Happy Holidays, from Beyond The Diag

It's the most wonderful time of the year, where Thanksgiving and Winter Break are around the corner! Although it has been a very different semester than we expected, you should feel great for making it this far. If you’re planning to head home for the holidays, we wish you a safe and fun break. Enjoy good food and time with family, and most importantly, have fun over the break!

We’ve included a few suggestions for things to do:

Fun & Family 

Now that you are headed home to be with your loved ones, let's make the most of it. Here’s a couple of ideas that you can do, whether you’re together in the same place or gathering online:

  1. Host a ‘virtual’ trivia night

  2. Make a scrapbook

  3. Paint a wall (if you can)

  4. Bake some bread

 

Food

The holidays are also the best time to make new meals and snacks to share with your friends and family - at a social distance, of course! My family usually makes cream-wafers, so I thought I would share this super-quick-and-easy recipe with you!

 

  1. Prep Time = 10 minutes

  2. Cook Time = 8 minutes

  3. Yield = 24 cookies

Ingredients:

 

Wafers

Filling

½ cup butter

3 tbsp heavy cream

1 cup flour

¼ cup butter

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ tsp heavy cream

½ tsp vanilla extract

Optional - food coloring/sprinkles



 

Instructions: 

Prepare Wafers (first)

Prepare Filling

  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the butter, cream, and flour on low speed until the dough comes together.

  2. Chill the dough for 2 hours or overnight.

  3. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  4. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to 1/8- inch thick. Using a small (1.25- inch) round cookie or pastry cutter cut the dough out and place on the prepared baking sheet. Prick with a fork 3 or 4 times.

  5. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until lightly golden on the bottoms.

  6. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

  1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

  2. Divide the filling as desired and mix in a drop of food coloring to achieve the color(s) desired.

  3. Fill a pastry bag(s) or zip-top bag with the corner cut off with the filling. Squeeze a small amount of the filling onto the bottom of half the cookies. Alternately, you could use an offset spatula to spread the filling. Top the filling with the remaining cookies and roll in sprinkles if desired.