Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Christmas Cookies 2017

It's December, so that means it's Christmas cookie baking season!!! I made a plethora of cookies to be mailed out this year again and they are all DELICIOUS!! Dr. Sweetpea brought some of the cookies to work to share with his colleagues and everyone asked for my recipes because cookies were addicting. So without further a do, below are the recipes for the cookies that I baked this year:


Cherry Pistachio Biscotti
(Source: Ina Garten) 


12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature, one separated (I used regular large eggs)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups almond meal or almond flour, such as Bob's Red Mill
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup whole dried cherries
Turbinado sugar, such as Sugar in the Raw

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon on medium speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, gradually add the 2 whole eggs, the egg yolk (reserve the egg white), and vanilla and mix until combined, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula.

In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, mixing only until combined. Scrape down the bowl and beater and make sure all the ingredients are combined. Stir in the pistachios and cherries.

Roll the dough into a ball on a well-floured board and cut in half. With floured hands, roll each piece into a cylinder about 11 inches long by 2 inches in diameter and place them 3 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan.

Place the reserved egg white in a bowl and beat with a whisk for 15 seconds. Brush the logs with the egg white (save the rest!) and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of turbinado sugar. Bake for 45 minutes, until lightly browned (the logs will be soft). Cool for 30 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 275 degrees F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. With a serrated knife, slice the biscotti 1/2 inch thick at a full 45-degree angle. Place the slices cut-side up on the prepared sheet pans. Brush them with the egg white and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar (I didn’t do this part). Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, turning each slice once, until browned and fully baked. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies
(Source: Fine Cooking)


8 oz. (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
3 oz. cream cheese (I use Philadelphia brand), softened at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
11 1/4 ounces (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour, sifted
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Colored sugars or other decorations for sprinkling (optional)

Heat the oven to 375°F. With a stand mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat again until blended. Add the flour and mix on low speed until blended. Fit a cookie press with a die plate. Scoop up about a quarter of the dough and, using a small amount of flour if needed, shape the dough into a log just narrower than the barrel of the cookie press. Slide the log into the cookie press and spritz the cookies directly onto ungreased baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Brush the tops with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar if using. Repeat with the remaining dough. Bake until the cookies are just golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes (it’s best to bake one sheet at a time). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet on a rack for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Be sure the baking sheet is cool before spritzing more cookies. Store at room temperature or freeze in an airtight container, separating the cookie layers with waxed paper.

Chocolate Toffee Butter Cookies
(Source: Cooks Country) 


2 1/3      cups all-purpose flour
1/2         teaspoon baking powder
1/2         teaspoon table salt
16          tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened but still cool
1            cup packed light brown sugar
1            large egg
1            teaspoon vanilla extract
1            cup Heath Toffee Bits (without chocolate)
1 1/2      cups semisweet chocolate chips
1            tablespoon vegetable oil
2/3         cup pecans, toasted and chopped fine

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together. With electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture in two batches, and mix until incorporated. Stir in toffee bits. Divide dough in half and roll each piece into log about 9 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Flatten logs until 2 1/2 inches wide. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 1/2 hours. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using chef’s knife, cut dough into 1/4-inch slices; transfer to baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until just browned around edges, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating rack position and direction of baking sheets halfway through baking time. Cool cookies completely on baking sheets. Use remaining dough to make second batch of cookies. Transfer baked cookies to wire rack set in baking sheet. Melt chocolate and mix with oil in bowl until smooth. Dip part of each cookie into melted chocolate or drizzle chocolate over cookies with spoon. Sprinkle pecans over cookies. Don’t touch until chocolate sets, about 1 hour.

Linzer Cookies
(Source: NY Times)


3  cups/435 grams all-purpose flour
1  cup/156 grams raw, skin-on almonds (or 3/4 cup/75 grams almond flour)
1 1/2  teaspoons ground cinnamon (I omitted)
1  teaspoon baking powder
1  teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2  cups/341 grams (3 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4  cups/250 grams granulated sugar
2  large eggs
1  teaspoon vanilla extract
1  cup/290 grams raspberry jam
 Powdered sugar, for dusting

Pulse together flour and almonds in a food processor until the almonds are very finely ground. Add cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and pulse to blend. (Alternatively, whisk together flour, ground almonds or almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.)

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium-high until the mixture is light, fluffy and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat until everything is well combined, again stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary.

Add in dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed, just until incorporated.

Divide dough in 2 equal pieces, and wrap each piece in cling film, patting into a 1-inch-thick disk. Chill at least 2 hours, up to 5 days ahead.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper so it's about 1/8 inch thick. (Because of the almonds, the dough may crack in places while you’re rolling it out. This is O.K., just patch it up with scraps.)

Using a round cookie cutter 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as possible. Take half of these circles and cut out a 1-inch circle from the interior of the larger circles, creating a doughnut shape that will become the top of the cookie. If at any point the dough becomes too soft to cut and cleanly remove from parchment paper, slide it onto a cookie sheet and chill for a few minutes in the freezer or refrigerator. Gather any scraps of dough, combine them and roll them out, chilling as necessary. Transfer dough circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart and bake until the edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

To assemble the linzer cookies, spread about a teaspoon of raspberry jam onto the flat sides of the larger circles. Dust the tops of the cutout circles with powdered sugar and place on top of raspberry jam.

Chocolate Blossoms
(Source: America's Test Kitchen)


1 cup (5 ounces) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (3/4 ounce) Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup (4 2/3 ounces) sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24-26 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heave oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Microwave butter and chocolate in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring often, until melted, 2 to 4 minutes;  let cool slightly. Add sugar, egg and white, and vanilla and whisk until combined. Using rubber spatula, stir in flour mixture until just incorporated. Let dough sit until thickened, about 5 minutes. 

Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into balls; space balls 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Bake until puffed and just set, 10 - 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Working quickly, remove sheets from oven and place 1 candy in center of each cookie, pressing down lightly. Return sheets to oven and bake 2 minutes longer. Let cookies cool on sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely before serving.  










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