recipes, Recipes, RECIPES
chocolate crinkles
you don`t need to do anything to these cookies they already look festive and read bottom of recipe for some variations.
i like to add the ingredients list and what to do with them in each step as they come up, i find it`s a lot easier than reading the full ingredients list, then having to match it with each step.
1\4 c. butter/margarine
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1\2 c. chocolate chips semi sweet or bitter sweet or 4 squares of chocolate, melted
cream butter, sugar, and 1st egg. add other 2 eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. add vanilla and melted chocolate and mix well.
2 1\2 c. flour all purpose
2 tsp. baking soda
1\2 tsp. salt
sift flour, baking soda and salt together and add to mixture. form a ball as you mix dough. if mixture is too sticky then add a half cup of flour to ixture and knead flour into dough. you should end up with a dough that is sticky, but not sticky enough to leave cookie dough all over your hands when you handle it, although after doing 10 or so cookies, you will get a slight build up of cookie dough o your palms. roll dough balls into 1" balls and then into icing sugar and
place on cookie sheet at least 2" apart and bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. or till cookie is firm. cool and store in a cookie jar or container. makes 6 dozen cookies.
a few tips to make 2 other flavored cookies:
if you omit the chocolate and add 1\2 cup of amaretto liqueur you will have amaretto`s. add amaretto with the chocolate for chocolate amaretto`s. you`ll need to add about a cup and a half more flour to absorb the liquid from to absorb the moisture from the 1/2 of amaretto liqueur.
filbert fingers
1 c. butter/marg. cold
3\4 c. brown sugar
2 1\2 c. flour (all purpose)
1 c. ground filberts (also known as hazelnuts)
2 to 3 tbsp. milk (or as much as needed to make the mixture hold to itself)
mix all the ingredients together, except the milk. if you have one, use a pastry cutter to mix the ingred. together till it resembles oatmeal. add
milk a little at a time till the mixture holds together when press onto your hand. take a 1 to 1 1\2 inch ball and roll into a log 2" long. place on a cookie sheet and place the logs 1\2 inch apart. they don`t rise much but enough to
turn the into one cookie if too close together. bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes or till lightly browned on bottom. cool on a wire wrack.
chocolate for dipping:
1\2 c. chocolate either chips or baking chocolate
2 tbsp. paraffin wax, it allows you to hold a cookie in your hand for a few minute before the chocolate starts to melt.
in a small saucepan bring about 2 cups of water to a full boil and then reduce to a simmer. take a slightly larger sauce pan and place the chocolate
and wax in it and place it so the larger saucepan is sitting on an angle, allowing it to sit flat on top of the smaller saucepan makes the top saucepan unstable. allow the chocolate and wax to melt on top of the first saucepan being careful not to not let the water touch the bottom of the second sauce pan. when its melted dip the ends of each log about 1\2 an inch into the chocolate. the wax will keep the chocolate from melting and sticking to your hands when eaten. its
best to dip one end of each cookie first then go back and do the other end. cool on waxed paper. store in an airtight container.
cream cheese cookies
1\2 c. butter or margarine
2 oz. cream cheese (an 8 oz. package of cream cheese cut into quarters will
give you 2 oz. per quarter)
1\3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour (all purpose)
you`ll need about 1\4 cup of jam, raspberry is best
mix the butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and flour together first with a spoon and then with your hands. shape into a log and chill in frig for 2 hours to overnight. you may freeze the dough. when ready for baking slice 1\4 inch thick pieces off the log. you may have to roll the piece into a ball and flatten out on a small plate to make dough pliable enough to roll up like a jelly roll before adding jam. roll each cookie after adding just a daub of jam as more than a daub will make it difficult to roll. place on an greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or till cookie is browned at the edges. cool. makes 3 dozen.
i made 3 logs and got 169 cookies. you will want to use about a half inch ball for each cookie. i have made these a few times and believe that this is the easiest way to make them. you could just chill the dough in a bowl and inch off pieces about 1\2 inch in size flatten them and daub with jam. then roll them in a jelly roll like fashion and bake them.
2 c. ground pecans (toasted) grind them in your food processor till they
are almost a paste, then add 1 c. butter, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and 2 tsp. vanilla. continue processing, till all the ingredients are combined. then add 2 c. cake flour, and process till well mixed in.
removed dough from processor, place into a medium sized bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 4 hours, or until dough is chilled right through. you could put the dough in the freezer for about an hour or till chilled through to the center.
roll out into one in balls, and place fairly close together on cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350. bake pecan puffs till they are firm to a light touch, if needed, bake a few more minutes. cool on a wire rack, and dust generously with icing sugar (AKA 10 x sugar or confectioner`s sugar).
2 c. ground pecans (toasted) grind them in your food processor till they
are almost a paste, then add 1 c. butter, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and 2 tsp. vanilla. continue processing, till all the ingredients are combined. then add 2 c. cake flour, and process till well mixed in.
removed dough from processor, place into a medium sized bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 4 hours, or until dough is chilled right through. you could put the dough in the freezer for about an hour or till chilled through to the center.
roll out into one in balls, and place fairly close together on cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350. bake pecan puffs till they are firm to a light touch, if needed, bake a few more minutes. cool on a wire rack, and dust generously with icing sugar (AKA 10 x sugar or confectioner`s sugar).
pecan puffs
2 c. ground pecans (toasted) grind them in your food processor till they are almost a paste, then add 1 c. butter, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and 2 tsp. vanilla. continue processing, till all the ingredients are combined. then add 2 c. cake flour, and process till well mixed in. removed dough from processor, place into a medium sized bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 4 hours, or until dough is chilled right through. you could put the dough in the freezer for about an hour or till chilled through to the center. roll out into one in balls, and place fairly close together on cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes at 350. bake pecan puffs till they are firm to a light touch, if needed, bake a few more minutes. cool on a wire rack, and dust generously with icing sugar (AKA 10 x sugar or confectioner`s sugar).
biscotti see bottom of recipe for variations.
1 c. whole almonds, toasted (i do these ahead of time, so when i am making
the cookies, i don`t have to wait for the almonds to cool, before i can use
them. you can either coarsely chop them, grind them, or leave the almonds
whole, as once they have been toasted, they cut up very well in the
finished biscotti
3/4 c. butter (melted) i usually use marg. in my baking
2/3 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). beat the sugar and eggs together. add the almond extract. in a separate bowl, sift the flour, almonds, baking powder and salt. add to the egg batter, a 1/3 at a time. mix until combined before adding the next 1/3. form dough into a ball, break into 2 balls and from each into a log about the length of your cookie sheet (leaving about 2 inches at either end, between the end dough and the end of the cookie sheet), unless you are using a small cookie sheet, then cut dough in half and use 2 small cookie sheets. after you have your log, break it in 1/2 and make 2 smaller logs. place length ways on the cookie sheet. the dough should be still be quite sticky. so sprinkling about 1/4 cup of flour over the dough as you form it a log, will be very helpful. if you need to add more flour, add it in small amounts, to avoid over doing it. if you want to flatten the dough out some to make a longer cookie, you can leave as little as 2 inches between the 2 logs, as the dough doesn't spread much while baking. don`t flatten too much (about 1/4 to a 1/2 inch thick) or the log will burn, before it is done cooking. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the log is firm. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. the
dough is fairly easy to handle, as once the log has been removed from cookie sheet, you wont be handling the log as you cut into between 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices. Place the biscotti, cut side down, back on the baking sheet. if the cookie is still hot, use a pastry knife or spatula to transfer the cookies. Bake for about 10 minutes then remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.
variations
you can use any nut you want for your biscotti, or you can switch the nuts for cranberries, cherries, raisins, chocolate chips or a combination of both nuts and fruit or chocolate chips. no extra baking time will be needed, but if the fruit you use is on the wet side from soaking in liquid (such as maraschino cherries), you may need to dry off the fruit, as well as add an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour, but don`t add that extra flour till the end. you don`t want to add it, unless you need to. add it and don`t be afraid to experiment.
fruit cocktail cookies see bottom of recipe for variations for a more festive cookie
1\2 c. marg.
1\2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 14 oz. can drained fruit cocktail
cream marg. and sugar together. beat in egg and vanilla. stir in fruit cocktail with wooden spoon. add the following dry ingred. and stir in .
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1\2 tsp. salt
1\2 tsp cinnamon
1\2 c. raisins (optional)
1\2 c. walnuts (optional)
after stirring in these dry ingred. drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet, unless your using a non-stick cookie sheet. bake at 350 degrees for 10 min. or till golden brown. makes 4 dozen.
tips:
soak raisins in hot water for 5 minutes before using them. i add 1/2 cup of coconut for that extra touch, especially at Christmas with a whole or halved maraschino cherry on top for a more festive cookie.
brown sugar cookies see bottom of recipe for tips
1 c. marg.
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
cream marg. and sugar together well. beat in egg and vanilla. then measure the following:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1\8 tsp. salt
add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir in. drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 min. makes 4 dozen.
pecans can be added to the cookie dough either ground or chopped. makes a nicer cookie.
pressing a pecan half or piece of pecan into each cookie would make this a festive xmas cookie roast the pecans at 350 degrees for about 5 to 8 minutes, then chop or grind them before adding to the cookie dough.
ice box ribbons
1 c. marg.
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1\2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1\4 tsp. salt
cream marg. and sugar. beat in egg and vanilla. stir flour, baking powder and salt together and mix in. divide the dough into 3 equal parts.
in first ball add: enough red food coloring to make a pretty pink and add 1\4 c. candied or marachino cherries chopped. glazed cherries are good too.
in second ball add: 1\3 c. melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1\3 c. chopped nuts. your favorite nut or anything you`ve got.
on third ball add: 1\3 c. coconut.
you need to pack these in 3 layers in a container so that when you slice them into 1\4 inch slices they have even stripes of each color. wrap and chill overnight or longer when ready to bake cut into 1\4 " slices and each slice into 3 pieces keeping the 3 color stripes on each piece. bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 min. makes 5 dozen cookies. when i make these i just cut slices and bake them the cookies are bigger, but for a party i`d cut each slice into 3 pieces so there would be more cookies.
an excellent good xmas cookie, they`re quite decorative!! these cookies should look like the ice cream "neapolitan". with its vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate stripes.
pecan balls or almond balls see bottom of recipe for tips and variations
1 c. butter or margarine
1/2 c. icing sugar ( also known as powered, confectioners, or 10 x sugar)
2 1/4 c. flour
1 c. pecans
2 tsp. vanilla
combine everything together in mixing bowl. mix first with spoon and then by hand to work dough till it holds together. if still a little dry add a bit ore milk till it does. shape into 1 inch balls. arrange on cookie sheet. bake at 350 for 20 minutes. while cookies are baking place 1/2 cup of icing sugar into a plastic sandwich bag. as soon as cookies have been removed from oven but cooled enough to handle, best done as hot as possible, place cookies in the icing sugar. makes 6 dozen.
almond balls: omit pecans and add one cup of ground almonds.
almond crescents: omit pecans add 2 cups of almonds. roll onto ropes as thick as your finger. cut into 2 inch lengths. pinch ends to taper. shape into crescents.
buried cherry: completely cover well drained and dried maraschino cherries and cover each with a piece of dough. bake same as above
graham crackers when i bake cheesecake, i make my own graham cracker crumbs
wet ingredients:
1\2 c. butter/margarine
1\2 c. brown sugar
1\3 c. corn syrup or 1\3 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1\2 c. water
cream butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a medium mixing bowl. add vanilla and water, mix in. then add:
dry ingredients:
2 c. graham or whole wheat flour
1 c. flour (all purpose)
1 tsp. baking powder
1\2 tsp. baking soda
1\2 tsp. salt
1\4 tsp. cinnamon
add the 6 dry ingredients into mixing bowl with wet ingredients and mix in well. i form the dough into a ball and knead for 30 seconds. the recipe says to roll out the dough paper thin on a lightly floured surface cut into 2" squares and place on an ungreased cookie sheet prick crackers with a fork and bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. i say break dough in half. spread the dough thinly over the entire surface of cookie sheet by taking small amounts and pressing onto cookie sheet till its completely covered. prick with a fork, and bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. use a pastry knife or other knife with out a sharp edge and cut into the squares while crackers are still hot from oven, this can be done before placing in oven, but i find when as the dough bakes the lines seem to get filled in by the slight rising action of the crackers. cool and store in an airtight container. has a long shelf life of at least 3 weeks to a month.
i grind these up to make crumbs for crust for cheesecake. this way i can
brag that i made the entire cheesecake myself from scratch and you can too.
caprial's jammers
2 c. flour (all purpose)
1 c. butter or margarine
3\4 c. powdered sugar
1 egg
1\2 tsp salt
about 1\3 cup of jam for filling in the hole when cookie is rolled out but
not baked
mix the flour, butter sugar, and salt together and cut in the butter with a pastry blender. then i add the egg. mix with spoon first then with your hands. form a ball slowly while kneading the dough for 30 seconds. roll into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet. press your finger into the center of cookie to make a well. fill the well with jam. when all the cookies are made bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or till edges are golden brown. cool. place in container using either waxed paper or parchment paper so the jam doesn't stick to the cookies when layered in container. keep sealed for freshness. can be frozen
empire cookies
3\4 c. golden crisco shortening
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1\4 c. flour all purpose
1 1\2 tsp. baking powder
1\4 tsp. salt
cream shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in medium bowl until light and fluffy. combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to mixture and mix together. i have found that at this point its easier to make 5 or 6 smaller balls and chill. when dough is chilled take out one ball at a time and roll out on lightly floured surface 1\4 inch thick and using a round cookie cutter cut as many circles as possible and place on ungreased cookie sheet put the remaining dough in with next ball and repeat till you have
filled the cookie sheet. bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes or till lightly browned at edges. cool and then when all the round cookies are made your ready to assemble them. take all the best looking ones and use them for the tops. take the other half of the cookies and turn them top side down and spread some raspberry jam on each one. put the other half of the cookies on top of the jammed cookies and set aside for icing.
frosting
1 1\2 c. icing sugar also known as powdered, confectioners, or ten x sugar.
its used in making frosting for cakes
1\2 tsp. almond extract
1 1\2 to 2 tbsp. hot water or more as needed
maraschino or glazed cherries quartered
combine icing sugar, almond extract, and hot water and mix together. add either a quartered maraschino or glazed cherry to each cookie as you frost each one. it holds to cookie better if added when frosting is still soft. when cookies are finished put in an airtight container layering the cookies with waxed paper between each layer so cookies aren't on touching one another. let stand overnight and the next day they`ll be perfect for eating. be careful they`ll be gone faster if you leave too many out at one
time.
banana oatmeal cookies how about something a little more healthy
3\4 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. mashed banana (about 3 medium large or 4 small bananas )
cream marg. and sugar well. beat in egg and bananas just enough to combine, do not over mix. next measure out and add these ingredients to egg and banana mixture.
1 1\2 c. flour (white or whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
1\2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1\4 tsp nutmeg
1 3\4 c. rolled oats
1\2 c. chopped nuts (your favorite)
1 c. chopped date
add these dry ingred. to wet and stir in well, do not over mix. you only want the dry ingredients wet. drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet, if you are not using a non-stick cookie sheet then grease cookie sheet first. bake at 400 degrees for 10 min. makes 4 1\2 dozen.
for a chance of pace (not necessarily Christmas related)
brownies
1 c. flour (all purpose)
4 heaping tbsp. cocoa
2 c. sugar
4 eggs lightly beaten (like for scrambled eggs)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
1 c. butter or margarine
beat butter, cocoa, and sugar till creamy. add beaten eggs and vanilla. mix. stir in the walnuts and flour. pour into a greased 9x12 baking pan or on a small cookie sheet for a thinner brownie. bake for 40 minutes in baking pan or for 25 minutes on cookie sheet. while brownies are baking make the icing.
icing
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tbsp. boiling water
mix altogether and when brownies come out of oven pour over hot brownies and spread to all 4 corners. cool and eat.
i found the icing good, but a little sweet. i only use the icing on the occasion.
Sugar Cookies Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Ingredients
2¾ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 c. butter, softened
1½ c. sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ c. sugar for rolling cookies
1 tsp finely minced lemon, lime or orange zest (if making a citrus version)
Instructions
sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. set aside. cream together the butter and 1½ cups sugar until quite light and fluffy. beat in the egg and vanilla extract. (Add the citrus zest here if using it.) fold in the dry ingredients until a soft dough forms. Refrigerate the dough for an hour or so, especially if you are working in a hot kitchen. roll the dough into about 1 inch balls. roll the balls into additional sugar before placing them on lightly greased, or preferably parchment paper lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. i like to press them down lightly with the flat bottom of a drinking glass. bake for 8-10 minutes just until the bottom edges begin to turn brown. these should still be quite light in color when baked. cool for just a few minutes the pan before transferring the cookies to wire racks to cool completely. these freeze very well for weeks in airtight containers.
makes about 2½ to 3 dozen cookies
Almond Pillow Cookies preheat oven to 350 degrees
cookie dough:
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. almond extract
2 1/4 c. flour (all purpose)
cream sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. mix in egg yolk, milk, and almond extract. blend in flour a little at a time, until well combined and chunky. cover and place in frig to cool.
filling:
1 8 oz. can of almond paste
1 tbsp. milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. almond extract
in a mixing bowl, combine all filling ingredients. beat until well combined and the mixture comes together.
using a medium cookie scoop, scoop balls of the cookie dough. roll into a ball, then flatten in the palm of your hand. take a scant tablespoon of filling (or 5 oz.) roll in a ball and place it in the middle of the flattened cookie dough. wrap the cookie dough around the ball filling and roll into a ball until smoothed. place ball on parchment lined cookie sheet and press flat with the palm of your hand. if you want clean edges use around cookie cutter to cut away the rough edges. repeat this till all the cookie dough has been filled with filling and on the cookie sheet. the cookies can be placed close together, as the cookies do not rise. bake in 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes. watch carefully, as you do not want the cookies to brown. let cookies cool on baking sheet, dust with icing sugar and serve.
old fashioned peanut butter cookies
1 c. butter or marg. (i use margarine in all my baking)
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter (i find skippy peanut butter is the best, but whatever you have on hand is fine)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour (all purpose)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
mix marg., brown sugar,and peanut butter together either by hand with a wooden mixing spoon or with an electric mixer on low (use it on medium till everything starts to blend as the mixer will slow down too much on low and may grind to a halt because low may not be powerful enough to get the blending started). remove all lumps. stir in vanilla and egg. in a separate bowl put flour, baking soda, and salt and stir to mix them together. add about a half a cup of the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture at a time making sure it is bended in before the next addition of the flour. put the dough in either plastic wrap or in a medium or large ziplock bag and refrigerate till dough is chilled right thru. when ready to bake roll out 1" balls and flatten with a fork just enough to flatten halfway to an ungreased non stick cookie sheet or spray some pam on a regular cookie sheet. i usually flatten one side and then the other side so that the imprint from the fork covers the entire top of the cookie. bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. cookie is quite solid and can be moved from the cookie sheet within seconds of coming out of the oven. cool and store, or eat. you should get about 4 dozen cookies.
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