The 6th Day of Christmas with Linda Hundt of Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe

Welcome to the 7th annual 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!!!

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12 Days.

12 friends guest posting sharing a Christmas idea, recipe or favorite with you.

12 great giveaways for you to enter along with one GRAND PRIZE for someone who comments to enter all 12 days!!

Please help me welcome Pie Baker Extraordinaire, Linda Hundt, founder of Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe in DeWitt, Michigan. Although her 3 bakeries are limited to Michigan at this time, her pies are widely acclaimed around the USA. She is the author of the cookbook Sweetie-licious Pies: Eat Pie, Love Life. 

{Fun fact: Linda and & used to cheerlead for cross-town schools in high school so I recognized her the first time I went in her shop. Now, we’ve become friends as adults. She even let me use her remodeled farm house for a photo shoot recently for an upcoming, top secret project!} 

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Linda has been featured in numerous national, state, and local television segments, magazine, and newspapers including Country LivingMidwest Living, and Parade. Linda is a sought-after keynote speaker: speaking on faith, dreams, and love, as well as giving pie baking demonstrations for hundreds of people at a time.

She resides in a century-old farmhouse with her sweet husband. The Hundts have two beautiful daughters. Linda believes that Sweetie-licious Bakery Cafe can change the world one pie at a time through good food, good pies and good deeds and if you eat pie, you will inevitably, love life.

Now, from Linda…..

918BvbQYpnLAs long as I can remember I have loved to bake.  It was part of my upbringing and I have so many wonderful memories associated with the sights, smells, and tastes of Christmas. Today I am sharing one of my favorite recipes with you.  This is a wonderful cookie that my sweet mommy made all the time, as I know they were her favorite too! To make them a little fresher I have added some lemon zest to the original recipe. The secret to these and all cookies really, is to under bake them! I hope you enjoy making Mom’s Lemon Ginger Balls and making your own “sweet” memories this Christmas!

Mom McComb’s Lemon Ginger Balls

1 C. sugar

¾ C. Crisco shortening

1 egg

¼ C. Blackstrap molasses

2 C. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 ¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 ¼ tsp ginger

1 tsp. of lemon zest

Pinch of salt

Cream the sugar and shortening together. Add egg, molasses, and lemon zest in sugar and shortening mixture, mix well. Whisk flour, salt, soda, spices together. Add to other ingredients. Mix together well, but do not over­beat. Roll dough into small balls and roll in sugar, raw or granulated. Bake at 350 degree preheated oven for 8 ­ 11 minutes.

Connect with Linda at her website or Facebook.

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IMG_0790Giveaway: Linda is offering her beautiful cookbook Sweetie-licious Pies: Eat Pie, Love Life to the winner of today’s drawings.

To be entered for a chance to win, simply make a comment under today’s post sharing your “sweet” memories of pie or other favorite sweet holiday treats.

Don’t forget to come back for all 12 days! {And remember, if you comment on all 12 posts, you might win the Grand Prize!}

196 Comments

  1. I have such fond memories of my great-grandmother making pies, usually fruit pies from fruit grown on the family farm. She could make pie crusts faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. Her crusts were always amazing. One funny memory is that she always used a long-necked glass bottle instead of a rolling pin. The first time I saw her roll out a crust, I told my mom on the way home that we should get great-grandma a real rolling pin as part of her Christmas present. My mom agreed, and so we did. My great-grandmother graciously thanked us for the gift, but we learned years later that she never used it! She liked using the bottle because she had perfected the technique.

  2. My mom has a special chocolate gravy that her mom made to eat with biscuits. It is delicious and my kids and I still go over there early Christmas for this special treat. I am teaching it to my teen also.

  3. I haven’t baked a pie in a long time, but this post brought back the memories of my favorite lemon meringue pie. I got the recipe from a childhood friend and always made them in twos. One for us and one to share…the fluffy meringue swirled high with just the right tinge of brown…may be time to enjoy that once again! Thanks.

  4. Homemade apple pie. Sounds simple. But with homemade crust using all of the not-so health conscious ingredients, makes it even more special & traditional.
    Step by step, ingredient by ingredient, not measured with spoons, but measured with hands and hearts, My Mom knew each ingredient to get the recipe to turn out ‘just right’. She’s gone now but I remember the thought-filled, meticulous way she baked. Apple pie was her specialty & what I wouldn’t do to have slice right now!

  5. My mom and I used to make baklava together at Christmastime. Sometimes we still do if we’re together for the holiday, but not often enough! The book sounds wonderful, and so does the cookie recipe!

  6. Every year, my aunt would make these marshmallow/peanut butter/almond bark treats that I looked forward to each and every time. She claims they’re super easy to make, but I just leave it up to her!

  7. One of my favorite pies at Christmas time is my mom’s buttermilk pecan pie, but my absolute favorite memory of Christmas baking was my aunt’s Graham Cracker Cake. We only got it at Christmas time, so it made it a very special treat.

  8. Although I have never been a fan of Divinity, my dad & his siblings were. My grandmother always made it every year, put it in a metal Christmas tin, & hid it somewhere in the house. My dad, aunt & uncle would have to find it to get some. This continued until she was well in her 90’s & they were in their 60’s & 70’s!

  9. I remember those candy cane cookies, rice crispie wreaths and those cookies with Hershey kisses on them, only my mom used Brach’s chocolate stars

  10. i love to bake, that is probably my most favorite thing. I used to wish I worked in a bakery. Christmas time is always fun for me because I love to bake cookies, scones, cakes and pies and give them as gifts.

  11. The best memories have been in the making of the pies, something my three-year-old daughter is now getting to enjoy with me. I haven’t found many pies I didn’t enjoy eating either!

  12. we love apple pie, pecan pie, chocolate chip cheesecake & chocolate chip cookies! Oh who am I kidding ….we like just about any dessert! Ha, ha! Thanks for the insight & recipe. God Bless!

  13. The first time the kids and I attempted to bake a pie together. It was blueberry, and they said it tasted wonderful because we baked it together.

  14. Thank you for the recipe. I’m looking forward to baking them (more looking forward to eating them). I enjoy a variety of pies, but mostly non-fruit pies. I don’t mind apple pie, but I’m not really a fan of the fruit pies. Turtle pie is probably my favorite.

  15. Thank you so much for your post and recipe. My favorite pie any time of the year, but especially the holidays is my aunt’s Royal Derby (chocolate chip cookie) pie! It’s was my aubt’s recipe, then my mom’s, and now ours. It definitely is a family favorite. Happy holidays!

  16. My sweet holiday dessert memory are bunuelos. You take a flour tortilla and lightly fry it in oil. Once crisp, place on a plate with a paper towel to absorb the excess oil and sprinkle with a sugar and cinnamon mixture. Crunchy, sweet and comfort.

  17. I think my love for baking pies came from my Grandma Bailey. She taught me how to make delicious pie crust and I think of her every time I roll out the dough. I won first place in the pie baking contest for the Lamplighter Festival in our small village two years in a row for my delicious raspberry pie.

  18. One of my favorite “sweet” memories is my Grandma making “Hickies” for me. They were a buckeye meets rice krispie treat wrapped up in chocolate dipped goodness. I remember her sending them to me in college and me sharing them with my friends while we laughed at the name.

  19. I have fond memories of my mom and grandmother making sweets at the Holidays. Most were candy and cookies. We didn’t often have pies. My grandmother always made her homemade chocolate cake with homemade icing.

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