misc christmas cookies

muffy · Guru

misc christmas cookies

muffy · Guru

snowballs / mexican wedding:

This is a classic on any cookie tray. They are also called Mexican Wedding cookies or Russian Tea cookies. I don't have a pic - but I am sure everyone is familiar with what they look like.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 c flour
3/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Cream butter in a bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add in flour and salt and mix a little (will still be crumbly), then add nuts, and mix until a dough forms. Wrap dough in cling wrap and refrigerate an hour or more.

Heat oven to 400degrees. Pinch off pieces of dough (i usually use a teaspoon and dig into it) and roll into 1 inch balls.

Bake 10-12 minutes - until cookie is set and bottom is starting to brown.

Let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then while still slightly warm, gently take off cookie sheet and roll each ball in powdered/confectioners sugar. Once completely cooled, roll a second time in confectionary sugar.

hint - you need to let the cookies sit and cool a few minutes before rolling in sugar or else the will break apart and you will have to eat the warm sugary pieces right away!

muffy · Guru

Rugelach:

these buttery crescent shaped cookies are dancing with cinnamon! They are more traditional for Hanukkah, but I make sure they are on my cookie tray each christmas!

1 cup butter, softened
2 tbs sugar
1 8oz carton sour cream
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped raisins
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
powdered sugar for dusting after cooking

beat 1 cup butter in a bowl. Add 2 tbs sugar and mix. Add sour cream and egg yolk and mix well. Add flour and salt and mix until dough is formed. cover in cling wrap and chill for 1 hour or more.

combine nuts, raisins, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter and cinnamon and set aside.

heat oven to 350 degrees

divide dough into 4 sections. roll out one section into a 10 inch circle. Spread 1/4 of the nut/raisin mixture on the dough. Cut the dough into 12 wedges (like cutting a pizza) roll each wedge into a croissant shape and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is golden. dust with powdered sugar before serving.

yum!

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muffy · Guru

gingerbread men:

This makes the whole house smell so festive! The warm dough is so fun to work with. I would recommend letting the dough rest a few minutes as i found it easier to work with the end of the batch than the beginning.

2/3 cup molasses
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Bring molasses, brown sugar, and spices to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam up), then stir in butter 3 pieces at a time, letting each addition melt before adding next, until all butter is melted. Add egg and stir until combined, then stir in 3 3/4 cups flour and salt.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with as much of remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed to prevent sticking, until soft and easy to handle, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Halve dough, then wrap 1 half in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.

Roll out remaining dough about 1/8 inch thick (i like mine a wee bit thicher to kepe them soft) on a lightly floured surface. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cutters and carefully transfer with offset spatula to buttered large baking sheets, arranging them about 1 inch apart.

Bake cookies until edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes total (the longer you bake them, the crispier they will be) Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll once).

These can be decorated with royal icing and decorative sugars.

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muffy · Guru

Empanadas:

OK - promise this is my last recipe to share.

I made these today and they are soooo good i kept popping warm ones in my mouth like candy.

1 cup butter softened
6 ounces cream cheese (2 3oz packages)
2 cups flour plus more for rolling

fruit preserves (strawberry, raspberry, cherry, apricot - as you like)

1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter and cream cheese. add flour and beat till well mixed. form dough into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate one hour or overnight.

Take dough out of fridge, and cut into 4 pieces. Use one piece at a time, leaving the others in the fridge.

Roll dough thin (1/8 inch, even a bit thinner). dough is super easy to work with. use a 3" round cutter (a drinking glass or mug works great too!) and cut circles.

place a small spoon of preserves in the middle, brush water around the edges. fold dough in half over the preserves and seal the edges.

place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bke at 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. for these cookies, the dough should be golden brown in colour.

when cookies are done, roll in a moxture of cinnamon and sugar while still warm.

if jam leaks out during cooking dont worry - i usually use a sharp knife to help cut around the cookie if htey stick (parchment paper REALLY helps here) also, if they puff puff up, just pat them down a bit when they are out of the oven.

you wont believe how good your kitchen smells. and you wont be able to stop eating them - i swear!

here are mine from today. all done, ready to eat:

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1936x1296.

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muffy · Guru

chocolate cutouts:

I made these cookies this year and am thrilled with the result. the cookies baked real well and held their shape. the dough has a slight almond falvour that is real yummy. They were super easy too! I was looking for a chocolate cut out to make snowflakes and snowman with to add to my cookie boxes.

Cookie Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Frosting Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 to 5 teaspoons milk
Food color, if desired

Combine 3/4 cup butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg and 1 teaspoon almond extract; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour and cocoa and scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (2 hours or overnight).

Heat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-third at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/8 to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 3-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in small bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often and gradually adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Tint with food color, if desired. Frost and decorate cooled cookies as desired.

I rolled mine thicker - close to 1/4 inch thick and baked closer to 7 minutes to be sure they stayed soft.

Here is how they look out of the oven - notice how even the snowflake pattern helds its shape and didnt puff too much.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1936x1296.

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LucsMama · Senior Member

muffy wrote:

a handful i posted last year if anyone is interested:

first up: candy canes

This recipe is a hand me down from my grandmother. It does take a little bit of effort to roll out the doughs and shape the canes, but these cookies are super delish and a festive addition to any cookie tray.

1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
red food colouring
1/3 cup crushed peppermint candy
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Cream butter with powdered sugar. Add egg and extracts and mix well. add flour and salt and mix till dough forms. Divide dough in half and colour one half with red food colouring. Wrap each half in cling wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or more.

heat oven to 350 degrees. take dough out of the fridge about 15 min before you use it. roll each dough into pieces about 1/4 inch wode and 2.5 inches long. take one rope of each colour, put them side by side and twist into a candy cane shape. place on baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake for about 12 minutes until dough is set and they start to brown just on the edges.

When done take out of oven, let sit on the tray a minute or 2, then roll them in a mixture of crushed candy canes and sugar while still warm.

believe it or not, the almond flavour of the dough and the light minty flavour of the sugar is fantastic together.

I made these this week and took some pics so you can see how I roll and form the cookies.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1936x1296.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1936x1296.

these are twised. they are way too close on the baking sheet because i am actually going to freeze them to bake next week. if you bake them right away, be sure to leave more space between the cookies!

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1936x1296.
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These look so cool! I think I am going to attempt them for a Cookie swap in a few weeks. I've never baked cookies from scratch before (just brownies)... so I hope I don't screw them up!!! About how many does this recipe make? (Is that just one batch in the picture)

Also, I might try to make them before hand and freeze them like you are talking about.... any tips for freezing cookies and then baking them? I need to let them thaw out before baking right?!?

apies · Guru

muffy wrote:

chocolate cutouts:

I made these cookies this year and am thrilled with the result. the cookies baked real well and held their shape. the dough has a slight almond falvour that is real yummy. They were super easy too! I was looking for a chocolate cut out to make snowflakes and snowman with to add to my cookie boxes.

Cookie Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Frosting Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
4 to 5 teaspoons milk
Food color, if desired

Combine 3/4 cup butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg and 1 teaspoon almond extract; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour and cocoa and scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (2 hours or overnight).

Heat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-third at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/8 to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with 3-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in small bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often and gradually adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Tint with food color, if desired. Frost and decorate cooled cookies as desired.

I rolled mine thicker - close to 1/4 inch thick and baked closer to 7 minutes to be sure they stayed soft.

Here is how they look out of the oven - notice how even the snowflake pattern helds its shape and didnt puff too much.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1936x1296.
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megan, dyk about how many this recipe made per batch?

i was thinking this might add some color to my trays this year - i was thinking those chocolate snowflakes could be dusted with powdered sugar. or maybe even those crystal sprinkles.

muffy · Guru

LucsMama wrote:

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1936x1296.
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These look so cool! I think I am going to attempt them for a Cookie swap in a few weeks. I've never baked cookies from scratch before (just brownies)... so I hope I don't screw them up!!! About how many does this recipe make? (Is that just one batch in the picture)

Also, I might try to make them before hand and freeze them like you are talking about.... any tips for freezing cookies and then baking them? I need to let them thaw out before baking right?!?

Kari - these are super yum! but they are time consuming to roll and twist all the logs - it takes a bit of patience and time. if you know play doh you should be OK!

this recipe makes about 3.5-4 dozen. you can tell from the pic and my hand about how big make the logs.

when i freeze them, i make them just as shown and put them real close together on a banking sheet like shown (not touching) i freeze the tray like that overnight, then the next morning i take the little frozen logs off the tray and put them in a tupperware of gently in a ziploc bag then back into the freezer till i want to use them.

to bake them, i take them out of the over, put them on the baking sheet - leaving about an inch all around as they will puff up while baking and bake. once cooked i leave them on the trey for about 5 minutes (if you take them off the tray right away you risk them breaking - they need to set a bit) and then while they are still warm, i gently roll them in a mixture of powdered sugar with some finely ground candy canes mixed in.

muffy · Guru

Apies - my cutters aren't huge, the star cutters were about 2.5 inches max.

if memory serves me right, i got about 3 dozen, maybe a few more, once i was done (and i rolled the scraps as well.)

i iced with the almond flavoured buttercream then dusted with a bit of opal and silver coloured sanding sugars (found in specialty shops or online like here: Opal Sanding Sugar ) and they were a big hit. and the amlond icing really kicked it up a notch.

-- Edited by damon on Thursday 18th of February 2010 11:08:14 AM

CoffeeQueen · Guru

Thanks for reposting. I am going to try a few of these this year.

Dddiii · Guru

I'm drooling. No, really. Drooling. YUM!!!

I look forward to these threads every year Megan!!

Those candy cane cookies look amazing. I'll have to give them a try. There's a Mom's Club cookie swap event so if I figure out how to make them look even close to as good as yours do, they would be perfect!

I'm also going to try the chocolate cutout cookies.

kris · Guru

bumping this to the top in case anyone is in the mood to make christmas cookies . . . for the first time . . . like me!

I'm starting simple, chocolate chip but researching some of our wonderful cookie bakers threads to get some ideas to branch out!

Erin · Guru

Which ones to start with...

Michele · Senior Member

l'm really excited to try the gingerbread man recipe Megan! The girls have been asking about trying one. I think after that I will try the Chocolate Cutouts and if I am not totally fat by then I will go for the Emanadas! Thanks for sharing and with pictures no less. You are amazing. :)

LucsMama · Senior Member

I just made the easiest cookies EVER!!! I found them on pinterest.... smore cookies. All you use is break apart cookie dough, marshmallows, and chocolate. I took them too a cookie swap tonight and they were the hands down favorite!

Erin · Guru

Kari,can you post a link to the smores cookies?
I suppose I can just go stalk you there, but, if you have it handy...

Megan, Imade the peppermint sticksand they came out pretty good, but howdid you get the candy/sugar to stick?Mine were toodry toaccept the sugar,even when stillwarm...

Can you tellmyspace bar isnt working? aghhhh!!

kris · Guru

I've been taken over by Megan, april or Martha Stewart . . . I'm not sure which but I don't even know who I am anymore. My kitchen counter is LOADED with baking supplies!

today I'm making april's (I'm pretty sure they are hers)

White Chocolate Cranberry cookies

1 package white cake mix
1 stick butter or margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Craisin dried cranberries
confectioners sugar
1 can white chocolate or vanilla frosting

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix cake mix, butter, egg, chips and cranberries well. Roll into 1 inch balls and then coat them with confectioners sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Warm frosting in microwave until of glazing consistency. Drizzle over warm cookies.

Erin · Guru

Megan, I saw you are boxing cookies today on FB. I have a couple more quick questions.

(Did you see my question about how you get the sugar to stick to the candy canes?)

How far ahead do you make them, and then how do you keep them until they are ready to box? I know you freeze some uncooked, and some cooked, but do you thaw them out before boxing?

Im struggling with feeling like I need to eat or use them the very next day, and that doesnt seem right. lol.

ETA: Just looked at a close up of the cookie box and it looks like you used powdered sugar on the candy canes. Maybe that was my problem. I tried using the granulated.

-- Edited by Erin on Thursday 15th of December 2011 10:18:07 AM

LucsMama · Senior Member

Erin wrote:
Kari,can you post a link to the smores cookies?
I suppose I can just go stalk you there, but, if you have it handy...

Megan, Imade the peppermint sticksand they came out pretty good, but howdid you get the candy/sugar to stick?Mine were toodry toaccept the sugar,even when stillwarm...

Can you tellmyspace bar isnt working? aghhhh!!

http://realmomkitchen.com/7611/easy-smores-cookies/

I used sugar cookie instead of chocolate chip and it was so good!!!