Cookies

December 1, 2009

Our cookie fete, graciously hosted by Shauna Summers, was a most perfect way to inaugurate the holiday season. Thanks to all for the cookies and the delightfully enjoyable company.

Speaking of inaugurations: we'll kick off the new year right with an inaugural 2010 gathering at Natalie Willes' home on Tuesday, January 5. Theme to follow.
















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Toffee Studded Snickerdoodles (Natalie Willes)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) HEATH BITS 'O BRICKLE Toffee Bits
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400°F.

2. Beat butter, shortening and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs; beat thoroughly. Stir together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in toffee bits.

3. Stir together remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-1/4-inch balls; roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 5 dozen cookies.

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Almond Cookies (Tara Kerr)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 2 tablespoons milk

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and almond extract; mix until fluffy. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; mix well.
3. Divide dough into 4 pieces, and roll each one into a log about 12 inches long. Place 2 logs per cookie sheet 4 to 5 inches apart. Flatten each roll by hand until it is about 3 inches wide. Brush flattened roll with milk and sprinkle with sliced almonds.
4. Bake in preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. While the cookies are still warm, cut them crosswise at a diagonal, into slices about 1 inch wide. When cool, drizzle with almond icing.
5. Almond icing: In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle over the cookies.

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Snowballs (Brecken Cook)
AKA Mexican Somethings AKA Russian Somethings

1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration
1/4 cup finely crushed peppermint candy canes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cream the butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla. Mix in the flour, nuts and salt. Roll about 1 tablespoon or so of dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Do not allow these cookies to get too brown. It's better to undercook them than to overcook them. While cookies are still hot roll them in confectioners' sugar. Once they have cooled roll them in confectioners' sugar once more.

Variation: add some finely crushed candy canes to the confectioners' sugar used for the final dusting.

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Dried Cranberry Shortbread (Sariah Toronto)
Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies 2001

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped dried cranberries or cherries
  

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.with a rack in center. Combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon until combined but not too creamy. Stir in dried cranberries.
2. Pat dough evenly into an 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan. Bake until just beginning to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Place pan on cooling rack until cool enough to touch, about 20 minutes. Run knife around edges, remove shortbread, and transfer, right side up, to work surface. Use 1 1/2- to 2-inch heart cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Use a paring knife to trim stray bits of cranberry from edges. Cookies will keep for 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

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Outrageous Double Chocolate-White Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Margo Blair)

Betty Crocker

1 bag (24 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package (6 oz) white baking bars, cut into chunks (I substituted 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips)

1 cup pecan or walnut halves

1. Heat oven to 350. Heat 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips in 1-quartsaucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Cool to room temperature, but do not allow chocolate to become firm.

2. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla in bowl with elecric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and melted chocolate until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in remaining 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips, the white baking bar chinks and pecan halves.

3. Drop dough by level 1/4 cupfulls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until set. Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

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Slade’s Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies (Emily Nelson)

Preheat oven to 385.

2 cups sugar

2 cup brown sugar

1 lb. butter (room temp)

4 eggs

- cream sugar, butter and eggs, then add…

1 t. salt

2 t. baking soda

2 t. baking powder

2 t. vanilla

4 cups flour

5 cups quick oats

2 packages of chocolate chips or chunks or to taste (I like 1 package of semi-sweet and one package of milk chocolate)

Place in large balls on cookie sheet, about 6 cookies per sheet.

Bake 8-11 mins. Then let cool on sheet for 2 mins. before placing on wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen large cookies

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Peppermint Oatmeal Cookies (Shauna Summers)

1 cup butter, beat until creamy, then gradually add...
1/2 cup sugar, then add...
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla, when mixed add...
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup oats (either quick or regular)
1/3 cup crushed peppermint candies

Cover dough and chill for one hour, then dust counter with powdered sugar and roll out to desired thickness. Cut into the cookies (I used a juice glass, but have also made Christmas shapes). Place on cookies sheets (I cover mine with foil and spray w/ Pam--they do stick some) and bake at 350 for 8-11 minutes. Cool completely then ice. Makes 2-3 dozen cookies

ICING
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup half and half (I use more and/or a little water, if necessary for desired consistency)
1 tsp. peppermint extract

Ice cookies and/or use sprinkles to be fancy. Or to be really fancy do the following:

Separate 1/4 cup icing and color with red food coloring. Put this red icing into a cake decorating tube with smallest nozzle (or just put it in a sandwich bag and snip off a teensy corner with scissors.)

To frost, use knife to ice with white icing first, then immediate stripe with red icing. Then take a toothpick and make swirls going ACROSS the stripes. This makes the cookies look like Christmas tree ornaments sort of. (Remember, you can't get the desired effect once the frosting sets, so it's important to do white/red/swirl in a timely fashion).