Christmas Recipes from Your Favorite Books

Anything from the trolley? These snacks are similar to Cornish pasties and are sold on the Honeydukes Express in the beloved fictional world of Hogwarts. You can make these exotic sounding little pastry pockets with sweet and spicy pumpkin filling using the recipe below to show off to your fellow Potterhead pals…

Place the pie crust circles on a prepared baking sheet and place about 1 ½ tablespoons of filling in the centre of each one. Then, using your finger, moisten the edges of each circle with a small amount of water, but try not to drown the pie crust, but slightly dampen it so it seals up properly. 

Pick up two opposite edges of the pie crust circle and bring them together at the top, similar to a taco, since this helps to keep the filling away from the edges as you seal them up. Gently press the edges together, starting at the top then working your way down to the sides. Lay the half circle back down on the cookie sheet, using a fork to crimp seal the edges together and repeat with each of the other hand pies.

Brush the top of each with an egg yolk wash before sprinkling the coarse sugar over them. Use a small sharp knife to cut a small lighting bolt into the center of each hand pie to let steam out.. And of course, to pay homage to the ‘boy who lived’.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool and invite fellow Potterheads for a treat!

In this classic, Ma, Pa, Louisa age Mary get together in Christmas and use fresh white snow from outdoors (to ensure authenticity, of course) to make this treasured treat that has Canadian origins. Just hope that the weather calls for snow, of course!

Pour your maple syrup into a small pot and heat until it boils or until the syrup starts to bubble.  Use a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature and continue to boil the syrup until it reaches the “soft ball” stage (235-240 degrees fahrenheit).  This ensures that  the outcome is crunchy rather than chewy.

Remove the pot from the heat and carefully pour your piping hot syrup in lines on the fresh snow. Press a craft/popsicle stick into the syrup and then just as the syrup begins to cool, roll it up around the stick and et voila, you’ll end up with a beautiful maple syrup candy pop, i.e. Prairie style snow candy!

Fans of this franchise will remember how the evil White Witch lured young Edmund with boxes of this treat. Don’t worry, you won’t need magical powers to concoct this delicious delight. Just follow the recipe below…

Bring sugar, lemon juice and water to the boil. Then mix cornflour, xanthan gum, gelatine and more water in a jug. Add all of these to a pan and stir until dissolved.

Simmer until it has a consistency akin to wallpaper and leave to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Add rosewater and colouring to this paste.Pour into a prepared pan and set overnight. Slice into cubes once set and leave it room temperature for 24 hours before coating in cornflour so a crust forms. Roll the finished product in icing sugar and place into a metal tin.

Garnish with some more icing sugar and store in a cool dry place. It’s ready to eat!

These were no ordinary gingerbread cookies, but rather dark golden brown fragrant treats garnished with dazzling gold stars. Here’s the recipe so do treat yourselves…

Mix together flour, sugar, bicarb soda, salt, ground ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.Proceed to add the molasses and butter, and heat in the microwave until the butter is melted. Stir all the above ingredients into the flour mixture, while also adding in the minced and crystallised ginger bits, and the boiling water. Once combined, turn it out onto a sheet of baking paper.Wrap with cling wrap to hold it together, and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours to chill/set. Once you remove from fridge, let it sit for a few minutes. Then preheat the oven to 160C. Roll out the dough to form a rectangle and trim off the rough edges, before cutting into rectangular bars. Separate these rectangles onto a baking tray and bake for approximately 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool and brush with an edible gold powder to resemble Mary Poppins’ signature gingerbread shimmer.

The emotionally distressed latkes were the star of this novel and they make for quite the sweet and savory treat when doused in applesauce and sour cream. Here is a recipe to make these simple potato pancakes that are enjoyed best around Christmas and Hanukkah!

 Grate the potatoes and onions, and squeeze the excess moisture out using a tea towel or cheese cloth in order to get crispy latkes. Mix the potato starch, egg, matzo, salt, and pepper with the potatoes and onion. Use your fingers to evenly distribute all of the ingredients. Form the mixture into a flat, four-inch pattyand fry the latkes until each side is dark golden-brown. Drain on a paper towel and serve.

Pippi bakes these cookies in a heart shape, rolling the dough out on the floor with her dog for company, sweating it out in a hot kitchen as she has to make at least 500 cookies! While we don’t know the size of your dinner party guests, we’re sure this recipe is still going to churn out some awesome pepparkakor cookies any way…

To make these Scandinavian spice cookies, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cloves into a large bowl (floors are too unhygienic sadly!). Mix to combine. Then beat butter and sugar until creamy and add corn syrup and buttermilk. Mix until thoroughly combined.Add 1/3 of the flour combination and mix until thoroughly combined. Repeat twice until all of the flour has been incorporated. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours. Preheat oven to 350 F and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray with non stick spray. Divide the dough in half, working with one half at a time, leaving the other half in the refrigerator.  Roll out the dough until about ½” thick on a lightly floured surface, sprinkling flour on top as needed. Lightly flour cookie cutters and use them to cut out any weird shapes you might like. Repeat until all the dough has been used before placing them on your prepared sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Cool before removing them from the sheets and have yourself a Scandinavian Christmas!

Another classic from the world of Hogwarts, these tarts were a hit among young Wizards while attending the Yule Ball and we’re sure they’ll be a hit at your Christmas dinner party as well!

Start by making your crust. First, lightly grease a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Pulse flour, butter, sugar, and salt in a food processor until it resembles bread crumbs and  whisk egg and water with a fork. With the food processor on low, slowly pour in the egg mixture and process on low till it attains a doughey consistency. Form dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out on a floured surface. Remember it just be larger than the tart pan to go up the sides. Trim sides before transferring it to pan, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 Heat oven to 350°F and line the prepared crust lightly with foil. Fill the foil with granulated sugar, making sure to spread sugar to edges. Then place on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil along with sugar and cool tart crust in pan on wire rack. 

To make your filling, cut crusts off bread slices and pulse in food processor to form crumbs. Whisk syrup, egg, zest, and juice in a bowl and stir in the bread crumbs. Pour into prepared tart shell. Ensure that you spread it evenly. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the filling is set as it might still be bubbling away. Immediately after removing from oven, pop the bottom of tart pan out to remove the encasing sides and cool it on a wire rack. Before serving, dust with powdered sugar or garnish with crème chantilly, if you’re feeling extra posh.