Cookies

It is winter time. The temperature is down to almost zero. What can be better than a variety of cookies to bring the spirits up!! I am really looking forward to baking cookies with all my students and this time some of you will be the teachers sharing your family favorites.

 Thank you to all of you who have shared the recipes below.

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Swedish Butter Cookies from Nanny Beaver

(Shared by Sarah Pollock)

Ingredients:

• 1 C butter (not marg)
• 1 C sugar
• yolk of 1 egg, unbeaten
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/2 t lemon extract
• flour to stiffen (about 3 C) 

Directions:

1. Cream together sugar, egg yolk, and butter.  Add vanilla and lemon extract.  

2. Add flour.  Knead mixture a few times to mix in flour.  

3. Run through cookie press onto lightly greased pan.  

4. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.

(Cookie press may take a bit of practice.  Be patient.) 

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Zidish German Christmas Cookies

(Shared by Sarah Pollock)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. butter
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 c. pecans, chopped
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• Confectioner’s sugar 

Directions:

1. Combine butter, sugar, flour and vanilla into a dough. Mix in nuts. 

2. Roll dough into balls about the size of a whole pecans.

3. Bake in preheated oven at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. 

4. Cool, roll in powdered sugar while still warm.

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Honey, Anise & Almond Biscotti 

(Shared by Maureen)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup honey
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 2 teaspoons aniseed crushed
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted

Directions:

1. Whisk oil, sugar, honey, eggs, lemon peel, aniseed & vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt, mix well. Mix in flour then nuts. Cover an refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350° F. Cover two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon out dough in 3 equal strips leaving lots of space between them. Using well floured hands shape strips into 2 inch wide by 1 inch high logs.
3. Bake logs until just springy to the touch, about 20 minutes, turning sheets after 10 minutes in the oven. Cool for 15 minutes.
4. Using a large spatula, gently transfer logs to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut each log into ½ inch thick slices. Arrange cut side down on baking sheets. Bake until bottoms are brown, about 7 minutes. Turn cookies and bake until the new bottoms are brown, about 7 more minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.

Makes about 48 cookies. 

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Chocolate-Toffee Cookies

(shared by Maureen)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 pound bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped
•  ¼ cup butter
• 1 ¾ cup brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 5 1.4 ouce chocolate covered toffee bars (ie Health or Skor) coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chopped walnuts 

Directions:

1. Place chocolate and butter in a large microwavable bowl. Microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Cool to lukewarm.
2. Beat sugar an eggs in a bowl until thick & shinny, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture and vanilla. 

3. Stir in the Baking powder & salt. Mix in flour till combined then add toffee and nuts. Chill batter   until firm, about 45 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto sheets. 

5. Bake just until tops are dry and cracked, but cookies are still soft to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove from sheets only once mostly cool.

Makes 18 – 30 cookies, depending upon size. 

Chocolate Toffee Cookies just out of the oven

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Maureen’s Ginger Spice Cookies 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup copped crystallized ginger
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup mild flavored molasses
• sugar for coating 

Directions:

1. Combine first six ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix in crystallized ginger. In a separate large bowl beat together brown sugar, shortening and butter until fluffy. Add egg and molasses, beat until blended. Add flour mixture and mix until just blended. Refrigerate for one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spoon sugar in a thick layer onto a small plate. Wet hands and form dough into 1¼ “ balls. Roll in sugar until completely coated. Place balls on baking sheets 2” apart. Bake cookies until cracked on top but still soft to the touch, about 12 minutes. Cool for several minutes on the trays before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes about 30 cookies.   

Ginger Spice Cookies

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Lime Meltaways

The recipe for these delicious cookies is adapted from  "Martha Stewart's Cookies."

Yield - Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• Finely grated zest of 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

1.     Put butter and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add lime zest and juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy.

2.     Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.

3.     Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of plastic wrap. Roll in plastic wrap to form a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.

4.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, sprinkle the remaining 2/3 cup sugar on the cookies. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Lime Meltaways ready for the cookie tray

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Rosemary Shortbread With Variations

(adapted from a recipe in the New York Times)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 to 2 teaspoons rosemary, chestnut or other dark, full-flavored honey (optional).

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, rosemary and salt. Add butter, and honey if desired, and pulse to fine crumbs. Pulse a few more times until some crumbs start to come together, but don't overprocess. Dough should not be smooth
2. Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of plastic wrap. Roll in plastic wrap to form a log 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.
3. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes for 9-inch pan, 45 to 50 minutes for 8-inch. 
4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares, bars or wedges while still warm.

Yield: 30-40 pieces

Rosemary Shortbread

Plain Shortbread: Use this as the base for the variations. Omit rosemary and honey.

Vanilla Bean Shortbread: Split a vanilla bean in half lengthwise and use back of a knife to scrape out pulp. Pulse pulp into flour-sugar mixture before adding butter. In addition, you could also add up to 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract with the butter.

Citrus Shortbread: Add 1 to 1½ teaspoons finely grated lemon, lime or orange zest with the flour. Add up to 1 teaspoon orange blossom water with butter if desired. These are classic with poppy seeds.

Nut Shortbread: Grind ½ cup toasted nuts in food processor with flour before adding remaining ingredients. Flavor with spices, citrus or rosemary if desired.

Spice or Seed Shortbread: Add up to 1 teaspoon spices such as ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg or cardamom, or seeds such as caraway or anise (or up to 3 tablespoons poppy or sesame seeds). Or, add up to ¼ teaspoon allspice or mace, with or without a pinch of ground cloves. You can use a spice by itself, or in any combination you like, but don't use them all at once.

Brown or Maple Sugar Shortbread: Substitute 1/3 cup dark brown sugar or maple sugar for granulated sugar. This is especially good if you also use nuts. Add spices, seeds, citrus flavorings or rosemary if desired.

Cornmeal or Whole Wheat Shortbread: Substitute up to ½ cup cornmeal or whole wheat flour for ½ cup all-purpose flour. Add spices, seeds, citrus flavorings or rosemary if desired.

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Chocolate Lace Sandwiches

Makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoon (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons grated orange rind
• 4 oz milk or dark chocolate for filling

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Combine the sugar, vanilla, and egg whites in a bowl and beat with a whisk for a few seconds until foaming. Add the flour, butter, and orange rind, mixing them in well. (The batter will be liquidy as shown below.)

3. Drop about 1 tablespoon of batter for each cookie onto the prepared pan, spread the batter to form a 3" circle, leaving at least 2 inches between the mounds to allow for spreading. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.

4. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. When the cookies have cooled, spread 1t melted chocolate on one cookie and cover with another to form a sandwich. 

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Fettigmans ready for consumption

Fettigman

Shared by Diane Rathbun

Ingredients:

• 5 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 6 T sugar
• 6 T cream
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t cardamom powder
• about 3 Cups flour (to make rollable dough)

Directions:

1. Beat eggs, add sugar and mix well. Add cream, cardamom and salt. Mix well. Add flour to form a dough that can be rolled out.
2. Roll to 1/4" thickness and cut into diamond shapes, put a slit in the center of each diamond. Insert one corner of the diamond into the slit and gently pull until you form a knot as shown below. 
3. Deep fry in oil at 370F for 2-4 minutes (until golden brown). Dust with confectioner's sugar.        

Fettigman right out of the fryer

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Sarah's Peanut Butter Balls