Cinnamon Loaf with Espresso Butter ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

This Cinnamon Loaf with Espresso Butter is the perfect treat for this time of year. The cinnamon will make you feel all warm and fuzzy, and the espresso will keep you going through the holiday home stretch.

 

Fruit Mince Braided Star Bread ~ #BreadBakers

A pull-apart Braided Star Bread that is sure to be a show-stopper and is deceptively easy to make. 

With a wonderful enriched dough and a filling of traditional fruit mince, this holiday

treat will be the star of your get-together and disappear right before your eyes.

Apple Cake with Sage Caramel ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” – Lauren DeStefano

Macadamia and Tropical Fruit Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

If you are a fan of a lighter fruitcake then this is the cake for you.

Julekage - #BreadBakers

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?” -  Julia Child. Instead of kleenex-tasting bread make this wonderful bread called Julekage that tastes like all the holidays wrapped up in one slice.

Bundt de Noël ~ #BundtBakers

It seemed like a good idea at the time.  

Winter Spice Soetkoekies ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

Winter Spice and everything nice, that's what these cookies are made of.
Geseende kersfees en voorspoedige nuwe jaar wense!

Whole Wheat Stollen ~ #BreadBakers

Life is better with fresh baked bread, especially if that bread is Weihnachtsstollen/Christstollen.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Pull Apart Bread ~ #BreadBakers

Pull Apart breads are the perfect bread for sharing - fair warning, you probably should make two as these breads have a habit of disappearing before your very eyes.

Mini Mincemeat Tarts

Contrary to how it sounds, mincemeat tarts contain no meat, well at least they don't these days but at one time they did.  Typically it would contain chopped dried fruit. liqueur, and some spices.  One day I will make my own mincemeat, and David Lebovitz has a great recipe on his site, but for now I have a few large jars that I picked up on sale.

Peppermint Dark Chocolate Drizzled Coconut Macaroons

Would you be surprised if I told you that I have played in the snow here in Hawaii?  And no, it wasn't one of those promotional events planned by a local supermarket, where they fly in a container of snow for the kids to have a snow day.  This is honest to goodness real snow that can require a vehicle to use snow chains. It doesn't snow on the island I live on, but it does snow on the top of Mauna Kea on the Big Island, which is a dormant volcano standing almost 14,000 feet above sea level (and if they measured it from the ocean base it would be 33,100 feet!). We haven't had snow as yet this year, so I decided to make some cookies that look like snowballs.

This idea fitted in perfectly with the theme for the Creative Cookie Exchange this month - Peppermint! I decided to make coconut macaroons, and drizzle them with a dark chocolate that had been flavored with peppermint essence.

Cardamom Snowdrop Cookies

Everyone seems to be in major cookie mode at the moment, and I'm loving it.  I saw these cookies over at Savory Simple and knew that I would have to make them. Cardamom has to be one of my favorite spices - it is extremely aromatic and since it comes from a plant belonging to the ginger family it has a nice zing to it. Cardamom pods are native to southern India and, by weight, they are the third most expensive spice in the world. Luckily a little goes a long way.