EGGNOG MELTAWAY COOKIES
This recipe, from the Food Network kitchen, begins, “The secret to these cookies' melt-in-your-mouth texture is the confectioners' sugar, which easily comes together with almonds in a food processor. The flavors of rum, bourbon and nutmeg make the little snowball lookalikes taste just like your favorite holiday drink. “
Total:2 hr 55 min; Active: 25 min; Yield: 4 dozen cookies; Level: Easy
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 cup blanched almonds (skinless)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon bourbon
2 teaspoons rum extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (see Cook's Note)
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for serving
Directions
Watch how to make this recipe.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Put the almonds and 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until very finely ground, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and process until smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Scrape the dough off the inside of the bowl if needed. Add the bourbon and rum and vanilla extracts and pulse until smooth. Add the flour and salt and pulse until the dough forms a ball.
Roll mounded teaspoons of the dough into balls about 1 inch wide and place on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Bake, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the cookies are firm when gently pressed, completely dry and just beginning to crack at the top, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes; they will firm as they cool.
Meanwhile, put the nutmeg and remaining 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar in a pie plate or wide baking dish and mix well. Toss the warm cookies very gently in the sugar mixture until evenly coated; the cookies need to be warm for the first coating of sugar to stick. Cool the cookies on a wire rack completely, about 30 minutes, then toss again in the sugar mixture so they are very white. Sprinkle with additional grated nutmeg.
Store the cookies in a little bit of extra confectioners' sugar in an airtight container for up to a week.
Cook's Note
When 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.)
PEANUT BUTTER SNOWBALLS
This comes from the Recipe Lion Test Kitchen, and begins, “Peanut Butter Snowballs are a new twist on the classic snowball cookie recipe. This Christmas cookie recipe uses peanut butter in the filling and, instead of being dusted with powdered sugar, white chocolate coats the outside. Sprinkle the tops with silver sugar sprinkles if you want to go above and beyond (The sprinkles make them look super fancy). This 5 ingredient dessert recipe makes 24-30 balls, so make sure you share them. Otherwise, you may end up eating them all yourself before you know it!”
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 cup powdered sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
3 tablespoons soft butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
12 ounces white chocolate candy coating
sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
Line a cookie sheet with parchment or waxed paper.
Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and peanut butter in a large bowl, stirring until completely mixed and smooth.
Sprinkle the remaining powdered sugar on a clean work surface and form the dough into a log shape 12 inches long. Cut into inch pieces and roll each between your palms to make smooth balls. Place on the prepared bake sheet and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In a medium bowl, melt the candy coating in 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring until completely smooth. Dip the balls into the candy coating, return to the lined sheet and add sprinkles as desired while coating is still wet. Return to the refrigerator until ready to serve.
CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD COOKIES
A cookie that is quite simply - heavenly!
Yield: 24 servings
Serving size: 1 cookie
View online with photo: http://diabeticgourmet.com/recipes/html/1156.shtml
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons flour
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place the butter, Splenda Granulated Sweetener, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Mix, using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer until the mixture is light and creamy (approx. 1-1 1/2 minutes). Add cocoa powder and all the flour. Mix until just blended.
Remove dough from bowl and form into a ball. Place the ball of dough on the parchment lined pan. Roll the dough into a rectangle approx. 6 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Pierce the surface of the dough with a fork all over. This allows the air to escape during baking preventing air pockets from forming.
Bake in preheated 375 degrees F oven 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes of baking. Remove shortbread from oven after 20-25 minutes and immediately cut into 24 fingers or rectangles while the shortbread is still warm. If allowed to cool, shortbread will not slice well.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 120; Calories from Fat: 5; Protein: 1 g; Fat: 8 g; Sodium: 25 mg; Cholesterol: 20 mg; Saturated Fat: 5 g; Dietary Fiber: 1 g ; Sugars: 2 g ; Carbohydrates: 10 g
GINGER-MOLASSES COOKIES
This is from Alison Roman in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. The recipe begins, “Think of these cookies as a cross between a gingerbread man and a chewy molasses cookie. Adding molasses gives them a softer texture with a decidedly adult, almost caramel flavor. Instead of rolling or slicing these cookies, this rich, soft dough is perfect for rolling into balls and coating in coarse sugar before baking. The dough can even be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated, or baked 2 days ahead and stored at room temperature.”
Yield: About 2 dozen cookies; Time: 45 minutes
T his can be found online here.
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 3/4 cup pearl, Demerara or coarse sugar, for rolling
Do ahead: Cookie dough can be made 5 days ahead, refrigerated. Bring dough to room temperature before rolling. Cookies can be baked 2 days ahead, wrapped tightly and stored at room temperature.
Preparation
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and allspice.
In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter, molasses and sugar on medium-high until the mixture is superlight, fluffy and pale, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat until everything is well combined, again stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary.
Add dry ingredients all at once, and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes, until firm enough to roll.
Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Using your hands, roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls, then roll them in coarse sugar. (Sanding sugar is festive, but turbinado or coarse sugar will do the trick as well.) If dough becomes too soft to roll, put back in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. Place balls on a parchment-lined baking tray 2 inches apart and bake until the cookies are puffed, golden brown around the edges and baked through and the tops spring back slightly when touched, 12 to 15 minutes.
THE $250 COOKIE RECIPE
This comes from Barbara Whitaker, also in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Barbara wrote, “Almost everybody has heard the one about the woman lunching at the Neiman Marcus Cafe in Dallas, who enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies so much that she asked for the recipe. For "only two-fifty," the waitress said, it was hers. But when the credit card bill arrived, the woman found the total near $300. Turns out the recipe cost $250, the story goes. In 1997, after years of enduring the myth, Neiman Marcus came up with a recipe – and gave it out for free. It's a delicious variation on chocolate chip cookies, using ground oatmeal, nuts and adding extra chocolate with a grated Hershey bar (you can use any brand you love).” Guess that the woman from Dallas probably gave the recipe out to everyone and anyone and that after it got around, there was little choice on N.M.’s side but to let it out for free. Moral? Don’t p.o. your customers!
Yield: About 55 cookies; Time: 45 minutes.
The recipe was featured in “The $250 Cookie Recipe Exposed”, and can be viewed online here.
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
12 ounces chocolate chips
1 4-ounce milk chocolate bar
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts
Preparation
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream together butter and both sugars. Stir in eggs and vanilla.
Finely grind oatmeal in a blender or food processor. Combine the oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and soda in a medium bowl, and slowly add it to the wet ingredients. Beat just until combined. Grate chocolate bar using a microplane grater and add it, along with chocolate chips and nuts to the batter. Mix just to combine.
Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.
APRICOT AND NUT COOKIES WITH AMARETTO ICING
This is from Giada De Laurentiis of The Food Network’s Everyday Italian.
Total: 2 hr 49 min; Prep: 4 min; Inactive: 2 hr 30 min; Cook: 15 min; Yield: 2 to 2 1/2 dozen cookies; Level: Easy
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
Cookies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
Icing:
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
5 to 7 tablespoons almond flavored liqueur (recommended: Amaretto)
Directions
For the Cookies: In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg. Stir in the flour until just blended. Mix in the apricots, almonds, and pine nuts.
Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log, about 12-inches long and 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Wrap the dough in the plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 heavy baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cut the dough log crosswise into 1/4 to 1/2 inch-thick slices. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly apart. Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
For the Icing: Place the confectioners' sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Gradually whisk in the almond flavored liqueur, until the mixture is of drizzling consistency.
Place the wire rack over a baking sheet. Using a spoon or fork, drizzle the cookies with the icing, allowing any excess icing to drip onto the baking sheet. Allow the icing to set before serving, about 30 minutes.
