December 2, 2009 · 9:25 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies

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DAY 6: These are my very favorite cookies EVER! They are light, flavorful and contain two of my all-time favorite flavors: raspberry and almond. DSC04763-3This is the same cookie dough that I use for sugar cookies.
I just roll the dough out a little thinner for the linzer cookies.

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To keep the dough from sticking to your cookie cutter, dip it in flour before each cut (tap on counter to remove any excess flour). A toothpick is a good way to get out the center piece of dough.

Save those tiny centers. They make great little sugar cookies!

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Warm the jam in the microwave for 10 seconds and stir until smooth. Frost a bottom cookie with the almond frosting and top with a small dollop of seedless raspberry jam.

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Place a cut-out cookie on top and press down slightly.

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RECIPE:

Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies

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Cookie Dough:
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
About 7 – 7 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Filling:
1 cup butter
1 lb (4 cups) powdered sugar
2 Tbs. cream or milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ – 1 tsp almond extract

Raspberry jam (seedless)

For cookies: Beat sugar, butter, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Add soda, salt, and enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Chill for 20 minutes to 1 hour for easier handling. Roll dough fairly thin, about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut cookies with a linzer cookie cutter or use small round cookie cutter and smaller designed cookie cutter to make tops and bottoms.  Bake at 375°F for 5-6 minutes; do not brown. Cool on rack.

Beat filling ingredients until smooth.

Frost bottom cookie with small amount of filling. Top with about ½ tsp raspberry jam in the middle of the cookie (heat jam in a small bowl in the microwave to make it easier to spread). Place top cookie (with cut-out design) on jam.

NOTE: This is the same cookie dough that I use for sugar cookies. I just roll the dough out a little thinner for the linzer cookies.

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TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECAP:
DAY 1: Swedish Peppar KaKar
DAY 2: Mint Oreo Cookies
DAY 3: Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies
DAY 4: Cherry Nut Mudslides
DAY 5: Snickerdoodles

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December 1, 2009 · 7:17 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Snickerdoodles

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DAY 5: Snickerdoodles are one of Little A’s favorite cookies: I’m sure it has something to do with the not-liking-chocolate thing. And who doesn’t love a cookie with a name like Snickerdoodle. Rolling dough balls around in cinnamon and sugar also adds to the fascination. I used to make these with half butter/half shortening, but have switched to all-butter. (No more trans fats and hydrogenated oils around here.) And they still have plenty of rise and stay nice and soft!

RECIPE:

Snickerdoodles

  • Servings: about 4 dozen
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1 cup butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

¼ cup sugar
2 Tbs cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt and mix well.

Mix ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1” balls. Roll balls in cinnamon mixture and place on baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

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TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECAP:
DAY 1: Swedish Peppar KaKar
DAY 2: Mint Oreo Cookies
DAY 3: Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies
DAY 4: Cherry Nut Mudslides

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November 30, 2009 · 9:09 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Cherry Nut Mudslides

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DAY 4: These cookies are for more of a grown up taste palate. They are not my kids’ favorite cookies, but Brian and I sure love them. They are full of dark chocolate, nuts and dried cherries. I think I’ll keep telling the kids that they don’t like this kind of cookie!DSC04591-2

Cherry Nut Mudslides

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3 cups (1.5 lb) bittersweet chocolate (use chips or coarsely chop)
6 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
2 ¼ cups sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
½ cup salted pistachios
½ cup chopped dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a double boiler, melt 2 cups bittersweet chocolate with unsweetened chocolate. Cool.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. With a mixer, beat butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and then melted chocolate. At low speed, beat in dry ingredients. Fold in nuts, cherries, and remaining 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips.

Roll into balls and place on baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, just until the tops are lightly cracked. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet; remove to wire rack to cool.

Makes 4-5 dozen

Adapted from Food & Wine magazine

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TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECAP:
DAY 1: Swedish Peppar KaKar
DAY 2: Mint Oreo Cookies
DAY 3: Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies

Food Blogga Cookie Logo For more wonderful Christmas cookie ideas, visit Food Blogga’s Eat Christmas Cookies Event. For submitting your own cookies to the event, visit Food Blogga.

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November 29, 2009 · 8:44 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Chip Cookies

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DAY 3: Except I didn’t actually use chocolate chips. I used red and green Holiday Swirl chips in one batch and red and green dark chocolate M&M’s in a second batch. During non-holiday times, I would use chocolate chips (or my favorite Ghirardelli bittersweet chips).

I spent a long time trying to find the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie recipe. I know that will be different for everyone, depending on what you expect in sweetness, texture, chocolate density. This is my compilation of the best parts of several different recipes. Including an oatmeal cookie. The main differences between this and most chocolate chip cookie recipes: melted butter, and ground oats. The melted butter starts to melt the sugars (but not completely) giving the cookies a wonderful smooth texture. The ground oats help to give lift and keep the cookies soft. I am definitely NOT a crunchy cookie fan.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies (Adapted for the holidays)

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1 cup butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbs vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups uncooked regular oats (or 2 cups oat flour)
1 ½ cups chocolate chips (or holiday chips, M&M’s)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

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Preheat oven to 375°F.

Beat butter and sugars with a mixer. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture and beat well.

Process oats in a food processor until finely ground. Add to butter mixture and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly on baking sheets. Then, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

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TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECAP:
DAY 1: Swedish Peppar KaKar
DAY 2: Mint Oreo Cookies

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November 28, 2009 · 11:22 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Mint Oreo Cookies

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DAY 2: These cookies are Big A’s favorite cookie to make. She almost always chooses to make these when she has to bring a treat somewhere. The cookie recipe is extremely simple, starting with a cake mix. The only time consuming part is putting the frosting between the two cookies (which really is not much to complain about). You can easily make these as plain oreos (instead of mint) by omitting the peppermint extract and green food coloring. Refrigerate these after making, as the filling contains cream cheese.

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RECIPE:

Mint Oreo Cookies

  • Servings: about 3 dozen
  • Print

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COOKIES:
2 chocolate cake mixes
4 eggs
2/3 cup oil

FILLING:
4 oz cream cheese
2 Tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp peppermint extract
10 drops green food coloring
2 cups powdered sugar

COOKIES: Beat all cookie ingredients until well mixed. Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375°F for 8 minutes. Drop cookie sheet on counter to flatten cookies slightly. Cool cookies on rack.

Spread one cookie with filling. Top with a second cookie. Store in refrigerator.

FILLING: Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer. Add vanilla, peppermint extract, and food coloring. Beat in powdered sugar.

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TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECAP:
DAY 1: Swedish Peppar KaKar

For more wonderful Christmas cookie ideas, visit Food Blogga’s Eat Christmas Cookies Event. For submitting your own cookies to the event, visit Food Blogga.

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November 27, 2009 · 9:23 am

Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Swedish Peppar KaKar

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DAY 1: Welcome to Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies. For the next twelve days, we will be baking Christmas cookies around here. This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions: baking with my children. It is fun to see them get excited about the traditional cookies that we always make every year. We also enjoy looking through cook books and online together to find a new recipe or two to try. And the best part is deciding on friends and neighbors to share them with! Today we start out with a family favorite.

These are not your average gingerbread cookies. They are so much better! The traditional gingerbread flavors are all there, but there is only a little bit of molasses, which gives them a nice mild flavor. Bake them for just a short time, and they are soft and wonderful. We love to use our tiny gingerbread man and angel cookie cutters for these. They are only about 1 ½-inches tall. Super cute! But be careful, they are very addictive. And when you can pop a whole cookie in your mouth in one shot, it is easy to talk yourself into “just one more”.

You could pipe an icing around the edges or to make faces, if you want, but they are great just on their own. We end up with enough other cookies filled or topped with frosting that it is nice to have a less sweet, but super flavorful “plain” cookie.

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My little gingerbread helpers!

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RECIPE:

Swedish Peppar KaKar

  • Servings: Makes about 60 mini cookies
  • Print

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(soft, mild Gingerbread cookies)

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp molasses

Combine dry ingredients; set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in egg and molasses. Add dry ingredients; mix well. Add a little bit more flour (up to ¼ cup), if necessary, to get a dough that is soft, but not sticky.

Chill dough for 1 hour. Roll and cut into small shapes (gingerbread men and/or angels).

Bake at 350°F for 6 to 8 minutes. Don’t overbake, or they will become crispy instead of soft.

Makes 60 mini gingerbread men

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For more wonderful Christmas cookie ideas, visit Food Blogga’s Eat Christmas Cookies Event. For submitting your own cookies to the event, visit Food Blogga.

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