On the 9th and 10th days of Christmas, may I recommend to you some fabulous baked goods?

Alright - I quite obviously did not budget my time well and have managed to run low on days of Christmas. I'll work on that in the New Year. This feels especially shameful in light of my morning, spent baking and watching Julie & Julia. Even it made fun of the narcissism of blogging.

However, I think that, as of late, I have been conflating narcissism and materialism. I am both, no doubt, but they should remain distinct. This is why I will share with you two of my favourite Christmas recipes, which my mum and I always distribute as gifts. Inexpensive and delicious!

Bacon Cheddar Cheese Muffins
Ok - I realize that many people will shudder at the idea of bacon in a muffin. Muffins are supposed to be sweet and delicious. Well that is just ridiculous. These savoury and fattening delicious muffins are truly irresistable. They are also rather labour intensive, which is why my mum only makes them once a year. But they are a Black family tradition and my mum has perfected this recipe over the years.

Ingredients

2 cups of flour

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of shredded orange cheddar

1 cup of shredded white cheddar

1 cup of cubed orange cheddar

1/2 cup of cubed white cheddar

18 thick slices of bacon

1 egg

1 cup of milk

1/4 cup of bacon drippings/oil

Directions

1. Dice your bacon while raw, cutting into approximately .5 centimetre pieces and cook carefully. You want the bacon to be cooked through, but remain soft since it is going to go into the oven to bake. Cook for approximately 10 minutes over medium heat. You may want to separate this into a couple rounds of frying to make sure each piece gets properly cooked. 

2. When you're done cooking your bacon, save the drippings! It is a great and flavourful substitute for oil!

3. Grate and cube your cheeses. This could take a while. My mum and I like to do these steps the night before.

4. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. 

5. Mix together your dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, in case you forgot. Then add your cheese and bacon. Stir in well. Then add your oil, milk and beaten egg. My mum adds the beaten egg to the milk beforehand, and keeps both at room temperature - the oil needs to be liquid but not so hot as to cook the egg! A careful balance.

6. Distribute into muffin tins, filling so that they are just level (theoretically - the dough is quite thick, so there should be chunks and peaks and such - character!) 

7. Cook for 20-25 minutes.

8. Devour.

Sydney's Own Neiman Marcus Cookies

So you have probably heard the urban legend about the $250.00 Nieman Marcus cookie recipe. If not, the gist is that a woman asked to purchase the cookie recipe from the Nieman Marcus cafe, and the waitress told her she was authorized to sell the recipe for "two fifty," and the woman signed her bill without realizing the cost was two hundred and fifty dollars, rather than two dollars and fifty cents. So, motivated by a vindictive sense of justice, she shares the recipe around the world. A whole lot of bullshit, but a good story and a great cookie. I have tweaked the traditional recipe (which, honestly, comes in a wide variety, my favourite not being the one actually provided on the Nieman Marcus website) and here is the one I throw together.

Ingredients

1 cup of butter

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 1/4 cup of blended oatmeal

1 1/4 of quick cooking oatmeal

1 teaspoon of salt

4 oz of shaved dark chocolate

1 cup of chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups of chopped nuts (I recommend pecans and brazil nuts - I adore brazil nuts)

1/2 cup of espresso or mint flavoured chocolate (I usually split my batch in half and add both

Directions

1. Shave chocolate. It takes forever. Blend oatmeal. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to wet mixture. You know - the shit you do when you make any cookies.I am not pulling any punched here - the shaved chocolate and the blended oatmeal are what make these cookies special. That and my flavoured chocolate chunks. So add those about now.

3. Put spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Watch them though, because if they over cook, they're not great.

See - perfect gift. I win.