CHRISTMAS EDITION: peanut butter blossoms, cranberry tart, gingerbread cake

I think one of my favorite holiday traditions is baking peanut butter blossom cookies. They are not even particularly holiday-ish but for some reason I only make them at Christmastime. I use the recipe printed on the Hershey Kisses bag and they come out perfect every.single.time. This year I actually made two batches - kept one, and then brought one to a friend's house for a party - and will be making a third to send to my uncle who loves them. A crowd-pleaser for sure. 

48 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (the "fake" stuff, i.e Jiff or Skippy, seems to work best)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Add sugars; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll in the granulated sugar; placed on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a Kiss into the center of each cookie.

The.Best.

One of my perennial favorite desserts is Ina Garten's Cranberry and Apple Cake from "How Easy is That?" It's been on my baking rotation since receiving the book a few years ago. It is perfectly tart and perfectly acceptable to also eat for breakfast :)

12 oz fresh cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/8 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Combine cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

In an electric mixer, beat eggs on medium-high for 2 minutes. On medium, add a cup of granulated sugar, butter, vanilla, and sour cream (or yogurt) and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly add flour and salt.

Pour fruit mixture into 10" glass pie plate. Pour batter over fruit, covering it completely. Combine remaining tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temp.

Not the best photo.

But delicious any time of day.

And...I also made this cake. I am too lazy to type out this recipe because I followed it exactly. It tasted as described here but made in the springform pan I actually think it was too dense. The flavor was good and though I am not normally a fan of icing, this icing really did compliment the cake very well. If I make it again I would halve the recipe and cook it in a regular cake pan because it was just just a little too hefty otherwise. Here's photographic evidence that I actually made the cake though: