Doula Holiday Delights: Our Doula’s Favourite Holiday Treat Recipes

What you need

• 2½ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup dark molasses [I use “robust”]
• 1 cup boiling water

How to make it

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease and flour an 8-inch cake pan.
2. Sift together flour, soda, salt and spices. 
3. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy, add eggs, beat well, then beat in molasses.
4. Add boiling water and dry ingredients and beat until smooth.
5. Bake for 35–45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. 
6. Let cool 5 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a rack.

What you need

for Cookies

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp soda
• 1 tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 ½ cups flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• ½ tsp salt

for Frosting

• 1 bag powdered sugar
• 1-2 tsp almomd extract
• ½ cup butter
• 1 tbsp. milk

How to make it

1. Combine cream, shortening, sugar, eggs, soda, and milk
2. Sift dry ingredients and add to first mixture
3. Chill
4. Roll, cut, and bake 10-12 minutes at 325 degrees

1. Adjust amount as needed and blend together.

What you need

• 2 cups dry-roasted or salted peanuts
• 2 ½  cups semi-sweet chocolate bar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
•  1 ¼  oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• optional ½  cup sweetened shredded coconut (add with peanuts/marshmallow)

How to make it

1. Line a 9×9 inch pan (for extra thick bars) or 9×13 inch pan with wax or parchment paper and lightly spray with non-stick spray.
2. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter and stir it every 30 seconds until it’s completely melted. Stir it at every interval; otherwise you do not see if all the chocolate is melted and it should look like a fudgy ganache.
3. Quickly, stir in sweetened condensed milk, followed by adding peanuts and marshmallows. Fold all together.
4. Pour into prepared pan immediately and spread out evenly. Chill until firm about 2 hours.
5. Cut into squares and serve.

What you need

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate
• 16 ounces white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
• ½  teaspoon peppermint extract
• ¾  cup crushed candy canes

Notes

1. I find that the easiest way to crush the candy is to place it in a resealable bag, then use a meat mallet or rolling pin to break it into small pieces.
2. This recipe only has 4 ingredients which means quality really counts. Use the highest quality chocolate you can find, and look for white chocolate that contains real cocoa butter and not just palm oil. My favorite brand is Guittard.
3. Using white chocolate with palm oil may cause your layers of bark to separate. 
4. For best results, chill the bark completely to let the layers fuse together, then bring it back to room temperature for cutting. I find using a knife produces nicer results than breaking the bark apart with your hands.

How to make it

1. Place the semisweet chocolate chips in a medium bowl and microwave for 30 second increments until melted. Stir until smooth.
2. Spread the chocolate into a roughly 9″x 13″ rectangle on a piece of parchment paper. Place the chocolate in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
3. Place the white chocolate chips in a medium bowl and microwave for 30 second increments until melted. Add the peppermint extract and stir until smooth.
4. Spread the white chocolate over the semisweet chocolate layer. Top with candy canes. Let harden in the fridge for about 20 minutes or until the chocolate is completely set. Remove from the fridge and let the bark sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Cut or break into pieces and serve.

What you need

• 1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
• 5 tbsp packed light brown sugar
• 8 tbsp cold butter, cut ½ in pieces
• 4 large eggs
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cup powdered sugar, divide in 2
• ¾ cup lemon juice

How to make it

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. For crust: Mix flour and brown sugar in processor until blended
3. Add butter pieces to the flour mixture and pulse the processor until butter in tiny, pea-sized pieces and dough is lumpy.
4. Pour crust mixture evenly into a 9×13 dish. Press the crust down with a spatula to make it packed. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. 
5. For lemon topping: Beat eggs until well blended, add vanilla and ¾ cup powdered sugar, mix well

What you need

• ¾ c butter (or vegan butter, or coconut oil)
• 1 c sugar
• ¼ c molasses
• 1 egg (or 1 flax egg)
• 2 c flour (or Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 all purpose gluten free flour)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt

How to make it

1. Melt butter (or substitute) in a saucepan and cool.
2. Add sugar, molasses, and egg, beat well.
3. Sift dry ingredients and combine to first mixture. Mix well and chill.
4. Form into 1” balls, roll in sugar and place on a cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes.

What you need

Crust

• 2½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter or margarine at room temp
• 1 egg yolk combined with enough milk to total 2/3 Cup -SAVE the whites

Filling

• 1 cup crushed Wheaties
• 8-10 med apples cored, peeled, sliced 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

Icing

• powdered sugar
• vanilla
• water to a thin drizzle consistency

How to make it

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together flour , salt, butter until crumbly then add in egg/milk and form into a firm ball
3. Cut dough in half and roll out two daily even pieces 
4. Place 1/2 on a 15×8 ungreased cookie sheet
5. Sprinkle on the Wheaties 
6. Add apples on top then layer on the sugar mix (sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon)
7. Place the other 1/2 of the crust on top -You can do this as a solid piece with a few holes for venting or cut into strips and make it look more fancy! 
8. Egg wash the top crust with leftover egg whites
9. Bake for 45-60 minutes 
10. Drizzle on Icing while still warm! 

What you need

• salted butter
• creamy no stir peanut butter
• rice krispies cereal
• semi-sweet chocolate chips: or substitute melting wafers
• powdered sugar

How to make it

1. Use either a stand mixer or hand mixer to combine the peanut butter and melted butter until smooth.
2. Add in the rice krispies until combined. Next, add the powdered sugar. Once the mixture becomes too hard to mix, finish mixing it together by hand using a rubber spatula.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop to drop peanut butter balls onto the baking sheet.
4. Roll batter into balls with your hands to form a round shape. Place the peanut butter balls with rice krispies in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. This will make them not be so sticky and easier to dip into the melted chocolate.
5. Melt the semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave in 20-30 second increments, until smooth.
6. Dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate then place them back onto the lined baking sheet.
7. Place the balls back in the fridge and allow the chocolate to harden until firm.