Christmas Baking Traditions

I was a little behind in my Christmas baking this year, in fact I was a little behind in all things Christmas this year. It dawned on me a week before Christmas that I had not done any baking for the holidays to give to my friends as gifts. So I proceeded to bake up a storm the whole week prior to Christmas. Dough was made in the evenings and put in the fridge so that it could be baked and decorated on my next day off. The Friday before Christmas I had bins stacked on the dining room table of gingerbread people, snowflake and tree sugar cookies, maple pecan bars and peppermint meringues . My sister asked me one day who they were for, and although I responded that some were going to work and some were going to friends the answer that came to me in my head was that it was just tradition. I make Christmas cookies because my mother made christmas cookies and her mother made them before her. This tradition was passed down to me and I plan on sharing it with my children eventually. At this time of year I feel a need to bake. I really do not care who ends up getting them as long as I share them around and even if I had no one to share them with I would still feel the need to bake. 

                                                     

One tradition I started with my mother when I was in college was baking one new recipe each year just to try something different. In the month leading up to our baking day I would scour magazines at the grocery store checkouts looking for the perfect cookie or bar. Now I search Pinterest and the internet for new and what I hope to be exciting recipes. 

This year the new recipe I tried was Maple Pecan Bars. I found the recipe in the Everyday Gluten Free Cookbook, by Robert M. Landolphi that I had borrowed from the library this summer when I was looking for new recipes to try. It popped up again when I was searching my recipes for Christmas baking inspiration. It looked perfect to try and ended up being so easy and delicious. When I took the box of goodies to work, one of my coworkers commented that they were so good they were like crack. These became known at work as crack bars because they are so delicious they are addictive. I found that these bars are best enjoyed within a few days of baking (not that they will last much longer than that anyway). Over time the sugar starts to crystallize again and they get a little gritty, but still taste good. 

Maple Pecan Bars

From Everyday Gluten Free Cookbook by Robert M. Landolphi

Pastry Crust:

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup pecans

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar (I omitted this as I found there is enough sugar in the rest of the recipe you don't really need this)

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp salt (I omitted as I use salted butter)

6 Tbsp cold butter cut into small pieces

Filling:

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup lt brown sugar

1/4 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups pecans coarsely chopped 

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper.

For the crust: in a food processor combine flours, starches, pecans, the 1/2 cup brown sugar, xanthan gum and salt. Whirl to blend (until pecans are finely chopped). Add the butter and blend until a fine meal forms. Press the crust mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to brown. 

Meanwhile, make the filling: in medium saucepan combine the maple syrup, the 1/3 cup brown sugar, heavy cream and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour onto the hot crust and bake for 10 minutes or until the filling bubbles in the centre.

Remove from oven and let cool completely in the pan. Unmold the cake and remove the parchment. Place the bars on a cutting board and cut into squares. 

                                               

The Maple Pecan Bars are the ones in the middle of the box in the picture above. The recipes for the other cookies in the box can be found on last years Christmas Cookies posting.