Photo by Ainsley Thurgood/Photo Assistant

Four delicious recipes you can try this holiday season

I know the holiday season is here when I begin to see Christmas Pillsbury cookies at Fortinos. During my first year at McMaster University, my friends and I went through over a dozen boxes of Pillsbury cookies and it was always an intense battle to get our hands on them at the grocery store. I still remember the smell lingering in our communal kitchen all throughout December finals. 

I’ve never been much of a baker myself but during the pandemic I have been cooking and baking more fresh food. This year I’m especially looking forward to making winter holiday treats for my family and friends. I’ve gathered below a few beginner and budget-friendly recipes from friends and fellow Mac students.

The Recipe: London Slices

The Chef: Una Pasagic, a human behaviour student, shares her Bosnian family holiday recipe.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 300 grams all-purpose flour
• 200 grams unsalted, room temperature butter
• 120 grams sugar
• Two egg yolks
• One teaspoon baking powder
• Zest of one lemon/ orange

 Filling:

• Four egg whites
• 200 grams sugar
• 210 grams coarsely ground walnuts 
• Apricot or strawberry jam

 *Allergy warning: walnuts

Directions:

Dough:

1. Mix flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
2.  In a separate bowl, whip butter and sugar together until slightly fluffy.
3. Add the butter and sugar mixture to the large bowl with flour then combine the ingredients by hand.
4. Add yolks and zest to the bowl then combine ingredients by hand.
5. Set dough aside to make filling.

Filling :

1. Whip egg whites and sugar until fluffy.
2. Fold in 150 grams of walnuts.

Assembly:

1. Spread the dough onto a large rectangular baking sheet pan. The dough should only cover the base and does not need to go up to the sides of the dish.
2. Spread a layer of jam, enough to cover the surface of the dough.
3. Add the layer of filling and top everything with 60 grams of walnuts.
4. Bake at 375 ˚F for a maximum of 25 minutes.
5. Let it set after removing it from the oven.
6. Once set, cut into rectangular pieces and serve.

The Recipe: Vegan brownies

The Chef: Emma Sood, a student studying psychology, neuroscience and behaviour, shares her favourite vegan dessert recipe.

Ingredients:

• One stick of butter
• One teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• One tablespoon of flaxseed meal

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 ˚F.
2. Line a muffin tin with a paper liner.
3. Prepare flax eggs by mixing 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal and 3 tablespoons of water stirred to a smooth, gel-like consistency in a small bowl and let it rest for a couple of minutes.
4. Melt vegan butter in a mixing bowl. After stir in flax eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Whisk to combine.
5. Add all-purpose flour. You can fold in chocolate chips, nuts or fruits at this point. 
6. Scoop the batter into the muffin tin until three-fourths full and bake on the middle rack for around 24 minutes. It could be a little less or more. Look to see if the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the tin.
7. Remove from the oven and let the brownies rest for a couple of minutes. Enjoy!

The Recipe: Toblerone cookies

The Chef: Subin Park. This is a recipe I learned from a friend. You can never have too many chocolate chip cookies!

Ingredients:

• 30 grams Toblerone
• ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• ½ cup sifted icing sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cups flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 ˚F
2. Coarsely chop one chocolate bar into quarter-inch pieces (approximately 1/3 cup). Set the remaining chocolate bar aside.
3. In a mid-sized mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy. 
4. Beat in vanilla and salt.
5. Using a wooden spoon, stir in one cup of flour until just mixed.
6. Stir in remaining flour and chopped chocolate bar pieces until mixed.
7. Scrape dough into an ungreased eight-inch square baking dish. Lightly flour fingers then pat mixture into an even thickness. 
8. Use a fork to pierce the dough in one inch increments.
9. Finally, chop the remaining chocolate bar and sprinkle over top of the dough.
10. Bake on the lower rack at 300 ˚F until the edges are deep golden and the centre is pale golden for 35 to 40 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and immediately cut into 16 squares.
12. Cool completely in the pan. Once cool, store in an airtight container in a cool place or refrigerator for up to two weeks.

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By: Alice Li

Candy Cane Hearts

• two candy canes (per serving)
• white and dark chocolate
• sprinkles1. Place two candy canes facing each other (to create a heart shape) on parchment paper.2. Melt white chocolate and dark chocolate in separate bowls.

  3. Load the melted chocolate into a piping bag, or a ziplock bag and cut an opening in the corner.

  4. Squeeze the chocolate out until it fills the bottom half of the candy heart. Refrigerate until it hardens.

  5. Layer the other kind of chocolate on top, and fill the chocolate heart fully.

  6. Before the top layer hardens, top with sprinkles of your choice

  Refrigerate until it hardens.

Santa Hat Brownies

• 12-16 circular brownies
• 12-16 strawberries
• one stick of unsalted butter
• 8 oz mascarpone cheese
• two teaspoons vanilla extract
• three cups of powdered sugar
• salt1. Use a small round cutter and retrieve 12-16 circles from your favourite batch of brownies.2. Cut 12-16 small strawberries, cleaned and hulled, then slice of the base of the strawberry so the bottom is flat.

  3. Make buttercream.

  i. Mix one stick of unsalted butter with eight ounces of mascarpone cheese until light and creamy.

  ii. Add two teaspoons vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and three cups of powdered sugar.

  iii. Mix well until desired consistency.

  4. Layer a ring of buttercream on top of each brownie, top with a strawberry with light pressure to secure it in place.

  5. Top the tip of strawberry with a bit of buttercream to finish the look of a Santa hat!

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Raise your hand if you are prepared for the onset of fall. I see no hands. Now although there is no literal audience in front of me, and thus that may be the only reason I see no hands, can we really expect to see an audience full of students eagerly flailing and shouting? Hardly. A few words of comfort for you, though: The beginning of autumn falls on September 22nd.

To help savour the last few days of summer, as though they were the lingering sweet drops of My Dog Joe’s peachy green iced tea, we have prepared for you a couple recipes that are guaranteed to satisfy a sweet tooth. First up, the BBB’s. Brownies at their absolute finest because they are, as they say, “guilt-free.” It’s easy to scoff at the concept of guilt-free treats. There is no justice system surrounding calories. But all brownies are most definitely innocent until proven guilty. Regardless, these bad boys will stand the test of justice, or any test for that matter, as easily as you could eat the whole batch.

Their street name? Bad boy brownies. Their good girl name? Black bean brownies. This secret ingredient, hiding in the vegetable aisle, is a small but mighty miracle when it comes to maintaining a dangerously fudgy quality.

Now this second recipe is a childhood favourite turned “inside out”. Literally. Take a peanut butter cup, wait until the opposite day, and ogle at the magic bringing the peanut butter to the surface and the chocolate to the center. What better use could magic have? And if you fear putting anything into an oven, this is the sweet for you. Because all it requires is multiple episodes of freezing! If you’re afraid of the freezer though, I would suggest checking out the swanky student wellness lounge and talking about it.
Inside Out PB Cups
Level 1/2 cup powdered peanut butter or PB2 (48g)
•1/4 cup virgin coconut oil or cacao butter, melted (40g)
•4 tsp pure maple syrup (20g)
•heaping 2 tbsp melted semi-sweet chocolate of choice (or full-sweet to up the bad boy vibes) (32g)
•1 tbsp of butterscotch chips
•mini cupcake liners or candy molds
Mix the powdered peanut butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup in a bowl, and stir well to form a paste. Smooth a little under 1 tsp into each of ten mini cupcake liners, going up the sides just a bit. Put the cupcake liners into a mini muffin tin. Freeze 10 minutes. Divide the chocolate evenly among the liners and freeze again. Then sprinkle the butterscotch chips over top. Finally, top with remaining peanut butter paste. Freeze again until solid.

BBB’s
•1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
•3 tbsp cocoa powder- dutch or regular (10g)
•1/2 cup quick oats (40g)
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/3 cup honey (75g)
•2 nunaturals stevia packs or 2 tbsp sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
•1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil (40g)
•3 tsp pure vanilla extract
•1/2 tsp baking powder
•2/3 cup chocolate chips (115-140g) (Not optional. Omit at your own risk.)
•optional: more chips, for presentation
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well. (A blender can work if you absolutely must, but the texture—and even the taste—will be much better in a food processor.)

Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan.

Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut. Makes 9-12 brownies.