Last week, I hosted a special Facebook LIVE on some of my top gift ideas for the season. You’ll love our new Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box. It’s complete with all the dry ingredients you need to make four wonderful cookie recipes - that's 11-dozen cookies! Martha & Marley Spoon Culinary Director, Jennifer Aaronson, joined me for the broadcast. It was so much fun talking about cookies and sharing my best baking tips for making these favorites. I also talked about my newest publications - “Martha Stewart's Newlywed Kitchen” and “Martha Stewart's Slow Cooker” - two great books for those on your list who love to cook!
I hope you had the chance to catch my recent Facebook LIVE broadcast. The show was LIVE from one of the kitchens at my Bedford, New York farm. It’s the same kitchen where I recently shot an upcoming season of “Martha Bakes” for PBS.
I love doing Facebook LIVE. They’re done so easily with a small crew and our trusted iPhone. And, what I enjoy most – hearing your questions and comments straight from our Facebook feed!
On this show, I talked about our new Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box. The kit contains four festive recipes and all the dry ingredients you need, along with baker’s twine, and cookie bags – give the cookies as gifts or give a kit to your favorite baker.
The four cookie recipes include these tasty Noel nut balls, brown butter shortbread cookies with cardamom, chocolate-gingerbread cookies and double-chocolate peppermint brownies.
You’ll love these double-chocolate peppermint brownies – they are so chocolatey with just the right amount of mint to give it a delicious burst of flavor.
Another great gift idea is my book, “Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker: 110 Recipes for Flavorful, Foolproof Dishes (Including Desserts!), Plus Test- Kitchen Tips and Strategies”. It makes a great gift for anyone on your list, including yourself.
During Facebook LIVE, I showed my tip for wrapping these books in kitchen hand towels. These towels are from my collection exclusively at Macy’s. goo.gl/PGCaZ4
These kitchen towels are a fun and interesting way to wrap a book and give an additional present. Watch the show to get the complete how-to instructions.
I also showed my book, “Martha Stewart’s Newlywed Kitchen: Recipes for Weeknight Dinners and Easy, Casual Gatherings”. It’s the ultimate cookbook for the modern couple.
Our Facebook LIVE followers always ask such wonderful questions – one question was “what are the most important things to keep in the pantry?” Be sure to visit our Facebook page @MarthaStewart and watch this video to get my answer.
Here’s Jen chopping the pecans for our Noel nut balls, one of the two cookie recipes we made from our Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box.
Our kits give you just the right amount of the dry ingredients you need to make these cookies. The only ingredients you have to add are butter, salt and eggs.
Here I am cutting the dough for the Noel nut balls. The dough includes the chopped pecans.
Jen and I rolled the dough into balls, placed them on a cookie sheet and then into the oven – it’s such an easy recipe, and my mother, “Big Martha” made it every year for our family’s holiday celebrations.
Once the balls are cooked, they’re just rolled in confectioner’s sugar. They’re so delicious.
Here I am pouring the chocolate brownie mixture into the pan – the double-chocolate gives these brownies an extra rich flavor.
Jen sprinkles the peppermint pieces onto the brownie mixture – these peppermint candies come with the kit too. Watch the video to see how I chop them up into just the perfect size for our brownies.
Fresh out of the oven – we let the brownies cool just a bit before cutting.
Jennifer removes the brownies from the pan and puts them on a cutting board.
Here I am cutting the brownies for everyone to enjoy – the entire crew was ready to taste them.
The kit makes 11-dozen cookies! All of them can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container for up to two-weeks.
And don’t forget to look at our December issue of “Living” – I show photos from the fun Christmas party I hosted at my farm last year. This issue is on newsstands now!
Jen and I stopped for a quick photo after the show. Have a wonderful holiday and happy baking! You have until January 3rd to order the Marthat & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box. The cookies arrive within 10-days of ordering. goo.gl/hCnYuU