Mini Gingerbread Loaves with Sweet Whipping Cream

mini gingerbread loaves

Well….it’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it?

I honestly don’t even know what happened, I blinked and Thanksgiving was coming in hot and heavy and I was way underprepared. This doesn’t typically happen to me. Usually, I’m all about the holiday prep and planning (because, hello, it’s FOOD), especially for my favorite holiday. But this year I was just caught way behind the eight ball which led me into a last-minute scramble to get ready which in turn, led me to a three-week lapse in recipe creating and writing. 

Which has never, in the history of BurntToast land, happened.

But that’s ok. I’m going to give myself grace on this one. We had a tough fall. And I mean TOUGH. We went from some serious emotional middle school struggles with D that left me literally sobbing and praying on the closet floor asking God where He was in the whole mess to job concerns for Jeff to a major accidental run-in with a rope (true story) that left Connor with a serious concussion and a face that looked not at all unlike Rocky after his fight with the guy from Russia.

It’s a wonder we have survived with our sanity (mostly) intact.

But here we are. Sprinting fast to the Christmas finish line. I would love to say I learned my lesson from the last-minute Thanksgiving fiasco which involved an unfortunate scene at Kroger involving a long line, a couponer and some choice words and eye rolling from yours truly. (Amen for grace. Always grace) You would think….except I haven’t. 

All I want for Christmas this year is NOT to have to celebrate the Christmas hustle. That’s it. I don’t want much. I’m like Mariah Carey, only less voluptuous and hopefully a little more mentally stable. I get it, she wanted love. I want peace. We’re not really that different after all.

Yet I digress….

This year I want family and quiet. That’s about it. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the hustle of this season. I might just break down and fall apart if I attempt it. I know this much. So I’m going at a much slower pace, let’s call it Christmas for the Exhausted.

Christmas for the Exhausted looks a lot like this:

  • Saying NO to every invite and social engagement that Marie Kondo wouldn’t approve of. If it stresses me out, I’m out. No Joy, No Meaghan. Bottom line.
  • No elf. OR, which is much more likely considering Kenzie still really believes, the enlisted help of the older children to come up with creative shenanigans for Sully and friends. Because this momma still hates the elf. Like, A LOT. 
  • Rest. Lots and lots of rest. I am not a rester. Even when home, I tend to bustle about, it’s very hard for me to give myself permission to take a seat. But rest is what these tired old bones crave right now. Fireplaces, hot cocoa, good books and quiet. Yes, we might miss out on some of the best holiday attractions or those “see and be seen” events that make Insta swoon, but at least my soul will be at peace and I won’t be freaking out on couponers in the Kroger aisle, no matter how much they deserve it.

Hopefully.

  • Less Santa, more rest. Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some Santa. I believed in the big man until an embarrassing age, insisting that I heard his jingle bells outside on the rooftop one year and holding tight to that notion well into high school. But I’m over the Santa thing. I just don’t want to make a big deal about him anymore. 

My kids literally have everything they could ever need. We are truly #blessed (hate this term, btw). When they make their lists for Santa, which they still faithfully do every single year, it’s a struggle for them to come up with items that aren’t just ridiculous because all of their needs and most of their wants are fulfilled already. They pour over the Target Christmas mailer, breaking out the magnifying glass and metal detector, trying to find the perfect gift, the one thing that will make them light up when they see it under the tree on Christmas morning.

But the sad truth is, there’s really nothing. They’ve got it all, they’ve got everything they could need or want. They’re not spoiled mind you, but I think even at their young ages they are learning that materialism isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, you can get another American Girl doll, but you don’t play with the two you already have so why? And if you already have 6 pairs of basketball shoes, is one more going to make you able to dunk? Newsflash, at five feet tall no shoe on earth short of stilts will get you there.

And they know this, deep inside they know this.  mini gingerbread loaves with sweet whipping cream big quote block

So Santa is taking a back seat this year. I’m not going to be all “insta-cool” about it and make up some beautiful post meant to inspire others to do the same. It’s just something I’m doing. I love you, Amazon Prime, I really do. But I’m not buying your “suggested for you” category this year like I have in the past. I am not filling my kids with a bunch of excesses just because. First of all, because they don’t need it and second of all because I just CAN’T. It feels stressful and icky and I’m already sweating weird stress sweat just thinking about the whole deal.

So, dear kids who won’t even admit you don’t believe in Santa anymore because you’re afraid it means you’ll get less. Surprise, you’re getting less anyway. And momma is not even sad about it. 

What I do hope to give them this season is a renewed sense of stability. A sense of peace. Things have been so chaotic in our lives the past few months I think that the best gift we can give them right now is time and a sure footing. The time we would normally spend focused on events and parties and finding that perfect gift, it needs to be theirs. They need mom and dad focused on them, not in a doting and overly indulgent way, just in the “hey, I’m here. I’m present” type way that I think they’ve been missing lately. We need to do more things that are just flat out fun and focused on them, not some end goal and not because it looks good on Instagram. And we need to hold their hands while doing these things, saying, “I’m here, you matter and our family is number one.”

That sense of sure footing, it will come from this focus. This intentional time. It’s not that we have been purposely distracted as parents or failing left and right, but I’d say that we’ve for sure been walking around in a fog, feeling like we’ve got this black cloud hanging over us, waiting for the next shoe to drop. After Connor’s accident, I honestly felt like we were under attack like for sure it was some sort of joke someone was playing on us. And that thought, that feeling of insecurity and defensiveness, has caused our footing as a family to slip and our focus to shift.

Time and rest. Rest and time. That’s the gift I’m giving out this Christmas. And while I can’t wrap it up in a pretty little bow, my hope is that it’s more precious than anything I could.

Mini Gingerbread Loaves with Sweet Whipping Cream

The one thing I won’t skimp on this holiday season is the baking, though. I mean, obviously, it’s what I do. But more than that, I also just need that time in the kitchen to re-center myself. What stresses some people out brings me immense peace, so if I’m baking away in the kitchen you know I’m probably working through something intense inside, it’s just how I process. This season has been no exception. I haven’t had as much time as I would like to get in and work with new recipes, or even old ones. I haven’t had the time to get back to my basics and it’s showed (hello Kroger freak out).

But these Mini Gingerbread Loaves with Sweet Whipping Cream brought me back into the fold. Like the pound cake and hot milk cake recipes before it, this one comes from my grandmother’s old recipe box. It’s a classic, a recipe my mom vividly remembers from her childhood. It is Christmas in a loaf pan, with a sweet hint of molasses and brown sugar mingling with the spicy-hot kick of cinnamon and ginger. It’s subtle and warm and topped with a sweet whipped cream it is a perfect holiday treat. 

I made the recipe appropriate for mini loaves for two reasons. 1) I just bought these mini loaf pans and I’m mildly obsessed and 2) The idea of mini loaves scream holiday gifting to me. Sure, not everyone wants a homemade loaf of sweet bread, but lots of people do. If the idea of mini loaves doesn’t light your fire because you’re secretly selfish with your baked goods, though, simply bake in a full-size loaf pan and increase the cooking time. The results should be similar.

The only other thing to note about this recipe: We are not huge molasses fans in this house, in fact, Jeff kind of hates it. So where the original recipe calls for 1 cup of molasses I took it down to 1/2 cup. I think this gives the bread a very subtle and sweet hint without the overpowering flavor. BUT, it makes it a very mild gingerbread for that reason. If you’re not opposed to the taste, you can safely take the recipe up to 1 cup and you’ll get that deeper flavor of traditional gingerbread.

Either way, you can’t really go wrong. So make yourself some of these Mini Gingerbread Loaves with Sweet Whipping Cream (don’t forget the cream, I promise), settle in and enjoy a Christmas for the Exhausted with me.

Peace love and sure footing,

Meg 

Classic Mini Gingerbread Loaves with Sweet Whipping Cream

December 6, 2019

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Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temp
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temp
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour plus a pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup hot water plus 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • For the Whipped Cream:
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Directions
  • Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 and spray loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray
  • Step 2 Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
  • Step 3 Add egg, mix until combined.
  • Step 4 Add in molasses and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
  • Step 5 In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
  • Step 6 Heat 1 cup water and add baking soda, stir until dissolved and set aside.
  • Step 7 Starting with the flour, add to butter mixture, alternating with the water, mixing just until combined between additions.
  • Step 8 Pour into loaf pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until they spring back lightly to the touch.
  • Step 9 Cool completely on wire racks. Can be refrigerated for 3-5 days or served immediately.
  • Step 10 For the whipped cream:
  • Step 11 Add all ingredients to a mixer and beat on high (start slow so you don’t spray sugar everywhere) until light and fluffy.