*This post contains affiliate links.

It isn’t the holidays without a spice cookie. Gingerbread is probably the most common one, but I reserve that for constructing houses. I like the more cinnamon-y flavor profile of speculoos cookies. Every year, I turn to my baking bible, the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook, for the recipe. I added a little ginger and cloves for a bit more punch. For the cut-outs, I was inspired by adorable round reindeer faces found on Pinterest, but I decided to go with a rectangle to resemble their slender frame.

My favorite part about making these cookies is decorating! I was snacking on chocolate from my friends at Kellermanni Chocolate (dark milk is my favorite) and broke off a few chunks from to use for the reindeer’s facial features. To finish, I used red candies for the signature Rudolph nose.

I love making snowball cookies during the holidays! They’re also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes but snowballs feels more Christmas-y. Typically raw walnuts or pecans are used, but I was given the loveliest basket of assorted candied nuts from Santé Nuts and chose my favorite, candied pecans.

The toasted nuts add warmth to the cookies, and to account for the sugar coating, I adjusted the amount of powdered sugar in the dough so it wouldn’t overpower the nutty flavor. With the sweet, there’s also a little spice, in the form of cardamom. A dash of it makes these cookies very festive. Happy holidays!

This post is sponsored by Santé Nuts. All opinions are my own.

They say you should never grocery shop without a list but at the farmers’ market anything goes. I browse and taste until I’ve found sweet, ripe fruit that I like and figure out what to do when I get home. On a recent trip, I was drawn to a table blanketed with green and purple figs. The Kadotas (green ones) had the most beautiful pink interior and they were perfectly sweet. I knew I wanted to use them fresh vs. cooked, so they ended up being the topping for these cheesecake bars.

I went to Chez Panisse for my 30th birthday and it was the most wonderful experience. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend going, regardless of whether or not you have something to celebrate. They really showcase what’s in season, which is how I get inspired to bake. The kitchen is connected to the restaurant and the staff encourages you to walk through as they’re cooking. I got up several times throughout the meal to check in on what they were doing, lingering mainly by the pastry station, of course. It was fall at the time (shout-out to fellow November babies!), so the chefs were making an apple version of their signature galette.

Recently, founder and owner Alice Waters posted a video of the chefs making a plum version and it looked sooo beautiful, I had to make it. Google led me to an old article with the recipe. It’s pretty straight forward and adaptable to whatever fruit is in season. There are a few tricks noted below, that I love and plan on doing with my galettes going forward.

Chez Panisse Plum Galette RECIPE

1. Use red plums. Several of you asked if I used a special variety. The key is to get red plums so the flesh is a bright red color. I accidentally got some black plums which have a similar skin color but the inside is yellow! Those became snacking plums.
2. Sprinkle flour and sugar mixture before fanning your fruit. This helps to absorb some of the plum juices, so the crust doesn’t become soggy. Any extra liquid will bubble during baking and thicken when cooled.
3. Brush the juices over the top of the warm fruit for shine. Normally I’d use a jam that matches the color of the fruit but I like that the juice reinforce the fruit flavor as well as making it all glossy and pretty.
4. Cool on a cooling rack so the bottom stays crisp.

If you make one, I’d love to see it! Share with me on Instagram @pastrywithjenn.