 oz/280g dried sour cherries or dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Put the apples and pears in a pan with the sugar and about 2oz/50ml water. Bring to a simmer, then gently cook, covered, for 15 mins or so until the apples and pears are tender (stir to make sure they don't catch on the bottom).
2. Stir in the cherries, or cranberries, for 1 min, taste and add a little more sugar if necessary. Can be chilled for 3-5 days.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the baking mix, cinnamon,and sugar.  In a jug, whisk the eggs, milk and melted butter. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture gradually, whisking as you go to make a smooth batter. Ideally, let the mixture stand for 1 hr (or even overnight, covered in the fridge), although you can cook with it straight away.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Melt a knob of butter, then drop in tbls of the mixture to make pancakes about 2.5 in across. Cook for 2-3 mins until bubbles appear on the surface, then flip over and cook for 1 min more. Keep each batch warm while you use up the rest of the batter. Stack up the pancakes and serve with hot or cold compote, maple syrup and yogurt.

-- recipe adapted from bbcggodfood.com

Cheesy Pull-Apart Christmas Tree

Ingredients:

• 1 pizza dough made with 1 bag Organic Ancient Grain Pizza Dough Mix, per directions
• Egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water)
• 7 mozzarella sticks
• ½ cup melted butter
• ½ cup grated Parmesan
• ¼ cup fresh chopped herbs (Oregano, Parsley, Basil, Rosemary)
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Marinara sauce, warmed (for serving), or our Homemade Sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Cut mozzarella sticks into 1” pieces and set aside.
4. On a floured surface, divide pizza dough into two pieces. Stretch and roll each piece of dough into a long rectangle, then cut dough into 2” squares (you’ll need 33 total).
5. Wrap a dough square around each piece of mozzarella, forming a tightly sealed ball.
6. Place balls seam-side down on the baking sheet in the shape of a Christmas tree (they should be touching).
7. Brush egg wash on dough balls and bake until golden about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together melted butter, garlic, and herbs. Brush on baked pizza balls.
8. Serve warm with the marinara or our homemade sauce, or the sauce of your choice, for dipping. 

Homemade Sauce directions:

1. take a can of fire roasted tomatoes, or a can of diced tomatoes, drain, and blend, together with  some garlic, oregano and maybe olive oil, in a blender, or with a stick blender in a qt pot.
2. Cook gently for about 5-10 mins or until garlic melts/cooks into sauce.

-- recipe adapted from Living With Amy: Christmas Tree Cheesy Pull Apart bread

Snowman Christmas Biscuits

These cute snowman cookies are a great treat for kids to make or just to eat.

Ingredients:

• 1⅔ cup (7oz/ 200g) Organic Einkorn Pancake & Baking Mix 
• ½ cup (3½oz/100g) sugar
• 7 tbls (3½oz/100g) butter, plus extra for greasing pans
• 1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the decorations:

• white and blue fondant icing
• white and black writing icing
• sprinkles
• 48 small chocolate balls

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
2. Mix the flour and sugar together in a bowl, then rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix to form a soft dough.
4. Roll out onto a well-floured work surface and cut into rounds. Place on greased baking sheets, or on the baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Cool on a wire rack. When completely cool decorate.
6. Roll out the white fondant icing and cut out circles the same size as the biscuits, brush the backs of the circles with a little cooled boiled water and stick them to the biscuits, smoothing down the icing as you stick it on.
7. Roll out the blue icing and cut out more circles, then cut these in half and using a little more water and stick on top of the white icing for the hats.
8. Brush the hats with water in places where you want the sprinkles to stick and then sprinkle!
9. Pipe decorations on the hat with the white writing icing, then pipe a small blob for the hat bobble and another for the nose – stick on the chocolate balls. Pipe black eyes and mouth then leave to set.

-- recipe adapted from bbc.co.uk

Festive desserts

Torta Speziata

This recipe for a very classic European chocolate spice cake wasn't passed down to me by my mother, but  I have been making it every Christmas for close to 50 years.  It came out of one of the first two cookbooks my husband ever gave me, "Joy of Cooking".

Ingredients: (made with Oberkülmer Spelt Chocolate Cake/Brownie Mix)

• 21 oz/600 g mix Organic Spelt Chocolate Cake/Brownie Mix
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 6oz/170 g almond meal
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp cloves
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 8 oz unsalted butter          
• 6 eggs, beaten 
• 2oz/40 g dark chocolate, melted and cooled
• ¾ cup finely shaved citron, candied orange or lemon peel
• 1¼ cup (10¼ fl.oz/ 285 ml) milk, creme fraiche or 3 tbl sour cream, rest milk 

for topping:

• 1-2 tablespoon powdered confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350º F. Butter and flour an 9"   bundt cake pan.
2.  In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and eggs to combine.
3.  Sift the baking mix, add the baking powder, grounds almonds, and the spices. Cut the butter into chunks and add it the flour mixture, then pour in half of the egg mixture. Beat on low speed with a hand-held mixer just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to high and beat for 1 minute only. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
4.  Add half of the remaining egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the bowl. Add the rest of the egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds.
5. Fold in the melted chocolate and the citron.
6.  Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the surface. Bake until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. 50 to 60 minutes. (If the cake is browning too quickly, cover the loaf loosely with foil after 30 minutes.) Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then remove cake from the pan and cool completely on the rack.
7. Mix cinnamon into the sifted powdered sugar. Dust cake with this mix and serve. Serve cake dusted with the cinnamon/powdered sugar mix.

Ingredients: (made with Einkorn Pancake Mix)

• scant 1½ cup (6 oz/170 g) Organic Einkorn Pancake & Baking Mix
• 12 oz/339 g sugar
• 6 oz/170 g almond meal
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp cloves
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 8 oz salted or unsalted butter          
• 6 eggs, beaten 
• 1¼ cup (generous 5 oz/145 g), cocoa powder or
• scant 6 oz/170 g dark chocolate
• ¾ cup finely shaved citron, candied orange or lemon peel
• 1¼ cup (10¼ fl.oz/ 285 ml) milk, creme fraiche or 3 tbl sour cream, rest milk

For topping:

1. 1 tablespoon icing/confectioners’ sugar
2. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Add sugar, and cocoa, if using cocoa,  to the pancake mix, then follow the same directions as for the cake made with Oberkülmer Spelt Fudge Cake and Brownie Mix

-- recipe adapted from "Joy of Cooking"