Easygoing spice blend is great for goodies and gifting

#MiddleburyCT #GingerbreadSpiceBlend

Here’s a quick recipe for easy homemade gingerbread spice mix, the perfect addition to your holiday repertoire. If pumpkin spice is the flavor of autumn, then gingerbread spice has to be the spice blend of winter. The ingredients are similar, but the balance of the spices yields a completely different result.

Gingerbread spice can replace cinnamon in most recipes and is wonderful added to hot chocolate, coffee or chai tea. If nothing else, sprinkle it with sugar on hot buttered toast.

Gingerbread Spice Blend

Yield: 1/3 cup
Total Time: 5 minutes

2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon finely ground pepper

Blend all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container. Please note this stuff is potent! Th-th-th-th that’s all folks!

Now, what do we do with all this holiday goodness?

Gingerbread Cream Cheese

Yield:1 1/2 cups
Total Time: 5 minutes

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon gingerbread spice
With a hand mixer, soften cream cheese until fluffy then add remaining ingredients, mixing until incorporated. Schmear on bagels.

Shortcut Gingerbread Snickerdoodle Cookies

These gingerbread snickerdoodle cookies are a snap to make. (www.JasonCoblentz.com)

Yield: 16 cookies
Total Time: 30 minutes

1 (16.5 ounce) tube refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1/3 cup molasses
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, diced
2 teaspoons gingerbread spice

Mix cookie dough with molasses, flour, ginger and gingerbread spice. Roll tablespoonful-size balls of dough in cinnamon and place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 F for 16 to 18 minutes or until set around the edges.

Gingerbread Palmiers

Yield: 36 cookies
Total Time: 45 minutes

1 sheet from a (17.3) ounce package frozen puff pastry, thawed
2 gingersnap cookies, the cheap ones
1/4 cup diced butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, diced
2 tablespoons granulated sugar + more for topping
2 teaspoons gingerbread spice

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulse gingersnap cookies, butter, cocoa powder, ginger, sugar and gingerbread spice in a food processor to make a paste. Unfold a sheet of puff pastry and spread the paste on the opened sheet. Fold the two opposite sides of the pastry in to meet in the middle, then fold into the middle again. Sprinkle generously with sugar. Slice crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Bake 12 to 14 minutes (pictured).

Gingerbread Monkey Bread

Yield: 12 servings
Total Time: 1 hour

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon gingerbread spice
2 (7.5 ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.

Mix granulated sugar and gingerbread spice in a zip-top bag. Take refrigerated biscuits, separate biscuits, and cut each into quarters. Place in bag and shake to coat. Arrange biscuits in pan. In a small bowl, melt brown sugar with butter and pour over biscuit pieces. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Cool for 10 minutes, turn upside down onto serving plate and serve warm.

Lifestyle expert Patti Diamond is the penny-pinching, party-planning, recipe developer and content creator of the website Divas On A Dime – Where Frugal, Meets Fabulous! Visit Patti at www.divasonadime.com and join the conversation on Facebook © 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.