December 8: Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

I bought some starlight mints the other day, and I’ve been itching to use them. (You’ll see why in a minute.)

I pinned these a few days ago because they looked pretty. But the instructions, as I discovered, are written by pretentious cookie snobs who want to make sure you are doing everything exactly right. Dear Control Freaks: You can’t control everything.

This is my butter/crisco/sugar mix. According the instructions, this is supposed to be pale and fluffy. (“In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, on medium speed, whip together butter, shortening and sugar until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed.”) Um, it’s crisco and butter and sugar. Unless I’m sacrificing a goat in there, it’s going to be pale and fluffy no matter what. (Also? You spelled “scraping” wrong.)

I added the rest of my ingredients and then was met with this bossy instruction:

“Transfer dough to an airtight container and refrigerate 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375 during the last 10 minutes of refrigeration.”

Don’t tell me what to do.

My mixer bowl and plastic wrap worked just fine, thank you.

When my chilling time was done, I scooped three balls into my hand with my 1T scoop because it calls for 3T. Math.

And then…”Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle top lightly with flour, then using something flat and smooth (such as the storage container lid), press and evenly flatten dough to 1/2″ thick. Transfer flattened dough to a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and repeat process with remaining dough (you’ll have to use 2 cookie sheets).”

I have time and inclination for none of this.

Worked just fine.

While my slummed-down cookies were baking, I mixed together the frosting.

And I don’t care who you are: powdered sugar is going to get you.

After all of this, my starlight mints were waiting.

Hang on.

That’s better.

Yes, I smash them to smithereens while in the wrappers and still in the bag. I find it controls the carnage better. And then you just unwrapped the wrappers and fill your bowl with mint bits.

It’s such a good stress reliever.

Cookies cooled and frosted, and decorated with the fruits of my labor.

—

Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

(from http://www.cookingclassy.com)

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Yield: 15 bakery size cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting work surface
2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup all vegetable shortening (unflavored), at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
Crushed candy canes, for topping

Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, then whisk it just a few times, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, on medium speed, whip together butter, shortening and sugar until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add in egg and mix until combine, then add egg white, vanilla and peppermint extract and mix until combine. With mixer running, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until combine. Transfer dough to an airtight container and refrigerate 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375 during the last 10 minutes of refrigeration.
Scoop dough out about 3 Tbsp at a time and roll into a ball. Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle top lightly with flour, then using something flat and smooth (such as the storage container lid), press and evenly flatten dough to 1/2″ thick. Transfer flattened dough to a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and repeat process with remaining dough (you’ll have to use 2 cookie sheets). Bake in preheated oven 9 – 11 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely then frost with Cream Cheese Frosting and sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
For the frosting:
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. Add peppermint extract and powdered sugar and mix until pale and fluffy.

December 7: White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Cookies

I finally broke down today and bought molasses.

I know I didn’t let you in on this personal journey of mine, but let me assure you, it was difficult. Molasses is one of those things that stays in my fridge for 11.5 months of the year; it’s a main ingredient in many gingerbread-esque cookies. But every year, I take my old bottle out, bang it on the counter and swear at it until it starts flowing, and then realize I don’t have enough for what I want to do and have to buy a new, non-refridgerated bottle anyway.

We didn’t bring any molasses with us from Wisconsin, so this little tradition of mine was skipped this year, and I knew it would be it. Honestly, it wasn’t the same buying the bottle of molasses without the epic battle beforehand.

So to turn this bittersweet moment into a celebration, I decided to make a recipe that called for molasses. Thanks for this one, Pinterest.

I started the recipe with butter, sugar, and brown sugar, and mixed it up in Ol’ Trusty.

And the measuring of the molasses went smoothly. Thanks for asking; I know you were thinking of me. I hunted high and low for my liquid measuring cup because that’s about the only thing I was ever marked down for in Mrs. Nardini’s 7th grade cooking class. Lessons of a lifetime.

In went the rest of the ingredients. I saran-wrapped it and put it in the fridge.

An hour later, I took it out and formed my cookies. My cookie shaper is about 1 T, and these were to be about 1 1/2 T sized, so I made them with 1 1/2 scoops. I rolled them in sugar and pressed them with a glass. (After they were on the cookie sheet of course; it’s hard to do it in mid-air.)

While they were baking, I mixed up my white chocolate dip. This recipe calls for 3 cups of white chocolate. Yeah. That was never going to happen. Whatever is in a bag of chocolate chips was the amount I used, with about a T of coconut oil. Microwaved the chocolate responsibly until it was melted.

When the cookies came out of the oven (looking good, btw), I cooled them and then the real decisions were made.

I wasn’t going to mix up royal icing just to make a little holly berry on each cookie. I mean, the pictures on Pinterest are beautiful, but I’m still wrestling with that paper from yesterday (about halfway done) and needed to opt for sprinkles instead. The question was: which ones?

I have a slight sprinkle problem. And colored sugar problem. And jimmie problem. Basically, if it can decorate the top of a cupcake, I’m into it and have the collection to prove it.

After three trial runs, there was a clear winner.

Thank you, Bekah Kate’s in Baraboo, Wis. for stocking this stellar gold sprinkle last year, just for these cookies.

—

White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Cookies

(from http://www.cookingclassy.com)

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup + 3 Tbsp granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups white chocolate chips
3 Tbsp shortening
sprinkles

Directions:

In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg for 20 seconds, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar until well blended. Mix in egg, then blend in molasses and vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees during last 10 minutes of chilling.
Scoop dough out about 1 1/2 Tbsp at a time, shape into balls then roll in remaining 3 Tbsp granulated sugar. Transfer to Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2 inches apart (keep dough chilled that is not currently baking), flatten tops just slightly (to evenly level). Bake in preheated oven 8 – 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt 1 cup white chocolate chips with 1 Tbsp shortening at a time in microwave on HIGH power in 10 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until melted, smooth and fairly runny (I did batches of it because it will cool as your dipping, plus its easy to burn so you don’t want to work with too much of it at a time. Then once you’ve used it up melt more, you may not need all 3 cups). Dip half of each cookie in melted white chocolate mixture then run bottom of cookie slightly along edge of bowl to remove excess, then return to Silpat or parchment paper to set at room temperature.
Sprinkle sprinkles on top, after the long journey to decide which ones to use

December 6: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

So, we’re at the end of the weekend now. Generally, by the end of the first weekend of December, I have at least one frosted cookie in the bunch.

But now I’m a grad student. I don’t have time to frost any cookies (nor make any cookies that take hours) until I finish my last assignment for the semester. It’s due Tuesday, and I wrote my first paragraph and thesis statement last night. I want to hammer out the rest today and be done with it.

Here’s my desk:

And during the downtime of baking, here’s my make-shift work space:

Yes, that’s the table my cat’s eat on. I hope they like reading academic journals.

(Oh, the working title of my last paper is: “Constricting Ideals of Femininity Lead to Feminism in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind,” but I toyed with the idea of comparing Scarlett O’Hara to Regina George. My friend Andrew talked me out of this, saying he didn’t think Mean Girls was academic enough. He’s probably right. But, come on, wouldn’t that have been a rad paper?!)

(Aren’t you glad you asked?)

Also, I keep hearing this speech in my head as I bake and research:

I left a stick of butter out to soften and when it was ready, I combined it with my brown sugar and eggs. And then the piece de resistance:

Combined the rest of my ingredients and rolled little balls of chocolate goodness into powdered sugar.

Then I placed them on to a cookie sheet and into my oven.

If T.S. Eliot measured out his life in coffee spoons, then I supposed I measure mine in minutes on the oven timer.

(While I waited between batches, my yellow magic marker and I tackled the JSTOR reading.)

Chocolate crinkles completed, I am now back at my desk, determined to crank out several pages of brilliance.

—

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

(from http://www.somethingswanky.com)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with paper or a silicone baking mat.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until soft dough forms.

Scoop by rounded tablespoons and roll each ball in the powdered sugar, evenly coating each one.

Bake until cookies are set and the tops cracked, about 13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

December 5: Frosted Rum Mounds

*Note: I forgot the official name of these and was about to write down “Rum Piles.”

In honor of the super awesome retro Christmas party I’m missing tonight (darn 1200 miles), I made a retro cookie from a retro book, given to me by my retro friend, Christina.

So classy!

Let’s travel back in time to 1960, where smoking is still chic and healthy, the outfits are classy, and the world spelled cookie as “cooky.”

It’s a pretty straight forward sugar cookie recipe. When it came time to flatten my balls (real mature, guys), I was out of my 1960 jelly jars, so I had to improvise.

Turned out pretty well in the oven, so I got started on the frosting. I had to go to my favorite part of the pantry.

You’re supposed to throw some nuts on top at the end, but I didn’t have any, so I used the flashiest, most carcinogen-laden sprinkles I could find. Because, if Mad Men taught me anything, it’s that the cancer doesn’t matter, as long as you look good. (I’m looking at you, Betty.)

—

(Also good to note: eh, not my favorite. Like many things from 1960, tastes have changed.)

December 15: Raspberry Macarons

So, I feel like I’m cheating.

I always want to do a different kind of cookie for 24 straight days. Key word there is “different.” But here’s the thing: I f-ing love macarons. Like, it should be illegal how much I love them. Like, it may be a felony in 48 states.

I made macarons again, with the same general recipe for the cookie, except I added a whole ‘lot of pink, blue, red, and burgundy food coloring to come up with a raspberry color.

I have no pictures of this process. If you need a refresher, see December 13’s post.

Now the filling was different on this one. I took a cup of raspberries and put them in a saucepan with a little water and about a tablespoon of sugar. I brought it to a boil until my mixture was almost like jelly. I let it cool a little and instead of straining the seeds out, I put it in the blender and pureed the s-t out of it.

In Old Trusty, I put in 1/4 c butter and whipped it up, then added some powdered sugar and the raspberry mixture. I mixed that up too. And then added more powdered sugar. And more. And more. It took a lot this time to get it to the right consistency–almost 3/4 of a bag.

Went through the same process with the cookies as before, and when I was done, the patron saint of raspberry macaron’s blessed me with a good batch of cookies.

They are amazing.

—

(See recipe from December 13.)

Cookies today: 36

Cookies this year: 710

December 14: Toffee Grahams

Today we have a very special guest star.

Can I get a warm 24 Days of Cookies welcome for J-Dub!

(And the crowd goes ~~wild~~ mild.)

J-Dub doesn’t know she’s my guest start today, but she probably could have guessed as much. You see, dear readers, she recently posted this on my Facebook Page:

“I need 5 dozen cookies. What should I make?”

To which I replied, “You? A phone call.”

J-Dub doesn’t bake. She doesn’t cook. She doesn’t defrost. She barely assembles, and rarely goes grocery shopping. Hence, my confidence in her baking abilities.

But I suggested that she should make Toffee Grahams because they are super easy and quick–I even referenced her in the blog last year when I made these.

This week, she made them. Wait, that was the end result. Sorry to spoil the end of this horror story, but I feel you all will benefit by knowing that she actually made them successfully.

How she got to that point was a nightmare.

It started with some texts.

“So I am about to attempt those toffee cookies. How many gram crackers did you fit on a cookie sheet? I have them broken to fingers and have 24. The recipe says 48 fingers. Should this be enough to cover 2 cookie sheets?”

And then I got the picture.

Oh honey.

I gently explained to her that the graham crackers needed to be “wall-to-wall” on the cookie sheet and that she may not want to use tin foil.

(And by gently, I mean I called her and yelled obscenities in her ear.)

I asked why she was even doing this, and practically in tears she told me that her kids’ new school makes every family bring 5 dozen homemade baked items for some cookie walk thing.

“It *has* to be homemade!” she cried.

I asked if she could get a waiver or a handicapped sticker or something, and it was a no-go. I don’t know for sure, but I think she tried to appeal the PTA.

I do feel bad about this. If she would have only told me this sooner, I could have written her a ~~doctor’s~~ baker’s note.

We hung up, but the texts continued.

“Shut it. Two sticks of butter. Short sticks or long sticks? Like four short ones?” she asked.

I should mention that Crunchy Granola was also on this series of texts, and she tried to help.

“Each stick is 1/2 cup”

I had never heard of short sticks of butter. I offered to drive down to help her. It’s only two hours…

Then, because I’m apparently the crazy one, she sent me this picture of her husband with said short sticks of butter.

I swear to you, I have never seen such things. Is this what they sell in Milwaukee? Is this why everyone there is always so angry?

I should also tell you that while our text tirades generally are just me, J-Dub, and Crunchy Granola, for this special occasion, all of the husbands got in on the action too.

“[Disgruntled Husband] asked if the Keebler Elves sold you that butter.”

What I learned later is that CG and her husband were out Christmas shopping and also having a good laugh at what was going on.

Still baffled by the ~~midget~~ little person butter, I simply said that she needed 16 Tablespoons of butter, however that happened. But just to show you that I’m not always so sweet and darling, I added this:

“And I swear if you get out an actual spoon, I will end you.”

I still had no answers about the butter, but started getting more pictures.

And in the end, J-Dub pulled it off!

This is what she had to say about it:

“I am questioning my whole life. I’ve been living a lie. I can bake!”

And I took this opportunity to congratulate and encourage my dear friend:

“Well…You can assemble, boil, and cut. With heavy instruction.”

Let’s not get carried away, J-Dub.

So there you have it, if J-Dub can make these, there might be hope for humanity.

Now let me tell you about the time I saw her start a fire in a microwave by “making dessert.”

—

Toffee Grahams

(from Gooseberry Patch’s Old Fashioned Country Cookies)

24 square graham crackers

2 sticks butter

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325. Arrange cracker squares on a lightly greased cookie sheet with edges around it. In a saucepan, bring the butter and sugar to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Pour over crackers, covering them well. Sprinkle with nuts and bake for about 10 minutes. Cool slightly and cut into 24 squares or 48 “fingers.”

(I made these today, too.)

Cookies today: 48

Cookies this year: 674

December 13: Lemon Macarons

A year ago, Disgruntled Husband and I spent three days in New York City, which was about as wonderful and magnificent as I ever imagined it would be. At the bakery across from where they film the Today Show, I bought some macarons, which were bright and pricey. Oh Sweet Lord, they were about the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

Fast forward to this November, where I had a hankering for said cookie. I tried to make them, and while they tasted like a macaron, they certainly didn’t look like it. I was determined to try again.

Thanks to an Amazon Prime account, I obtained caster sugar, almond meal, and a macaron silicone pan liner (more on that disappointment later). Today was the day I decided to give it another shot.

I separated my eggs, keeping the yolks for another recipe I have my eye on. I put four egg whites and the caster sugar inside Old Trusty.

While those whipped up for 10 minutes or so, I got to work on my dry mixture…powdered sugar, almond meal, and salt…sifted twice.

(What this picture doesn’t show is that I had to switch to a metal strainer because the use of my dominant hand would be something I’d like to keep this holiday season. This is a heavy mixture, and I discovered quickly that I couldn’t pull the handle that many times.)

I threw out the big pieces of almond meal that were too big to go through my sifting mechanism.

This video was very helpful in my macaron-making:

I folded in my dry mixture as instructed.

And forced it through a pastry bag and plopped drops on my silicone macaron sheet, and then on another pan but on parchment paper.

I gently threw the pans down to eliminate any air bubbles. Then I decided that wasn’t violent enough and dropped them a few times from about five feet off my kitchen table.

After 20 minutes, I took the trays out of the oven. And then cursed Amazon.

No 5 star rating for you.

But I had a helper in disposing of these cookies. My husband said he was glad these didn’t come off the tray because his original plan was to just poke a hole in some cookies and declare them “broken.”

For the filling, I used another recipe which was pretty straight-forward. No crazy ingredients required. However, it called for only 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, which we *all* know by now is not enough. I’m not sure how much actually went in, but I know it was the entire zest of one lemon.

I then put that through another pastry bag and squirted my lemony-goodness on a cookie, topping it with another. I should have had more restraint so these would look prettier, but come on, it’s lemon filling. If a little is good, more is better. Right Christina?

(We have a theory about lemon curd, as in the Trader Joe’s variety is good with just a spoon and elicits pornographic sounds from our mouths.)

They may not be pretty, but they are good.

—

Macaron recipe (from https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/easy-macaron-macaroon-recipe/)

French Macaron Recipe Ingredients

4 large egg whites (or 5 small) 140g (4.94 ounces)
1/3 cup or 70g (2.47 ounces) caster sugar [*US cups 1/3 cup plus 1 tsp]
1 1/2 cups or 230g (8.11 ounces) pure icing sugar [US cups 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tsp] OR 1 3/4 cups 230g (8.11 ounces) icing mixture [US cups 1 3/4 cups plus 4 tsp] 1 cup or 120g (4.23 ounces) almond meal [US cups 1 cup plus 3 teaspoons] 2g (0.07 ounces) salt (tiny pinch)
gel food colouring (optional)

(*cup measurements are metric cups where 1 cup=250ml in the USA cups use customary units so 1 cup = 236ml so you need to add a little bit extra as detailed in the recipe.).

Macaron Recipe Directions

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C (300 in American Fahrenheit)

Place egg whites and cater sugar in a bowl and mix with electric mixer until stiff enough to turn the bowl upside down without it falling out, continue to whip for 1-2 more minutes. How long this takes will depend on you mixer. Add gel or powdered food colouring and continue to mix for a further 20 seconds.

Sift the almond meal and icing sugar and salt twice, discarding any almond lumps that are too big to pass through the sieve. Fold into the egg white mixture. It should take roughly 30-50 folds using a rubber spatula. The mixture should be smooth and a very viscous, not runny. Over-mix and your macarons will be flat and have no foot, under mix and they will not be smooth on top.

Pipe onto trays lined with baking paper, rap trays on the bench firmly (this prevents cracking) and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check if one comes off the tray fairly cleanly, if not bake for a little longer (make sure you are using NON-stick baking paper or they will stick).

Lemon Buttercream Filling (from http://www.sweetandsavorybyshinee.com/lemon-french-macarons/)

• 3 tablespoons (40gr) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (130gr) powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teapsoon lemon zest
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

While macarons are drying, prepare the lemon buttercream. In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat the butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt and beat until well combined. Fill pastry bag and go to town.

Cookies today: 20 (but remember, they are sandwich cookies AND I had an Amazon fail)

Cookies this year: 626

December 12: Christmas Peppermint Patties

I ran around with my boys all day today, so when we got back to the house, I didn’t have a lot of time to make cookies. That, and somehow between my clean house of 4 p.m. yesterday, and waking up today, little elves came in my house and made it look like Beirut. I didn’t want to add to the mess any more than I had to.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, after looking through a couple of other ones. This one seemed to be easier than most and looked the nicest.

I assembled my ingredients and went to work. When I brought up the recipe online, the add below it made me laugh uncontrollably.

Sadly no, I will not be adding beef stock to this recipe.

The recipe starts with 1/4 cup of softened butter and 1/3 cup of corn syrup. I decided to double it, as I had big plans for this little batch of mints.

Also? The corn syrup comes out so easily from its plastic squeeze bottle. Hear me, molasses manufacturers? EASILY.

Once I add my powdered sugar, I was supposed to add my flavoring, more powdered sugar and then turn it all out on a cutting board to knead in more powdered sugar and food coloring.

I decided I wanted three different kinds of mints: wintergreen, spearmint, and peppermint. So I made each batch individually, starting by dividing my base into three bowl and only mixing flavoring and color in one at a time. It took awhile, but I was pretty excited at how it turned out.

I kneaded each batch with more powdered sugar. (I did add food coloring in the mixing bowl though.) These suckers suck up the sugar! I decided it was the right consistency when the dough no longer stuck to the cutting board.

Also, when plopping sticky dough on to a pile of powdered sugar, keep in mind the force you are using. My pants paid the price.

I then rolled each color into little balls, rolled them in sugar, and smashed (lightly) with a fork. Trust me on this slightly thing. I put my fork through a few of the first balls like I was avenging my father’s death, and I couldn’t get the tines back out.

They are currently sitting out overnight on the counter, under a big Tupperware container to protect the minty goodies from any feline inspectors.

—

Easy Christmas Peppermint Patties

(from http://www.momontimeout.com/2013/12/easy-christmas-peppermint-patties/)

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup light corn syrup
4 cups powdered sugar, divided
1 – 2 tsp peppermint extract or mint extract OR any other extract you want
food coloring – preferably gel or paste
1/2 cup granulated sugar (to roll balls in)

Instructions

Combine butter and corn syrup together in a small bowl.
Add 2 cups powdered sugar and your choice of extract and beat until well combined. Add extract 1/2 teaspoon at a time until the mixture reaches your desired flavor.
Stir in an additional cup of powdered sugar.
Turn bowl onto a cutting board sprinkled with last cup of powdered sugar.
Knead the mixture until sugar is absorbed and is completely smooth.
Divide dough into three portions.
Tint one portion red with the red food color/gel and one green. Leave one portion white.
Shape into 3/4 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar.
Flatten gently with a fork.
Let candies stand, uncovered, at room temperature for 1 day.
Store in an airtight container.

Cookies (or candies, as the case may be) today: 93

Cookies (and candies) this year: 606

December 11: Christmas Cranberry Roll-Up Cookies

These are great cookies to make if you have some other stuff to get done around the house. Or, conversely, if you need something quick, you might want to plan on a different cookie.

I love these cookies. The red of the cranberry is so pretty in the pinwheel, and the dough is the right consistency of flaky and chewy.

Plus, and this is my favorite part, people look at them and assume they are a lot harder to make than they actually are. (I just keep thinking of that Rice Krispies commercial from when I was a kid with the mom in the kitchen, working “hard” at making the Rice Krispies Treats, and at then end, she throws a little flour on her face for effect.)

I had a bag of Wisconsin’s finest bouncy cranberries in my fridge, just waiting for their ultimate death. I put two cups of berries in a saucepan, along with sugar and orange zest.

(I bought this microplane last year for nutmeg. Haven’t used it with nutmeg once, but this thing has seen more citrus fruit than Carmen Miranda.)

A little water and time, and I was in business. Cranberries popping sound a lot like baby farts, in case you want to know.

I mixed up my dough in Ol’ Trusty, using the Cardamom I bought two years ago. Am I supposed to replace it? Does Cardamom go bad? It still smells like chai and cost me a kidney, so I’m going to keep using it until the bottle is empty.

Into the fridge the dough went for an hour or so.

When it was ready, I pulled it out and tried my best to roll rectangles. Eh. Okay, I really didn’t try that hard.

Then I spread the cranberry goodness on top, along with some crushed almonds. Roll like a jelly roll, wrap with saran wrap. Repeat with second wad of dough.

I put them on a cookie sheet and set it in my Wisconsin Free Refrigerator–my front porch.

Two hours later, I brought the tray back inside and sliced up the rolls in 1/4″ pieces. When it starts to get misshapen, just turn your log over. Or, do what I do and keep the ugly ones so you can eat those later.

Into the oven it goes for 11-12 minutes, and cools on a rack.

Then, you eat the ugly ones.

—

Christmas Cranberry Roll-Up Cookies
(from Gooseberry Patch’s Old-Fashioned Country Cookies)

2 c. fresh cranberries
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. orange peel
1/4 c. finely chopped almonds
2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. cardamom
1/2 c. unsalted butter
3/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, combine cranberries, 1/4 c. sugar and zest. Add enough water to partially cover. Cook about 15 minutes, or until berries pop and most of the water has evaporated. Cool mixture.

2. Combine flour and spices. Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add flour mixture.

3. Divide dough in half and chill.

4. Roll dough into 12″x7″ rectangle on parchment paper. Spread cranberries and almonds on each rectangle and then roll each like a jelly roll. Wrap in parchment paper and chill for at least 2 hours (at this point it can be frozen.)

5. Slice roll into 1/4″ slices and bake 1″ apart on lightly greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Cool completely.

Cookies today: 46 (These also made 46 last year too. Weird.)

Cookies this year: 513

December 10: Pizzles

Today, I made the crowd pleaser Pizzles, and the actual challenge in these are not eating them the minute they come off the iron.

(Also a challenge? Having a Pizzle iron, but that can be rectified with an Amazon Prime account and a pressing desire to drop $40 on something you’ll use maybe twice a year.)

Pizzles are a wafer cookie from Italy. I made them last year, and they were divine.

They have a hint of anise, but not enough to make you run away, I promise! You barely taste it, and it deepens the vanilla flavor in the cookie.

It starts with six eggs. (I think that classifies these cookies as a health food now.)

I mixed up the batter and started the long, arduous journey into counter-top desserts.

The good Captain oversees production.

I used my cookie scoop to do these, making sure they were centered in the middle of the hot iron. (Oh, and I generally put a little coconut oil on it before I start, just to grease the iron.)

(And yes, I’m now the asshole cook that uses hard-to-find ingredients.)

I take them off with a non-metal spatula, and start over again. And again. And again. It’s a good thing I had some time to do these. Four minutes isn’t a long time, especially when you are only doing two at a time.

But these? These are worth every minute.

—

Pizzles (Italian Waffle Cookie)

(from Gooseberry Patch Old-Fashioned Country Cookies)

6 eggs

3 ½ c flour

1 ½ c sugar

2 sticks butter, melted

4t baking powder

1T vanilla extract

1T anise extract

cap full of anise seeds

Beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar and melted butter. Follow with other ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Place 1 teaspoonful on each side and cook until delicately browned. Lay flat until cooled.

Cookies today: 90

Cookies this year: 467

24 Days of Cookies

A different batch of cookies every day in December until Christmas.

christmas cookies

December 8: Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

December 7: White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Cookies

December 6: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

December 5: Frosted Rum Mounds

December 15: Raspberry Macarons

December 14: Toffee Grahams

December 13: Lemon Macarons

French Macaron Recipe Ingredients

December 12: Christmas Peppermint Patties

December 11: Christmas Cranberry Roll-Up Cookies

December 10: Pizzles

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INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

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French Macaron Recipe Ingredients

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