I just love holiday baking (with my kids)! The whole house fills with all these wonderful smells due to the spice blends. Nothing saysholidayquite like warm wafts of cinnamon-scented air filling the kitchen. Fragrant, aromatic spices like ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, all spice, anise and cloves are traditionalflavor profiles in holiday recipes.
Being a Dutchie living in Central America with a lot of North American friends that we celebrate the holidays with, I can definitely say I get the best of all worlds when it comes to holiday baking. Like I said, to me holiday baking is all about the spice blends; they create that special, nostalgic taste in holiday baked goods.
I discovered there are only slight differences and nuances to baking in different continents. Today I am sharing with you my 3 most used holiday spice mixed and their uses.
my 3 favorite spice blends
pumpkin spice mix
Used of course for pumpkin and pecan pie, but don’t forget a pumpkin spiced latte or hot cocoa. Recently I have been making pumpkin spiced smoothie bowls for breakfast.. A-MA-ZING!
My pumpkin spice mix consists of ginger, lots of cinnamon, cloves and all spice.
speculaas spice mix
Speculaas is a crispy Dutch cookie eaten year around, but mostly over the holidays. They are known for their delightfully spicy kick, which comes from a blend ofcinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, anise, cardamom, and a tiny bit of white pepper. Thisspice blend is an unusual but awesome one, combining classic holiday flavors with a twist from the anise and white pepper.
So crispy speculaas cookies are made with this spice blend, but I also sprinkle it on my cappuccino and use it in granola, a great gift for the kids to give their teachers right before the winter holiday break! And for Thanksgiving I always bring my Dutch apple pie and I put this spice mix in the dough.
In the Netherlands we also use this spice blend to make ‘pepernoten’; marble sized cookies that are eaten around the holiday of ‘Sinterklaas’ which is on the 5th of December. Sinterklaas is a historical figure similar to Santa Claus. The recipe for these little flavor bombs will be up here very soon. Another great recipe to file under ‘holiday baking’!
gingerbread spice mix
Gingerbread cookies are actually very similar to speculaas cookies (see above), just the spice mix is a little different. Like I said, it is all in the nuances! Equal parts of ginger and cinnamon are combined with a bit of ground nutmeg and cloves. Cakes, bread, cookies and even ice cream can be spiced with this.
All 3 holiday spice blends are lovely. I hope you will enjoy them as much as we do. They are
warm and cosy – fragrant and aromatic – perfect for baking – versatile
All of these holiday recipes are made with these spice mixes: healthy pecan pie, crispy speculaas cookies, pepernoten, gingerbread cookies, pumpkin smoothie bowl and porridge and more. Please stay tuned!
Holiday baking – my 3 favorite spice blends // PUMPKIN SPICE
I am sharing my 3 favorite spice blends that I use in my holiday baking. PUMPKIN SPICE; I use it in my pumpkin and pecan pies, frosting and even in my latte!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 5 minutes mins
Cuisine Holiday baking
Servings 1 jar
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp ground ginger
- 7 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 5 tsp ground cloves
- 5 tsp all spice
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a jar. Shake well and your spice mix is ready!
Holiday baking – my 3 favorite spice blends // SPECULAAS SPICE
I am sharing my 3 favorite spice blends that I use in my holiday baking. SPECULAAS SPICE; I use it to make crispy speculaas cookies, pepernoten and in my apple pie to bring to a Thanksgiving celebration.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 5 minutes mins
Cuisine Holiday baking
Servings 1 jar
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 8 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp anise
- 2 tsp cardamom
- ½ tsp white pepper (optional)
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a jar, shake well and your spice mix is ready!
Holiday baking – my 3 favorite spice blends // GINGERBREAD SPICE
I am sharing my 3 favorite spice blends that I use in my holiday baking. GINGERBREAD SPICE; I use it of course when we make our gingerbread house each year, in Christmas cookies and even in ice cream.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 5 minutes mins
Cuisine Holiday baking
Servings 1 jar
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp ground ginger
- 6 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tbsp ground nutmeg
- 3 tbsp ground cloves
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a jar, shake well and your spice mix is ready!
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you like this recipe, please consider rating it with the star rating system and leave a comment below – it’s so helpful for us and other readers. Thank you! And don’t forget to snap a picture if you make this and tag @familicious.kitchenon Instagram and hashtag it#familicious.kitchen. Awesome! You can also find us on Facebook and Pinterest.
