Holiday Baking 2023

October is my favorite month of the year as it holds the promise of the holidays. (I started drafting this mid-October!) For me, November is too close to the actual holidays and December is go-time. October means that I have time to plan and look forward to the seasonal festivities of baking, buying gifts, and decorating.

Some years decorating means lights, trees, and stockings, some years it means a little jar of antique ornaments nestled in fairy lights or the M & S tins that have tiny dots of illumination. It can be elaborate or laid back – both types are comforting and cozy.

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Today, I want to share with you a few of my favorite baking gadgets in preparation for the holidays.

The Brod & Taylor compact dough sheeter comes in two sizes 12 inches and 15.5 inches.

• Create flawless laminated doughs in your home kitchen with this simple and compact dough sheeter.
• 12” compact design is perfect for countertop use while still offering enough space to roll out uniform dough for everything from pastry to pizza.
• Easy to use with 10 thickness settings and simple assembly and storage.
• Sheeter Board: 23.5 x 12 inches. Overall Weight: 10.5 lbs.

This sheeter can be used for laminated doughs, of course, but also for pizza and cookie doughs and it makes baking at the holidays or any time a breeze. It is the perfect size for home use. I have plans to create the infamous cube croissant as well as the circular croissant. For the cubes, you will need the small loaf pans with the lids and for the circular type these molds would work well. You can stack two together or use these three-inch molds for smaller croissants as they are deeper.

For my croissant baking, I plan on referencing Lune: Croissants All Day, All Night by Kate Reid and The Art of Lamination II: Mastering the Art and Craft of Laminated Pastry by Jimmy Griffin (all of Griffin’s titles are spectacular).

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The Brod & Taylor Folding Proofer & Slow Cooker I purchased a few years ago and have been loving it. It is compact as it folds flat and can be tucked away when not in use. I’ve only used it to proof dough (not slow cooking) and it works great in my drafty Colorado kitchen.

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A few other products, I would like to share with you are:

The Lékué sourdough starter set which includes a starter jar, activator jar, spatula, labeling bands, growth marker ring and recipe booklet. I love this little set as it makes things more convenient it is fool proof and the jar screw top includes a valve so you can let air out. The jars are designed to be stackable and are refrigerator and dishwasher safe.

Lékué also makes a bread baking kit that contains everything you need to start your bread baking journey. Shaped as a partially closed bowl, the bread maker allows steam to circulate inside, and prevents the bread from drying while allowing hot air to circulate to give your bread a crusty, golden texture. The micro-perforated baguette mold enables the bread to cool inside the mold, without the Baguette bottoms getting wet or becoming soft so you get a crispier loaf on all sides. Easy recipes are included to enjoy the taste and smell of traditional homemade bread. This is a great gift for someone just starting out with bread making. Couple it with the sourdough set above and a fantastic book on bread making and you will be a hit.

A few bread baking books from the last few years that I love:

• Bread and Roses: 100+ Grain Forward Recipes Featuring Global Ingredients and Botanicals by Rose Wilde
• BReD: Sourdough Loaves, Small Breads, and Other Plant-Based Baking by Ed Tatton
• Everyday Bread: 100 Recipes for Baking Bread on Your Schedule by America’s Test Kitchen
• The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More by Maurizio Leo
• The Pain D’Avignon Baking Book: A War, An Unlikely Bakery, and a Master Class in Bread by Uliks Fehmiu and Kathleen Hackett
• Bread Head: Baking for the Road Less Traveled by Greg Wade

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One last Lékué product which will be a hit with your kids during cookie baking sessions is the cookie puzzle cutter set. These cutters will keep the kids busy decorating their “puzzle pieces” and are much quicker than individually cutting out each tree or snowflake. There is a heart shaped cutter for that holiday in February!

We have over 4,200 online recipes for holiday cookies in our Library including these:

• Christmas pudding mint biscuits  – pictured above
• Christmas cinnamon-date swirls 
• Iced gingerbread cookies 
• Christmas shortbread 
• Spiced tree biscuits – pictured below

Recent baking titles that would make great gift ideas or better yet to add to your own Library:

• Scandinavian from Scratch: A Love Letter to the Baking of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden by Nichole Accettola
• Bake It Better: 70 Show-stopping Recipes to Level-Up Your Baking Skills by Matt Adlard
• The German Baking Book: Cakes, Tarts, Breads, and More from the Black Forest and Beyond by Jürgen Krauss
• The Cookie That Changed My Life: And More Than 100 Other Classic Cakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Pies That Will Change Yours: A Cookbook by Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreño
• Snacking Bakes: Simple Recipes for Cookies, Bars, Brownies, Cakes, and More by Yossy Arefi
• Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours by Samantha Seneviratne
• A Very Prairie Christmas Bakebook: Cookies, Candies, Cakes & More: Vintage Baking to Celebrate the Festive Season by Karlynn Johnston
• Giuseppe’s Easy Bakes: Sweet Italian Treats by Giuseppe Dell’Anno
• The Book of Gingerbread: 50 Spiced Bakes, Houses, Cookies, Desserts and More by Helena Garcia

Other baking related articles with recipe links:

• The Great Big 2021 Holiday Baking – Cookie Roundup
• Cookie Time – recipes and holiday baking tips
• Fear of an empty pantry, part two – the baking edition – although flour related shortages are not a threat – it could be time to check your pantry for spices and other ingredients
• Were you a pie baker, when pie baking wasn’t cool?
• Holiday Cookies!
• Christmas dessert ideas
• Kicking off fruitcake season
• Cookie baking tips just in the nick of time
• This week: Baking, baking, and more baking; recipes; EYBD Previews and more
• Cookies from around the world or around the block

I will update this post when all the online newspapers have finished up their holiday cookie judging. Some of my most favorite recipes have come from those annual contests!

Leave a comment telling our Members what your baking traditions are or sharing a link to your favorite holiday recipe. Maybe we can try something new this year with your comments.