Red Velvet Cake Balls

So I'm back home for Christmas and my father is on a big cake ball kick. For good reason, mind you. They are quick and easy to make, they look adorable, and they taste wonderful. These are quite festive, I think, and perfect for Christmas.

Which, by the way, I should mention that my Christmas baking is going to stretch well into January. Making up for lost time!

Pumpkin Spice Sandwich Cookies

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving which pretty much means that fall is over in two days.. and I'm trying to get as much fall baking as I can in before then! I bought these adorable fall leaf sprinkles two months ago at Michael's and I am so excited that I finally got to use them! These cookies look like regular sugar cookies, but I assure you they have a lovely spiced flavor. I can't get enough of sandwich cookies, there's something that makes a regular cookie so much better when you smother it with cream cheese icing. 

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Dip

I made this dip on a whim earlier this week and it was a hit! However, I don't think it's possible to go wrong with a cream cheese-based dip. I was lazy and used a can of cooked apples instead of making them myself, but it still turned out great!

Reese's Cheesecake Cookies

I normally shy away from desserts that are super decadent, but every once and a while it's fun to bake a giant, rich, delicious cookie. These cookies are made with crushed chocolate graham crackers and stuffed with a little potion of reese's peanut butter cup cheesecake. These are more time consuming than your average cookie, but they are definitely worth it! I was very happy with how these turned out and will definitely try my hand at some other stuffed cookies in the future!

Gingerbread Caramel Apple Cake

There are some days where a recipe just kind of materializes out of thin air. Today was one of those days. My physicist and I were sitting in Panera, and I was debating between buying a pumpkin bagel, or baking something myself when we got home. I wanted something fall-ish (to go along with the changing weather) and something with caramelized apples, and I came up with this lovely little cake. I'm staying with the physicist, though, which means I am separated from my standing mixer (and all of my baking supplies), so this gingerbread cake comes out of a nice, convenient box. 

Rugelach

So a funny thing has happened since I started this blog. I called (and continue to call) myself a haphazard baker because I bake through adversity (or laziness..) Last week I ran out of vanilla and just baked without it for a couple of days because I was too cheap to go buy some pure vanilla, for example. But today I bought a rolling pin, an item I had never purchased for some reason I can't explain. I have literally been using my hands and just flattening out dough for sugar cookies and pies for like three years. But today I got a little less haphazard an a little more legit, which was kind of weird to me!

Aside from my quasi growth as a baker, today I made rugelach. I'm sorry, I don't think you heard me. Today I made RUGELACH. I have wanted to make this recipe for years and years and years. I don't know why I never did (maybe the rolling pin requirement?) because they weren't difficult at all! And they are AMAZING. I'm a little giddy about them if you can't tell. I love baking things from other cultures. I feel this odd connection to the past knowing these recipes have been around for hundreds of years.