Sponsored by Becel.
There’s nothing like a thoughtful, homemade gift to show people you care — no matter the occasion. In the past, I’ve treated friends and family to seasoned salts and sugars, cocktail syrups, jam, and even hand-hemmed cotton dishtowels (all of which I really enjoyed making and giving!). Making homemade gifts in big batches can be extremely economical and much less stressful than shopping. Over the years, no matter how creative I try to get, there’s always one gift I know people will truly covet, and that’s my homemade cookies.
My friends are all very busy and like most of us, they wish they could serve their families homemade treats all the time. That’s one of the reasons why I'm so happy to provide deliveries from my kitchen to theirs. My gift packages usually include not only a couple of batches of freshly-baked cookies, but also well-wrapped rolls of cookie dough for them to tuck into their freezer, ready to bake up whenever they need another dose of my homemade love.
I think what makes these gifts so appreciated is that I’m constantly coming up with new customized varieties for my friends and family to enjoy. Becel calls this baking with heart and gifting with love, because it’s not just the effort but also the thought that counts!
This year, I’ll be making a whole bunch of different cookies using just one dough recipe as the base, the super versatile Becel Anything Goes Cookie Dough made with Becel Buttery Taste margarine. The Anything Goes Cookie Dough makes soft and chewy cookies every time, guaranteed. Baking with Becel margarine is super convenient because it’s soft and spreadable right out of the fridge, it's perfect for spontaneous batches of cookies (in case a craving hits), and I can substitute it one-for-one for butter in any of my recipes. It also contains 80% less saturated fat than butter which makes it heart healthy — something that’s really important to me and my friends.
My cookie gifts this year are going to include what I like to call merry mix-ins. Merry mix-ins are things I can add into or on top of the base dough recipe to customize for each recipient, so each gift will be truly personalized. But before you can make your merry mix-in variations, you'll need to make the base dough first.
Becel Anything Goes Cooking Dough Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup Becel Buttery Taste margarine or Becel Original margarine
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
Beat Becel Buttery Taste margarine with brown sugar and granulated sugar in large bowl.
Beat in eggs and vanilla until blended.
Gradually add in flour baking soda, and salt; beat just until blended.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 2-inches apart.
Bake for 7 minutes or until edges are golden.
Cool 2 minutes on wire rack; remove cookies from sheets and cool completely.
Makes: 48 cookies
One you've prepared the dough, you can customize it any way you like. This year, I'll be using the following four recipes:
Orange-Chocolate Cookies
Prepare the Anything Goes Cookie Dough (recipe below), omitting the vanilla extract. Add in 1 tablespoon of orange extract and 1 1/2 cups of dark chocolate chunks. Scoop 48 cookies out onto parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake at 375F for 7 minutes or until edges are golden.
Click here for a free printable Orange-Chocolate Cookies recipe card.
White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies
Prepare the Anything Goes Cookie Dough and scoop out 48 cookies onto parchment-lined sheets. Bake at 375F for 7 minutes or until edges are golden. When cookies have cooled, chop 1/2 cup dried cranberries and melt 1 cup white chocolate chips. Spoon about a teaspoon of the chocolate onto the top of each cookie and sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the cranberries; let chocolate set before packaging cookies.
Click here for a free printable White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies recipe card.
Festive Candy Cookies
Prepare the Anything Goes Cookie Dough adding in at the end 1 1/2 cups of red and green chocolate candies. Scoop 48 cookies out onto parchment-lined sheets and bake at 375F for 7 minutes, or until edges are golden.
Click here for a free Festive Candy Cookies recipe card.
Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies
Prepare the Anything Goes Cookie Dough, substituting the vanilla extract with 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract. Divide the dough into three equal portions. Tint one portion green and one portion red, leaving the third plain. Place each colour of dough in separate small sandwich bag and flatten into a 5 x 7 inch rectangle. Freeze dough 15 minutes then lay dough slabs on top of each other. Cut in half lengthwise and place one section on top of the other (so you have a block with 6 layers); freeze again for 5 minutes. Cut into 1/4" thick slices and place on baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake at 375F for 7 minutes or until edges are golden.
Click here for a free printable Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies recipe card.
After you’ve baked your cookies, it’s nice to take a little time to package them up and make them pretty.
Between thrift shops, dollar stores and craft supply places, you’ll be able to find lots of packaging options. Add a festive tag and don’t forget to tuck in a copy of your recipe, because once people taste your creations, they’re sure to want more!
For a few more tips on how to make all of your baking more festive and appreciated, check out the holiday hacks on BecelBakeWithHeart.ca. And while you're there, check out their delicious holiday cookie recipes and share your own creations online using #bakewithheart.
Washing dishes isn't too many people's idea of a good time, but there are tools to make the job a little easier. I'm here to tell you how your kids can channel their inner Picasso or Pollock to create the easiest, most useful gifts ever for their teachers, caregivers, grandparents, bus drivers...pretty much everyone they know has to wash dishes, right?
First, a tiny backstory. I discovered the miracle that is Swedish Dish Cloths at a craft show this year, where I met a nice man selling painted cloths. His Kattinatt creations were recognized at the 2016 Toronto Gift Show as one of the top ten household items, which I thought was pretty impressive. Made from cellulose (aka wood fibres) and cotton, these amazing cloths are super absorbent, don't leave streaks or water marks on granite or wood surfaces and best of all, they don't harbour bacteria, so they won't get all smelly like conventional dishcloths. You can wash them on the top rack of your dishwasher, in the washing machine, or just boil them in a pot for a few minutes to clean them. I bought a whole bunch of these to give as gifts, but when I got home, I began to wonder if I could make some more myself. And where would I get the Swedish dishcloths to paint? The first place I looked was the world's biggest Swedish retailer, IKEA, and sure enough, there they were. IKEA sells a four-pack of their PLUSSIG dish cloths for a mere $1.99 and they are EXACTLY the same as the way more expensive craft show ones I bought, except they're not decorated yet.
So what do you need to create these fabulously useful gift? The aforementioned cloths, of course, plus some acrylic paints and brushes, which you can get from almost any dollar store. Throw an old t-shirt on your child, cover a work surface with newspaper, and use a paper plate as their paint pallette. In no time at all, they can paint up an array of masterpieces that will dry quickly and be ready for gifting. They're not only pretty, they're also super functional - I'll never go back to old-fashioned dishcloths again!
- paint on the matte (i.e. not shiny) side of the cloths
- because the cloths are so absorbent, you will need more paint than if you were applying it to canvas or paper
- younger children might enjoy spatter painting with a toothbrush or broad paintbrush
- let the cloths dry overnight, then cover with a sheet of paper towel and iron them with a very hot clothes iron to set the paint
- it's best not to put these cloths in the clothes dryer
- roll them into a cylinder and tie with ribbon for pretty little gifts that don't require wrapping paper
RELATED: A Love Letter to Glitter: The Herpes of Craft Supplies
Do you ever have those days where you can’t even think about what to make for dinner, let alone find the time or energy to make it? I've been there. In fact, I have days where I would gladly just whip up a big bowl of popcorn for myself, but I think I’d feel a little guilty were I to feed that to my family. It was one of ‘those days’ that led to the creation of this recipe. I call it magic because it’s so fast and easy to make; my kids call it magic because they just love the flavour (and the fact that their mother has not turned into an ogre because she was super stressed out making dinner). You can use homemade or storebought sauce; with or without meat. And here’s a tip: next time you make homemade sauce, especially a vegetarian one, add a handful of dry red lentils to the mixture for protein boost – picky kids (or husbands) won’t even notice them.
Ingredients
3 cups pasta sauce
1/2 cup water
500 g (1 lb) package of ravioli - any flavour you like
454 g container ricotta cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella
Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.
Spread a thin layer of the pasta sauce in the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish.
Drizzle 2 tbsp of water over the top (you’ll need the extra liquid to cook the ravioli).
Arrange some of the ravioli on top in a single layer.
Top with half the ricotta, followed by a layer of sauce and 2 more tbsp of water.
Repeat the ravioli, ricotta, sauce and water layers.
Top with one more layer of ravioli, one more layer of sauce and water, then sprinkle mozzarella over top. Cover dish with a lid or foil.
Bake 30 minutes then remove cover and bake 5 minutes more. If using frozen ravioli, increase initial cooking time by 5 minutes.
Note that you can even assemble this meal ahead of time and tuck it in the fridge until you're ready to pop it in the oven. If you do that, drizzle another two tablespoons of water over the dish right before you bake it.
Serves 4.
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