Monday, December 19, 2011

Holiday Baking Day 2: Cookies and Bars, Oh My!

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a lovely weekend. I spent many hours baking yesterday and several hours making my no bake treats the day before :) You saw the no bake so here is what came out of my oven yesterday!


This is what 5 dozen Almond Joy Cookies looks like...


Mmmm! Close-up!


1 batch of Magical Coconut Bars from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar! Chosen by you my dear readers!


Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Biscotti, also from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar! It got eliminated from the Holiday Baking Bracket but it is one of my favorite recipes and it is festive for the holidays so I made them anyway. They are SO delicious, I highly recommend making them!

As a little side note - the second batch of biscotti was my last batch of baking for this season. Naturally, I run out of arrowroot powder on the first batch. I had made the Magical Coconut Bars, 5 dozen Almond Joy Cookies and 1 batch of biscotti in a row. I was on a roll and then the momentum was totally lost when I had to go and get arrowroot. Any bakers out there I'm sure will understand what a major bummer it is to have to leave in the middle to grab one ingredient. Oh well, I finished soon after and they will be consumed shortly :)


I took this photo of all of the goodies with my phone for you to get the whole picture of this project :) Needless to say I was EXHAUSTED after! It's all worth it though, I love baking for everyone! I will definitely have to continue doing giveaways for all of you throughout the year to share the baking love after the holiday season has passed.

Hope you are all having a good Monday!

12 comments:

  1. I hope all your giftees appreciate the work you put in!
    I'd honestly love to see a photo of the afterparty: a piled high sinkful of dishes, flour on the floor and your nose, bags of ingredients all over the table, and the cat licking at the Earth Balance lid ;) Unless, that is, if you're more organized than I am.

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  2. Oh my is right; these all look wonderful! The biscotti do sound extra festive and special. Beautiful homemade treats add so much to the holidays!

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  3. That is a ton of baking! Everything sounds so good. I think it's wonderful that you did this all. :)

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  4. Exhausted indeed! That looks like a lot of work! Biscotti always seems intimidating to me, you'll have to share your secret to making it manageable! The coconut bars look incredible!!

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  5. Good God, that's a lot of Christmas baking to make in one go! Everything looks glorious...despite eating tons of baking the last week (tis the season), I've yet to tire of all the goodies.

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  6. Wow, thanks everyone!

    FF - They definitely appreciate it! The after party photo wouldn't be all that interesting because I tend to clean as I go. I was definitely covered in flour though ;)

    Rose - The biscotti are so yummy and I agree that homemade treats is the way to go...obviously lol.

    Molly - Thanks! I love doing it and I know everyone appreciates it and enjoys it so it makes the effort definitely worthwhile :)

    Ingrid - It was definitely a ton of work. The biscotti is actually quite easy. You should get a copy of Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. I made that recipe and they make everything really easy and manageable :)

    Allysia - Yes, it was a massive project! My appetite has been off this week so I actually haven't been interested in eating any of it. Which I guess is good for my waistline! I'm gonna freeze a sampling of each though so I can fully enjoy it when I'm in the mood to eat them :)

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  7. I'd enjoy more details on how you wrapped those Peppermint Creams. I doubt even Martha Stewart can do that.

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  8. Wow...you have been super busy! Everything looks amazing! You have done an awesome job. Anyone would be happy to get those goodies! Maybe baking should be your second job. :o)

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  9. Nice work!! That's impressive. They all look amazing but the magical coconut bars make me want to reach into my screen and steal a taste. I know everyone will appreciate your hard work & enjoy eating them :)

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  10. Shen - The wrapping is just foil! I just folded it up like I was wrapping a gift. I was actually impatient with the whole process, they could have looked a lot better.

    Michelle - Yes, very busy :) Thanks! Most have been happy receiving these treats. One was indifferent. I won't get into it. ha!

    Claire - Thank you :) The magical coconut bars are SO good! They are very rich though, that's why I cut them so small! I definitely recommend giving them a try though!

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  11. These cookies look so amazing! But, wow, that had to be a lot of work.

    Happy holidays!

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  12. Sage - Thanks! Yes it was definitely a lot of work but it was worth it :) i'm definitely ready for a little mini break from baking though!

    happy holidays!

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