Besides being
Taco Tuesday, it's also
Double-Post Tuesday. Today's double post deals with
cookies.
It seems that the winter holidays are the perfect time for cookies. Between cookie exchanges, cookie platters at work and school, and gift-giving, there's always room (and time) for cookies.
Here are six cookie recipes to help start your holiday cookie baking, including
Gingerbread Reindeer and
Cheesecake-Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies. Enjoy!
SANTA’S TRASH COOKIESThis recipe is from Lindsay Conchar at
Delish, and begins, “Even Santa has a naughty side.”
To view this online, click
here.Note: Linday’s blog,
Life, Love and Sugar is definitely worth checking out. I’ll wait while you do that!
Total Time: 25 minutes; Cook Time: 8 minutes; Level: Easy; Makes: 28 cookies
Ingredients3/4 c. cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 c. crushed potato chips
1/3 c. Crushed Pretzels
1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp. red and green sprinkles
Flaky sea salt, for garnish
DirectionsPreheat oven to 350ยบ and line two cookie sheets with parchment.
Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
Mix in egg and vanilla.
In another large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until smooth. Dough will be thick.
Gently stir in chips, pretzels, chocolate chips, and sprinkles.
Make tablespoon size balls of dough. Slightly press them down onto the cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake until edges are just starting to get golden, 7 to 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
CHEESECAKE-STUFFED RED VELVET COOKIESThis comes from
the Food Network Kitchen, and begins, “The classic flavors of red velvet cake are transformed into cookies with the cream cheese baked right inside.”
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes; Active Time: 30 minutes; Yield: 12 cookies; Level: Easy
To view this online, click
here.IngredientsFilling:One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Cookies:1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled (see
Cook's Note)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, scooped and leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Confectioners' sugar, for coating
DirectionsWatch how to make this recipe.Make the filling: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling at a time onto the parchment so that you have 12 dollops. Freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
Make the cookies: Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together the granulated sugar, butter, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and eggs in another bowl. Fold the flour mixture into the sugar mixture with a rubber spatula until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes (it will still be soft).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Coat your hands generously with confectioners' sugar and scoop a heaping tablespoon of the cookie dough into your hand. Put one of the frozen cream cheese dollops in the middle of the dough and place another tablespoon of the dough on top of the cream cheese. Shape the dough around it to completely enclose the cream cheese, and then roll to coat in the confectioners' sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough and cream cheese, coating your hands in confectioners' sugar as needed.
Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are firm around the edges and can be easily lifted with a spatula, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the trays for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Cook's NoteWhen measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)
HOLIDAY SWIRLED SUGAR COOKIESThis comes from
the Food Network Kitchen. Total Time: 4 hours; Active Time: 1 hour; Yield: 24 cookies; Level: Easy
To view this online, click
here.IngredientsCookies:2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (see
Cook's Note)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Royal Icing:One 1-pound box confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
Red and green gel food coloring
Edible glitter or sprinkles, for decorating, optional
DirectionsWatch how to make this recipe.Special equipment: a 2-inch round cookie cutter
For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium high, add the vanilla and egg and beat until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just combined. Shape the dough into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Generously dust a work surface with confectioners' sugar. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch, dusting with more confectioners' sugar as needed. (Return the dough to the refrigerator if it gets too soft.) Cut out shapes with a 2-inch round cookie cutter and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 1 hour.
Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies, rotating the pans halfway through, until lightly browned around the edges, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets.
For the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 7 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding up to 8 tablespoons water if necessary to make a smooth icing that thickly coats the back of a spoon.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and set a cooling rack on top.
Put 1/4 cup icing into each of 2 small bowls. Add 9 drops red food coloring to one bowl and stir until evenly combined. Add 2 drops green food coloring to the second bowl and stir until evenly combined. Pour the remaining white icing into a clean rimmed baking sheet and spread or shake to evenly coat it. Drizzle the red icing all over the white, then drizzle the green icing over both. One at a time, put the cookies face-side down in the baking sheet icing. Take the cookies out one at a time, shaking gently to let excess icing drip off, and place right-side up on the prepared cooling rack. Decorate with edible glitter or sprinkles if desired. Let the icing harden completely before serving, about 1 hour.
Cook's NoteWhen measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)
CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIE FORESTThis comes from
the Food Network Kitchen, and begins, “Make your cookie platter vertical (and extra-impressive!) with this 3D Christmas tree forest. Chilling the dough after it's cut helps the shapes stay sharp during baking.”
Total Time: 10 hours; Active: 2 hours 30 minutes; Yield: 6 tree cookies; Level: Intermediate
To view this online, click
here.IngredientsDough:4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see
Cook's Note)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3 sticks (24 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Royal Icing:1 pound (about 3 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar, plus more for thickening and decorating the forest
2 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Forest green gel food coloring
White sprinkles, for decorating
DirectionsWatch how to make this recipe.Special equipment: tree-shaped cookie cutters (we used 4-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch cutters); 2 pastry bags; 2 small no. 4 round tips
For the dough: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together the vanilla and 2 eggs in a small bowl.
Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Once they are incorporated, increase the speed to medium and, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, beat until slightly creamy, about 3 minutes.
Reduce the speed to low, slowly pour in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, increasing the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning and scraping down the sides of the bowl and the beaters as needed. Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes.
Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together on a clean surface. Divide into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into a flat square and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
To cut and bake the forest: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment.
Dust your work surface with flour and roll out a piece of dough until about 1/4-inch thick. Keep the other piece refrigerated while you work. Punch out shapes in the dough with tree cookie cutters of various sizes and cut off the dough trunks; for every 3D tree you will need 2 tree cutouts of the same size so punch out the shapes in pairs. For our forest we used 4-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch cutters. Put the trees on the prepared baking sheets and chill while you roll and cut trees from the remaining dough. Combine the scraps of the 2 squares. Chill again, reroll and cut out more trees You should have 8 to 10 pairs of trees, depending on the size of your cutters. Freeze the cutout cookies for at least 30 minutes.
Rearrange the cookies on the baking sheets so that the pairs are next to each other. For the first cookie of each pair, use a sharp paring knife to cut a 1/2-inch-wide slot from the bottom to a little more than halfway up the cookie. For the second cookie of each pair, cut a similar slot but from the top of the tree down to a little past the middle. You will fit the cookies together with these slots after they are baked. Return the cookies to the freezer for 30 minutes more.
Whisk together the remaining egg with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Brush a thin layer of egg wash on the cookies right before baking.
Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets front to back and bottom to top about halfway through, until golden brown and dry on top, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets set on a cooling rack, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and vanilla in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, about 2 minutes, adding up to 1 tablespoon more water, if needed.
Remove a third of the royal icing and place it in a pastry bag fitted with a small no. 4 round tip. Color the remaining icing with the green food coloring, one drop at a time, until it's a shade you like. If the frosting is still very stiff, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of water. Fill a second pastry bag fitted with another small no. 4 round tip with the green frosting.
Use a sharp paring knife to shave the cookie edges so they are smooth and flat: Pay attention to the tree bottoms (so the trees will stand straight) and the inner edges of the slots. Assemble the trees by sliding the top-slot trees into the bottom-slot trees. Shave the cookies as needed for a smooth fit, then disassemble them and place the pieces on a flat surface. Don't worry if a tree breaks; glue the pieces together with green royal icing.
To decorate the forest: Decorate each cookie with the green icing, leaving a blank strip up the center without icing; this is where the pieces will fit together. We used a zigzag line of green on each side. Sprinkle with white sprinkles while the icing is still wet. Let set until firm, 30 to 45 minutes. Turn the cookies over and decorate the backs in the same fashion. Let set until firm, 30 to 45 minutes.
Assemble the trees. Pipe a thin line of white icing on the outer edges of the trees for snow. Let set before serving, 30 to 45 minutes. Arrange the trees on a serving platter to create a forest. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar for snow.
Cook's NoteWhen measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.) If you don't have tree-shaped cutters, you can make a stencil. Use a ruler to draw the outline of a tree on paper. Cut it out and use it as a guide for trimming the dough with a paring knife.
GINGERBREAD REINDEERThis cute cookie recipe also comes from
the Food Network Kitchen, and begins, “These cookies turn gingerbread on its head -- literally. Flipping gingerbread men upside down provides the perfect shape to decorate the cookies to look like reindeer. Leave some out for Santa and his reindeer and they will most certainly be impressed.”
Total Time: 6 hours; Active Time: 1 hour; Yield: 18 gingerbread reindeer; Level: Intermediate.
To view this online, click
here.Ingredients2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (see
Cook's Note)
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, at room temperature
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg
One 1-pound box confectioners' sugar
5 tablespoons meringue powder
Black gel food coloring
Brown gel food coloring
18 red cinnamon candies
DirectionsWatch how to make this recipe.Special equipment: a 4-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter
Whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, allspice, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until well blended.
Beat the granulated sugar and butter with an electric mixer in a large bowl starting on low speed and increasing to medium, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the molasses until combined, then beat in the egg (the mixture will look curdled). Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture a little at a time until the mixture comes together. Then increase the speed to medium and beat until well incorporated and a sticky dough forms. Divide the dough in half, flatten into 2 disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Keeping one disk refrigerated, roll the other disk on a well-floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch, sprinkling flour on and under the dough as needed and sliding a spatula underneath every so often to prevent sticking. If the dough looks crackly or breaks apart, press it back together from the outside edge in. With a 4-inch gingerbread man cookie cutter, cut out cookies as close together as possible. Pull away the extra dough around each shape and use a small spatula to transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Gather together the scraps, leaving behind the excess flour, knead a few times to form a smooth dough again and reroll in the same way. (If there are any pieces of stuck dough on your surface, scrape them away with a spatula, flour the surface again and then continue to roll the dough.)
Bake the cookies in the center of the oven racks, rotating them from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until slightly firm to the touch but not brown, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely before icing. The cookies will continue to firm as they cool. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
Meanwhile, make the royal icing for decorating. Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 6 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on low until the icing thickens. The icing should be pure white and thick, but not fluffy and bubbly. (If overbeaten, it will get aerated, which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the icing sit for a bit to settle, then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth it out.)
Spoon about 1/3 cup of icing into each of 3 separate bowls (cover any remaining icing with plastic wrap and reserve in case you need more). Leave 1 bowl white. Dye the second bowl black and the third light brown. Thin out the light brown icing with 1 teaspoon water. Transfer the icing to separate resealable plastic bags. Snip a very tiny hole in the corner of the white and black icing bags, and snip a larger hole in the corner of the light brown icing bag.
Place each cookie right side up in front of you. With the black icing, pipe an outline around the head of each cookie, around the arms and across the chest with a bowed line. Turn the gingerbread man upside down so it is standing on its head; now you can see the shape of the reindeer's head. Pipe black antlers coming out of the top of the head, over the gingerbread man's legs and feet.
Using the loose light brown icing, flood each reindeer's head, using a toothpick to nudge the icing into any tight spots. Place a red cinnamon candy in the center of each face for the nose. Dry until set, 40 minutes to 1 hour.
Once the brown base has dried, pipe on the rest of the face. Pipe 2 white dots above the nose for the whites of the eyes, and 2 white dots on the underside of the ears for downy fur. Use the black icing to pipe a smiling mouth and eyebrows. Once the white icing has slightly dried, pipe in black pupils. Give your reindeer some personality! Let the icing dry until hardened, 1 hour or ideally overnight.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days, but are best eaten fresh.
Cook's NoteWhen measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)
CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIESFind this recipe at:
http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/1077.shtmlYield: 40 cookies
Serving size: 1 cookie
Ingredients1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons trans-free margarine, softened
1/2 cup SPLENDA Sugar Blend
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
DirectionsPreheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine flour, oats, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
In bowl of electric mixer, beat margarine and SPLENDA Sugar Blend on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes, or until light and aerated. Beat in eggs for 1 minute, or until light. Beat in vanilla and almond extract. Stir in dry ingredients.
Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto lightly greased baking sheets and flatten each with the back of a fork dipped in water.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or just until puffed and no longer shiny on top. Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 50; Calories from Fat: 20; Protein: 1 g; Fat: 2 g; Sodium: 55 mg; Cholesterol: 10 mg; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g; Carbohydrates: 7 g
