Our Favorite Christmas Cookies! One of the sweetest parts of celebrating the holiday season is baking cookies with family and friends. At Price Chopper and Market 32, we love these treats as much as you do and have many different favorites of our own. Whether they’re family traditions or simply the most satisfying to our sweet tooth, we are pleased to share some our holiday favorites with you! Our teammates are big fans of peanut butter, especially when it comes to Christmas cookies. In the words of teammate Kelly K., from our Sutton, MA store; “My favorite holiday cookie is peanut butter blossoms.” Her response was backed by teammate Celina R. from our Storrs, CT who said “my favorite holiday cookies are peanut butter cookies, because who doesn’t love peanut butter?” Peanut Butter Blossoms are a holiday classic and easily one of our favorite Christmas cookies, check out the recipe in the link below to try them for yourself! https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/classic-peanut-butter-blossom-cookies/a3563f6e-96b0-443f-ae0a-53cef4be6db6 We asked June M., Floral Team Leader in our Chenango, NY store about her favorite Christmas cookie, she said, “Poppy Seed Kolache. My mother made them for years. Brings me back. It was always a tradition and they are so good!” Poppy Seed Kolache is a Czechoslovakian pastry with a poppy seed filling. If you’ve never tried Kolache it is a delicious treat perfect for the holiday season! Give this recipe a try by following the link below! http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/poppy_seed_kolache/ In our main office, Sarah M. of our Business Intelligence team added “Although it is not technically a Christmas cookie, Baklava is a Middle Eastern dessert that is somewhat labor intensive to bake, so my family tends to only make it during the holidays. Baklava is very sweet, has lots of sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts – and it reminds me of my grandmother!” Check out the recipe below! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-symon/baklava-recipe-1972768 Teammate Mike M. in our Palatine Bridge, NY store: “Chocolate jumbos with green and red icing. They are delicious, smell good while baking, and taste like the holidays!” Chocolate jumbos make a fantastic addition to any Christmas baking lists. They are truly a perfect sweet for the season! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10399/chocolate-jumbo/ Finally, teammate Allison P. at our Storrs, CT store gave perhaps the most festive response; “Sugar cookies that look like candy canes. They’re fun to eat!” From their look to their taste these Candy Cane Cookies are a staple of the Christmas season. How could you not enjoy baking such a fun cookie? https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/candy-cane-cookies/93832e29-3b4f-4977-ae5a-9820053b254c Baking Christmas cookies is one of our favorite parts of the holiday season. We hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we do, and maybe find a new Christmas favorite to share with family and friends! From all of us at Price Chopper and Market 32, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!   Written by Maureen Murphy & Sarah Palmer When it comes to baking a pie, mastering the crust is key! While you can purchase pre-made pie crusts in the dairy & frozen section of our stores, making a pie crust from scratch will make your pie the star of the dessert table!  Below are some tried & true tips to help get you started!  

• Your butter & water must be cold; even frozen butter works as long as you cut it into cubes before freezing
• Measure ingredients carefully to prevent a tough, greasy or soggy crust
• Cut the fat into the flour just until the size of peas (use a fork or pastry blender)
• Handle pie dough as little as possible to ensure a flaky and tender crust
• Chill pie dough for several hours to tenderize the dough, and prevent shrinkage during baking
• Allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling
• Roll dough from the center out to a 1/8̋ thickness or less
• To place the pie crust in the pie pan, carefully loosen it from the cutting board; fold it over the rolling pin. Unroll it into the pan and press down lightly
• Trim any excess dough, leaving approximately ½ ̋ for fluting the edge
• Flute the edge by pinching dough between the thumb and forefinger or seal the edge by pressing the dough with a fork against the rim of the pie pan
• When baking a crust without the filling, prick the dough with a fork and place dry beans or rice in the bottom to prevent shrinkage while baking. Bake in a preheated 450°F oven for 10 -12 minutes or until lightly browned.
• For the crust to be baked with a filling, do not prick the crust. For pies with juicy fillings, brush the bottom of the crust with egg white or melted butter to prevent a soggy crust.
• For pies that bake more than 30 minutes, place a rim of foil around the edge of the crust during the first half of baking to prevent over-browning

  Now that your pie crust skills are feeling confident, fill your crust with this delicious Chocolate-Pecan filling for a sweet pie your holiday guests will love! Chocolate Pecan Pie

• 2 PICS eggs
• 1 cup PICS sugar
• ½ cup Price Chopper flour
• ½ cup PICS butter, melted
• 1 T. PICS vanilla
• 1 cup PICS pecans, chopped
• 6 oz. semi sweet chocolate morsels
• 1 pastry shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat eggs slightly in mixing bowl.  Blend in sugar, flour, butter and vanilla.  Stir in pecans and chocolate.  Pour into pie shell.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool and serve.  Serves 6-8. Written by Maureen Murphy & Sarah Palmer Holiday Baking Holiday baking is a wonderful way to share the joy of the season with those we treasure. Start a new tradition with your family this year and bake some special holiday memories! Keep reading for helpful baking tips & time-saving ideas to help get you started! Baking Tips Making time to bake is often fun and rewarding, and can be done with proper organization and a few helpful hints.

• Bake in quantity and freeze whenever possible – baked cookies will keep in the freezer for up to 3 or 4 weeks
• Prepare cookie dough when you are able to steal a little extra time – prepared dough will keep at least 3 days in the refrigerator or in the freezer for up to 3 months
• Assemble all ingredients and equipment before beginning a recipe
• Line cookie sheets with parchment paper to help cut down on clean up
• While cookies are baking, prepare other cookie sheets to go in the oven
• Save time when shopping and measuring:
  • 1 lb. box confectioners’ sugar = 4 cups
  • 1 lb. box brown sugar = 2 cups, packed
  • 5 lb. bag granulated sugar = 10 cups
  • 5 lb. bag all-purpose flour = 20 cups
  • 1 cup cake flour = 7/8 cup sifted all-purpose
  • 1 lb. box seedless raisins = 2 3/4 cups
  • 6 extra-large eggs = 8 large eggs
• Allow butter and eggs to come to room temperature before using
• Measure ingredients carefully
• Do not over-mix cookie dough
• Chill dough well when instructed so the dough will be easier to work with
• Allow at least 2 inches of space between cookies on cookie sheets, and at least 2 inches around the sides of the oven for proper heat circulation
• Use bright, shiny aluminum cookie sheets rather than dark colored cookie sheets to prevent over browning
• Bake cookies on a rack in the middle of the oven; for best results use only one rack
• Do not over-bake – a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when a cookie is baked
• Allow cookie sheets to cool before baking more to prevent the edges of the cookie from spreading out and becoming too thin
• Cool cookies on a wire rack

For recipes & ideas, visit our baking Pinterest board!     Written by Karin Reeves of Reeves Farms This is the time of year when things start to slow down a little on the farm: We’re done harvesting all of our vegetables with the exception of some pumpkins and winter squash.  This means that we finally have a little time to do some cooking and baking. I’ve always enjoyed baking more than cooking.  It’s nice to mix up a bunch of ingredients, pop a pan in the oven and wait to see how it come out.  These pumpkin muffins are great because they’re really versatile.  They can be used for a dessert, breakfast or tasty snack. We have tons of pumpkins and squash around the house this time of year.  I usually spend a few hours on a rainy fall day baking up squash and pumpkins and turning them into puree to freeze for the winter.  Everyone in our family is a pumpkin and squash fan including the cat (it’s strange but he loves butternut squash).  For the pumpkin piece of this recipe I have used a lot of different things – pie pumpkins, butternut squash or even buttercup squash.  They all work well so use whatever you like best.  This recipe can also be a good way to use up leftover squash you made for dinner. Start by making the pumpkin puree, which is much easier than you might think. First cut the stem off the pumpkin or squash you have decided to use.  Then cut in half and scoop out the seeds (I like to save the seeds to roast later.)  Place on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.  You will know they are done when you can easily pierce the flesh with a fork.  Allow to cool for about 20 mins or until its cool enough to handle.  Scoop out the flesh leaving the skin behind.  Put all the pumpkin flesh in a food processor and blend until smooth.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can mash up the chunks of pumpkin with a potato masher or a fork.  You will need one heaping cup of puree for this recipe.  Depending on the size of the pumpkin or squash you are working with you will probably have more puree than you need.  You can freeze it for later or you can easily double this recipe to use up more puree. Reeves Family Pumpkin Muffins Ingredients 1 ¾ cups flour ¾ cup granulated sugar ½ cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 eggs 1 heaping cup of pumpkin or squash puree ½ cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon milk 1 teaspoon vanilla   Baking Instructions   Preheat oven to 375 degrees   Place paper liners in a muffin tin or grease tin using a paper towel with a little vegetable oil.   In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.  Make sure brown sugar is broken up so there are no chunks of sugar in the batter.   In a separate bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, oil, milk and vanilla. Whisk together until smooth   Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold together gently until just combined   Scoop batter into muffin tins so that each cup is about ¾ full   Bake for 20 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin   Let muffins cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan   You can serve immediately or let muffins cool completely before storing in an airtight container   Yield: about 18 medium size muffins.   This muffin recipe is a great base for trying some variations and experimenting a little.  You can add ½ cup raisins or walnuts to add some more interesting textures. For an extra rich dessert, sometimes I frost the muffins with cream cheese frosting or add a ½ cup of chocolate chips to the recipe.  Enjoy! Written by Sara Lilkas Fall has become synonymous with pumpkin season, for reasons far beyond the classic Jack-O-Lantern! I think it’s fair to say that today’s consumer is seriously pumped-up about pumpkin! From pumpkin flavored drinks and baked goods, to pumpkin ice cream and scented candles, there is no shortage of this fall-favorite flavor! Pumpkins are great for decorating or even eating! Have you ever baked pumpkin seeds after carving a pumpkin for Halloween They’re delicious and super easy! Simply separate the seeds from the meat of the pumpkin, put them on a greased cookie sheet, add some salt and bake at 300° F for about 45 minutes or until golden brown! Pumpkins do not have to be limited to the spooky happenings surrounding Halloween either. They can also be used for your seasonal fall and Thanksgiving decorating. Pumpkins can be hollowed out and used as vases or they look great painted with stencils, glitter, or monograms to fit in with the rest of your decorations. I’m a huge fan of adding pumpkin to everything possible the months of September-November, and if it spills over into December a little bit that’s fine too. (I would eat pumpkin year round if it was available!)  I love adding pumpkin to pancakes, waffles, bread (for toast), and muffins. I found that learning to cook and bake is a lot more fun when attempting to make foods that I really enjoy. This year I decided to try and make pumpkin muffins instead of purchasing them like I normally do. I tried this recipe here and they turned out great! Plus, you get the added bonus of the apartment smelling amazing when baking muffins fresh at home! Now the only thing better than pumpkin would be the addition of chocolate. My next baking attempt will have to be Pumpkin Swirl Brownies. Brownies are my go-to favorite baked good regardless of the season, but adding pumpkin to the mix will probably result in me eating the whole batch, by myself, in one sitting, it’s fine. My pumpkin obsession has grown with time and age, since now there are also many varieties of pumpkin flavored beer! It seems that almost every brewery, no matter how large or small, puts out a pumpkin flavored beer for the fall. Each variety uses its own unique blend of spices to bring out the pumpkin flavor, so it’s exciting to try the different varieties and discover the many flavors! Two of my favorites are the Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale and Magic Hat’s Wilhelm Scream. As always, please enjoy responsibly! What are your favorite pumpkin flavored treats? Leave a comment below! Written by Sara Lilkas, Marketing Intern  BOO! Did Halloween sneak up on you too? Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up I took every single excuse I could to wear a princess dress and ran with it. (I mean there was also the free candy thing, but who doesn’t love running around in a poofy ball gown?) Now that I’m 23 and trick or treating is no longer an option, more creative measures have to be taken to celebrate this spooky and sugar high inducing holiday. For adults, even those who are reluctantly adults, there a couple of fairly simple and budget friendly options that can be planned out in almost no time at all! The Scary Movie Marathon A movie marathon is an easy and fairly cheap way to get the spook factor in. Even though video rental stores are no longer a thing, RedBox sometimes has seasonal offerings and for around $1 a night you can’t really go wrong. Another option is to ask your friends to bring over their favorite scary movie DVDs if they have any. I personally don’t believe any scary movie marathon is complete without The Shining, a film from the Scream series, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. I am sure there are some horror aficionados out there who will disagree with me, but these are the scary movies I grew up not being allowed to watch, so obviously they became my favorites….well at least once they stopped giving me nightmares. Now for those who are feeling nostalgic I would recommend the Halloweentown series or Nightmare Before Christmas (or really anything done by Tim Burton since he has mastered the art of being creepy and awesome without being terrifying.) And there is simply no such thing as a Halloween movie marathon without Hocus Pocus. I don’t care what you are doing when Hocus Pocus is on TV, you sit down and watch. But the pillowcase full of free candy is still missing. Now this is the true tragedy of growing up. What hits the sweet spot (see what I did there) is inviting your friends over for a spooktacular movie marathon with Halloween themed baked goods and snacks. One of my favorite Halloween time movie snacks is this sweet and salty popcorn recipe featuring peanut butter and the sugary goodness known as candy corn!  Now I have personally decided that the calories from candy corn consumed in October simply do not count. So I recommend adding it to as many snacks as possible such as Halloween themed trail mix and cupcakes. The Halloween Party Now if you do not think it is fun to watch movies that are meant to terrify you, a more low-key affair may be more your style. And by low-key I mean anything from a few friends over to a raging costume party. Halloween can also be the perfect excuse to throw a masquerade party(I’ve always wanted to go to a masquerade party so I’m just throwing that out there.) At any Halloween event costumes should be required, it does not hinder your cool factor to dress up, in my opinion it makes you more awesome, but let’s talk about planning this thing. No matter how extravagant your Halloween affair may be (or how big your party budget is) there are plenty of easy food and decoration ideas, using a lot of things you may already have around the house. Creepy pictures can be printed out and put into the frames you already have, and food dye can go a long way for making regular drinks look like something you’d find in the Haunted Mansion. Instead of having all the lights in your house on, save some electricity and use candles where you can. Painting items is also a fairly cheap way to decorate, but is obviously more permanent. Using black paint on every-day items can go a long way in creating a spooky feel for your party. Try painting your pumpkins in addition to carving them and I’m sure you will win spookiest house on the block. (Plus make sure you save the pumpkin seeds while carving, you can bake them to make a tasty snack!) Whether it’s black painted pumpkins, frames, or other items, matte black paint can make decorations look eerily goth, but not childish (chalkboard paint is another cool option here, since you can then write and draw on the decorations as well.) As you may have guessed with my ramblings about the black paint, black is my go to decorating theme for Halloween (and let’s face it, for everyday life), but I’m also a girl who happens to love glitter. A can of black glitter spray paint costs around $4 and can be purchased at any home improvement or craft store. I personally believe that glitter can be added to almost any decoration depending on the feel you are going for with your party, but beware once you put glitter on one thing it will get everywhere, there’s just no stopping it. As always check out our Pinterest board for more holiday recipes and ideas!