Best Christmas Recipes

Hello there! Long time - no see. And already Christmas. The time flies with the speed of light. And since we all have to be ready and fit for Christmas I prepared a Special Edition ""Best Christmas Recipes".

As you know my priorities when cooking are time and health. Therefore the recipes are made of good ingredients, less sugar, more love, less fat, more harmony. All in all a perfect choice for you if you DO CARE :)

Here they are, my TOP RECIPES for your 3-course Christmas menu:

Starter

I find it very convenient to make an exact menu for the evening so that you do not get lost with all the different dishes on the table and the most important - so that you do not overeat as this is the worst we can do for our bodies. Therefore I propose to prepare a very easy, fresh and tasty appetizer.
For example, one of these:
 Fresh Figs with Roguefort and Balsamic Sauce

King Prawns with Mango-Avocado Salsa on a Carrot Pillow  

Main Course
 
 For the lovers of tender lean rabbit mean I have a special recipe from Paris - Rabbit under Creamy Wine Sauce with Rosemary

 

For those who want a real Christmas atmosphere with seasonal products on the table, here is the best venison recipe - Bacon Rolled Venison Tenderloin under Wine-Cranberry Sauce on an Arugula Pillow

And if you like duck I have something for you  - Baked Duck Breast with Fresh Salad 

Dessert 

 In our family the number one cake is always my  Chocolate Naked Cake with Mascarpone Cream and Fresh Berries .

However, you are always welcome to have a cozy  tea time with typical Christmas treats like ginger cookies. I have a wide range of recipes here. For example, Easy Ginger Bread Christmas cookies  or Hand Made Ginger Cookies that you can by the way also use as Christmas tree decorations. Or for sweet marzipan lovers - Marzipan Hearts in Dark Chocolate .
Mmmm , Yummy!!!!!

 

 And the next day you finally have time to prepare a complete breakfast like one of those in Breakfast Section here

My Breakfast Special is Wholewheat Banana Date Bread .

Wish you a lot of fun, merry Christmas and do not forget: everything is good in moderation!!!!

Wholemeal Oat Lactose Free Ginger Cookies

These 4 days off were so lazy and cozy that  when we came back from the gym yesterday and spent our afternoon watching movies all I wanted was a quick healthy snack. And so I baked these amazing cookies. I even did not expect them to be so cute :) And they were sooo tasty. Moreover, lactose free wholemeal and reduced in sugar. Only two of them are currently waiting for my morning coffee time tomorrow. So I will keep it short: just bake them!

Ingredients:

yields 9 cookies

1 cup wholemeal spelt flour

1 cup oatmeal flour
1 heaped tbsp oat flakes

1 tsp baking powder

1 banana

1 tsp mixed spices (or ginger cookies spices/or just mix cardamon, anis, cinnamon, muscat nut etc.)

2 tbsp honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp demerara black sugar

Preheat oven to 180°С. Prepare your baking sheet, lining it with baking paper.

In a bowl mix dry ingredients. Add mashed banana, oil, honey, oat flakes and Demerara sugar. Mix the dough well and form 9 balls of equal size. If you prefer smaller form you will get more of them (nice benefit for quantity :). Press the balls to form a cookie. I used a HOME-MADE stamp for it and it looked just awesome!!!

Bake the cookies 15 minutes until golden edges. Tastes perfectly with whole milk. Unless you are lactose intolerant. Then for tea/coffee time - perfect match!

Enjoy!

 

Easy Ginger Bread Christmas cookies

Ho - Ho - Ho ! ! ! Merry Christmas, my dear gourmets! Wishing you to open new tastes, flavors, people, cities and places every day. Because this brings us new emotions and encourages us to explore further.

We are closer to new year than ever and this has its own charm. Only four days left to enter new chapter of our lives. According to Ukrainian tradition Santa brings us presents on the 21st of December every year. So in comparison to all Germans who have already packed and granted the presents, in Ukraine it is all to come. Therefore I believe a good ginger bread cookies recipe will make only a magic addition to all the presents you are gonna pack. Or at least fulfil your house with an irresistible scent of upcoming party.

 Ingredients:

150 g white flour

120 g whole wheat flour of your choice

100 g butter (for vegan version may be replaced by coconut oil)

70 g brown sugar (or 100 g rice syrup)

4 tbsp honey

1 egg

1 tbsp Christmas spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, anise)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Take butter out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to bake so that it is room temperature. 

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Mix butter with sugar (or rice syrup) and honey. Add an egg and mix well. In another bowl combine all the dry ingredients: flours, spices, salt. Then add dry ingredients into butter-egg-mix. Roll the dough to 2-3 mm thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut it with cookie cutter of your preferred form. I used stars and hearts this time. 

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Cool completely (about 30 minutes).

I packed them into small bags. They can be a nice present or just delicious addition to your tea time:)

Have a wonderful start of the year and enjoy the holidays!!!!!

Hand-made tasty present from Santa - ginger cookies

The decorations are ready, everyone is crazy shopping and preparing. New Year is so close.
Unfortunately, we sometimes face a problem when looking for presents. Wrong color, size not available, too expensive, too simple... One big headache. And I can cure it. Well, maybe not truly me, but tasty home-made cookies - definitely!

No special ingredients, you will probably have all of them ready-to-go:

100 g butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp sugar (*optional)
1 egg
1 cup white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

In a saucepan heat first three ingredients; butter, honey and sugar.

Tip!
I would say that the amount of sugar can be reduced as honey adds the sweetness. Especially use this advice if you want to cover the cookies with chocolate glaze afterwards.

Stir the mixture all the time and make sure that the mixture doesn't boil. Put aside to cool for a while. Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together both types of flour, spices and baking powder. Add a half of dry ingredient mixture into warm sweet honey-butter composition. Mix thoroughly, then add in second half and an egg.

Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 190° C. Prepare the cookies-forms. Take dough out of the fridge, roll it so that it is less than 0.5 cm thick. Cut different shapes of the cookies.
Bake them for 7-9 minutes, or until cookies get golden-brown edges.

Let them coll down and cover with sugar powder.