How to Bake for the Holidays

Make sure you have some delicious desserts stashed and ready. All these recipes can be made a up to a few weeks in advance, frozen and then thawed when needed.

Find tips for storing and freezing baked goods at the bottom of this page.

• Almond Toffee Squares
• Berry Jam and Tea Tarts
• Brown Sugar Shortbread
• Candy Cane Nanaimo Bars
• Chocolate Peppermint Sugar Cookies
• Chocolate Whoopie Pies
• Cinnamon Bun Bars
• Cinnamon Walnut Bars
• Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
• Easy Marshmallow Fudge
• Lemon Loaf
• Old-Fashioned Butter Tarts
• Pineapple and Macadamia Nut Macaroons
• Porridge Bread
• Raspberry Window Cookies
• Rocky Road Bark
• Salted Chocolate Caramel Tarts
• Soft Ginger Cookies
• Spicy Gingerbread Men
• Vanilla Chocolate Checkerboard Cookies

We love to give homemade edible gifts. It’s a treat for the recipient and, once enjoyed, they leave no clutter behind. Here are some of our favourite recipes for holiday giving:

• Almond Toffee Squares
• Chai-Scented Marshmallows
• Cranberry Pistachio Bark
• Classic Nuts and Bolts
• Dill Pickle Roasted Chickpeas
• Easy Marshmallow Fudge
• Grandma’s Poppycock
• Kettle Corn
• Oatmeal Cookie Mix in a Jar
• Rocky Road Bark
• Rosemary Cranberry Crackers
• Salted Caramels
• Spicy Glazed Pecans
• White Chocolate Munch Mix
• Zesty Taco Seasoning Mix

Christmas puddings and fruitcakes are holiday classics. We’ve assembled recipes that will be sure to shine.

A quick note: you can reheat Christmas puddings. Either do so in the oven by removing the pudding wrappings, putting it in foil and reheating at 300ºF until hot, about an hour. You can also heat it up on the stovetop by taking it out of the wrappings and setting the pudding back in its original mould, covering tightly. Set the mould on a trivet in a large saucepan and steam for 45 minutes to an hour, or until hot.

• Old Time Molasses Fruitcake
• Figgy Fruitcake

Rich and tangy cheesecake makes a great dessert when hosting a lot of family and friends. A little slice goes a long way, so one cheesecake serves many. Even better, it needs to chill for 24 hours before serving, and it will survive a couple of nights in the fridge after that, so you can make it in advance and save leftovers –if there are any –for later sweet cravings.

It can sometimes be a tricky dessert, though. Cracks on the surface can mar a that perfect top. We’ve brought together our best tips to ensure your cheesecake is delicious and picture-perfect.

• To get the most volume, leave your eggs and cream cheese at room temperature for 30 minutes before using them.
• Beat the eggs and cream cheese until completely smooth before adding other ingredients. This will make sure you get a smooth texture.
• While the cheesecake is baking, only open the oven door if absolutely necessary and for as quickly as possible. A quick temperature change can cause a crack.
• Lower the risk of a crack across the top of your cheesecake by placing a pan of water on the bottom shelf of the oven while it bakes or by baking it in a bain-marie.
• A circular crack that runs around the outer edge means your baking temperature is too high.
• Don’t overbake your cheesecake. A baked cheesecake will be slightly soft when it’s finished baking and it will firm up as it cools.
• After you pull it from the oven, run a sharp knife around the outside edge of the cheesecake to loosen it from the side of the pan.
• Once it has completely cooled, cover and refrigerate it, letting it chill for 24 hours.
• Use a hot, wet, sharp knife to get perfect slices.
• You can store cheesecakes for up to 3 days in the fridge. Baked cheesecakes can be frozen for up to 2 weeks.

Now that you know the right technique, you’ll want to try making a cheesecake yourself. Here are ones we like for the holidays.

• Classic Baked Cheesecake
• Chai Latte Cheesecake
• Irish Satin Cheesecake

It’s great to bake bread over the holidays. It warms the kitchen and fills the whole house with the comforting, homey smell of baking dough. We always like to have bread for turkey sandwiches on hand, but also love being able to offer up different kinds of loaves to enjoy.

• Challah
• German Stollen
• Herb Focaccia Bread
• Whole Grain No-Knead Bread
• Rye Bread
• Everyday Bread

For even more bread recipes, check out our Love to be Kneaded FREE downloadable cookbook.

Confused about cookie sheets? Not sure how altitude might be affecting the bake time of your favourite goodies? Unsure what exactly a recipe means when it calls for ‘double cream?’ Or how to store all the squares you want to stash before Christmas?

We've got the answers.

Cookie sheets:

We recommend heavy-duty cookie sheets with low sides or none at all, and we prefer aluminum ones.

You won’t need to spray or butter non-stick sheets, and they’re easy to clean, but because they’re often darker in colour, your cookies may bake more quickly and brown more. Insulated cookie sheets take longer to heat, so your cookies may need more time in the oven if that’s what you’re using. They will give you very even results –with the cookie tops the same colour as the bottoms, and you might miss out on crispy edges.

Cooking terms:

Family recipes passed down over generations, or those that come from the UK or Australia, may be full of terms for ingredients you’re not familiar with. Here’s our chart to help with those translations.

High Altitude Baking

Sometimes what you’re making takes longer than the recipe says. Other times, baked goods don’t rise the way they’re supposed to. This might be because of the difference in altitude between where the recipe was developed and where your kitchen is.

Learn more about how living at a higher altitude can affect your baking and how to make adjustments on our How to Bake at High Altitudes page.

Freezing and Storing Cookies and Squares

Getting your baking started early means a lower-stress holiday season. We have lots of recipes that are great for making ahead and freezing, ready to be pulled out for friends and family. Here are some tips for how to best freeze and store those goodies:

• Let your baked goods cool completely before storing.
• Use airtight containers for all your treats. For goodies going into the freezer, choose containers that seal tightly, will resist vapour and moisture and won’t crack at subzero temperatures.
• Keep your crisp cookies and soft cookies separated when freezing and storing. 
• Use layers of wax or parchment paper to separate decorated or frosted cookies.
• Keep treats from shifting by using crumpled wax paper to cushion cookies or squares in your containers’ corners.
• Decorative cookie tins may not be airtight, so place your cookies or squares in freezer bags first and then add them to the tin.
• Label and date all your containers and tins to eliminate guessing.Cookies and squares can be frozen for up to 3 months.