Yesterday began our season of holiday baking. I must admit, this year is a little different because I am catering a few things between now and Christmas and so my cookies, fudges and quick breads are taking a back seat. Nonetheless, some holiday baking will get done. . .eventually.
Many people think the idea of presenting people with nice holiday trays of cookies or homemade goodies sounds great but the “putting it all together” aspect of it is a little tricky. The trick is to set aside time to complete all the steps of holiday baking. There needs to be time for choosing recipes and making the list, gathering on hand ingredients and shopping for ones you don’t have, and finally baking and decorating. And take a word from the wise: doing this at midnight the night before will not bring cherished Christmas memories!
A Well Stocked Pantry
Grocery stores at this time know that you’re going to be baking. They put commonly used baking stuff on sale. Go ahead and pick it up even if you haven’t gotten all your recipes together yet. If you don’t use it for Christmas baking, you can deliberately set it aside for New Year’s!
Thoughts on Wholesale Baking Goods
I bake a lot at this time of year. With that said there are a few things that I’ve found to be well worth the effort to get at a store like Costco: cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate chips. If you have unlimited storage however, consider picking up flour and sugar just for your holiday baking.
Baking Day
I suggest that you set two days aside for baking and pulling together your holiday goodies. One day is for the actual baking and cooling. The second day is for the decorating. If you don’t have two days. . .don’t choose cookies that need to be decorated (or see my next tip on super easy decorating!)
Super Easy Decorating
We’re not all Martha Stewart. If you find that you’re running low on time, skip the fancy decorating and use colored sugars instead. If you have to use frosting, choose a simple white royal frosting. Your designs will come out elegant looking and you’ll save yourself valuable time.
On Baking Day. . .
Make your chilled doughs first. Make the cookies that do not need to be chilled but will be decorated with frosting (and thus need to be completely cooled before being finished) secondly. If you have recipes that call for ‘constant stirring’ do those somewhat separately while you don’t have a lot else going on!