Christmas means many different things to different people. In America, we have our own signature recipes and traditions, whether it means exchanging presents, getting together with family and leaving cookies out for Santa. In all, it’s a special holiday that means a lot to many different people. Still, it can be fun to get in the spirit of the season by broadening our horizons a little bit—and what better way to do it than with some exciting new recipes? With no further ado, here are 10 of the best Christmas recipes from all around the world.
1. Latkes
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
3 tablespoons of fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
applesauce
cooking spray
canola oil
salt
pepper
Steps:
2. Spray down a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.
3. In a big bowl, mix together your egg whites, chives, flour, lemon juice, 3/4 teaspoon of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
4. Next, shred your potatoes roughly in a food processor.
5. Put your potatoes in a colander in the sink to squeeze out the extra liquid.
6. After that, combine your potatoes and egg mix into a batter.
7. Scoop the potato mix out onto the baking tray in a third cup at a time, two inches apart. Shape each scoop into a three-inch round patty.
8. Bake the latkes for 15 minutes.
9. Turn them over after 15 minutes and bake for another 15 minutes (or until they’re nice and crisp).
10. Serve with applesauce and enjoy!
2. Mince Meat Pie
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 cups of mincemeat
1/4 cup of brandy
2 Granny Smith apples
2 quinces
1 cup of walnuts
1 cup of golden raisins
2 oranges
1 lemon
2 piecrusts
1 egg
Steps:
2. Put your mincemeat, brandy, apples, quinces, walnuts, raisins, orange juice and zest in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer.
3. Heat it over medium low heat and cover it, cooking for 30 minutes.
4. Stir in your lemon zest and juice and let it cool to room temperatures.
5. Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
6. Roll half of your pie crust into a 10-inch round and put it in a nine-inch pie tin.
7. Fill the pie with the quince mix before rolling out the other crust and putting it on top (cut out shapes from it as well if you’d like). Crimp the edges to seal them.
8. Add two teaspoons of water to the egg mix and brush the pie edges with egg wash.
9. Sprinkle the edges with the ginger and sugar mix.
10. If you made cutouts, brush those with eggwash and bake them for 12 minutes.
11. Finally, bake the pie for 35 to 45 minutes.
12. Decorate the pie with your cutouts and serve!
3. Bûche de Noël
Ingredients:
1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
5 eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
Caramel:
1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon of cold water
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of dulce de leche
Steps:
2. On a sheet of waxed paper, mix your cocoa powder, flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
3. Get out a large mixing bowl and beat your egg whites on high until they form soft peaks.
4. Add in a quarter cup of sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating it until the whites form glossy peaks. Set them aside.
5. In another bowl, beat your yolks and the other half cup of sugar for five minutes until it turns thick and pale yellow.
6. Fold in oil as well before folding in half of the egg whites.
7. Fold the cocoa mix in also until there are no more streaks and fold in the remaining whites until there are no more streaks.
8. Spread your batter in the prepared pan and bake it for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool it in the pan on a rack for 10 more minutes.
9. Sift cocoa on top of the cake before spreading a clean towel on top, inverting the cake and peeling off the parchment paper.
10. Roll up the cake loosely with the towel inside it like a jelly-roll. Put the cake on a wire rack to cool for an hour with the seam down.
11. Make your caramel by sprinkling gelatin over your water. Let it stand for five minutes before microwaving on high for 15 seconds. Let it cool again.
12. In a mixing bowl, beat your cream on medium speed until it forms soft peaks. Keep the mixer running and slowly add in your gelatin mix. Keep mixing until it forms stiff peaks.
13. In a big bowl, stir your dulce de leche and a third of the whipping cream together. Fold in the rest of the cream as well.
14. Unroll your cake and spread the filling nearly to the edges. Again, roll the cake back up the same way.
15. Wrap the cake in plastic and refrigerate it for an hour or up to a day.
16. When it’s all ready, frost your cake and serve!
4. Saffron Buns
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of boiling water
1 cup of skim milk
1/4 cup of unsalted butter
4 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
2 packages of rapid-rising dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
1 cup of raisins or dried currants
butter
Steps:
2. Next, heat your milk in a saucepan over low heat until bubbles form.
3. Take it off the heat and stir in your butter, cooling until it’s very warm but not hot.
4. In a bowl, mix together four cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt.
5. Next, separate one of your eggs. Add the egg yolk, the other egg, the milk mixture and saffron water into your flour mixture.
6. Stir in your raisins and another half cup of flour until it forms a slightly sticky dough.
7. Turn your dough out onto a floured surface, kneading it for about five minutes.
8. Oil up a mixing bowl and put your dough in it, turning it so the oiled side of the dough faces upwards.
9. Cover it with a cloth and let the dough rise for about 45 minutes.
10. Grease two baking sheets before dividing your dough into quarters. Cut each quarter into six pieces and shape the pieces into balls.
11. Put the balls on the baking sheets about two inches apart. Again, cover the buns with cloth or plastic wrap for about 25 minutes until they double in size.
12. Heat your oven to 350 degrees before brushing the buns with the reserved egg white.
13. Bake everything for 15 minutes. After that, take the buns out, brush with egg white again and bake for one to two more minutes.
14. Cool the buns on wire racks and serve with butter!
5. Lentil and Vegetable Stew
Ingredients:
1 1/4 butternut squash
2 cups of marinara sauce
8 ounces of green beans
1 red bell pepper
1 potato
3/4 cup of chopped onion
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
grated Parmesan cheese
Steps:
2. In a big bowl, mix together all the rest of your ingredients except for the olive oil.
3. Pour that on the lentils before covering the slow cooker and setting it to cook on low for eight to 10 hours.
4. When it’s done, stir in the oil, scoop into bowls and add grated Parmesan cheese.
6. Spiced Wine
Ingredients:
1/2 bottle of Port wine
1 cup of vodka
1/4 pound of sliced, dried figs
1/4 pound of raisins
2 oranges, peeled and juiced
8 ounces of light brown sugar
2 star anise
4 long peppers
5 cloves
7 cardamom pods
3 cinnamon sticks
Steps:
2. Stir the pot periodically and let it sit for two hours.
3. After enough time has passed, strain everything out and reheat the liquid.
4. Pour into glasses and serve with blanched almonds and raisins!
7. Bredele
Ingredients:
18 tablespoons of room temperature butter, chopped
1 1/4 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
lemon zest (of one lemon)
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
Steps:
2. Add your butter in the middle and mix everything together with your fingers until it turns a sandy texture.
3. Add your sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and whole eggs. Mix everything together until it forms a smooth dough. Add another egg if it seems too dry.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for six hours or overnight.
5. Preheat your oven to 355. Roll out your dough onto a floured surface and cut shapes out of the dough.
6. Put the cookies on a sheet and beat your egg yolk with a fork in a bowl.
7. Brush your cookies with egg wash and bake everything for 15 minutes.
8. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
8. Apple Strudel
Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
4 tablespoons of cinnamon
4 tablespoons of corn starch
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
orange zest (one orange’s worth)
1 box of strudel leaves or phyllo dough
1 cup of melted butter
Steps:
2. Put parchment paper down on a table and put your strudel leaves on top of it.
3. Layer two pieces together and brush the top piece with melted butter.
4. Put two more sheets on top and brush again. Repeat one more time to make six layers in total.
5. Strain any extra juice from the apples and scoop them in a line three inches from one of the long edges of the dough.
6. Fold the top layer of the dough over the apples, wrapping everything together in a log shape.
7. Brush the strudel with more melted butter and refrigerate it for an hour.
8. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
9. Bake the strudel on a baking pan lined with parchment paper and cook it for 15 minutes.
10. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy!
9. Galletas Con Chochitos
Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
3/4 cup of sugar
8 tablespoons of softened, unsalted butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
1 egg white, lightly beaten
sprinkles
Steps:
2. With a stand mixer, beat together your butter, sugar and vanilla until it turns a fluffy texture.
3. Add your yolks into the mix one at a time, beating it all together.
4. Add your dry ingredients in as well and mix.
5. Roll the dough out into a foot-long tube and cut it into three pieces.
6. Roll each piece into a ball and put them on a lined baking sheet. Flatten each one and poke a hole in the center of each, chilling it all for an hour.
7. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
8. Brush each of the rings with your egg white and dip each one into sprinkles.
9. Put the cookies back on the sheets and bake for 15 minutes.
10. Let them cool when they’re done and enjoy!
10. Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of olive oil
8 ounces of smoked ham steak, chopped
6 cloves of minced garlic
1 yellow onion, minced
5 1/2 cups of chicken stock
1 1/3 cups of yellow cornmeal
1/2 tablespoon of Hungarian hot paprika
1/2 tablespoon of Hungarian sweet paprika
1 teaspoon of parsley, chopped
1 Italian frying pepper, sliced
1 can of tomato paste
sour cream
Steps:
2. As it cooks, pull off the outer leaves as they become tender (about two to four minutes per leaf).
3. Put the leaves on a baking sheet and set them aside. Keep collecting until you have 12 to 15 leaves.
4. Trim the thick ribs off the leaves and slice up the leftover core of the cabbage, setting it aside.
5. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a saucepan. Add your ham and brown for three to four minutes.
6. Add garlic and onion and keep cooking until they turn golden, for another five to seven minutes.
7. Add two and a half cups of stock and bring everything to a boil.
8. Whisk in your cornmeal, hot paprika, salt and pepper. Set everything aside.
9. With one leaf at a time, put a quarter cup of filling in the center. With the leaf stem towards you, fold the top of the leaf over the filling. Fold in half crosswise and roll into a tight cone.
10. Put the leftover sliced cabbage in the bottom of a saucepan before adding your stuffed cabbage on top, each overlapping slightly.
11. Sprinkle sweet paprika, salt and pepper on top.
12. In a side bowl, whisk together your tomato paste and leftover stock before pouring it all over the cabbage.
13. Bring everything to a simmer over medium-high heat.
14. Turn the heat down to medium low and cook, partially covered, for 45 minutes.
15. When it’s done, transfer the stuffed cabbage to a platter and strain the sauce. Get rid of the extra cabbage and spoon the sauce on top of the stuffed rolls.
16. Garnish with parsley, sliced pepper, sweet paprika and sour cream!
No matter how you celebrate Christmas in your family, this list of recipes is a window into a world of Christmas celebrations you might not have been aware of. Similarly, maybe you’re used to making the same things every year and want to reach back in time and make something traditional and specific to your culture. Hopefully your family’s culture is represented somewhere on this list of tasty dishes; if not, we hope this list will inspire you to seek out your own recipes. Have you given any of these meals a try? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments. Merry Christmas and happy cooking!
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