A no-bake bar, the basic recipe consists of a graham cracker crumb-based layer topped by a layer of vanilla custard, which is then topped with a thick layer of chocolate. There are numerous variations on the recipe, including mint and mocha versions.

While there are differing claims to the cookie’s origin, the earliest printed recipe using the name “Nanaimo Bars” appears in the Edith Adams Prize Cookbook (14th edition) of 1953.*

“Nanaimo bars are unbelievably rich, incredibly indulgent, and completely irresistible,” says Jesse Oleson Moore. “This version embodies the festive flavors of the holiday season. The classic bar gets a minty makeover, yielding a rich, creamy, buttery, and refreshing treat that is the kind of confection that peppermint patties hope to be when they grow up.”

Jesse adapted this recipe from the Official City of Nanaimo recipe. We make our own “technicolor” holiday version with a white chocolate top, tinted with red food color, atop the optional-green-tinted middle layer.

How can you resist? Photo © Closet Cooking, which has a different, no-mint recipe.

Ingredients For 24 Bars

Bottom Layer

 
Top Layer

Preparation

1. PREPARE the bottom layer. Melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa in the top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased, parchment-lined 8″ x 8″ pan. Let chill in the refrigerator until cool to the touch.

2. MAKE the middle layer: Thoroughly cream together butter, cream, custard powder, peppermint extract, and confectioners’ sugar. Beat until light; it should be a thick consistency, but still spreadable. If desired, stir in food coloring until completely integrated. Spread over the bottom layer, making sure that it is as flat as possible (use a metal spatula to “scrape” it into a flat top). Return to the fridge until the middle layer is completely set; alternatively, you can put the pan in the freezer so the layers will be extremely firm before adding the top layer.

3. PREPARE the top layer: Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Add the peppermint extract and stir until incorporated. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over the second layer, very gently spreading so that it covers the entire layer (you will need to do this fairly quickly so that the second layer doesn’t start to melt or meld with the top layer). Let chill in the refrigerator for at least a half-hour. Serve lightly chilled, or let come to room temperature.

4. TO SERVE: Use a sharp knife to slice the bars; keep a towel on hand to clean the knife frequently between cuts to ensure clean, good-looking bars which showcase the pretty layers.

Try this alternative recipe from ClosetCooking.com.
 
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*Edith Adams, a fictional persona like Betty Crocker, was the face of the food pages of the Vancouver Sun newspaper from 1924 to 1999. From the 1930s to 1950, the publication issued annual compilation cookbooks of recipes sent in by readers for a chance to win prize money.
 

What’s Christmas Milk, you ask?

It’s egg nog. How did it get a new name? From Joey Fausel.

Heidi and Shane Fausel, the company founders, adopted Joey at age eight. He kept asking his new “forever family” for a drink that he had enjoyed in a foster home. He knew neither the name nor the ingredients. All he could remember was that it “tasted like Christmas.”

Finally, during holiday season, his parents gave him a taste of eggnog. He excaimed, “That’s it! It’s Christmas Milk!”

A few months later, Heidi lost her job, and was pondering her next move. She remembered Christmas milk. They couple thought about entrepreneurship, called a dairy and created an eggnog that “tastes like melted vanilla ice cream.”

We can confirm: It is delicious. And there’s also equally delicious Christmas Milk ice cream, in Original French Vanilla Eggnog Ice Cream, as well as Chocolate Swirl and Sea Salt Caramel.

The Fausels, who have since adopted two sisters and a brother for Joey, donate 10% of sales to Second Chances, a program at the Fort Worth, Texas Gladney Center for Adoption, which works to find foster children “forever families.”

So Christmas Milk not only tastes great; you’ll feel great about buying it.

Learn more and find a store near you at ChristmasMilk.com.
  

Gingerbread frozen yogurt. Photo courtesy
Pinkberry.

A few weeks ago we suggested a Pumpkin Pie Frozen Yogurt Sundae, inspired by Pinkberry. It’s their holiday flavor of the year.

Last year, the seasonal specialty was gingerbread frozen yogurt. If you miss it, you can make your own gingerbread frozen yogurt sundae.

The key flavors of gingerbread are allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, molasses and often, black pepper. Just mix the flavors you like into softened plain or vanilla frozen yogurt, to taste. You can return the mix to the freezer to harden, or enjoy it soft-serve style.

For toppings, consider:

Want to bake gingerbread to go with your sundae? Try these recipes:

There’s still time to organize a Christmas cookie exchange. Each participant bakes a different cookie and the group gets together to “exchange” their cookies, so that each participant goes home with a variety for the holidays.

There’s a delicious recipe for peppermint butter cookies below. But first, some history of the Christmas cookie exchange.

FoodTimeline.org researched old newspapers and found that cookie exchanges (a.k.a. cookie swaps, cookie trades, and cooky exchanges) first surfaced during World War I; the earliest reference is 1917.

The first ones were not necessarily connected with Christmas, and may have been fundraising bake sales rather than cookie-for-cookie exchanges (an example, notes librarian Lynne Olver, of how some words and phrases mean different things in different times).
 
 
CHRISTMAS COOKIE SWAPS APPEAR

By the 1950s, cookie swaps became associated with Christmas parties. By 1960, newspaper reports confirm that cookie swaps were trending. Here’s an item on a “swap party” from the Los Angeles Times of November 27, 1960:

“Our Food Editor spots a rising trend. From coast to coast, cooks are trading cookies and recipes to make gift boxes for Christmas….It provides a glamorous array of cookies for gifting, plus a hatful of leisure hours to enjoy in the last mad holiday rush. This year club groups, neighbors, or again, just a few friends, are trading cookies and recipes and gift-pack ideas. Mrs. Robert Blanch of Minneapolis has held a cookie trade party for her bridge club three years in a row. ‘The November meeting,’ she writes, ‘is given to the planning. Swap day is held late in December. Each member bakes one kind of cookie, one dozen for each of the eight members participating….’ ”

According to Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book of 1963 (now Betty Crocker The Big Boook Of Cookies):

“A popular once-a-year party is the Christmas cooky swap party. Friends and neighbors gather, each bringing one dozen of her holiday specialties for each woman at the party. Cookies are set out to sample and admire and coffee is served. Afterward, each one takes home a wonderful variety of festive cookies.”

[1] Your cookies don’t have to be this fancy; but those Santas deserve “best of show” (photos #1, #2 and #4 © Wisconsin Dairy).

[2] These cookies are pretty easy to make.

A buffet lunch or dinner is served before the official exchange begins. Each member arrives with three dozen cookies to share and an empty container to take home all of the swapped cookies. The crowd is called to order by ringing a bell. Then each person passes her cookies around for all to sample.

By the end of the exchange, each participant has assembled a container full of assorted cookies and heard plenty of humorous stories: “…who left out what, or how the name of the cookies was changed because they were supposed to be fingers and they looked like blobs,” said one hostess, who always bakes an extra batch in case someone had a disaster and had no cookies to bring.

Although some people make the same cookies each year—traditional favorites such as gingerbread men or candy cane-shaped cookies—others try a different recipe each year.

While some participants go all out and try recipes that would challenge a professional pastry chef, the atmosphere is more friendly than competitive. And not everybody makes a fancy recipe; brownies are fine. No matter what, there’s a wonderful assortment to take home.

[4] If you have a candy cane cookie cutter, you can make them like these.

We’re one of those folks who look forward to the holiday season for the Candy Cane Cookies[/caption] canes. We bake our favorite double chocolate cookie recipe (a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips) and add crushed peppermint canes. Sometimes, for added texture, we toss in some mint-flavored chips.

The following Christmas cookie recipe was shared by the blog Taste and Tell with GoBoldWith Butter.com, you can substitute crushed round peppermint candies.
 
 
RECIPE: PEPPERMINT BUTTER COOKIES

Ingredients For 4-5 Dozen Cookies

For The Cookies

 
For The Frosting

 
Preparation

1. WHISK together in a medium bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. BEAT butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping between each addition. Add peppermint extract and sour cream, and mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating just until combined.

3. Divide dough in half and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

4. PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

5. LIGHTLY FLOUR a work surface. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. The dough will be a little sticky, so use flour as needed to avoid sticking. Use a 2 to 2-1/2 inch round cookie cutter to cut out circles and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies until just set and still pale, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack or a piece of waxed paper to cool completely before frosting.

6. MAKE frosting. In a large bowl, beat butter until soft and fluffy. Add peppermint extract. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and beat until combined completely. Add salt and cream and beat until light and fluffy.

7. FROST each cookie and then dip into crushed candy canes.
 
 
Find more of our favorite cookie recipes. Pull down the Cookies link on the menus at the upper right of the page.
 

Haagen-Dazs’ Rum Raisin is a long-standing seasonal joy, delicious by itself or on a warm piece of pie. But we also go gaga for:

GRAETER’S ICE CREAM

TALENTI GELATO

This NIBBLE Top Of The Week has two must-try seasonal flavors:

DISHES TO MAKE WITH HOLIDAY ICE CREAM FLAVORS

 
What are you waiting for? Hit the store!