No baking required! Photo courtesy
BellaBaker.com.

For someone whose favorite ice cream flavor is Mint Cookie, these peppermint Oreo truffles were calling our name.

This no-bake recipe produces a ball similar to a cake pop. No sticks are needed, but you can add them if you like (if you want to make pops, make the balls a bit larger).

The “chocolate cake” center is made from crushed Oreos and cream cheese icing (we made ours—here’s the recipe—but you can purchase it). Finely crushed peppermint is mixed in, the mixture is rolled into balls; the balls are coated in white chocolate and sprinkled with more crushed peppermint.

The recipe is courtesy Lauryn Cohen, a.k.a. Bella Baker.

OREO WHITE CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT TRUFFLES

Ingredients

Preparation

1, CRUSH Oreo cookies and 3 tablespoons of the peppermint candies together in a food processor (a mini food processor works nicely here!)

2. ADD cream cheese icing, 1 tablespoon at a time, until mixture becomes moist and can easily be rolled.

3. ROLL into balls a little bit bigger than the size of cherries. Once the entire mixture has been rolled into balls, place balls in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

4. MELT the white candy melts in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring vigorously in between interval. It should take 2-3 intervals to melt entirely.

5. DROP a ball, one at a time, into the melted chocolate to coat; using two forks, lift the ball out. Gently tap any excess chocolate through the tines of the fork. Use the second fork to help slide the truffle ball off of the first fork and onto a piece of parchment paper.

6. IMMEDIATELY SPRINKLE the truffle ball with some of the reserved crushed peppermint candies. Repeat with remaining truffle balls. Let white chocolate set in the fridge before serving.

Still looking something special for Christmas?

Whether for your own guests, as Christmas gifts or host/hostess gifts, pick up some Christmas beers.

Anchor Christmas Ale and Samuel Adams have good national distribution for their holiday brews, and your regional microbrewer no doubt has a seasonal special ale, beer, porter or stout. Here’s a list of Christmas brews.

A Christmas ale is typically rich and dark ale, brewed with special holiday spices and often, a higher alcohol content to ward off the winter chill. However, even wheat beers, the lightest style, get the holiday treatment.

Different brewers use cinnamon, clove, coriander, ginger, nutmeg and/or vanilla, and perhaps a touch of honey.

Christmas ale makes a holiday beer drinking more special. It’s a welcome holiday gift, stocking stuffer or host gift for beer lovers.

Merry Mischief is a gingerbread-spiced beer from Samuel Adams. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

A trio of yeasty treats for Christmas. Photo
by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

We received an assortment of the Samuel Adams holiday beers, and enjoyed these festive brews:

Cranberry Lambic is a crisp fruit beer that delivers rich cranberry flavor along with notes of banana, clove and nutmeg. While many people enjoy a lambic with dessert, some astringency and tartness makes this beer companionable to any course. It’s perfect with roast turkey.

Holiday Porter is a rich, robust, smooth and malty: Four different types of malted barley plus a dash of flaked oats are used in the brew. The deep roasted flavors pair well with hearty or spicy fare.

Merry Mischief is a rich, smooth and sweet dark gingerbread stout with the enticing aromas of the holidays. The intensity of cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg evoke the flavor of fresh gingerbread. Although it can be enjoyed with most foods, we especially liked it with gingerbread cookies and carrot cake.

White Christmas is a crisp, unfiltered white ale blended with holiday spices: cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel. Citrusy, wheaty and spicy, it pairs well with lighter fair, from salad (add dried cranberries and goat cheese) to dessert (try it with cheesecake or a fruit tart).

Winter Lager is a full-bodied, malty, spicy lager with a deep ruby color and a “holiday” aroma of cinnamon and ginger; there’s also a hint of orange peel. The spices and roasty sweetness of the malts pair beautifully with Thai food and other spicy dishes where the chile heat needs to be subdued.

Head to your nearest store and stock up.

DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEER?

Browse through our Beer Glossary.

Deck the cupcakes! Photo of Perfect Endings
cupcakes courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

Today’s tip is inspired by these delicious cupcakes from Perfect Endings, a Napa Valley bakery that sells them online via WilliamsSonoma.com.

You can buy or bake and frost your own cupcakes, then decorate them with festive elements. It’s a fun family activity. Consider:

 
Make a double batch: They’ll disappear quickly!

Angie’s Popcorn serves up all natural popcorn year-round, in Lightly Sweet, Salted Caramel, Sea Salt, Sweet & Salty, Sweet & Spicy and White Cheddar.

But the special holiday popcorns are the our favorites: Dark Chocolatier Sea Salt Holidrizzle Kettle Corn and White Chocolatier Holidrizzle Kettle Corn.

We like both the chocolate and peppermint popcorn so much, that we’re stocking up for the next few months:

 
Plain popcorn is just 35 calories per cup; the chocolate and peppermint popcorns are 135 to 150 calories, but worth it! And, if you need a sugary snack, popcorn is a whole grain.

Check the store locator for the retailer nearest you, or head to AngiesPopcorn.com.

WHAT’S A CHOCOLATIER?

Two delicious flavors of kettle corn for treats or gifting. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Pronounced show-coe-lah-tee-YAY, chocolatier is French for either a chocolate shop or the person who makes the chocolate.

Find more chocolate terminology in our delicious Chocolate Glossary.
 
Find more of our favorite snacks in our Gourmet Snacks Section.

Vermont Creamery’s exceptional cultured sea salt butter has a maple accent for the holidays. Photo courtesy Vermont Creamery.

One of America’s great producers of artisan butters, Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, has introduced two new products for holiday season:

Crème Fraîche with Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla combines the flavor of pure vanilla with tart crème fraîche. The result is a subtly sweet, rich and nutty taste well suited to topping tarts and pies, mixing into brownies, warming as a sauce, or as a base for crème brûlée.

MAKE BOTH AT HOME

If you can’t find the products, you can make your own.

Still looking for holiday gifts? Candy is typically a safe bet: If the recipient doesn’t want to eat it all, he or she can serve it to guests.

We like this charming candy globe from Williams-Sonoma:

The six-inch-diameter, reusable papier-mâché globe is filled with 10.9 ounces of classic holiday favorites: a milk-chocolate Santa, cinnamon gummy Santas, red-and-white peppermint twists and a medley of sweet jelly beans and sour gummy stars.

The treats are beloved by kids and adults alike.

If you want to create your own nostalgic candy gift, look for a papier-mâché box or other reusable packaging and head to the candy store to make your selection.

A charming reusable container filled with sure-to-disappear-quickly candies. Photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

The rich flavors of eggnog in a family-friendly ice cream. Photo courtesy Talenti.

Talenti Gelato has been a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week twice—that’s how much we like it.

This superb brand is selling luscious Old World Eggnog Gelato through the end of the year: the flavor of traditional egg nog transformed into rich, creamy gelato.

It’s a perfect, easy New Year’s Eve dessert: served plain; in a parfait layered with chocolate sauce, amaretti or shortbread cookie crumbs; over pound cake or brownies; even atop apple or pecan pie.

There’s no alcohol in this gelato, but you can pour a shot of rum or brandy over it to turn it into a spirited dish.

Old World Eggnog Gelato is made with fine Tahitian vanilla beans, hormone-free cream and milk, fresh egg yolks, pure cane sugar, pure vanilla extract and, of course, nutmeg.

The eggnog gelato is rich and indulgent, but has about 30% less fat than conventional premium ice cream. The suggested retail price is $4.99 to $5.99 per pint.

Old World Eggnog is available in only until the end of the month, so stock up now. Find a Talenti retailer near you: store locator.

Fortunately, there are some 20 other flavors of gelato and sorbetto to keep you happy for the rest of the year.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ICE CREAM AND GELATO

Here’s the scoop.

Guests can have their favorite alcohol mixed
into this holiday cocktail. Photo courtesy Toy
Restaurant | NYC.

A number of people we know like to have a signature cocktail at their parties. But what if your guest doesn’t want tequila, vodka or whatever you’ve chosen as the base?

Here’s a way to have a holiday cocktail, while letting guests choose their spirit. It can also be used to make a mocktail for those who don’t want alcohol.

You can make a batch with your spirit of choice and pour from a pitcher. Or, you can premix the juices only, and offer guests their choice of spirit: saké, tequila, vodka or white wine.

The original recipe comes from Toy Restaurant in the Gansevoort Hotel in New York City’s Meatpacking District. There, citrus liqueur is the spirit of choice, for a more lemony cocktail.

HOLIDAY COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE juices only; chill in a pitcher (multiply the recipe to accommodate the pitcher you’ll be using).

2. ADD 2 ounces of spirit, or 4 ounces of wine or saké, to a class.

3. MIX in juice blend; stir. Garnish and serve

MOCKTAIL VARIATION

For a mocktail use lemon or lemon/lime soda (Fresca, 7-Up) instead of the alcohol.
 
Find more of our favorite cocktail recipes.

Dorrie Greenspan, baker extraordinaire and cookbook author, is one of our baking heroes. We’re excited about her newly opened cookie boutiques, Beurre & Sel, in New York City.

For the holidays, Dorrie has created a more sophisticated version of her popular Classic Jammers: Port Jammers, pairing Fonsecta Bin 27 ruby port with classic French sablés,* shortbread cookies.

Sablés are made with the finest butter and vanilla, crispy around the edges, cakey in the center. Sable (SAH-bluh) means sand in French; plain sablés glisten with sparkling sugar.

Port Jammers are an elaborate variation: vanilla sablés have a center of cherry jam and a topping of Valrhona-cocoa-spiked streusel.

Dried cranberries are cooked in the port with honey and spices, then folded into a tender sugar and spice cookie. Each cookie is topped with port-spiked French cherry jam and Valrhona-cocoa streusel.

Port Jammers cooling on a rack (but that won’t stop us from downing a few). Photo by Kyle Orosz | Beurre et Sel.

You can serve the rest of the bottle of port with the cookies, with cheese, with chocolate; or use it as an ingredient in barbecue sauce or anything needing a bit of intense fruit flavor.

*Sablé is a round shortbread cookie. According to writings of the Marquise de Sévigné, the cookie was created for the first time in 1670 in the town Sablé-sur-Sarthe, in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. The French word for sand, the name may relate to the crumbly texture and golden color of the cookies. Classic sablés can be plain or flavored with almonds, lemon or orange zest.

A gourmet gift for any occasion. Photo
courtesy Beurre et Sel.

PORT JAMMERS RECIPE FROM BEURRE ET SEL

Ingredients for the cranberries and cookie base:

 
For The Streusel & Jam:

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE CRANBERRIES. Tie spices in a cheesecloth bundle and put in a small saucepan. Add honey, water and port. Simmer for 1 minute. Add cranberries; cook and stir until liquid evaporates. Discard spices. Cool cranberries.

2. MAKE COOKIE BASE. Mix flour, cinnamon, salt, ginger and black pepper together. Beat butter until creamy. Beat in both sugars. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Blend in flour mixture, then stir in the cranberries.

3. DIVIDE DOUGH into 2 disks. Wrap and chill 1 hour. Roll each disk between wax paper until dough is 1/4 inch thick. Freeze for 3 hrs.

4. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F with a rack centered in the oven.

5. MAKE THE STREUSEL. Mix all the flour, brown sugar, cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, salt and butter together in a large bowl. Rub everything together with your fingers until the streusel forms moist crumbs. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

6. STIR the cherry jam and port together. Place a 12-cup muffin tin on the work surface.

7. CUT out 2-inch rounds of dough. Drop a round of dough into each muffin cup. Put 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center of each cookie and spread into a small circle. Top with streusel.

8. BAKE 14 to 15 minutes, until streusel sets and jam bubbles. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 30 cookies.

NO TIME TO BAKE? BUY ONLINE!

You can order Port Jammers on line, as well as Dorie’s other glorious cookie flavors: Chocolate Mint, Cranberry 5 Spice, Espresso Chip, Classic Sablés and World Peace Cookies, a recipe from famed French pastry chef Pierre Herme made with cocoa and chopped extra-bitter chocolate and fleur de sel.

The “Cocktail Collection,” savory cookies, includes Cocoa Cayenne, Rosemary Parmesan and Sesame Sea Salt.

Eight delicious cookies in a gift tube are $14.00 from BeurreEtSel.com.

If you only bake one type of cookie this season, bake shortbread. Buttery cookies beloved by both children and adults, shortbread is accessible yet sophisticated.

Dipped into chocolate, the cookie becomes even more beloved.

Serve them to guests, keep the stash for yourself, give it as gifts.

This particular recipe, from GoBoldWithButter.com, a website of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, is a great way to start. If you don’t have hazelnuts, use almonds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios or walnuts.

CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT SHORTBREAD RECIPE

Ingredients

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Yummy hazelnut chocolate cookies are also things of beauty. Photo courtesy GoBoldWithButter.com.

Preparation

1. BEAT butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla. Gradually add flour and salt, and mix just until combined. Stir in hazelnuts.

2. FORM dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

3. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

4. ROLL out dough into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Using a sharp knife, cut out cookies into 1×2-inch bars. Carefully transfer cut cookies onto prepared pans.

5. BAKE, one pan at a time, for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans for about 10 minutes. Then, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

6. PLACE chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave at half power in 30-second increments until chocolate melts when stirred. Dip cookies partially into chocolate or drizzle chocolate over cookies. Allow chocolate to set completely, refrigerating cookies if necessary.

The history of shortbread cookies and how they got the name “shortbread.”

Find more of our favorite cookie recipes.