PRESENTS PERFECT: 15 Of The Most Delicious Cookies And Pastries To Gift This Christmas
Sweet and savory delights that you will want to keep for yourself
We think the loveliest Christmas gifts are the ones made in the kitchen, baked with love, laden with wonderful flavors you can imagine. This year, we discovered an entire collection of baked treats to choose from. French pastries, nostalgic desserts, and modern, fun new twists on traditional baked treats. Do you want to know what we found? Here are 15 of the most delicious sweet and savory baked treats you can gift this Christmas. Just click through the gallery below.
Freshly Baked Delights
Freshly Baked Delights
Brown Butter Two Chip Nibblers, Baked by Alexa
Precocious young baker Alexa de Guzman began selling her cookies just last May, and we immediately fell in love with her brown butter cookies. Golden brown at the edges, firm but soft at the center, yielding the blissful flavors of brown butter and chocolate — they were simply superb. If you love this kind of cookie, you won’t be able to resist Alexa’s best selling Brown Butter Two Chip Cookies as bite-sized nibblers. They’re still made with her signature brown butter cookie dough and dark Belgian chocolate chips, then topped with Christmas sprinkles. A joy to look at, and even better to eat. Available in Christmas Cookie Tubs, but supply is limited so we advise you to put in that order right away. DM @bakedby_alexa on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @bakedby_alexa
Chouquettes, Gourmandise By Sunshine
These dainty delicacies remind us of Paris, where you can buy these crunchy little pastries from a a bakery, then walk about the city with your treat wrapped in a little paper sack. Chef Sunshine Puey of Gourmandise by Sunshine created holiday-themed chouquettes in four flavors: Vanilla Bean, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Lemon, and Salted Caramel. Soon to come are Caramelized Milk Chouquettes, made with European butter, Madagascar vanilla, and Swiss chocolate. The perfect gift for your Emily in Paris-obsessed friends. Check out more of Chef Sunshine’s delectable creations at @gourmandisebysunshine on Instagram. Order online at gmdbysunshine.com or send a message to @gourmandisebysunshine on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @gourmandisebysunshine
Financiers, Little Butter PH
A financier is a traditional French pastry, a small brown butter-flavored almond cake that resembles a gold bar, hence its name. Pastry chef Cathy Choi and her sister, Cindy, create delectable financiers in raspberry, coffee, chocolate chip, and orange confit flavors. They use only premium French butter to make the beurre noisette (brown butter) that give unique nutty, rich buttery flavor to the financiers. Order through @littlebutterph on Instagram. They are accepting orders from December 1 onwards.
Photo Credit: @littlebutterph
Chicken and Beef Pies, Fleur De Lys Patisserie Cafe
Chef Jackie Ang Po makes these delectable, savory little pies in Chicken Bechamel, or U.S. Angus Beef and Mushroom versions. Tender, flaky crust encase warm, meaty filling. The chicken bechamel is a creamy delight, while the beef and mushroom pie has tender chunks of beef and a lovely hint of red wine. We want them for Christmas. To order, send a message to @fleurdelyspatisseriecafe on Instagram, or call (02) 8372-0631, or text (0922) 835-3878.
Photo Credit: @lleurdelyspatisseriecafe
Chocolate Crinkles, Happy Tins
These Chocolate Crinkles are like soft and crumbly Devil’s Food cake in cookie form, all covered in powdered sugar. The ultimate happy food, they're deeply chocolatey with a slightly crispy crust. Home baker @happytins has a whole range of wonderful baked treats perfect for Christmas, especially the Espresso Banana Loaf with its fresh bananas, walnuts and mocha chips, and the Chocolate Chip Banana Loaf made with semisweet chocolate. They’re baked with brown sugar, but you can request for a coconut sugar version. Order from @bakedbyAthens on Facebook, @happytins_ on Instagram, or send a text to (0917) 501-4120.
Photo Credit: @happytins_
Cinnamon Rolls, Synonym Bakes
Cinnamon rolls are always a crowd pleaser. Soft and buttery, delightfully fragrant, these rolls promise pleasure from the very first whiff. We know you'll love these gorgeous ones made by @synonymbakes. Their secret? Good technique and excellent quality ingredients. Order from @synonymbakes on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @synonymbakes
Croissant Tarts, Sweet Bella Desserts
Award-winning pastry chef Cristina Santiago is known for her pioneering desserts, like her chocolate butterflies, the Chocolata (Inquirer’s Best Dessert of 2007), and the Pearl, a pink guava mousse filled with flambéed Guimaras mangoes. Her best selling Croissant Tarts are made of crisp layers of croissant dough filled with light, creamy custard then topped with fresh fruit — blueberries, ripe strawberries, mangoes, or mixed berries. A chocolate variation has velvety chocolate praline topped with strawberries or mixed berries. Rich, indulgent and beautiful to look at. every tart is big enough to be shared by two. Order from @sweetbelladesserts on Instagram, or text (0915) 377-2020.
Photo Credit: @sweetbelladesserts
Empanadas by Casa Luisa
Casa Luisa’s buttery empanadas meticulously meld French technique with Filipino flavors. An all-butter pastry dough is treated like croissant dough, folded several times to get the flakiest texture, then generously stuffed with delectable fillings: Smoked Ham and Cheese, Spinach and Feta with Bacon Lardons, French Onion Soup (this is a 12-hour roasted beef marrow bone broth reduced with red wine into a rich glaze, with caramelized onions, thyme and Gruyère), and Curry Puff (braised beef brisket in a Malaysian-style curry, with potatoes and peas filling). The newest flavor and the only sweet empanada on the menu is the Apple Custard Empanada, made from apples stewed in cinnamon and sugar, baked in flaky butter pastry, dusted with powdered sugar. Order from @casa_luisa on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @casa_luisa
Kouign Amann in new flavors, KA Pastries by Chef CiÇou
For sheer perfection in pastry form, it’s hard to beat the kouign amman. This traditional pastry from Brittany is a temperamental delicacy that requires the masterful blending of butter, sugar and salt. Manila discoverd it when Chef Cyrille Soenen, of Restaurant Ciçou, put it on his menu, creating an obsession with his signature pastry. We’re therefore thrilled that Chef Cyrille has pivoted by creating kouign amann in wonderful new flavors, including mushroom, eggplant caviar, fresh herbs, chocolate chip, bacon, pizza and cinnamon. As ever, they’re made only with Breton butter, freshly baked each day, as only Chef Cyrille can make them. To order, call (0917) 540-1811.
Photo Credit: KA Pastries by Ciçou
Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti, SGD Coffee
The perfect gift for the foodie with the sophisticated palate: a treasure box of assorted biscotti by SGD Coffee. Lift the lid to release a mouthwatering aroma of spice, deep dark chocolate, cinnamon and fruit. Twice baked in the Italian tradition, these biscotti are not jawbreakingly tough. Instead, they’re crunchy on the outside, chewy within, studded with flavor ingredients like chocolate chunks, sliced almonds or dried fruit. In delightful flavors like Maple Biscotti, Toasted Almond Biscotti, Mango Symphony, Lemon Biscotti, or Dark Chocolate and Cranberry. Dunk in coffee, enjoy with wine. Order from @sgd_coffee on Instagram
Photo Credit: @sgd_coffee
Food for the Gods, by Loola and Nang
Mother and daughter home bakers Loola and Nang create wonderful homey baked goods based on old family recipes. Is it any wonder that their desserts always hit the spot? Like these Food for the Gods, a classic that will bring a smile to your face. Available only for a limited time, do order from @loolaandnang on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @loolaandnang
Savory Galettes, Mise.PH
New York-trained Selina Ocampo’s savory galettes are an art form, beautiful free-form vessels for sweet and savory fillings. Just reading the flavor descriptions is a pleasure: Goat’s Cheese Galettes has Malagos goat’s cheese, caramelized onions, honey, sea salt on a polenta crust. Salmon Galette is house-cured salmon with cream cheese, red onion capers, and sesame. Leek Galettes have leeks, spring onions, wasabi mayo, queso de bola. Browse her menu and indulge. Are you seduced? We are! Order from @mise.ph on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @mise.ph
Sylvanas by Air Bakes Manila
Perhaps it’s been years since you’ve had a sylvanas, but you won’t have forgotten the way it feels when you bite into that thin, elegant disc. The crisp-soft exterior giving way to release sweet buttercream into your mouth. @airbakesmanila makes sylvanas that are so light it feels like you’re biting into a cloud, and yet you’ll still get that lovely cashew crunch and then a rush of silky, creamy filling. Available in classic, mocha and Speculoos flavors. The perfect gift for the friends who appreciate a little hit of nostalgia, with a twist. Order from @airbakesmanila on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @airbakesmanila
Fat Cookies by CHIP
Cookies are the unofficial heroes of our quarantined lives, bringing us comfort, lifting our spirits, reviving our sense of fun. One of our favorites is Chip, with its range of fat cookies in fun, delicious flavors whose names make us laugh out loud, Like the super gooey Dark Night, a double serving of 52% Belgian chocolate topped with sea salt — a best seller. Hot Night is Dark Night with chili flakes on top. The unique Mais Con Cookie has corn kernels with cream cheese, topped with crunchy cornflakes. Just browsing through the menu is already fun! Check out @iwantchip on Instagram.
Photo Credit: @iwantchip
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Scones, 50 Shades of Dough
There's nothing we love more than beautifully-made scones with tea. It's elegant and refined, yet warm and homey, too. @50shadesofdough makes wonderful scones that are baked fresh daily, made with premium butter, cream, and organic eggs. They're offered with a choice of homemade lemon curd or honey truffle butter. Order from @50shadesofdough on Instagram, or email 50shadesofdough@gmail.com.
Photo Credit: Miguel Lopez
