Two Puff Pastries

December is one month full of parties. During the first days there are still some dishes left from thanksgiving and then the Christmas baking is already starting. And when Christmas is over New Year isn't too far anymore. It's right there, almost quicker than you can think.

And New Year can be a really big party with a lot of friends and, of course, a lot of food.
If there are many hungry people, things have to go quick.

So here are two very easy and yummy recipes for a perfect finger food for perfect parties.

Tomato Garlic Squares 

Serves about 20 pieces

Ingredients:

1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

3 organic tomatoes, cut into thin slices

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

salt

pepper

basil for garnishing 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Take out the thawed puff pastry and cut into 2 x 2-inch big squares and place onto the baking sheet. Brush with a little olive oil, place one tomato slice on the square, then salt and pepper. 

Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the edges turn slightly brown. While baking prepare the topping: Chop the garlic and mix with basil leaves and olive oil. 

When the squares are slightly brown, take them out and brush with the garlic-basil-mixture. 

Feta Spinach Triangles 

Serves about 20 pieces

Ingredients:

1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

10 ounces chopped spinach (300g)

5 ounces feta cheese (150g)

1 small onion, cut up

2 eggs 

oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 370 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Heat up oil in a medium sauce pan and roast onions until brown. Add spinach and let cook for a few minutes. Now mix the cheese with one egg and add to the spinach mixture. 

Roll out thawed puff pastry and cut into 4 x 4- inch squares. Fill with the hot spinach mixture and fold into triangles. Brush with the second egg and place onto baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until triangles are slightly brown.

Orange-Cranberry Yogurt Muffins

Here we go with my probably last Christmas recipe for this year.
It's really a good one. But I think the only one I have made without cinnamon. This could really be a miracle this year, since I am so in love with this spice, like forever.

The muffins contain dried cranberries and oranges, so I guess you can call it also a pretty Christmassy recipe.

I love the scent of oranges, when you first peel them and then slowly eat one slice after the other. The left over peels bring this beautiful warm and fruity smell into the whole room. When I was a child, I always wanted to make perfume out of it, because it had this beautiful smell. We always took the peels and squeezed them until tiny drops of orange juice came out. That was absolutely the greatest.

Then after eating an orange we laid the peels on a heater and let them dry completely. So the smell was even stronger in the house and they looked pretty as Christmas decorations.
So this recipe is for all the other orange lovers out there!

Orange-Cranberry Yogurt Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

For the Loaf:

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided (190g)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (240g)

1 cup sugar (200g)

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cups butter, melted (150g)

1 1/2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed (200g)

For the Orange Glaze:

1 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted (125g)

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of a muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, orange zest, vanilla and melted butter. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the cranberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Let muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a plate. Then let cool completely.

To make the orange glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the orange juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of orange juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the orange glaze over the top of each muffin and let it drip down the sides. Let the orange glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving.

Adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

Since I have noticed that I have only done Christmas pound cakes I really had to do some Christmas cookies.
And it's Christmas!

In my opinion cookies just belong to Christmas, and now it's almost over without sharing one Christmas cookie recipe. But here I've got one.

I hate hard cookies, where you think you are biting your teeth out. Like the ones you take out the oven and then you know they are now still soft but then they will harden very fast.
But those cookies are great. If you take them out the oven, you think they will become those super hard, teeth-loosing types. But no, you're totally wrong. Still after two days they were super soft and delicious. Just perfect for any Christmas snacks loving person - like me - to have around.

Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

Yield: 14-16 cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cups all purpose flour (70g)
2/3 cups whole wheat flour (65g)
1/2 cup walnuts, finely crushed or processed in food processor (55g)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (82g)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (52g)
3 tbsp almond milk
Approx 1/3 cup black-cherry jam

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl combine the two flour types, crushed walnuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and whisk until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients: maple syrup, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and almond milk. Stir well.
Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined.
Roll the dough into balls. Now very lightly dip your fingers in a cup of water, tap off excess, and then roll the ball in your wet fingers. Now place the ball onto the baking sheet.
With your thumb and finger press a large well (approximately 3/4 inch in diameter) into the center of each ball (but don’t go all the way through!) and shape it with your fingers, pinching the edges as you go around. Fix any cracks that may form in the dough with your fingers.
Fill the hole with a generous amount of jam- about 1/2-1 tsp. Place cookies about 1 inch apart.
Bake in the oven at 350 F for 17-18 minutes. The cookies should be slightly firm to touch. Cool for about 15 minutes on the baking sheet. Now, chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving.

Adapted from Oh she glows

Spice Cake

Have you noticed? I am only baking pound cakes.
And here comes the next one. I don't know how this happened, but this is absolutely my favorite one.
It bursts of all the Christmas flavors you will ever know.

After I had this cake in my oven, the whole apartment smelled like Christmas in person. I don't even know how exactly the "Christmas-person" looks, besides Santa, but if that person had it's own smell, it would smell exactly like this cake.

There are so many different flavors that represent Christmas but this recipe combines all of them. It holds oranges, hazelnuts, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. I mean more Christmas flavors can't you find anywhere....
If this cake would have a fan club, I would be the first person joining.
Enjoy!!

Spice Cake

Serves one 9 x 5-inch loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup butter softened (230g)
one organic orange and organic lemon
3/4 cups packed brown sugar (150g)
1 tsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (125g)
1/3 cup cornstarch (50g)
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cups ground hazelnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
4 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F and grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment cream the butter. Under hot water wash the lemon and the orange, dry them with a paper towel and grate off the zest.
Add the sugar, vanilla, salt, grated zest and eggs. Cream until the batter is light in color.
Sift the flour and cornstarch over the batter. Mix in hazelnuts, baking powder, spices and orange juice.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.

Banana Coffee Cake

Another type of Coffee Cake in my collection. I have already talked about my love for Coffee Cakes so this will be the next one on my blog.

Bananas always hold this certain kind of warmness, in my opinion. So combined with a little bit of cinnamon this gives another perfect recipe for chilly winter days, you just want to spend at home in a blanked.
So it shall be number two for the Christmas flavors to spread!

Cinnamon is the typical Christmas spice, but I love it. I just can't help it, sometimes I even like smelling it in the summer. Although it so does not fit in this season.
I have to admit Christmas is almost my favorite season with all the pretty decorations and lights everywhere. When it's getting dark really early and all the lights are going on, it smells like gingerbread and cinnamon and the lights are spreading this cosy atmosphere.

And than all those stressed people. Just wonderful. Just kidding! This is the only thing I hate about Christmas. Seriously everyone is stressed out to get the last things for Christmas Eve or for the holidays. You just have to come down and relax. It's the time of peace and calmness in the year.
And baking totally calms me down. Maybe that's why I have so many different things made for the holidays.

Banana Coffee Cake

Serves one 9 x 5-inch loaf

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon flax seeds, ground

4 tablespoons warm water

1/4 cup brown sugar (60g)

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

2/3 cups buttermilk (160g)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup sugar (120g)

1 cup white whole wheat flour (130g)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 bananas

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375F and oil a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Mix the ground flax seeds with the warm water and set aside to thicken.

Mix the brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine the buttermilk, vanilla and sugar in a bowl. Add the flax mixture.

Mash the bananas and combine with the flour, baking powder, the second teaspoon cinnamon and salt. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cake appears set in the middle. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting into slices and serving.

Adapted from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Fruit Bread

It's almost Christmas so let's spread the Christmas flavors.

Here is number one....

Fruit bread? Shouldn't that be more a summer recipe?
No, absolutely not!
Although it's called fruit bread, it has as many nuts as fruits and all the fruits are dried. So it's totally winter and Christmas suited.

It contains apricots, raisins, dates and figs plus all the nuts. The batter is very little compared to the nuts and fruits. But that is exactly the speciality about it. You only have the batter to hold the other ingredients together and make them look like bread.

When it's completely baked it's the best to eat it with some buttery spread. But of course you can also enjoy it plain right from the oven.

Fruit Bread
Makes one 9x5-inch loaf

Ingredients: 
3/4 cups whole almonds (125g)
3/4 cups whole hazelnuts (120g)
1 + 2/3 cups raisins (250g)
4.6 oz dried and chopped apricots (125g)
4.6 oz dried and chopped figs (125g)
4.6 oz chopped dates (125g)
5/8 cups sugar (125g)
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour (125g)
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp rum

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease bottom and sides of one 9x5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
Combine all nuts and fruits in a large bowl. Set aside
In another bowl cream together the flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder cinnamon and rum. Then combine the batter with the fruit nut mixture.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 90 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

My Special Birthday Present

This year I got a really special present for my birthday: Two cooking classes with a following dinner. Of course the dinner consisted of the beforehand self made food. And I want to tell you one thing: It was great!

The first class was called "Vegetarian Gourmet Kitchen".
And because it was in late October we used pumpkins a lot. We were a group of fourteen people and every single one of us got a recipe to make for everyone. I took the dessert: A milk pudding casserole with almonds and oranges topped with a caramel crust. Although we all were so stuffed after the main course the casserole was gone in seconds.

But I want to begin with the starters: We had a Lentil Coconut Soup and a Pumpkin Salad with Dried Tomatoes and Pumpkin Seeds.

Then there were Pumpkin Raviolis made from scratch,  Nut-Mushroom Muffins and small Vegetable Strudels, which were really easy to make.

And for dessert a Baked Apple Mousse and my Milk Pudding Casserole.

Now I regret that I didn't take pictures from every dish we had, but I am sure it will work that way too.

The second class I attended was a lot more into decorating the food. The teacher was a Persian woman, who told us that decorating is very important in her family. In the end everything looked delicious and pretty.

You couldn't really say, what was starter and what the main course, so we made a buffet!

There was a Yogurt-Herb Soup.....

A Zucchini Dip.....

A Spinach Omelet with Nuts....

A Lentil Raisin Rice with Dates, Figs and Potatoes in Sesame (which was my favorite).....

A Safran Rice with Egg Crust....

And a Vanilla Pudding with Rosewater

After all of that I felt happy and totally stuffed! :)