Holiday recipes with a twist

We bring you holiday cooking without all the work and all the stress.  Don't believe it?  Here are two great recipes from Food for Thought chef Brad Smoliak - Gingerbread Loaf you can make ahead and freeze and Gingersnap Cookies that are bound to become Santa's new favourite.

Gingerbread Loaf

2 cups (500 mL)             all purpose flour
¼ cup (50 mL)                 granulated sugar
2 tsp (10 mL)                   baking powder
2 tsp (20 mL)                   ground ginger
2 tsp (20 mL)                   cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL)                     baking soda
½ tsp (2 mL)                    salt
½ tsp (2 mL)                    cloves
½ cup (125 mL)              molasses
½ cup (125 mL)              milk
¼ cup (50 mL)                canola oil
2                                        eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp (5 mL)                     vanilla

Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease a 9 x 5-inch (2 L) loaf pan.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat the canola oil, molasses, milk, eggs and vanilla in a separate mixing bowl.  Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing just until moist and combined.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean. Loosely cover with foil if bread begins to brown quickly. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely. Makes 1 loaf.

Gingersnap Cookies

1½ cups (375 mL)        flour
1¼ tsp (6 mL)                ground ginger
1 tsp (5 mL)                   cinnamon
¼ tsp (1 mL)                  ground cloves
¼ tsp (1 mL)                  nutmeg
½ cup (125 g)                butter, softened
½ cup (125 mL)             brown sugar, packed
½ cup (125 mL)             molasses
1 tsp (10 mL)                 baking soda
¼ cup (50 mL)               granulated sugar
1 tsp (5 mL)                    flour for rolling the dough out

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silpat sheet to prevent the cookies from spreading or sticking.

Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Cream the butter until light and fluffy.  Add the brown sugar and beat until combined. Add to the butter/sugar mixture the molasses and beat until well combined. In a small cup, dissolve the baking soda with 1½ tsp (7 mL) boiling water. Slowly add half the flour mix to the butter/sugar mixture and stir to combine, and then add the baking/mixture.

Finally, add the remaining flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Refrigerate the dough for two hours. Roll dough into 1-inch diameter balls and then roll in granulated sugar.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silpat sheet to prevent sticking. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the cookies begin to crack.