Orange cardamom crinkles

I decided to make these cookies today because they looked so delicious in the little ebook I got from The American Butter Institute.  I love citrus cookies, lemon bars.. Mmm, my absolute favorite.  I had all the ingredients I needed at home and so I whipped them up this afternoon.

They had a very bright, sunny flavor but they were lacking in the cardamom department.  I even ground fresh cardamom, but the flavor just wasn't there.  I'm thinking 1/4 tsp wasn't enough.. or my cardamom is just past it's prime.

My kid, on the other hand, LOVES these cookies.  I'd be safe to say by now he's gobbled up about half of them.  For him I'll try again tomorrow... after we run to the mall (I know, I know.. but it MUST be done) and the grocery store for a few quick things (which will include another fresh orange and hopefully some fresh cardamom.)  I'm thinking that instead of drizzling them with chocolate as the recipe states I'm gonna sandwich them with some instead :)

Ingredients:

zest of 1 orange
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with
parchment paper.
In small bowl, rub orange zest into sugar until it resembles
wet sand. In large bowl, cream butter and zesty sugar until
light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla, egg and orange juice. Scrape
sides and continue mixing. Stir in cardamom, salt, baking
powder, baking soda and flour until just combined.
Pour powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll heaping
1 teaspoon of dough into ball, roll in powdered sugar, and
place on prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between
each cookie. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake about 10 minutes, until bottoms begin to brown and
cookies aren’t shiny in center. Remove from oven and transfer
to wire rack to cool completely.
Once all cookies are baked and cooled, melt chocolate in
microwave-safe bowl in microwave for 20 second intervals
until mostly melted. Stir until completely melted. Transfer
to sandwich bag. Snip corner and pipe swirls over cooled
cookies. Serve!

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap... and a giveaway!!

I haven't done a giveaway in forever and since I'm going to be researching and baking for the next few weeks for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap and sending three lucky bloggers a dozen cookies each I figured what's one more dozen?

One lucky winner will receive one dozen home baked cookies.  I'm not exactly sure what I'm baking up yet and I'm sure I'll give y'all a peek at the cookies I'm going to choose from but it will definitely be one of them that I'll send to the winner.

I've never used Rafflecopter before so I'm new to this.

Here goes!!

Good Luck!  Contest starts today and ends on 11/20

Enter here to win!!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm so excited!! (GREAT FOOD BLOGGER COOKIE SWAP)

I just signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.



This is the first time I'm participating and signup is only through Monday 11/4 (can you believe Friday is NOVEMBER already?)

Here's a little info:

The GREAT FOOD BLOGGER COOKIE SWAP brings together food bloggers from around the world in celebration of all things scrumptious. The premise is this: sign up. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers. Eat them all yourself (or, you know, share. If you want. No judgement either way.) Post your cookie recipe on your blog. See everyone else’s cookie recipes. Salivate. Get lots of great ideas for next year’s cookie swap. Rinse and repeat.
This year we are again excited to be partnering with COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. By participating in this cookie swap you are not only contributing to the food blogger community, but also supporting a great cause.

My Thanksgiving baking plan...

I really wanted to take today off so I could get everything done.. But the pile of stuff on my desk and the knowledge that I’d have at least 2 nasty notes on my desk on Monday morning if it was all still sitting there was motivation enough to just come in and get it done so it’s not hanging over my head.

The marshmallows are done, they just need to get stuck on sticks, dipped and sprinkled.

I’m going to get dough made tonight.. A whole LOT of dough so that tomorrow morning I can run and get some shopping done and then come home and bake like a fiend, lol.

I’ll be making a double batch of each of Italian Anis cookies, Chocolate Caramel Bars, Chocolate surprise cookies (which I’ll be filling with Nestle chocolate chips), and a batch of Original Nestle chocolate chip cookies since I never make any “normal” cookies according to one family member.  Not sure if the pumpkin pie will be happening this year, but I’ll also be making a batch of apple pie tartlets since they’re easier to travel with and I can easily spread them across 3 cookie trays.

It’s going to be a LOT of baking and chances I’ll be up till midnight, but it’s all good just for the smiles on the faces of all my family and friends that are going to enjoy them.

Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies & Baking with The Kid

Baking is something I love to do.  I grew up baking with my grandma and my kid has grown up baking with me.  He’s not so little anymore (who am I kidding, he’s not little at all anymore unless he’s standing next to Shaq).  It’s still something that he enjoys doing with me though.  There’s nothing like the sweet satisfaction of a home baked goodie and the smiles that ensue while enjoying them.

Last week I got a Nestle baking kit from Foodbuzz and last night The Kid and I baked up some mini chocolate chip cookies using the Nestle Tollhouse Mini chocolate chip cookie dough.  Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 12 minutes and viola, cookies!  No mess to clean up, no measuring, just take straight from the fridge to the oven and you’re all set.

I was pretty impressed with the way these mini cookies turned out, from solid little squares on the baking sheet into perfect little round cookies.  Yum!

I'll really be getting my bake on this weekend to prepare for thanksgiving, because what's a holiday without fresh baked home made goodies?  I will be posting pictures to this post later and more this weekend when the baking extravaganza in my kitchen begins :)


I Will be getting this dough again, to use for the bottom of a cookie crusted cheesecake or cheesecake bites (I'm not sure yet) and I'm considering flattening out an entire brick of this dough to fit into an 8x10 cake pan and topping with brownie batter! Yeahhhhhh! Yummy!  There are so many things you can do with this dough.  Whether it's the basic cookie, or you're looking to jazz it up, the possibilities are infinite just use your imagination!

Just be careful.. I like raw cookie dough as much as the next gal, but it's not safe to eat because of the raw eggs in the dough.  I was surprised but you can't eat this stuff raw.. says it right on the package:


Bummer.. I baked just 6 cookies for myself and the kid though and it was just what I needed to shut that sweet tooth up ;)

With the assistance of coupons from Foodbuzz I also got 2 bags of Nestle Toll House Morsels.  Since I'm going to be a baking fiend this weekend, some of those will go towards baking the ever popular Chocolate Caramel Bars

and coating the marshmallows my friend doesn't believe I can make... ya know, these:

and possibly making an attempt at stirring some mini chips into a batch of marshmallows before they set.

The possibilties in my head are endless and once I get myself to the grocery store and sit myself down with a list and a plan I'll know exactly what I'm going to be creating.. since on Thanksgiving I have 3 stops to make and a few people I want to send some goodies to also I have to be sure to make plenty :)

You can’t come unless you bring cookies

These are the words uttered by the bestie’s nephew last Saturday.. “Ashley can’t come over unless she brings cookies” Well... had I have been properly prepared, it wasn't 110° in the shade and had I not just moved I would have.. But now I will bake a special batch just for him.. Ya know, because I’m cool like that.

I can’t just make any cookies though.. I have to make Chocolate-Caramel Bars.  These have been highly coveted cookies since the first time I baked them with the bestie.  I make them for every special occasion and holiday now. No cookie tray goes without them, because they really are that good (So good that I've never brought them into the office to share).  The last time I made them instead of using prepackaged caramels I used caramel sauce that I made and OMG they were So incredibly amazing.

Just for kicks I might make a batch of Whoopie pies too for the main fact that you can’t help but smile when you say the name and they’re unbelievably good too.

The bestie's only here for 2 more weeks.. I must break in my new oven and share the goods before she goes back to Africa.  Plus.. what's better for the soul than some home baked goodies?

That's one Saucy little cookie (Peruvian Alfajores)

The day after Thanksgiving last year I babysat for my cousin's then 3 month old baby so she &; her hubby could do the Black Friday shopping thing and after they got home that night they treated me & the kid to dinner from a local Spanish restaurant... wonderfully roasted chicken and veggies & stuffs and for dessert there were Alfajores.  I had never tried them before and they were so good, light and sweet buttery cookies sandwiched with dulce de leche in between.. Heavenly.

When I set my mind to make something I can almost always go ahead and make it with no problem and these cookies were no exception.  They are incredibly light due to the fact that most of the dry ingredient part of this recipe consists of cornstarch and very little flour.  They are Amazing!!  I made the cookies really small, for no particular reason other than my large round cookie cutter is no longer so round anymore and I wanted these to look perfect.

I think I did pretty darn well if I could say so myself.. Next up to test them on the Peruvian relatives and see what they say :)

Alfajores

1 2/3 cups cornstarch
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup sugar
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp. cognac or brandy
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
4 egg yolks
dulce de leche, for filling cookies (I used canned because it's readily available or you can make it yourself, recipe following)

Preheat oven to 350°

 In a large bowl, sift together cornstarch, flour, and baking powder; set aside. 

In a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. 

Add cognac and zest; beat. 

Add yolks one at a time; beat well until each is fully incorporated.

 Add dry ingredients; mix until fully incorporated

Transfer dough to a floured surface, knead briefly and divide into 3 pieces. 

Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll dough to 1/4″ thickness. 

Using a 2 1/2″ round cookie cutter, cut out cookies; transfer to parchment paper lined baking sheets, spaced 1″ apart. 

Re-roll scraps and repeat. 

Bake until golden, 10–12 minutes. 

Let cool. Flip half the cookies over and top each with 1 teaspoon of dulce de leche. 

Top with remaining cookies.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.




Dulce de leche:

 In a heavy 4-quart saucepan mix together the milk, sugar, vanilla bean and baking soda and bring to a boil over medium heat. 

Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. 

As it begins to thicken, stir constantly and cook until caramel-colored and very thick that you can see the bottom of the pan as you stir; this will take about 1 hour. 

If using vanilla extract, add it at this point. 

Remove from heat and let cool. 

Cover and refrigerate.

Lemonade cookies

I am still in shock that Easter is this Sunday.  Even though it's later than usual this year I'm still kinda stunned, lol. It doesn't quite feel like spring here in NY yet, let alone the fact that it's almost May.

I bought up a bag of lemons at the grocery store on Friday for the Chicken with Lemons & Olives (which to me was a great lesson in paying attention while shopping as 3 loose lemons were $4 and a bag of 6 lemons was $3.49.)  I took the lemons home, washed them and they're sitting on my kitchen counter, waiting for me to use the rest of them up. (yea, you read that right, I washed them.  I always wash all my produce before I use it or put it in the fridge... don't you ever wonder where the fruit flies come from? *shudder*)

I wanted to make lemon bars, but I'll save that for another day when I have a little more time.  I'm taking off work towards the end of the week so The Kid can get a break from coming to the office with me and I can get a break from the madness too.

I knew I had this recipe somewhere and it turned out to be in the recipe binder (which I will also be going through and tabbing this weekend)  I'm so glad I found it because I've been thinking of these cookies all.week!

I'm making these tonight.. Pictures will follow :)


Lemonade Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar + ½ cup for dusting the cooled cookies
 1tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, softened
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350̊. F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl combine flour, confectioners' sugar and lemon zest.

 Add butter and vanilla and beat together until a soft dough forms.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto the cookie sheet leaving about an inch in between each one.

 Bake one sheet at a time for 12-15 minutes, until cookie bottoms are golden brown.

Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

After the cookies have completely cooled you can move on to the next step:

Place the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar in a quart or gallon-sized zip-top bag.

Carefully drop 12 cookies at a time into the sugar and shake to coat.

Store cookies in an airtight container or zip-top bag.

Cannoli filled Chocolate Whoopie Pies

I love when my kid Texts me in the middle of the day and says “mom, we’re having Food Day tomorrow in Italian class, can you make something?” yea.. Just Love that. *not*

Anyway, since as my kid put it last night I’m “the awesomest of awesome mom’s” I made whoopie pies.. But not just any whoopie pies.. Cannoli cream filled whoopie pies. Yup, you read that right.

First I searched online for the perfect cannoli cream recipe, I needed something sturdy because I always seem to have issues with runny cannoli cream, not that it matters when I make it at home for us because it’s gone in no time flat.. But this had to hold up for 4th period Italian. When I asked the kid how many kids were in his class I was blown away.. Here I’m thinking an average class in his school has 25-30 kids but no.. since in his school there is only 1 Italian class per grade there are 45 kids in his class. Sheesh, talk about overcrowding.

Anyway.... 

I went over to the grocery store by my office at lunchtime to pick up a container of ricotta, cream cheese, and mini chocolate chips. When The Kid called when he got home from school I told him to take the bowl for the stand mixer and put it in the fridge so when I get home I can get the Cannoli filling made as soon as I get home so it had time to set up. 

I got home and made the Cannoli filling went and got my regular whoopie pie recipe and quickly realized I didn’t have enough oil.. Crap! I started to panic and then I just settled myself down and went ahead and got another recipe that I had saved a while back... no oil or shortening in this recipe.. Just butter.. Perfect. I mix together the dry ingredients and realize I don’t have enough brown sugar. Seriously? Now it’s 7pm and I’d already had the day from hell between the work Nazi and my boss acting like a complete jerk at the end of the day and I’m ready to call it quits... but instead I tell the kid to get his shoes on we’re going to the store to get brown sugar. (Yes, I could have just gone by myself but my truck’s been acting up lately and doesn’t want to start right back up after just being shut off so I needed the kid to sit and wait for me while I ran in the store) 

Now, I had to double up this recipe because it was new to me and I wasn’t sure how many mini whoopie pies I was going to get out of it and it’s always better to be safe than sorry and I had to make sure I had at least 50 sets. I’m beating together the butter & sugar and MY HAND MIXER DIES ON ME! I wanted to cry.. Seriously, what else could go wrong? I was already in a bad mood and I wanted to just give up right there and then... but.. No, I didn't.

I went ahead and pulled out the big guns. 

 My shiny new BHG Stand mixer 

(isn't she beautiful?)

 I had to take the Cannoli cream out of the stainless bowl, transfer it to another bowl and move the butter & sugar into the stainless bowl... seriously 1 minute later I had perfectly fluffy butter & sugar. I added my chocolate mixture a little at a time and was done in no time flat.

I made mini pies, so each was slightly bigger than a quarter and I fit 20 per sheet pan. All together I made 194 mini pie halves and 12 huge ones (because towards the end I was exhausted after having to run back into the kitchen every 8 minutes to remove the pies from the oven, cool, transfer to a cooling rack and pipe more onto the pan) I had more than enough for the kid to take to school, bring a whole bunch to work and have a few left over for us. By the time I was done I had 2 sheet pans and a dinner plate jam packed and stuffed in the fridge. More than half were filled with the cannoli cream and the rest were filled with cream cheese icing (recipes for all of these are at the end)

This morning I loaded up a box of the mini’s for the kid (I don’t know.. I guess I put around 90 in the box and took a ziplog bag full into the office leaving 6 at home for us. I got a text from the Kid a little while ago saying that they ate up all the whoopie pies :) ) He’s got 3 huge ones stashed in his backpack to share with his 2 best friends later too.

It was a lot of work, but as always it was worth it to make my kid happy :)  I have to tell y'all too, that these are The Best whoopie pies I've ever made.  I've tinkered with a few recipes, one with oil, one with shortening and one with buttermilk, and while they were all good in their own ways and the buttermilk ones tasted very very similar to Drakes cakes devil dogs minus all the crap in the manufactured ones, I didn't really care for them all that much.  These are intensely chocolatey and super moist.  This is the recipe I will stick with from now on, as well as both the fillings.  Absolute perfection in my book.

Whoopie Pies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease cookie sheet or cover with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and continue beating 1-2 more minutes. Beat in milk and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture until combined.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a wide mouth tip and pipe batter onto cookie sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes until top springs back when touched.

Cool completely, then pipe or spoon a heaping amount of frosting on flat half of one cookie and make a sandwich with the flat half of another cookie.

Cannoli filling

This is good, sturdy Cannoli filling that isn't runny at all and will hold up in between cake layers. 

32 oz. whole milk Ricotta cheese

16 oz. cream cheese (softened)

2 cups confectioners sugar (divided)

½ cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract 

Mix Ricotta and cream Cheese until smooth in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, Add confectioners sugar, sugar, vanilla and beat until smooth.

Cream cheese filling

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

5 tbsp butter, room temperature

3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/2 to 3/4 tsp vanilla extract

While the cookies are cooling, prepare the filling. In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and the butter until light and well blended. Add the sifted powdered sugar in batches until the filling is perfectly smooth. Add the vanilla extract, mix well.

S'mores cookies

So the marshmallows that I made last week have been hanging around.. I'm not a huge marshmallow fan and I didn't make them for any other reason other than for the plain fact that I could.. but they weren't gonna go to waste.

I decided I was going to make cookies with them, because Everyone likes cookies and who doesn't like S'mores?  So I hit the 'net and went searching for a recipe for Graham crackers.. now I wasn't gonna go and make graham crackers per say.. but I wanted cookies with that flavor and I hit it right on the mark :)  These are really simple and come together fairly quickly because the only "real" baking involved is the cookie base, which, in all honesty can be baked ahead of time.

I've made this cookies before for the "sticky cookies" and I doubled the cookie recipe because I like my cookie a little thicker, but you can half the cookie recipe very easily.

S'mores cookies
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark whichever you prefer)
1 cup butter, softened
1 Tbs Vanilla extract
Cinnamon sugar
16-20 large marshmallows
1/2 - 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 350°

In a large bowl stir together flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.Press flour mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking pan.

Sprinkle with a dusting of Cinnamon sugar and Bake 40-45 minutes or until set.

Remove the cookies from the oven & shut it off

Top the cookies with chocolate and marshmallows and put them back in the oven (that's been turned off, we don't want the cookies to cook much more but we do want the chocolate & marshmallows to melt) leave in the oven for 10-15 minutes and remove.. if you want a bit of a toasty marshmallow stick them under the broiler for a minute or 2.

These were Fantastic.. too good to even share with my co workers.

Next time I'm making these with the chocolate marshmallow mess that is currently sitting in my freezer.

There are cookies.. and then, there are These

These are the cookies that are one of the most incredible cookies I've ever made... these are the ones that have been known to mysteriously disappear from the cookie plate or, in last year's case they were snatched up by a certain someone and stashed in a box where nobody else could find them. 


Yea, they're that good. So good in fact that I now double the recipe and make 2 batches of it so nobody gets left out.. and make a reminder to myself to make one without coconut because of an allergy.  Leaving out the pecans isn't a huge deal.. and if I'm making them to give on a platter I will leave them out and sometimes, pecans just aren't in my cookie baking budget.


We refer to these as "The Sticky Cookies" they're so amazing.  I made these the first time with The bestie, who is now in Mozambique and made a special request for the recipe, so when I shipped her a box full of goodies the other day, I added the recipe in along with a conversion chart because Everything's different on the other side of the world.  


I'm Mailing some of my friends cookies, but unfortunately I'm not sure these would ship well.. so here's the recipe to share so nobody gets left out.

Chocolate-Caramel Bars

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Cups coarsely chopped Pecans (we used walnuts)
1 Cup Flaked coconut (Oops, I forgot the coconut when we went to the supermarket, lol)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp. vanilla
20 vanilla caramels
2 Tbs. Milk
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°f. For crust, in a medium bowl stir together flour and brown sugar. Cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Press flour mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes. 

2.  Sprinkle coconut and nuts over partially baked crust. In a small bowl stir together sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, pour over coconut and nuts. Bake for 25-30 minutes more or until set.  Let stand in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes

4. In a small saucepan combine caramels and milk. Heat and stir over medium-low heat just until caramels melt (be very careful here, molten caramels will give you a nasty burn!) Drizzle caramel mixture over baked mixture. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Cool completely and cut into bars.

Granting wishes and baking Christmas cookies

I’m asking for a little help from my friends here.

'Tis the Season of holiday baking and giving, why not reach out and help grant the wishes of strangers in need of some holiday help.

I always make the same Christmas cookies and this year I’ve taken it upon myself to grant a few wishes at Wish Upon a Hero and help some people out with Christmas baking and mailing cookies and Christmas cards to help make their holiday a little brighter.

What I’m asking for here is if any of you would be willing to share a few cookie recipes with me by email @ inthekitchenwithme@gmail.com. I’ll pick a few and then post them up here along with pictures of the boxes that I’m going to send.

Thanks guys, it's very much appreciated.

Lulu’s Italian-American Bakery, Fresh Meadows, NY

Lulu’s Italian-American Bakery, Fresh Meadows, NY

Hot Damn! Lulu’s is one of the best bake shops around hands down.

I happened by a car show at one of the local high schools on my way to the grocery store on Sunday and they had some stands and whatnot and I saw cupcakes.. So naturally I had to just stop and see what the deal was and I was excited for 2 main reasons: 1. The cupcakes were not left out in the open for flies and bees to buzz around and land on (FYI, if your food is left out in the open, uncovered, you will not get any business from me) they were in a small display case and 2. all the cookies and other goodies were lovingly wrapped in little baggies tied with ribbon with a sticker from the shop on them.

The Kid got an Oreo cupcake and I got 2 (HUGE) rainbow cookies in a little plastic bag That cupcake never had a chance.. By the time we got to the car and the kid sat down that cupcake was devoured, followed by “Mom, that was the best cupcake you’ve ever bought!” I had a little more restrain, and waited until we got home to have one of the cookies.. And Holy Cow.. Wow, absolutely amazingly unbelievable, hands down the absolute moistest rainbow cookies that I’ve ever had in my life. They were sooo good. I still have one in the fridge.. At least, I think it’s still there unless the kid got his grubby little hands on it and didn’t tell me. Shoot, now I’m gonna have to go and check when I get home. Everything was $2 which was awesome.. Which also means that I will definitely have to find my way over to Lulu’s one of these days no matter what kind of hike it is for me to get there. I would drive 2 hours just to get some of those rainbow cookies!

***I just realized that their web site isn't quite up and running yet.. I'll be sure to let y'all know when it does though :o)

12 days of Christmas cookies Day 9: Italian Anise Cookies

These cookies remind me of Christmas at my Grandma's house, these were always on a cookie platter that one of her friends would bring over along with the home made chocolates and peanut butter cups.

Italian Anise Cookies

Cookie:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons anise extract (or almond extract)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (may need up to 3 cups)
1 tablespoon baking powder
2-3 tablespoons milk

Icing:

2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon anise extract
food coloring
decorative candy sprinkles


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

For cookies, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add anise extract.

Blend flour and baking powder. Start by adding about 1/3 of these dry ingredients to the butter/sugar in your mixer, then add 1 T. milk. Add another third of the flour and another 1 T. milk. Finally, mix in enough of the remaining flour until your dough is like a brownie batter (it should be softer than a drop cookie dough).

Use a 1 T. cookie scooper to make simple round drop cookies - use wet fingers to pat any rough edges OR for an Easter-Egg look, roll 1 T. dough into an elongated ball.

Bake cookies 10-12 minutes (they won't be brown but the insides will be soft and cake-like).

For icing: mix sugar, milk and extract to make a sugar glaze.

HINT: When I make the icing, I make it thick but then I microwave it for 10 seconds so it is thin enough for dipping. Also, I like to divide the mixture in thirds, and then add ONE DROP of food coloring to each batch.

Hold cookie in your hand and turn upside down so you can dip the top half in the glaze; turn over and immediately top with sprinkles so they will stick.

Allow icing to harden overnight; then store in air-tight containers or freeze.

12 days of Christmas cookies Day 8: Thumbprint Cookies

I was a bit of a slacker over the weekend when it came down to blog posting, Christmas Shopping, Futon building (then taking apart because there was a broken piece, hauling it back to Ikea and building yet another, more complicated better one) took my WHOLE weekend up.

But have no fear (LOL) I’ve got more cookie recipes coming up for the last couple of days here.

Thumbprint cookies:

1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
jam or fruit preserves


Lightly toast then cool nuts; chop until very fine and set aside ~ If using a food processor for chopping, allow nuts to cool very thoroughly before chopping them in order to avoid turning them into a paste.

Cream butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment until extra light-colored and fluffy; stir in vanilla.

Whisk together dry ingredients; add gradually to butter mixture, stirring just until (do not overmix) dough comes together; stir in chopped nuts.

Chill dough if it seems too soft.

Form dough into 1 1/4" balls and place onto parchment-lined or ungreased baking sheets; indent the top of each ball of dough with your fingertip or with the dampened end of a wooden spoon.
Bake at 325° for 10-12 minutes or just until the cookies start to turn light golden-brown at the edges; remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar; fill each indentation with a bit of jam or fruit preserves ~ I like to use red raspberry preserves.

NOTES: Yield becomes 60 cookies when dough is formed into 1" dough balls. And any type of toasted and chopped nuts may be substituted for the almonds.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies, day 7 Drop Sugar Cookies

When you want sugar cookies but you're not in the mood to roll & cut the dough, don't have the time or you want to just decorate some sugar cookies with the little ones, this is the recipe you're going to go for over and over again.

Drop Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup Crisco




Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift dry ingredients, all except sugar, together.

Cream margarine, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla.

Beat in dry ingredients until smooth.

Blend in milk.

Drop by tablespoon about 3 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies, day 6 Florentine Lace cookies

These are always a hit, they're delicate and fairly easy to make, they bake up quickly and if you work fast enough you can mold them into curls, cones or by placing over a small fingertip bowl you can make little cookie bowls. These cookies can be left plain or sandwiched together with chocolate.

Florentine Lace cookies


Dough 2/3 cup butter
2 cups quick oats, uncooked
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling

2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


Melt butter in medium saucepan.


Remove from heat.


Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla and salt. Mix well.


Cover cookie sheets with foil.


Place small drops (about 1 teaspoon) of batter onto the foil. Leave about 3 inches between cookies. Using a spatula, flatten each drop and mold into a flat round shape using the sides of the spatula. Warning: these cookies will expand horizontally a lot! Make sure you leave plenty of room between cookies.


Bake for approximately 7 minutes or until edges are golden brown.


Let each sheet of cookies cool completely, approximately 15 minutes.


Peel foil away from cookies.


For the filling, combine chocolate, cream and vanilla and melt over a double boiler until completely blended.


To assemble, spread a layer of chocolate on the flat, shiny side of each cookie. Pair the cookie with alternate cookie of equal size and press together. Allow assembled cookies to cool completely.

12 days of cookies, Day 5: Mexican Chocolate Cherry Cookies

This recipe makes 5 dozen cookies, They're unbelievably good and you can freeze the dough with no problems at all.

Mexican Chocolate Cherry Cookies

2¾ hours | 2½ hours prep

SERVES 30 , 2 cookies

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup powdered sugar
60 candied cherries, halved

1. Stir chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water until smooth; cool.
2. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients in medium bowl.
3. Using electric mixer, beat 1 3/4 cups sugar and butter in large bowl until light.
4. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla and chocolate.
5. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating just until combined.
6. Chill dough until firm, about 2 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 350°F.
8. Lightly butter 2 large baking sheets.
9. Place powdered sugar in shallow pan.
10. Form dough into 1-inch balls.
11. Roll each ball in sugar to coat; shake off excess sugar.
12. Arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart.
13. Press 1 cherry half into center of each cookie.
14. Bake until cookies puff and crack but are still soft, about 10 minutes.
15. Transfer cookies to rack and cool completely.
16. (Cookies can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week, or freeze up to 1 month.).

12 days of cookies, Day 4: Chocolate Suprise Cookies

I made these for the first time last year and watched my best friend's sister eat almost the whole plate over the course of the day, lol.. they're sooo good!

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

1/2 cup Butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
about 36 semisweet chocolate chunks or miniature kisses

Preheat oven to 350°f. In a large bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until combines, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer and stir in any remaining flour; knead dough together if necessary.

Shape 1 tsp of the dough into a ball & press a chocolate chunk into the ball and reshape dough into a ball. Repeat with remaining dough and chocolate. Place dough 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies, day 3 Rainbow cookies

Rainbow cookies (or Venetians as they are sometimes called) are my #1 favorite cookie Ever.. and after the first time I made them I understood why they are $7.99 a pound at the bakery. They are a LOT of work.. but the results are always so amazing that it is so worth the effort :)

Rainbow cookies


Ingredients:
7 ounces almond paste
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup margarine or butter, room temp
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour, Sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
15 drops green food coloring
15 drops red food coloring
2/3 cup apricot preserves (pressed into a coarse sieve to remove any large pieces of fruit)
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon vegetable shortening

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease 3 8"x8" metal baking pans. After greasing, line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper, smoothing the paper down onto the pan. Grease the tops of the parchment paper and then flour the pans. Put aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, Beat together on medium-high speed the Almond Paste, Sugar, Almond Extract and butter until well blended. (there might be some small lumps of Almond Paste remaining and that's fine.).

4. Reduce speed to medium and beat in the eggs one at a time until blended.

5. Reduce speed to low and then add the flour and salt slowly to the mixture until combined.

6. Take two small bowls and add 1 rounded cup of batter into each bowl. (there should be another rounded cup of batter still in the original mixing bowl.).

7. Add 15 drops of red food color to one bowl and 15 drops of green food color to the other. Stir each bowl until evenly blended with color.

8. Spoon the untinted batter into one pan. With metal spatula spread batter evenly (layer will be about 1/4 inch thick). Repeat with red batter in second pan and green batter in remaining pan.

9. Bake until set and toothpick inserted in center of layers comes out clean. 10-12 minutes.

10. Cool in pans on wire rack about ½ hour. Cake should be cool to the touch.

11. Run tip of knife around side of pans to loosen layers.

12. Lay a piece of parchment paper on a flat surface that will be able to fit in refrigerator.

13. Take the green layer and flip over pan onto parchment paper. Gently pull off the parchment paper. Spread 1/3 cup of apricot preserves onto the green layer.

14. Take the untinted layer and remove from pan. Place it onto the green layer with the wax paper side up. Press down gently and then remove the parchment paper.

15. Spread remaining 1/3 cup of Apricot preserves onto the untinted layer.

16. take the remaining red layer and remove from pan and place upon the white layer again with the parchment side up. Press down gently and remove the parchment.

17. In a 1 quart saucepan, heat chocolate and shortening over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted.

18. Spread melted chocolate mixture on top of the red layer evenly. Do not put mixture on sides.

19. refrigerate until chocolate is firm, at least 1 hour. (at this point, if you want, you can cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days before serving).

To serve, with a large sharp knife, trim about 1/4 inch from the edges. Cut the stacked layers into 6 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 6 pieces. You will get 36 square cookies from this.

Place the cookies in a single layer in a waxed paper lined container. They can be refrigerated for up to one week or freeze up to 3 months. These cookies must be kept in the fridge.