Pralines

I had a huge bag of pecans left over from baking Christmas cookies over the last few weeks and wanted to make something that I've never tried before. I came across this recipe for Pralines on Southern Living and gave it a try since I had all the ingredients in my cupboard and it didn't sound too hard to make. I'm so dang glad that I expanded outside of my comfort level when it comes to trying new recipes because these pralines were so tasty! Dr. Sweetpea ate several in one sitting and everyone that tried the pralines loved them!

Pecan Pralines

(Source: Southern Living)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 cups pecan halves, toasted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring sugars and milk to a boil in a Dutch oven, stirring often. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, 11 minutes or until a candy thermometer registers 228° (thread stage).

Stir in butter and pecans; cook, stirring constantly, until candy thermometer registers 236° (soft ball stage).

Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon 1 to 2 minutes or just until mixture begins to thicken. Quickly drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto buttered wax paper or parchment paper; let stand until firm.

Christmas Cookies 2018

Christmas is by faaaaaar my favorite holiday and I start planning out my Christmas cookie menu like 10 months ahead. No joke. Making Christmas cookies means serious business in my household and I'm 10000% certain Dr. Sweetpea loves how much I get into the Christmas spirit. I play holiday music, have fabulous candles burning, and even wear a Santa hat while baking. Fact: I even have festive bowls, spatulas, and kitchen towels that are Christmas themed because I just love this holiday so much. Also, I never take down our Christmas tree until March. So yes, we're the weirdo folks who have their decorations up welllllll past the holiday season. 

Anyway, I baked up another fabulous batch of Christmas cookies this year and they were all SO YUMMY. 

Baklava Thumprint Cookies

(Source: Taste of Home)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

TOPPING:

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup honey

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Wrap dough in plastic; refrigerate until firm enough to form into balls, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°. For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; refrigerate again if dough becomes too warm. Place 2 1/2 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 8 minutes. Press a deep indentation in center of each cookie with the back of a rounded teaspoon. Fill each with honey and walnuts; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Return to oven and bake until edges begin to brown, 7-9 minutes longer. Cool on pans 1 minute. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Blue Ribbon Almond Roca Cookies

(Source: Food Network) 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 package toffee bits

1 cup coarsely ground almonds

4 ounces milk chocolate

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend sugars together on medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste. Add eggs and vanilla and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. At low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and then the toffee bits. Mix until just blended; do not over-mix. Place ground nuts in a small bowl. Using hands, roll balls of dough into 1 to 1 1/2-inch balls, then roll in the ground nuts. Place on cookie sheets several inches apart. Bake approximately 22 minutes and then transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

Melt the chocolate with the vegetable oil in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Drizzle melted chocolate over cooled cookies. Place cookies on a cookie sheet and place in freezer or refrigerator until chocolate is firmly set.

Praline Rugelach

(Source: Southern Living)

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, divided

3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons cane syrup (I used Steens Cane Syrup)

2 tablespoons whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups finely chopped toasted pecans

Parchment paper

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Beat cream cheese, softened butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 tsp. salt at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer 2 to 3 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add flour, beating until smooth. Divide dough into 4 equal portions; flatten each into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill 2 hours.

Stir together melted butter, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt.

Unwrap 1 dough disk, and roll into a 10-inch circle (about 1/4 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Spread about 3 1/2 Tbsp. butter mixture in a thin layer on dough circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edges. Sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans over butter mixture, pressing to adhere. Cut circle into 12 wedges, and roll up wedges, starting at wide end. Place, point sides down, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Chill 20 minutes. Repeat procedure with remaining dough, butter mixture, and pecans.

Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together egg and 1 Tbsp. water. Brush each roll with egg mixture. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown, switching baking sheets halfway through. Cool on baking sheets 10 minutes; transfer to wire racks, and cool.

Linzer Cookies

(Source: New York 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 Turtle Cookies

(Source: America's Test Kitchen) 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup finely chopped pecans

14 soft caramel candies

3 tablespoons heavy cream

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined. Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 1 hour.

Whisk egg whites in bowl until frothy. Place pecans in another bowl. One at a time, roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, then roll in pecans. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using teaspoon measure, make indentation in center of each ball. Bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.

Meanwhile, microwave caramels and cream in bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Once cookies are removed from oven, gently press existing indentations with teaspoon measure. Fill each with 1/2 teaspoon caramel mixture. Cool 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.