Our Staff's Favorite Holiday Recipes
Dr. McKelvey’s favorite Old Fashioned recipe for winter
As a fan of whiskey, this Winter Spiced Old Fashioned is my go-to whenever the thermometer drops and the family sits down to enjoy a holiday movie or friends visit to sit by the fire. The spiced syrup can also be used for a seasonal twist by adding to warm cider.
Ingredients:
1 cup Demerara or Turbinado sugar
2/3 cup water
3 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
4 whole allspice berries
1 star anise pods
1 orange peel
2 oz rye whiskey or bourbon
2 dashes angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters
Directions:
1. In a saucepan, combine the water and sugar over medium heat.
2. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely.
3. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, star anise pods, and orange peels to the saucepan.
4. Let the mixture simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove the saucepan from heat and let the spices steep in the syrup until it cools to room temperature.
6. Once cooled, strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a clean glass jar or bottle. The spiced syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month.
7. In a rocks glass with a single large ice cube, stir together 1 tsp of spiced syrup with the whiskey and bitters. Garnish with a twisted orange peel.
Dr. Cotell’s Pull-Apart Milk Bread Wreath:
This is my new favorite holiday recipe that I have NOT yet baked! A friend made this and forwarded the recipe on to me. She claims it is easy to make and as you can see from the photo, would be a very festive holiday bread and would be a beautiful addition to any holiday table. Credit for this recipe goes to Food & Wine Magazine!
I can't wait to get the time to make this for the holidays this year:) Wishing everyone a healthy, safe and happy holiday season and new year! We appreciate the opportunity to care for our patients and the trust they place in us!
Ingredients:
4 3/4 cups bread flour (about 20 1/4 ounces), plus more for dusting
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 (1/4-ounce) envelopes quick-rising yeast
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
7 tablespoons powdered milk
1 large egg
Cooking spray
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, divided, plus more for brushing
Flaky sea salt, for garnish
Directions:
Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whisk together milk, cream, and powdered milk in a medium bowl. Whisk in egg.
Add milk mixture to flour mixture. Beat on medium-low speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
Fit mixer with the dough hook attachment. Beat on medium speed until dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. (Pull up a section of dough, and stretch as thin as possible. If dough is see-through but does not rip, your dough is complete. If it rips, continue beating until dough can be stretched.)
Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray, and place dough in greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Transfer dough to a work surface; cut into thirds. Flatten each piece, and tightly roll into tubes. Place tubes, seam sides down, on work surface; cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let rest 15 minutes.
Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll into a 20- x 12-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Brush with a scant 11/2 tablespoons melted butter; cut lengthwise into 4 strips, and cut strips crosswise into 6 strips each, making 24 rectangles. Stack all 24 dough rectangles. Repeat with remaining 2 dough pieces and remaining melted butter. Arrange stacks in a lightly greased tube pan, standing up like little books, allowing gaps between dough pieces.
Cover pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place (80°F), free from drafts, until dough just reaches top edges of pan, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325°F.
Remove plastic wrap, and bake in preheated oven until bread is golden brown and puffed, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let stand in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and place on a platter. Brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Originally appeared: November 2019
Kaitlin’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
This is an insanely easy and quick dessert and has been a crowd favorite in my
household. If you ask my husband, it needs to always be served with Vanilla Ice
Cream!
Ingredients:
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell *
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325° F.
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.
Note:
* If using frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly.
Molly’s Family Recipe: Nana’s Pecan Pie
If the pie is a little runny, you can bake it another five minutes, but don’t overcook. You want it to be a little runny but not overbaked!
Ingredients:
½ stick of butter
1 C sugar
1 C White Karo Syrup
2 well-beaten eggs
1 C chopped pecans
¼ tsp salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300
Mix the butter and sugar together using a mixer.
Mix in the remaining ingredients by hand and fill an uncooked pastry shell.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
Note: Do not double this recipe!