Tag Archives: baking

December 1, 2010 · 10:28 am

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Trail Mix Cookies

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DAY 6: We’re half-way through our sugar-laden journey through Christmas cookies. Time for a cookie that at least pretends to be healthy. Packed full of everything you love in a good trail mix: dried fruits, nuts, 3 different seeds (and a little chocolate, of course); plus rolled oats, honey, whole wheat flour and wheat germ. I find these cookies very addicting. I love the hearty mouth-feel and chewy texture.

RECIPE:

Trail Mix Cookies

Servings: Makes about 60 cookies
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1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour (white or finely milled whole wheat)
½ cup wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups rolled oats
½ cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup slivered almonds
¾ cup sunflower seeds, unsalted
1/3 cup flax seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cream butter and brown sugar; beat in honey, eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. Stir in oats, fruits, nuts, seeds and chocolate chips. Mix well.

Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375°F for 8-10 minutes.

Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before removing to wire racks.

NoEmptyChairs.me

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES (2010) RECAP:
DAY 1: Raspberry Crumb Bars
DAY 2: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
DAY 3: Chocolate Nutella Cookies
DAY 4: Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
DAY 5: Almond Macaroon Brownies

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Tagged as almonds, baking, chocolate chip, christmas, Cookies, cooking, cranberries, dessert, dried apricots, flax seeds, food, healthy, oats, recipe, sunflower seeds, trail mix, whole wheat

November 30, 2010 · 9:30 am

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Almond Macaroon Brownies

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DAY 5: An easy way to dress up a boxed brownie mix!

Brownies topped with a coconut and almond cheesecake layer: thick, rich and delicious. As a real nut-lover, this recipe is one of my favorites.

RECIPE:

Almond Macaroon Brownies

Servings: About 16
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1 brownie mix for 9×13” pan PLUS ingredients for preparing (usually water, oil, and eggs)
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted
16 oz (2 pkg) cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract
2 Tbs. flour
1 pkg (14 oz) flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare brownie mix according to box directions. Add half of almonds to brownie batter. Spread in two greased 8×8” pans (or one greased 9×13” pan: see NOTE below).

With a mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Beat in 2 eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, and flour. Stir in coconut and remaining almonds. Carefully spread over brownie layer. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes (50-60 minutes for 9×13” pan) until center is completely cooked (cover with foil if top layer starts to get too brown). Cool completely before cutting.

NOTE: I usually bake this in 2 square baking pans because the center will set faster. You can use a 9×13” pan instead, but be sure the center is completely cooked before removing from oven.

NoEmptyChairs.me

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES (2010) RECAP:
DAY 1: Raspberry Crumb Bars
DAY 2: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
DAY 3: Chocolate Nutella Cookies
DAY 4: Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

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Tagged as almond, baking, bar cookies, brownies, christmas, coconut, Cookies, cooking, cream cheese, dessert, desserts, food, macaroon, recipe

November 29, 2010 · 11:06 am

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Glazed Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

DAY 4: These lemon poppy seed cookies are the texture of a soft sugar cookie, without the hassle of rolling and cutting. The cookies have just a hint of lemon flavor; I added a lemon glaze to intensify the lemon flavor.—

RECIPE:

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Servings: Makes 30-36 cookies
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2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
zest of one lemon (divided)
¼ cup buttermilk

Glaze:
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs light corn syrup
1 cup powdered sugar
lemon zest (from half of a lemon)
1-2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and poppy seeds. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and half of the lemon zest (save remaining zest for the glaze) and mix well. Add half of the dry ingredients; mix in buttermilk. Add remaining dry ingredients; mix well.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set. The cookies should be puffy and fairly light in color when they are finished baking. Remove from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet. Move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Mix glaze ingredients. Add more lemon juice, if needed, for a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle/spread over cooled cookies (or dip the tops of each cookie in the glaze).

Recipe adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

NoEmptyChairs.me

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES (2010) RECAP:
DAY 1: Raspberry Crumb Bars
DAY 2: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
DAY 3: Chocolate Nutella Cookies

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Tagged as baking, christmas, Cookies, cooking, dessert, drop sugar cookie, food, glaze, lemon, poppy seed, recipe

November 27, 2010 · 4:11 pm

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Nutella Cookies

DAY 3: Chewy, chocolatey, nutty goodness. I didn’t have hazelnuts, so I substituted chopped almonds. They were really good, but next time I will try using hazelnuts so that the Nutella flavor comes through stronger.

Love Nutella? Try this Pumpkin Nutella Bread Recipe!

—

RECIPE:

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

Servings: 5-6 dozen
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¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup of brown sugar
¾ cup of white sugar
1 cup of Nutella
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa
2 Tbs cornstarch
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped hazelnuts or almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter in an electric mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and Nutella and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each. Add the vanilla and mix for 10 seconds.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda (do not skip this step as sifting eliminates clumps of cocoa). Mix into the butter mixture on low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides at least once to ensure even mixing. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts and refrigerate the dough for ten minutes.

Spoon tablespoon-sized drops of dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350°F for 9-12 minutes (do not over bake; cookies will look slightly underdone). Allow to cool on the sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 5-6 dozen cookies.

Recipe from Simply Recipes

NoEmptyChairs.me

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES (2010) RECAP:
DAY 1: Raspberry Crumb Bars
DAY 2: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

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Tagged as almonds, baking, chocolate, christmas, Christmas cookies, Cookies, cooking, dessert, food, hazelnuts, Nutella, recipe

November 27, 2010 · 8:38 am

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

DAY 2: A classic cookie with an autumn twist. Perfect for using up that extra half-can of pumpkin from Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

I really liked the additional spices (ginger and allspice as well as cinnamon) that the cookies are rolled in, but overall, I think that I prefer traditional Snickerdoodles. Little A, however, thought these were great!

RECIPE:

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Servings: 3 dozen
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1 cup butter, softened
2 ¼ cups sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Topping:
½ cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp allspice

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in pumpkin puree. Mix in egg and vanilla. Mix together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt, and ½ tsp cinnamon. Gradually mix into pumpkin mixture. Chill dough for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1” balls. Roll the balls in the spiced sugar until well coated. Place on baking sheets. Use a glass to flatten the balls slightly.

Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: About 3 dozen

Recipe adapted from dlynz

NoEmptyChairs.me

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS COOKIES (2010) RECAP:
DAY 1: Raspberry Crumb Bars

Twelve (More) Days of Christmas Cookies: Raspberry Crumb Bars

DAY 1: Welcome to the Second Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies! This year, I have twelve new cookie recipes to share, starting with this recipe for Raspberry Crumb Bars. They are a shortbread based cookie, which makes them pretty crumbly to eat, but I love the combination of raspberries and nuts. For the raspberry filling, I used a combination of homemade Red Raspberry and Black Raspberry Jams that I canned last summer.

The original recipe, from Family Fun magazine (printed below with a few adjustments), is baked in a 9” square pan, but I doubled the recipe and baked them in a rimmed 17×12” baking pan.

Visit: First Annual Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies for a recap of the cookies from last year.

RECIPE:

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Servings: 32
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1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch square pan with butter or cooking spray. (**See Note below for using larger baking pan)

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until well blended. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour and salt and beat just until the flour is incorporated. The dough will be crumbly. Press about two-thirds of the dough into the greased pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.

While the shortbread cools slightly, mix the oats and nuts into the remaining one-third of the dough. The mixture will be very crumbly; it is easier to use your hands to mix the topping.

Spread the raspberry jam on the shortbread, then evenly cover the jam with the crumb topping. (TIP: for easy jam spreading, heat the jam slightly in the microwave; stir and pour over crust.)

Bake the bars for 20-25 mins, or until the topping is golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack for about 15-20 minutes. While the shortbread is still slightly warm, cut it into 16 squares, then cut each square in half diagonally. Once the triangles cool completely (they are very fragile while warm), lift them from the pan with a metal spatula.

Makes 32 triangles.

**NOTE: I doubled the recipe and baked them in a 17×12” rimmed baking sheet for 7-8 minutes for the crust, and then the whole bars for about 18 minutes. Using this sized pan makes for slightly thinner bars than the original recipe, which I liked. Yield: about 70 triangles.

Recipe adapted from Family Fun magazine

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as baking, bar cookies, christmas, Christmas cookies, Cookies, cooking, dessert, food, jam, raspberry, recipe, shortbread crust, streusel, triangles