Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were always my favorite. I happily ate PB & J day in and day out from first grade through high school, and I’d still choose it over most other sandwiches even today. The concept of putting peanut butter and jelly together in dessert form? Absolutely brilliant!

This is an Ina Garten recipe, which means it’s got plenty of butter and sugar. But it’s great because that classic combination always brings back great (ok, and not so great) memories of my elementary school days. I used raspberry jam this time because she called for it, but I think I’ll try strawberry next because that was my childhood favorite.

Recipe:
(Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten)

2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups creamy peanut butter
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups raspberry jam
2/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease and flour a 13 x 9″ pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the peanut butter and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and a medium bowl and add them gradually to the butter mixture. Mix on low until combined.

Press 2/3 of the peanut butter dough into the prepared pan and top with the jam. Divide the remaining dough into small pieces and drop them evenly over the jam. Sprinkle the whole thing with chopped peanuts, then bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting into small squares to serve.

I don’t know who Lydia is, but I want to meet her and tell her that this is one of my family’s absolute favorite Christmas cookie recipes. You make and freeze shortbread dough, then grate half of it into the baking pan, spread some raspberry jam over that, then grate the other half on top of the jam. My sister and I found the recipe on the Food Network website years ago, and have always endured the arduous task of grating the frozen dough by hand just because the results are so delicious.

This year, I shaped the dough into thin logs and grated it in the food processor. It was a life-changing move that makes these cookies infinitely less work without affecting their perfect texture. If you’re looking for a new Christmas cookie recipe to try, I can pretty much guarantee you will LOVE these!

Recipe:
adapted from Food Network

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raspberry jam, at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Cream the butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat in the eggs and mix well
In a medium bowl, stir the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt together with a fork.
Add to the butter and egg mixture and mix just until the dough comes together and the flour is incorporated.
Divide the dough in half, and shape each into a long thin log that will fit into the tube of the food processor.
Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze solid at least 3 hours.

When the dough is frozen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grate one log of dough in the food processor, then sprinkle evenly into the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.
Carefully spread the jam evenly over the grated dough, then grate the other log in the food processor.
Sprinkle that over the jam, then bake for about 35 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for about an hour.
Put the powdered sugar in a sifter or mesh strainer and sprinkle over the top of the shortbread.
Cut into small squares to serve.

My mother-in-law just had a birthday and I wanted to make her a cake from “Baking From My Home to Yours.”  The only requirement was that it couldn’t have any chocolate.  This was a perfect opportunity to make “Perfect Party Cake”!  I was really happy with how it turned out, and I am excited to make it again, and even though I was completely intimidated by the buttercream recipe, it worked very well.

The coconut on the sides makes the cake look really fancy, and is delicious, but it can be easily left out for those who do not care for coconut.

(adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 F
Butter two 9×2″ round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt