Christmas cookies galore (10 recipes)!!!
| December 23, 2009 | Posted by ameliaps under caramel, chocolate, cinnamon, coconut, cookies, cranberry, currants, dessert, holidays, nuts, oranges, peppermint, raisins, raspberry, rum, sugar, winter |
Merry Christmas (and happy holidays to everyone that does not celebrate Christmas)!!!
Baking is in the air and the house smells like sugar dust!
Here are a few cookie recipes:
1. Chocolate-peppermint wafers
2. Chocolate-coconut Needhams with Chocolate Dip
3. Old-world raspberry bars
4. Cranberry-orange cookies
5. Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies
6. Frosty snowballs
7. Rum-currant cookies
8. Cinnamon raisin cookies
9. Chocolate saltine bark
10. Ooey-Gooey Turtle Bars
Chocolate-peppermint wafers
(recipe from “real simple” magazine)
They look like little sugar plum fairies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for shaping the cookies
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 oz. chocolate
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated (the dough will be stiff). Shape into a disk and (unless otherwise specified in an individual recipe) refrigerate, wrapped, for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
Divide the basic sugar cookie dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each piece out ¼ inch thick. Cut into squares with a 2-inch cookie cutter. Refrigerate on baking sheets until firm.
Bake at 350° F on parchment-lined baking sheets until just beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Dip cookies in melted chocolate and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies. Chill until set.
Chocolate-coconut Needhams with Chocolate Dip
(family recipe from my co-worker, Amber)
There’s a “surprise” ingredient that makes these bites moist and fluffy…
These “potato candies” are originally from Maine.
1 stick of butter
¾ cup mashed potatoes
½ tsp salt
½ lb coconut
2 pkgs of confectioners sugar (2 lbs)
2 tsp vanilla
Melt butter and stir in the other ingredients. Butter a 9 x 11 glass pan and spread mixture in pan; cool in fridge. Once the mixture is solid (recommend several hours) slice it into small squares.
Melt the following ingredients together in a double boiler.
1 – 12 oz bag of semi–sweet chocolate chips
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
Dip coconut squares in chocolate. Set dipped squares on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Cool in the fridge.
Old-world raspberry bars
(recipe from Land O Lakes butter)
Just a handful of ingredients…
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup Butter, softened
1 Egg
Filling Ingredients:
3/4 cup raspberry preserves
Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crumb mixture ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 2 cups crumb mixture; set aside.
Press remaining crumb mixture on bottom of greased 8-inch square baking pan. Spread preserves to within 1/2 inch of edge. Crumble reserved crumb mixture over preserves.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely; cut into bars.
Recipe Tip: if using a dark or nonstick baking pan, reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes.
Cranberry orange cookies
(recipe from Baking Bites)
Light, buttery, zesty
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 large egg
zest of one large orange (about 1 tbsp)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar, beating with an electric mixer until light. Beat in egg and orange zest. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add in the flour mixture, stirring only until just combined. Stir in the cranberries.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (about 1 1/4-inch balls) onto prepared cookie sheets and bake for 9-12 minutes, until edges are very lightly browned. Cool for 3-4 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 4 dozen.
Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies
Apparenty this recipe is an urban myth… the story goes that Neiman-Marcus charged a shopper $250 for its cookie recipe, not the $2.50 the woman had been expecting to pay and, as revenge on the store for refusing to reverse the charge, she gave the recipe for free to everyone. I checked the story on snopes.com and it’s…yes, well, you guessed,…false. Nonetheless the cookies are delicious! 
(Recipe may be halved):
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
2 cups sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal**
24 oz. chocolate chips
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)
2 tsp. vanilla
Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.
** Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
Frosty snowballs
(recipe from Better Homes & Gardens)
These are basically Russian tea cakes, a.k.a. Mexican wedding cookies.
1 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Green, pink, and purple edible cake sparkles or colored sugar
In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar; beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in water and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour and the chopped pecans.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in a 325 degree F oven 20 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool completely.
In each of three bowls place 1/3 cup of the sifted powdered sugar. Add a different color of edible cake sparkles or colored sugar to each bowl. Gently roll and shake cooled cookies in desired powdered sugar mixture. Makes 36.
Rum-currant cookies
(recipe adapted from Martha Stewart)
Makes 6 dozen.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/3 cup rum
1/2 cup dried currants
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until smooth. Add 1 egg, the flour, rum, and currants; mix until well combined.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes (such as 2-inch card shapes). Whisk together remaining egg and the cream in a small bowl, and brush cookies with egg wash. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake until pale golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days
Cinnamon raisin cookies
(my friend Melissa gave me this recipe: it’s from her great-grandmother – transcribed exactly as hand-written by her!)
Fluffy soft “pillows” delicious dunked in coffee or tea (just don’t look at the fact that they include shortening and you’ll be just fine!)
First, add 1 cup of water to 2 cups of raisens & boil for 5mins, then allow to cool (don’t drain) while this is going on, do the following:
Cream 1 cup of shortening (yikes)
Add 2 cups of sugar
Add 3 eggs and beat well
Add 1 tsp vanilla
Add cooled raisin/water mixture (doesn’t have to be that cool)
Add flour/dry seasonings mixture (see below)
Mix well
Drop spoon on cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 8mins, makes approx 3 dozen
Flour/dry seasonings mixture:
4 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
Chocolate saltine bark
An easy last-minute preparation for a cookie exchange.
35 saltine crackers
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
toffee bits or chopped walnuts for topping
Line a sheet cake pan with foil or parchment paper. Lay crackers on the pan in a single layer.
Stirring frequently, melt butter and sugar together in a small saucepan. Stir until bubbly.
Pour butter mixture over crackers. Spread with a spoon. Bake at 400° for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to the oven for 2 minutes.
Spread melted chocolate chips evenly over crackers.
Top with chopped walnuts or toffee bits.
Set aside to cool. Refrigerate until set. Break crackers into pieces for serving.
Ooey-Gooey Turtle Bars
(recipe from Pillsbury)
Chocolate, caramel, pecans and grahams…a sticky sweet mess 
1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated sugar cookies
1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
3 cups Chopped Pecans
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 jar (12.25 oz) Caramel Ice Cream Topping
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (16 squares)
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Press cookie dough evenly in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch pan.
Sprinkle 1 cup of the chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups of the pecans over dough; lightly press into dough. Set aside.
In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar, caramel topping and graham cracker crumbs. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Pour over crust in pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 1/2 cups pecans.
Bake 25 to 32 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown and pecans are lightly toasted. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes; loosen sides from pan, but do not cut. Cool completely, about 3 hours longer. (For firmer bars, let stand an additional 2 hours.) For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.
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Those two bars-Rasberry and Turtle-are mind kind of cookies. Chunky, bumby, and full of butter-yum! Hope your Christmas was fabulous Amelia. Here's to a wonderful, and tasty, 2010! xoxo, Jodi