Food Network Magazine December 2018

All the gifts in this booklet are available at Kohl’s stores and kohls.com. Baking Sheets + Homemade Cookies A fresh set of baking sheets is always a welcome gift—and it’s even better when it comes with a batch of holiday cookies. Maple Snickerdoodles Preheat the oven to 375°. Whisk 1½ cups flour, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon each nutmeg and salt. In a separate bowl, beat 1 stick softened butter and ½ cup each maple sugar and light brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. Add 1 egg and ¼ teaspoon maple extract; beat until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture on low speed. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, then roll in cinnamon sugar. Arrange 2 inches apart on unlined baking…

DINNERS UNDER 500 CALORIES Try these light meals from our Weeknight Cooking section. BREATHE EASY Researchers at the Technical University of Munich recently discovered that ginger stimulates an enzyme in saliva that can freshen your breath—a good excuse to try the gingersnap treats on page 65! LOOKING GOOD ’Tis the season for dry skin! To help prevent it this winter, make sure you get your fill of essential fatty acids like omega-3s: Research shows they may help prevent skin dryness and scaling. The smoked salmon crackers on page 144 are a great way to start! BRIGHT EYES An orange a day may be even better than an apple—at least for protecting your eyesight. A 15-year Australian study found that adults who ate one serving of oranges daily (about one medium orange) were 60 percent less likely to…

We asked: Which star would you pick for Secret Santa and what would you give him or her? Sunny Anderson The Kitchen pg. 20 Valerie Bertinelli Valerie’s Home Cooking; Kids Baking Championship pgs. 20, 43, 130 Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman; Christmas Cookie Challenge pgs. 20, 43, 128 “I’D GIVE EDDIE JACKSON A MEMBERSHIP TO A GYM… JUST KIDDING! I’D GIVE HIM TWO TICKETS TO HAMILTON BECAUSE I KNOW HE’D LIKE IT.” Guy Fieri Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; Guy’s Grocery Games; Guy’s Ranch Kitchen; Triple D Nation pg. 161 Amanda Freitag Chopped pg. 43 “I’D GET DUFF GOLDMAN A VINTAGE CLUTCH T-SHIRT—CLUTCH IS AN OBSCURE BAND HE LIKES.” Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro pg. 118 Duff Goldman Holiday Baking Championship; Kids Baking Championship pgs. 20, 44 Alex Guarnaschelli Iron Chef America; Chopped; Fix Me a Plate (on foodnetwork.com) pgs. 38, 132 Eddie Jackson Christmas Cookie Challenge; The Best Thing I Ever Ate (on Cooking Channel) pg.…

Every December, on our last day of work before the holiday break, the staff here gets together for an office cookie swap. You can probably imagine what happens when a bunch of food editors, writers, designers and other creative types make cookies for one another. It’s an insane display of baked goods. Sparkly sugar-coated rum balls, pretty rosemary shortbread, delicate buttery spritz cookies, perfect little pecan sandies. I always walk around the table in awe, putting a couple of each in my to-go box. Then I take my cookies home and, without fail, I ruin every single one of them—just by leaving them all in the same container overnight. The soft cookies get hard, the hard cookies get soft, and because I jostle them around on the way home, they…

$5,000 GIVEAWAY! You could win a $5,000 shopping spree at Williams Sonoma! Visit foodnetwork.com/williamssonoma to enter. For contest rules, see page 172. MENORAH CAKE, CANDY BARK, DOUGHNUT HOLE AND HOT COCOA SNOW PHOTOS: RYAN DAUSCH; FOOD STYLING: BARRETT WASHBURNE. M&M’S: LEVI BROWN. GELT: ALAMY. RUGELACH: RYAN DAUSCH. CHALLAH: ANDREW PURCELL. LATKES: SHUTTERSTOCK. PRETZELS: RALPH SMITH. MINT, NONPAREILS, COOKIE CUTTER AND LENTILS: GETTY IMAGES. PROSCIUTTO PERSIMMON: RYAN LIEBE. PANCAKES: CHARLES MASTERS.…

Valerie, I always enjoy watching you bake love cakes on Valerie’s Home Cooking. Have you ever tried making a salted caramel version? Campbell Jensen Clive, IA I sometimes make my butterscotch love cake (a dessert made with boxed cake mix, ricotta and mascarpone) with a sprinkling of flaked sea salt on top. It tastes just like salted caramel! Find the recipe at foodnetwork.com/butterscotchlovecake. —Valerie Bertinelli Ree, where do you get the bottled vanilla extract you use on your show? Linda Bennett Edmond, OK The vanilla extract I use is a brand called Simplify, and it’s sold in the swing-top bottle you see on my show. I get it at Reasor’s, a supermarket in Oklahoma, but it’s sold at various other stores and online. —Ree Drummond Duff, what are some tips for making the perfect sugar cookie? Debra Blair via…