This year, I only had enough energy to decorate one type of Christmas cookie. Luckily, it was my adorable Christmas Lights Cookies, and they impressed my kid so much that I think I could have phoned in the rest of the holiday baking. I also made these Gingerbread Cut-Outs with Cranberry Glaze (cuz Camille loves the pink color!), my Christmas M&M Sugar Cookie Bars, and my Chocolate-Covered Cherry Fudge. I think that about covers it in the Christmas baking department. So now, I can focus on the other holiday stressors, right? Like, buying gifts, gift wrapping, mailing holiday cards, oh and also: we’re in the middle of moving. Did I tell you we close on our new house just a few days before Christmas? I’ve been stress baking a lot. A lot. My holiday season hasn’t included nearly enough gingerbread, and I knew I needed to remedy that. Gingerbread is the best holiday flavor in my opinion, and in years past, I’ve made gingerbread flan, a gingerbread latte, and a mini gingerbread loaf. This year, I’m all about these gingerbread blondies with lemon glaze. My small-batch blondies made in a 8x8" pan are practically famous (you can always trust a non-chocolate lover to make incredible blondies), and with the addition of some gingerbread spices (ground ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves), they’re even better. These remind me of my gooey chai bars, but slightly different with all the extra ginger and lemon glaze. I could actually eat both: a chai bar in my left hand and a stack of gingerbread blondies with lemon glaze in my right hand, and alternate bites the rest of this holiday season. Are you in? I hope you don’t mind that these serve slightly more than two people. The recipe makes 15 little 3-bite Christmas tree shapes (see the photo above for help slicing them into perfect triangles); it’s still less than a big 9x13 tray of blondies but definitely more than two people can eat. I think they would make a great addition to a holiday cookie plate!
