Gingerbread Layer Cake with Cranberries

We had this for dessert on Christmas. Spicy with lots of added ginger, tart with a cup of fresh cranberries tossed in, and creamy with cream cheese frosting.


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Christmasy Cookies

Every year I say the same thing--that I'm not going to go overboard--and every year I end up making a ton of cookies. It's not that I don't like baking cookies--clearly--but there's only so many hours in a day, nor is there a need for bazillions of cookies and candies.  This year my list kept growing and growing, but I was finally able to narrow it down to a mere 10 items.  After I baked the first eight all in one day, and I had trouble locating not-uncommon ingredients for the last two, I decided it was a sign and called it a day.  Starting at the bottom of this picture, there are triple peanut cookies with peanut m&ms, salty caramel oat caramelitas, chocolate-dipped toasted coconut macaroons, coal cookies with white chocolate chips, chewy ginger spice cookies (hiding at the very top), almond buttercrunch, and avalanche bars.  Not pictured are the peanut butter-oat dog biscuits I made, but the dog has tested them and declared them very tasty.  She didn't even bother trying to hide these--as is her usual with a treat--and just ate them right up.

Gingerbread Pancakes

It's Pancake Tuesday, and dinner tonight was gingerbread pancakes. This recipe, from King Arthur Flour, is good in that it's not too spicy but you still have the happy warmth and flavors of gingerbread. Made with buttermilk, these pancakes get nice and puffy when you cook them--which is how a good pancake should be.

Gingerbread, Guaranteed

Maybe I'm the only one, but when I get something that is so excited to tell me how fabulous it is and that it's even guaranteed, I tend to question it. Is it really that great? Why are they trying so hard? Skeptical, that's me ... but in the case of this gingerbread, the guaranteed recipe came from King Arthur Flour, and they should know what they're doing. However, because there are so many gingerbread recipes out there, and many are not so fabulous, I decided to try this one. And it turns out they're right -- the recipe is great. It's light and spicy and not too sweet, accented with bits of crystalized ginger throughout. This is another good use for leftover buttermilk, instead of, say, putting it in your coffee. Ahem.

ABC Gingerbread Cookies

Do you remember ABC* gum, the gum you were told never to accept if offered? Well these are ABC gingerbread cookies, at least in name only. One cookie cutter had its arm chomped off, one is missing a leg, and the third had its head bitten off. I think they're hilarious. Originally, I had plans to make these into lollipop cookies, but I started to feel sorry for them as they were baking and decided they didn't need be impaled on sticks after being thrown in a hot oven. The recipe makes a lot of cookies ... A few cookie guys dressed in pink. Actually, some of them look like dinosaurs to me. Sadly, this guy couldn't take it anymore and plunged to his death under my dining room table. RIP ABC cookie guy. *ABC = Already Been Chewed