As winter’s chill settles in and the days grow shorter, there’s a timeless tradition that warms both our kitchens and our hearts—holiday meals. 

Beyond the aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg that fill the air, there’s something truly magical about donning an apron (or not), preheating the oven, and creating sweet or savory masterpieces that embody the spirit of the season.

Holiday baking and cooking isn’t just about crafting delectable treats; it’s a joyous celebration, a cherished ritual that transcends generations, and a source of boundless cheer. 

In this blog, we’ll be sharing some holiday recipes shared by our very own SOAR team members that we hope will embark you on a journey into the heart of holiday cooking!

Let’s explore how the simple act of mixing flour, sugar, and love can transform your home into a haven of warmth and festive delight. 

So, grab your cooking and baking supplies, and let’s SOAR into the world of holiday baking, where the delicious aroma of freshly made food becomes the soundtrack of the season, and the joy of sharing these creations multiplies the merriment.

Savory, Salty, Buttery – yum!

Nothing screams holiday than butter, butter, and more butter (with a little bit of salt). 

That’s right, we’re talking about some savory good recipes for you to try at home recommended by our SOAR teammates!

Check them out, give them a try, and let us know how your recipe turned out.

Best Ever Biscuits and Gravy

Kelly Pyne, Our Digital Equity Coordinator, helps bring some savory holiday biscuits and gravy inspired by her grandmother.

“My grandma would make this for my brother and me, it makes me feel very homey and nostalgic,” said Pyne.

Ingredients

• 8 Flakey Buttermilk Biscuits
• 1 pound pork sausage
• 2 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon(s)s all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Procedure:

1. Brown sausage in a large saucepan. Use a paper towel to blot out most of the grease from the pan.
2. Add flour, butter, and half & half. Cook on medium-low, stirring often, for several minutes until thickened. 
3. Add thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and black pepper.
4. Serve over warm biscuits.

Sausage Stars

These aren’t your ordinary holiday appetizers to eat at home, these are Sausage STARS recommended by our very own, Kristin Brown, SOAR Innovation’s Digital Strategy Coordinator.

“As is true for most Appalachian families, Christmas is the holy grail of holidays for our family! Each year on Christmas Eve, we would all gather at my grandparent’s home for our big gift exchange. Everyone was tasked with bringing an appetizer, which I have to admit – really is my favorite kind of potluck,” said Brown, “One year, my mom came across a recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine for Hidden Valley Ranch Sausage Stars and decided that we would give it a try. They were an absolute hit! I mean, sausage and cheese is a combo that’s hard to beat, but these were something else… I don’t think there’s been a Christmas potluck since that these sausage stars haven’t been on the table. She still has the original recipe that she cut out, old and soiled, but so nostalgic. I know she’ll be bringing these to our family’s Christmas gathering again this year, as they are highly requested by us all and a steady favorite!”  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (1 Ib.) cooked crumbled sausage
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated Monterey jack cheese
• 1 cup prepared Hidden Valley Ranch Original Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
• 1 can (2.25) sliced ripe olives
• 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
• 1 package fresh or frozen wonton wrappers (or egg roll wrappers cut in 4ths)
• vegetable oil

 Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Blot sausage dry with paper towels and combine with cheese, salad dressing, olives, and red pepper. 
3. Lightly grease a mini (or regular) muffin tin and press 1 wrapper in each cup. 
4. Brush with oil. 
5. Bake 5 minutes until golden. 
6. Remove from tins, and place on baking sheet. 
7. Fill with sausage mixture. 
8. Bake for 5 minutes until bubbly.

Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

Red-Eye Gravy

Looking for a recommendation to go with those Sausage Stars? 

Our Grant Coordinator, Madilyn Jarman is sharing her family’s red-eye gravy recipe to dunk any savory treat into.

“The most iconic Christmas food for me is Red-Eye Gravy. My grandmother always made Christmas breakfast instead of dinner, so we would open the presents under the tree in the morning and then an hour later have to pack up and go to my grandparent’s house for breakfast and leave all our gifts at home,” said Jarman. 

“She would make country ham, biscuits, hashbrowns, and eggs, and she would always have red-eye gravy. My mom never made it, so it was the only time of year we ever had it. When my grandparents died, we stopped doing Christmas breakfast with all the extended family, but we still do it with my immediate family, complete with red-eye gravy. It’s grown on me over the years, especially since I started drinking coffee. I probably like all the other foods a little bit more, but we eat them at other times of year too. Red-eye gravy is the special one for Christmas,” said Jarman.

Steps:

1. Cook your country ham. If you have any fat trimmings, brown those in the pan so the fat renders out.
2. Remove any ham and trimmings and add strong black coffee to the drippings to deglaze the pan.
3. Pour gravy into a serving bowl, when the liquid separates you should be able to see the “red eye” that gives the gravy its name.
4. Stir and serve over biscuits.

Did Someone Say Dessert?

It’s no secret people love sweets and from the looks of it, our SOAR team can’t get enough of it.

Here are our SOAR teammate’s Holiday recommendations for you to fulfill your sweet tooth.

MonkeyBread

“Choosing a favorite Christmas Recipe is extremely hard. I have several that have been passed down through my family and all are delicious and hold a special meaning. Recipes range from Apple stack cakes to Peanut Butter Fudge, to old fashioned Fried Apple Pies…and really, so many more!,” said Latasha Friend, SOAR’s Client Success Coordinator.  However, one of my favorites to make for my family is Homemade Monkey Bread. My Aunt Helen gave me this recipe and has grown to be a favorite of my 2 daughters.”

Recipe:

Dough (store-bought biscuit dough for quicker recipe)

1. 1/4c butter divided (2 tbsp softened, 2 tbsp melted)
2. 1c warm milk
3. 1/3c warm water
4. 1/4c granulated sugar
5. 2 ¼ tsp instant yeast
6. 3 ¼c all-purpose flour (have extra for surface)
7. 2 tsp salt
8. Mixed cinnamon and granulated sugar (to toss cut dough pieces in before adding to pan)

Brown sugar coating

1. 1c packed light brown sugar
2. 2tsp cinnamon (or measure with your heart)
3. ½ c butter (melted)

Glaze topping

1. 1c powdered sugar
2. 2 tbsp milk

“You can have fun with it and sprinkle nuts, diced apples, etc– when adding the dough to your bundt pan before baking,” said Friend.

Christmas Rocks

Our Chief Operating Officer, Joshua Ball, has a delicious treat for you and all of your friends and family to share while sitting on the couch by a warm fire.

“Growing up as a child, I never understood Fruit Cake. Matter of fact, never wanted to touch it or taste it. Why would you, when there are peanut butter balls, sugar cookies, etc? But, you grow up… eventually. My favorite recipe is a mixture of fruit cake and cookies. It is called Christmas Rocks. It was a staple for my late mother-in-law, Irene, and my wife, Tammy, who makes these several times during the holidays. It brings back memories for her, as well as me and my late great-grandmother, Pearl, who loved fruit cake (all year round).”

Ingredients:

• 1 cup softened butter or margarine
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon, soda, dissolved in 2 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 3 cups flour
• 1 pound chopped dates
• 1 pound chopped pecans
• 1 pound raisins
• ¾ cup red and green cherries

Procedure:

1. Cream together the butter or margarine, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, soda, cloves, and flour. 
2. Sift flour before measuring and mix 1 ½ cups with butter and sugar mixture. 
3. Toss the rest with nuts, dates, raisins, and cherries. 
4. Have dates, pecans, raisins, and cherries mixed together in a bowl and tossed with flour. 
5. Mix all together. 
6. You may have to use your hands to mix and use a large bowl! 
7. Bake at 325 degrees or 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. 

NOTES: Don’t let brown too much. Will be more chewy and soft.

Moo-less Chocolate Pie

Strategic Communications Coordinator, Claudette Enriquez, shares a delicious “Moo-Less Chocolate Pie” that substitutes as both a nutritious and delicious option for all to try and eat. You wouldn’t even know it was made with tofu! (Sounds gross, I know, but just give it a try!)

“For all of my youth, my family would make traditional Mexican food for all of our holiday gatherings – don’t get me wrong, homemade Mexican food is amazing, but I wanted to also try American items for our holiday gatherings. Being born and raised in America, I grew up on the notion that pecan pie and peppermint items were the main options to include in one’s holiday meal. Wanting to bring some change to our dinner table, I baked this Moo-less Chocolate Pie when I was in the 9th grade. It was my family’s first introduction to American cuisine being added to our menu. You could say it was our first-ever multi-cultured meal. Now, I introduce different American cuisine items into every holiday meal. But this pie will always hold a special place in my fond memories and heart.”

Ingredients:

• 13 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• ⅓ cup coffee liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound silken tofu, drained
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 (9-inch) prepared chocolate wafer crust, store-bought is fine

Special Hardware: Food processor or blender

Procedure: 

1. Place enough water in the bottom of a 4-quart saucepan to come 1 inch up the sides. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Melt the chocolate chips with the coffee liqueur and vanilla in a medium metal bowl set over the simmering water, stirring often with a rubber or silicone spatula. Although vanilla extract is often added at the very end of cooking, the melting chocolate will never get hot enough to damage the delicate sensibilities.
3. Combine the chocolate mixture, tofu, and honey in a blender or food processor and spin until smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate until the filling sets firm, approximately 2 hours.

Funfetti Cake Cookies

Deveney Redwine, SOAR Innovation’s Outreach Coordinator shared a unique twist to the infamous Funfetti mix we see in our grocery stores.

“I made these for a summer cookout around the Fourth of July and they quickly became a family favorite for every holiday,” said Redwine, “We then started using the holiday-colored Funfetti Mix and adding red and green icing to some of them to get even further into the holiday spirit! There is a borderline uprising if I don’t bring these to family gatherings around the holidays now!”

Why not give this new invention a try?

Ingredients:

• Funfetti Cake Mix (Christmas sprinkles preferred, but not required )
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray the cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Mix cake mix, vegetable oil, and eggs.
4. The dough will be sticky, if it’s too sticky add 1/4 cup of flour.
5. Roll dough into 1″ ball and place on cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Pull from the oven with edges starting to brown.
7. Let sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving to the cooling rack.

‘Betcha Can’t Eat It All

Grandmas know best! If you ever had the opportunity to be fed by one, they are always willing to challenge you on how much you can eat, this grandma was no exception.

“Every Christmas my grandmother makes ‘Betcha Can’t Eat It All’, I have never had a Christmas without this wonderful dessert,” said Ashley Smith, SOAR’s Digital Navigator, “My grandmother challenges her grandchildren every year to finish the entire 9×13 pan full of this delicious thick chocolate treat. And only one time as a teenager was it successfully gone, and the following year she made it even bigger, or changed the crust to chocolate, or use lemon instead. It’s a fun holiday challenge for the grandkids, and now the great-grandkids!”

Recipe: 

Crust:

• 2 cups of flour 
• 2 sticks of butter (softened)
• Mix Well, press well into a 9×13 pan
• Bake 375 degrees until brown 

Cream Cheese Filling 

• 18g cream cheese 
• 10oz of cool whip 
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Mix well and spread  over crust 

Pudding Filling

• 3 packages of pudding  (chocolate or lemon) 
• 4 ½ cup of cold milk 
• Mix well, spread on top of the cream cheese filling 

Top with 9 oz tub of Cool Whip, add nuts if desired, and serve chilled 

A recipe for all to try

Recipe for a Happy Family

Sabrina McWhorter, Director of Business and Innovation, shares a recipe that helps embrace the meaning of our holiday season.

Did you try one out?

As we wrap up our exploration into the enchanting world of holiday cooking and baking, we hope you’re feeling inspired to whip up some festive magic in your own kitchen. 

Whether you decide to tackle our featured recipes or embark on your culinary adventure, we’d love to be a part of your holiday food journey! 

Share your creations with us on social media by tagging us with your culinary triumphs and the hashtag #SOARHolidayBaking. 

Let’s spread the warmth and cheer of the season together, one delicious treat at a time. Happy eating, and may your holidays be filled with the sweetest moments!