Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! Christmas Cookie #6 Raspberry Almond Sandwich Thins

Raspberry Almond Sandwich Thins

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups flour

½ tsp. baking powder

1 cup butter (cut down to ¾ cup butter) softened

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

¼ tsp. almond or vanilla extract plus ¼ tsp, divided

½ cup raspberry preserves

Powdered sugar, for sprinkling

Directions: Whisk together flour and baking powder.  Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and extract, mix well. Beat in flour mixture on low speed until just combined.  Divide dough into two balls and flatten into discs.  Wrap or cover in bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Roll dough on well-floured surface to ¼ thick.  Use a 2 inch cookie cutter to cut sandwich shapes.  Place on greased or parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until light brown on edges.  Cool on wire rack, repeat with remaining dough, rerolling scraps.  Combine preserves with remaining extract.  Spoon approx. 1 tsp. filling onto bottom of a cookie-then top with another cookie to make cookie sandwich.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Makes approximately 28 sandwich cookies.  Adjust baking time and filling amount if making smaller cookie sandwiches.  

These were very elegant looking.  Be careful not to let them brown while baking and sprinkle on the powdered sugar just before serving.  Use a good quality raspberry or other preserve. 

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! Christmas Cookie #5 Lemon-Poppy Seed Drops

  Lemon-Poppy Seed Drops

o    2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

o    1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

o    1 tsp. baking powder (cut down to 3/4 tsp. for high altitude)

o    ¼ tsp. salt

o    1 ½ cups sugar (cut down to 1 1/4 cup for high altitude)

o    1 cup butter, melted (cut down to 3/4 for high altitude)

o    ¼ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

o    2 eggs

o    2 tsp. grated lemon peel

GLAZE

o    1 ½ cups powdered sugar

o    2–3 Tbsp. lemon juice

o    2 tsp. light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Whisk flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt in bowl.  Beat butter and sugar in another bowl.  Add yogurt, eggs and lemon peel to butter/sugar mixture then just add in flour mixture until blended.   Drop by 1 tbsp. onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes, just until light brown on edges. Cool on pan on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Make glaze by combining glaze ingredients. Put glaze on warm cookies, let stand until set.


(This is the halfway mark.  Five more cookies to go.)

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! Christmas Cookie #4 Salted Peanut Bars

SALTED PEANUT BARS

Ingredients:

1 cup flour, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 6 TBSP chilled butter plus 3 TBSP, divided

¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup heavy cream plus 1 tbsp. cream divided, 1 TBSP corn syrup, 1 cup marshmallow cream, 1 ½ cups cocktail peanuts

20 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped, ½ tsp. coarse salt (I cut it down to 1/4 tsp.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line 8 x 8 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Combine flour and brown sugar, then mix in 6 tbsp. chilled butter with pastry blender to make coarse crumbs.  Press into bottom of pan and bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on wire rack.   Combine remaining 3/4 cup white sugar with 1/4 c. heavy cream, 3 tbsp. butter, and corn syrup in medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add marshmallow cream.  Spread onto warm crust and then place peanuts on top, pressing in gently.  Finally, combine caramels and 1 tbsp. cream in medium microwave bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute or until almost melted. Stir until smooth.  Spread over top of peanuts, sprinkle with salt.  Refrigerate for a few hours to set up.  Store in fridge.

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! Christmas Cookie #3 Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprints

o    Chocolate Peppermint Thumbprints  

     

o  1 ½ cups all-purpose flour  

    ½ cup unsweetened cocoa    

  1 cup butter, softened  (cut down to 3/4 cup butter)

    ¾ cup sugar, plus ¼ cup, divided  (may need a bit more for dipping)

    1 egg  

    1 tsp. vanilla extract   

    1 cup canned purchased white frosting   

    ¼ tsp. peppermint extract   

    4–6 drops red food coloring

o    Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix flour and cocoa with whisk to get out any lumps.  Cream the butter and 3/4 sugar until fluffy, then add in egg and vanilla.  Beat in flour mixture just until mixed.  Place remaining sugar in a small bowl.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls and dip in sugar.  Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake 5 minutes then make impressions with a small measuring spoon in center of each cookie and bake an additional 4-5 minutes or until cookies are lightly set.  Cool completely.  Combine frosting, extract, and coloring.  Pipe onto cookies using a plastic bag with the corner cut off.

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! Christmas Cookie #2 Pizzelles

Pizzelles (recipe adjusted for high altitude)

6 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 TBSP vanilla
4 c. flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Beat eggs, adding in sugar.  Mix in cooled and melted butter along with vanilla.  Add in baking powder and flour and mix until smooth.  Mixture will be a bit thick and sticky.

Bake in Pizzelle iron.

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! Christmas Cookie #1 Vanilla Crescents

Cookie #1 Vanilla Crescents  These were just a simple nut shortbread rolled twice in powdered sugar after they baked.  They were actually a little better over baked to give them more of a biscotti-like crunchy and dry texture that went well with hot cocoa.

My co-workers seemed to like the Christmas cookies that I made this year.  I don't have the recipes readily available for all of them but I'll try to include some of the recipes I do have. The recipe will follow the name of the cookie if I have a recipe to share.

Sunday Randomness #490 : Cookies, Cookies, Cookies! Star Wars Sugar Cookies

The librarians at one of the branches of our local library system made this Star Wars cookie cutter set for me with their 3D printer and then I made cookies to share with them!  Here's the cookie recipe that I used:

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 c. shortening
1/4 c. butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 TBSP milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 plus 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream sugar, shortening, and butter and then add in eggs, milk, and vanilla, mixing well.  Add in baking powder, salt, and 3 cups flour until all ingredients are combined.  Add more flour if dough is really sticky, it should be a slightly tacky consistency.    Shape into a ball and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight or stick in the freezer for a half hour until dough is easy to hand.  Grease cookies sheets lightly or use parchment paper.  Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into shapes.  Reroll trimmings and cut until dough is used up,  Try not to work in too much flour.  Bake at 400 degrees F for about 8 minutes or until edges start to turn light brown.  Remove to a rack to cool.


Look for more cookie posts this week and the next!