Bake Up A Storm With These 5 Holiday Sweets

It’s wintertime, the air is cold, and everyone is getting into the festive spirit. And that means the kitchen probably smells like delicious baked goods. Is it really a holiday party if there are no holiday-themed treats?

A trip to your local Kroger grocery store will help you discover everything you’ll need to bake delicious desserts for your upcoming holiday party. Have you been put on dessert-duty? Have no fear, we developed some new-takes on holiday desserts.

Those classic peanut butter blossom cookies are great, but they’ve been done before! This year, try switching up your dessert menu. Get creative with your gingerbread cookies and build some 3D winter wonderland forests.

We partnered with Kroger to share five new holiday-themed desserts that will make the perfect addition for any upcoming get-together. You can check out each recipe below for everything you need to recreate them at home.

3D Gingerbread Cookies

Total Time: 1 hour

Yields: ~1 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups Simple Truth Organic™ all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup Simple Truth Organic™ light brown sugar
• ½ cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp Simple Truth Organic™ Madagascar vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350°F.
2. Sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy, about one minute, then add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about two minutes.
4. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla to the butter mixture, and beat until well incorporated.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until a smooth dough forms – flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
6. Roll out cookie dough to ¼ inch thickness and cut out trees and snowmen using cookie cutters – make sure to have an even number of trees and an even number of snowmen.
7. Slice a ½ inch-wide vertical slit from the bottom middle of one cookie to the center, and remove the cut-out dough. Do the same from the top middle of a second cookie to the center, and remove the cut-out dough.
8. Bake your cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, then cool.
9. Create 3D cookies by interlocking two cookies and standing them upright.

Peppermint Pinwheels

Total Time: 1 hour

Yields: ~2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 ¼ cups Simple Truth Organic™ all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup Simple Truth Organic™ granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp Simple Truth Organic™ Madagascar vanilla extract
• Kroger red food coloring
• Crushed peppermint candies

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350°F.
2. Sift together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
3. In an electric mixer or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and airy – about 3 minutes – then add the egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until a dough forms.
5. Remove half the dough from the mixing bowl and add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining dough, then mix to combine.
6. Roll both mounds of dough into logs, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm – about 2 hours.
7. Take the log of plain cookie dough and stand it tall. Then, using an apple corer, slice the log from top to bottom. Repeat with the log of red cookie dough.
8. Lay eight log segments side-by-side on a piece of parchment paper covered with crushed peppermint cookies.
9. Using the parchment as an aid, roll up the segments to reform a log, placing the central segment in place as you roll – refrigerate.
10. Once the log is chilled, trim the ends, and then slice the cookies into ½ inch slices.
11. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes and enjoy!

Edible Ornaments

Total Time: 1 hour

Yields: 10

Ingredients:

• 25 vanilla sandwich cookies
• 1 cup hot chocolate
• ½ tsp Simple Truth Organic™ Madagascar vanilla extract
• 10 mini chocolate peanut butter cups
• ½ cup Simple Truth Organic™ Fair Trade dark chocolate, melted
• 2 cups Simple Truth Organic™ Fair Trade white chocolate, melted
• 10 paper clips

Directions:

1. Dip each cookie in the hot chocolate, then add them to a food processor along with the vanilla, and blend until finely ground.
2. Scoop a heaping tablespoonful into your hands and roll until a ball forms – repeat with remaining mixture and freeze balls for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, skewer each mini chocolate peanut butter cup with a toothpick, until the cup is about halfway up the toothpick.
4. Place a cookie ball on the end of each toothpick.
5. Drizzle the melted dark chocolate over the melted white chocolate in a crosshatch pattern.
6. Dunk your cookie balls in the melted chocolate, and as you remove them give them a gentle twist.
7. Push the peanut butter cup down the toothpick onto the ornament and remove the toothpick. Let the chocolate set.
8. Insert a paperclip into each ornament’s peanut butter cup topper and trim your tree!

Mini Christmas Cakes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients:

• ½ cup Simple Truth Organic™ brown sugar
• 1 cup Simple Truth Organic™ all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 4 Tbsp salted butter, melted
• ½ cup milk
• ½ Tbsp Simple Truth Organic™ Madagascar vanilla extract

For the glaze (makes enough for 4 cakes):

• 2 cups Simple Truth Organic™ powdered sugar
• ½ Tbsp meringue powder
• 2 Tbsp hot water (plus more as needed)
• Sugared cranberries
• Mint leaves

Directions:

1. Set the oven to 325°F.
2. Grease and flour a clean 14.5oz tin.
3. In the tin, combine all the cake ingredients and whisk to combine into a smooth batter.
4. Bake your cake for 35 – 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean, then let the cake cool.
5. While the cake is cooling, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and hot water until a thick, glossy and smooth icing forms (If it is too thick, add additional hot water in ¼ tsp increments).
6. Slice the cooled cake in half, spread icing on the bottom layer, top with the other half of the cake, and top with more icing.
7. Finish with a sugared cranberry and mint leaves.

Buckeye Balls

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yields: 15

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups Simple Truth Organic™ creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 2 ½ cups Simple Truth Organic™ powdered sugar (sifted)
• 2 cups Simple Truth Organic™ Fair Trade dark chocolate

Directions:

1. Combine creamy peanut butter, softened butter, and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix until a smooth paste forms.
2. Roll tablespoon-sized balls of the mixture and skewer them on to toothpicks.
3. Melt two cups of dark chocolate until smooth and glossy, and using the toothpicks, dip each ball into the melted chocolate until they are ¾ of the way covered.
4. Let the chocolate set and enjoy!