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Happy YASSSletter Thursday Gingis!
In our family, we are lucky enough to be able to celebrate lots of holidays all year long because Zikki and I come from two different backgrounds and love diving into each other's cultures. Now with our little squirrel here, happy, and healthy — we are really leaning into this holiday season and all of her traditions!
With that being said, Christmas is around the corner. We've put up a tree, shamelessly blasted Michael Bublé, and made an enormous amount of CHRISTMAS COOKIES!
The Christmas Cookie tradition (read below👇🏻) must be my favorite of them all. It really is the most joyous, thoughtful, and delicious gift. Drop off a box for a neighbor, bring them to your lovers, or simply keep them at home for all the holiday visitors.
So without further ado, this week we are diving deep into the world of CHRISTMAS COOKIES (but with a Middle Eastern twist 😉) !!! On the agenda today is:
🍪 3 Fun Facts about Christmas Cookies!
🍯 Gingerbread Pistachio Date-Honey Cookies Recipe
🍓 Strawberry Sumac Pistachio Linzer Cookies Recipe
☕ Espresso Cocoa White Chocolate Crinkles Recipe
🍪 3 Fun Facts about Christmas Cookies!
When aromatics, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger, became more widely available in Europe in the Middle Ages, they were put to good use at holiday baking time. It became tradition to combine butter and sugar — which cost a pretty penny back then — with these prized spices once a year at Christmas. Bakers today include nutmeg and molasses in holiday desserts, especially in gingerbread cookies — one of the most popular seasonal treats.
The practice of putting out cookies for Santa began in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when parents were trying to instill a sense of thankfulness in their children. Some families even extend the giving to the jolly man’s flying companions, leaving carrots or apples out for Santa’s reindeer.
We can thank Queen Elizabeth I for cute little gingerbread people. She invented gingerbread men! One day, she requested that her royal bakers created gingerbread cookies shaped like visiting dignitaries so she can honor them. A dignitary is a person considered to be important because of high rank or office.
🍯 Gingerbread Pistachio Date-Honey Cookies
The first cookie of this holiday series is a gingerbread cookie with a middle-eastern twist. I add pistachios to the cookie dough, which gives an added texture to the cookies. The molasses I replaced with dates honey and the coating sugar mix has some cardamom powder in it. I also used a decent amount of salt in the recipe which perfectly balances the sweetness of the dates honey and the sugars. I was honestly surprised how great these cookies came out, and I cannot wait for you goings to try them out!
🍓Strawberry Sumac Pistachio Linzer Cookies
These cookies reminds me so much of my childhood. Crispy almond cookie sandwich with a sweet jam in between the layers. Even though the combination of almonds and strawberry jam is great, I decided to give it a BenGingi twist. The strawberry jam is seasoned with sumac and the cookies are made with pistachio flour rather than almonds. As I'm not using any food coloring, the cookies won't be very green in color, but the flavor is absolutely there! These Linzer cookies are one of a kind, and everyone you'll gift it to will love you so much!
☕ Espresso Cocoa White Chocolate Crinkles
To complete our Christmas cookie series today we have Crinkles. Like I do with all my recipes, I gave these cookies a little twist. I mixed some super high quality espresso powder with the cocoa powder, which gives an amazing aroma and nutty notes to the cookies. I also added white chocolate chips to give these guys another comforting layer. They are so easy and quick to make! Also a beautiful activity to do with your kids!
What kind of recipes would you like to see for our New Year's Eve Edition? |
Hope you have a weekend full of YASSS! Until next Thursday Gingis.
Love, Ben xx
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