December 6, 2012

Strawberry Santas

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Strawberry Santas

Strawberry Santas

December 6: Feast Day of St. Nicholas

Make Strawberry Santas

for the Feast of St. Nick!

They’re healthy and cute

and can be made quick!

Strawberry Santas are a great last-minute idea for a seasonal snack and creative Christmas cuisine. Our friend Lisa L. had sent us an Internet image this past weekend suggesting we try these tiny treats. And then while at Whole Foods Market the other day, we even saw them being sold in the gourmet dessert display case! We just couldn’t resist preparing our own Strawberry Santas at home for a ho-ho-ho-holiday blog post and for a fast, fun and festive food on the Feast Day of St. Nicholas.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • Strawberries
  • Whipped cream (we recommend Cool Whip brand frosting)
  • Mini chocolate chips, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds, chocolate or black tube frosting or dark nonpareils (for the eyes)
  • Red pearl nonpareils (we used a round 4 millimeter nonpareil) (for the nose)

Directions

Wash and dry the strawberries. Slice the leaves off and let the strawberry sit on the flat end. Slice a bit off the pointy end of the strawberry.

Strawberry Santas

Fill a pastry or plastic bag with whipped cream. Use a star tip to form the head/face. Top with the strawberry piece for the hat. Use a small round tip to pipe the buttons and a little ball on top.

Strawberry Santas

Finish the face with eyes by putting in two mini chocolate chips. Add the red pearl nonpareil nose. Arrange on a serving platter and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Strawberry Santas

Notes

  • Regular whipped cream is soft and can melt easily so we recommend a stronger and more stabilized whipped cream product, like the new Cool Whip Frosting, or even sweetened whipped cream cheese.
  • Strawberry Santas can be prepared as pops by putting a stick in the bottom of the fruit. Or they can sit atop cupcakes or cookies as a base.
  • Santa hats can be made out of strawberries, too. Simply slice the leaves off and pipe whipped cream around the bottom and a ball on the top tip.
  • See our other Santa Claus confections: St. Nick Nutter Butters and St. Nikolaas Koekjes.
 

December 6, 2012

St. Nick Nutter Butter Cookies

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St. Nick Nutter Butter Cookies

St. Nick Nutter Butter Cookies 
December 6: Feast Day of St. Nicholas

Islander participates in some cookie exchanges during this time of the year. She enjoys getting new ideas and potential blog recipes at these unique holiday gatherings. One cute cookie that caught her eye was the Santa Claus creation made out of peanut butter sandwich cookies, melted white chocolate, red candies and coconut flakes. Although they are a little time consuming to assemble, they are a fun project to do with the help from little elves/kids! Make St. Nick Nutter Butters for Christmas cookie exchanges, seasonal parties and especially for the Feast Day of St. Nicholas.

Recipe

(Inspired by Internet Images)

Ingredients

  • 1 package of Nutter Butter cookies
  • white chocolate chips or white confectioner’s candy melts
  • red confectioner’s candy melts
  • red sugar crystals (optional)
  • coconut flakes (for the beard)
  • white tube frosting
  • red tube frosting
  • mini chocolate chips (for the eyes)
  • red round candy (M&Ms or Red Hots) (for the nose)

Directions

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Melt the white chocolate according to the package directions (microwave or double boiler). Dip one end of the Nutter Butter cookie into the melted white chocolate. Lay on the prepared cookie sheet. Before the chocolate hardens, sprinkle some coconut flakes to make the beard. Continue dipping the rest of the cookies and making the beards. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden.

St. Nick Nutter Butter Cookies

Melt the red candy according to the package directions (microwave or double boiler). Dip the other end of the Nutter Butter cookie into the melted red candy, being careful not to get coconut flakes into the dipping bowl. Lay on the prepared cookie sheet. Before the candy hardens, sprinkle some red sugar to give texture to the hat (optional). Continue dipping the rest of the cookies and making the hats. Allow the candy to cool and harden.

St. Nick Nutter Butter Cookies

Use red frosting to adhere a red round candy as the nose. Use a star tip on the white tube frosting to add the “snowball” and a small round tip to draw the white fur detail on the hat. Use a little bit of frosting to adhere the mini chocolate chips for the eyes. Allow the frosting to set before arranging the finished cookies on a decorative platter.

St. Nick Nutter Butter Cookies

Notes

  • A variation in the process of making the Santa hat is by dipping the other end of the Nutter Butter cookie in white instead of red candy melts and sprinkling the red sugar crystals halfway on top of it to have the white fur border.
  • Others attach a mini-marshmallow or white chocolate chip for the Santa hat “snowball” instead of using white frosting and a star tip.
  • Try the traditional St. Nikolaas Koekjes recipe for the Feast Day of St. Nicholas.
  • Search our blog for other Santa Claus/St. Nicholas and Christmas-inspired recipes.
 

December 6, 2011

St. Nikolaas Koekjes

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St. Nikolaas Koekjes

St. Nikolaas Koekjes

December 6: Feast Day of St. Nicholas

Children traditionally leave out a plate of cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve to thank him for delivering gifts and to give him some sweet sustenance for his nightlong journey around the world before returning to his home in the North Pole.

In Holland, there are special cookies named specifically after the legendary gift-giver Santa Claus:  St. Nikolaas Koekjes. These crisp cookies contain nuts and seasonal spices. In the tradition of Santa Claus/St. Nikolaas, and in the spirit of giving, we baked these cookies for a crowd at Christmas parties and for the Feast Day of St. Nicholas.

Recipe

(Adapted from 1001 Cookies Recipes by Gregg R. Gillespie and CooksRecipes.com)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup vegetable shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • ¼ – ½ cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl or mixer, cream the shortening with the sugar.

St. Nikolaas Koekjes

Stir in the sour cream until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture. Blend to make a dough. Add the nuts.

St. Nikolaas Koekjes

Transfer the dough onto wax paper. Shape into a log with a diamter of 2 inches. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 8 hours or overnight.

St. Nikolaas Koekjes

Slice the log about ¼ inch thick. Place 2  inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool to a crisp. Yield: Approximately 3 dozen.

St. Nikolaas Koekjes

Notes

  • Other nuts may be substituted for the walnuts in this recipe.
  • After refrigerating the dough overnight, we firmed it up in the freezer for around 30 minutes for easier slicing.
  • During this commercialized Christmas season, even Santa Claus/St. Nicholas knows that the greatest gift of all is Jesus! Thanks to Islander’s brother for gifting us with the “Kneeling Santa” ornament in the final food photo above. “Kneeling Santa” is inspired by scripture (Philippians 2:10-11).
  • Read more about “Kneeling Santa.” There is a sermon from The Interim and a prayer/poem from the Santa Lady sites.