Gingerbread Men

My intrepid sister-in-law, Debbie, asked me for the Gingerbread Men recipe we have been using for eons; somehow, the shreds of paper with loved recipes always disappear. As it turns out, it was published in the December 1982 issue of Gourmet magazine. It's still the best recipe, and so the tradition of making and decorating them continues as she bakes them with her grandson (my great nephew) Colton. Have fun, Mimi and Colton!

Gingerbread Men

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp

1 cup FIRMLY packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup molasses (I use Brer Rabbit)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

5 cups flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Cream the butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly beat in the egg, molasses, and vinegar.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture a little at a time. Dough will be soft. Divide dough into 4 balls, dust lightly with flour, flatten each ball, then wrap each in wax paper or plastic wrap and REFRIGERATE AT LEAST 6 HOURS or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove a ball of dough and roll it out on a floured surface to 1/8" thickness or less. Cut with floured cookie cutters (mine are 4" tall gingerbread men). Transfer with a spatula to parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 7 - 8 minutes or until no imprint remains when touched lightly with your finger. Remove and cool the cookie sheets on racks. Pipe with sugar icing (recipe below); let them set 20 minutes or so before storing -- icing must be dry. Makes about 60 4" men, so your mileage may vary depending on the cutters you use.

Store in a tightly covered tin.

Sugar Icing:

2 egg whites*

pinch of cream of tartar

2 teaspoons water

3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and water together until frothy, then add sugar gradually until it forms stiff peaks. Use a pastry bag to pipe the cookies. 

*you can use powdered egg whites if you want, and make enough per directions for 2 egg whites -- this recipe was published long before a salmonella problem existed.

Lemon Lavender Cookies

A friend and fellow knitter, Greer, made these cookies the other night and they are so perfect for summer -- light and lemony, with notes of lavender, made with the simplest of recipes. Yum!

Lemon Lavender Cookies

1 cup flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
zest of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon lavender buds, ground or chopped finely

1/2 cup butter, (1 stick; 4 ounces) room temperature

two egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

 

Glaze

the juice of a lemon

powdered sugar

pinch of salt

In a food processor, add the flour, sugar, lemon zest and lavender and pulse to combine.  Add the butter and mix until it resembles bread crumbs.  Add the two yolks and the vanilla and process for a minute until it comes together. Tip it onto a work surface and knead it just long enough to make a ball.  Wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. 

 

Preheat oven to 350F.  Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch or just a bit thicker. Cut into rounds or shapes.  Place on a greased (or lined) cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on size and thickness.

 

Glaze with the juice of the lemon, a bit of salt and enough powdered sugar to make the glaze the right consistency. 

Makes a couple of dozen cookies

The Best Things are Simple: Chocolate Crunch Bars

I have a bajillion cookbooks, but a few are standouts that have recipes that are made over and over, year after year. Sometimes I go a couple of years without making one of my favorites, but always return eventually. These bars, which I haven't made for a couple of years, is one of those recipes. Julia called to ask for the recipe today, and now I want to make them again. It's a recipe that's so simple, with ingredients that can be pulled from the pantry at any time and made very quickly. Thin, crispy, and full of chocolate and nutty goodness, they are a nice cookie to have with homemade ice cream in the summer, or with a pot of tea in cooler weather.

Chocolate Crunch Bars
 from The Fine Arts Cookbook II, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a jelly roll pan

2 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped

Combine the chocolate, cocoa and shortening together in a small heavy saucepan over low heat just until the shortening is melted, stirring well. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool slightly. Slowly add the sugar and mix well. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, blending well between each addition. Stir in the salt, vanilla and flour and blend until just combined well. Don't overmix. Spread the batter evenly and thinly in the pan, then sprinkle with the nuts. Press the nuts gently into the surface so they don't roll off. Bake in a 350F degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove and cut immediately into long rectangles. Cool a minute, then remove the thin bars to a rack to finish cooling. They will crisp as they cool. (Which is why they are cut immediately after removing from the oven -- much easier and less messy then.)

Makes 2 dozen or more

THOSE Toffee Bars

My Mom would make Scotch Toffee Bars when we were kids, and I remember seeing the recipe on a Quaker Oats container ... and she wrote it onto a piece of paper, which became pretty dogeared over the years.

Fast forward 45 years, and when going through the recipe drawer as we were sorting out her estate, the recipe was nowhere to be found. That is just crazy! We know it was there, somewhere.

The internet has saved us once again! I did a search for the bars, and eventually recognized the recipe that someone had claimed as their own under a different name. Here it is, in all it's original (And SIMPLE!) glory.

Quaker Oats Scotch Toffee Bars

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit
Line a METAL 7 x 11 or 8 x 8 pan with heavy duty foil that is very well buttered -- be sure to have 2" or so of excess foil beyond the rims of the pan

1/2 cup melted butter
2 cups Old Fashioned Oats (rolled oats, not quick oats)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, add the butter to the oats and stir well. Add the salt and brown sugar and mix well. Add the dark corn syrup and stir until thoroughly combined. Press into the foil lined pan, and bake for 11 or 12 minutes on the middle rack of a 450 degree oven. Remove from the oven, and immediately sprinkle with 6 ounces of semisweet or milk chocolate chips. Allow to melt for 10 minutes, then spread to swirl across the top of the bars. Allow to cool 30 minutes longer, then lift the bars from the pan by the excess foil 'ears' ... and cut into bars ASAP with a VERY SHARP KNIFE.  Don't wait to cut them any longer than 30 minutes or they are very difficult to cut.

Traditional Italian Christmas Cookie: Pizzelles

I just want to say that I love pizzelles. There are many, many recipes for them, and I have tried a good many myself. But I keep coming back to one that I was introduced to decades ago: a traditional recipe, made with butter instead of oil (as many modern variations seem to do) and anise seed instead of anise extract or oil. The resulting pizzelle is tender and subtly flavored, perfect with tea, coffee, or a glass of dessert wine. 

Tender Traditional Italian Pizzelles

6 eggs, room temperature 
1 1/2 cups cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract 
2 tsp. anise seed
3 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat your pizzelle iron/maker and follow the mfrs. directions for preparing the grids.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Add the cooled butter,
vanilla, and anise seed. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and add to the egg mixture, mixing until very thick and smooth. (Batter will be slightly glossy.)


The batter should be stiff enough to be dropped by a scant tablespoon into the center of a preheated pizzelle iron/maker. Close and clamp the lid; bake until steaming abates, about 30 to 45 seconds. Cookies should be very pale golden or barely browned at all.  Remove carefully to a wire rack; cool completely before storing. 

This cookie is somewhat fragile, so handle with care. Store in a tightly covered tin with waxed paper between layers. The flavor improves overnight. An excellent make-ahead cookie that keeps well for a week to ten days.

NOTE: The batter can be covered tightly and refrigerated to be used up to 24 hrs. later, if desired. 

Makes about six dozen.

A Cape Breton Memory: Oatcakes

While touring the Cabot Trail on gorgeous Cape Breton, Nova Scotia this past September, we stopped along the roadside at a little bakery that advertised coffee and baked goods. Inside the case was a treat labeled 'oatcakes $1.50'.  Since I wanted something to go with the coffee, I bought a couple of them, and they turned out to be one of the culinary highlights of the whole trip! Determined to find a recipe for them when I returned home, I scoured all of my cookbooks first. Lo and behold, The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion held exactly what I was looking for: A slightly sweet, nutty flavored shortbread-inspired oatcake recipe that is very like the confection I sampled on Cape Breton. This is our new favorite cookie to have with hot tea on cold nights.

Sweet Oatcakes
from: The King Arthur Cookie Companion

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar (7 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats, coarsely ground in a small food processor (do NOT use quick oats)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Farenheit.  Lightly grease two 9 inch round cake pans (I also line mine with parchment paper rounds)

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, salt, brown sugar, and the vanilla. Beat in the baking soda, flour, and oats.
Divide the dough in half and press each half into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with your fingers. Prick the dough with a fork in an attractive pattern.
Bake the shortbread for 35 to 45 minutes, until it's golden brown around the edges. Remove it from the oven and loosen the edges with a table knife. Wait 5 minutes, then carefully turn the shortbread out onto a clean work surface, all in one piece.  Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut each round into 12 wedges. (Do this while the shortbread is warm; if you wait until it cools, it won't cut easily.)  Transfer the wedges to a rack to cool.

Makes 2 dozen shortbread wedges.

Store in a cookie tin for up to a week.

New Holiday Classic: The Best Biscotti!

Love a dry cookie for dipping in coffee or enjoying with tea? My friend Beedle bakes up this biscotti recipe each holiday season, and with good reason: It's not too sweet, but still satisfying, with overtones of caramel complimented by a buttery rich toasty pecan flavor. This is destined to become one of our favorites, too, I predict.

Beedle’s Pecan Biscotti

Carmelize Pecans:

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

¾ cup chopped pecans

In a heavy skillet, melt butter over low heat and stir in dark brown sugar, cooking very slowly for a couple of minutes. Add pecans, stir, and turn up heat slightly, shaking and stirring pecans in skillet often, allowing butter and sugar to coat nuts completely and to caramelize. Remove from heat, and spread nuts on a sheet of foil or parchment paper to cool.

For Biscotti Dough:

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 oz.) butter, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, blend well, then add eggs one at a time, mixing between additions.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to creamed mixture, mixing until just blended. Gently stir in carmelized pecans.

Divide dough in half. Grease and flour a baking sheet, and pat out two logs, 1 1/2 inches wide,  ½ inch high and 14 inches long at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes, then slice logs at a 45 degree angle into 3/8” slices. Lay slices flat on the baking sheet, and return to the oven for 10 minutes, turning them over once, to dry slightly. Remove from oven and cool on racks completely, at least an hour. Store in airtight containers.

Makes 3 ½ to 4 dozen biscotti 

Holiday Classics: Pizzelles, Butterballs, Peanut Butter Blossoms

Now that it's December, officially holiday season, it's time to post some of the other requisite Christmas cookies we make each year, as requested by my eldest daughter, Julia. My sister-in-law, Debbie, makes the BEST pizzelles, and we use her recipe as our standard. We also never fail to make my mom's Butterball recipe, sometimes as balls and sometimes as crescents. And who doesn't love the peanut butter cookie with the  chocolate kisses in them?

DEBBIE'S PIZZELLES

6 eggs
1 cup Wesson vegetable oil or Mazola corn oil
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 cups flour
1 tblsp. anise seed
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together; set aside. 

Beat the oil and sugar together, and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients gradually, then anise seed and vanilla. Bake in preheated pizzelle iron until pale golden or until steaming dies down ( matter of 30 seconds =/-). Makes 4 dozen. 

****************************************

BUTTERBALLS
not one Christmas in my lifetime has passed without these!

1 cup butter (2 sticks, or 8 oz.), room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. water, room temp
2 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
powdered sugar for coating cookies (about 2 cups)

Cream the butter and sugar, add water and vanilla nad beat well. Add flour and blend well. Add pecans, mix until just incorporated. Shape into small balls or roll into small logs with tapered ends and bend into crescents, and bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 325 degrees for 20 about 20 minutes. Bottoms should be pale golden. Cool slightly, then roll in powdered sugar until well coated, and place on racks to cool completely. 
Makes 4 dozen crescents or 5 dozen balls.


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PEANUT BLOSSOMS
from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion book

1/2 cup (1 stick, or 4 oz.) unsalted butter
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar, plus additional for coating dough
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tblsp. milk (2% or whole, not nonfat!)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
7 ounces (48) chocolate kisses, unwrapped 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In mixing bowl, beat butter and peanut butter together until well blended. Add the sugars, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk, baking soda, salt and vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the flour on low speed, mixing well to incorporate. 
Shape the dough into 1" balls and roll them in granulated sugar. Place the balls on the baking sheets.  
Bake for 10 mins. or until a very pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and IMMEDIATELY press a chocolate kiss into each cookie. Work quickly! Cool slightly, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling. Makes 48 cookies. 

Headstart Holiday Baking: Vanilla Pillows

One of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes that I'm NEVER allowed to skip are the wonderful, tender, melting and vanilla-laden Vanilla Pillows. Far from being a boring or plain cookie, these have amped up vanilla flavor and a divine texture. I'm putting them up here now, because while they are easy to make, there is a certain amount of lead time needed to make the Vanilla Sugar that coats them. Like two weeks, minimum. That, and making them in advance actually improves their flavor. 

Here is the Vanilla Sugar recipe. Make it in a large glass jar with a screw on lid and you can keep the jar going all the time for Vanilla Pillows whenever the mood strikes you:

Vanilla Sugar for Vanilla Pillows

(requires a minimum of two weeks for flavors to marry properly)

2 cups sugar

1 vanilla bean

Cut a slit in the vanilla bean, and place it in a large GLASS jar with a tight fitting lid (tall enough for the vanilla bean -- like a peanut butter jar) and scoop the sugar in around it. Shake the jar every couple of days for at least two weeks to marry the flavors. Use to coat Vanilla Pillows.

VANILLA PILLOWS

great Christmas favorite, makes 180 cookies!

4 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks, or 8 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup shortening (Crisco)

1 cup confectioners (10X) sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, salt and baking soda; set aside.

Cream the butter and shortening together until fluffy, and add the confectioners sugar a little at a time until all is added, then beat for 2 additional minutes. Add granulated sugar a little at a time until it is all added, then beat an additional 2 minutes. Add yolks one at a time, beating well between each addition; add vanilla and beat one additional minute. Add flour in 3 additions, blending at low speed until it is just combined after each addition. Chill dough, covered, for 2 hours.

Have ready a wide flat bowl with Vanillla Sugar (see recipe above). Roll a teaspoon of dough into a ball, then roll in vanilla sugar, coating completely. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, 1.5" apart, and flatten slightly with a cross hatch design with the tines of a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 9 minutes. Cookies should be very pale golden on bottom.

Transfer to racks to cool. Store in AIRTIGHT tins/containers (important to develop flavor!) overnight before serving.

These keep very well, with the flavor improving over time. Keeps up to two weeks.

Makes 180 cookies.

September 24, 2011 - Two Versions of Linzer Hearts

So why, out of the blue, would I publish the very special  Linzer Hearts recipe in the middle of September with nary a holiday beckoning? As it happens, my niece Christy is being married on October 8, and my insane sister-in-law is making cookies for the reception. As if there won't be enough sugar shock for everyone to imbibe. But they are pretty, they are festive, they are amazingly delicious. And they are a pain in the butt to make, since they  require assembly. Hence, the cookies must be made in advance. Not a recipe to leave for the last minute when wedding nerves are jangling.

One small note: If you don't want a lemony cookie, then omit the lemon zest and juice altogether, and substitute a large pinch of cinnamon and a large pinch of either mace or nutmeg for a slightly spicy cookie. Cinnamon and raspberry play very nicely together. Or just go with a vanilla-y cookie, or substitute half the vanilla extract for almond extract for a refined variation.

LINZER HEARTS

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 large pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
zest and juice of half a lemon
1 2/3 cups flour

seedless raspberry jam (Dickinson’s is the best)
powdered sugar

Preparation
Cream butter and sugar on medium high speed of a stand mixer until fluffy. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the jam and powdered sugar) and beat well. Let the dough rest for about 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Roll out the dough to about the thickness of a dime. With a heart shaped or round cutter, cut out an even number of cookies. Half of the cookies (these will be the tops) will have the center cut out with a small cutter: i.e. a heart, or small circle,or some other shape. Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at (400F) in preheated oven for 3 to 6 minutes. They should be a very pale golden color.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, dust the tops with powdered sugar from a shaker or a fine sieve. Spread a thin layer of jam onto the bottom halves, and press the 2 parts together.

30 to 36 cookies.
(We triple or quadruple the recipe for holiday baking).

Make ahead note: Cookies can be baked in advance and frozen prior to assembly. Defrost a day or two before your occasion, and dust the tops with powdered sugar. Spread the bottoms with jam and press together with a top.

------OR------

A more authentic recipe, with almonds in the cookie:
Thank you, King Arthur Flour!

RECIPE II

Linzer Cookies

AT A GLANCE

PREP

25 mins.

BAKE

8 mins. to 10 mins.

TOTAL

2 hrs 35 mins.

YIELD

24 cookies

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• grated rind (zest) of 1 lemon, or a large pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• raspberry jam for filling
• confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. To make the dough: Beat the butter, sugar, and zest until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Add the yolk and vanilla and beat until combined.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, almond flour, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Don't over-beat.
3. Divide the dough in half, and pat each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
4. To assemble: On a lightly floured surface, roll one disc of dough out about 1/4"-thick. Using a 2 1/2" round cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Transfer rounds to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather the scrap dough, roll, and repeat. Place the cut cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
6. While the first half of cookies is chilling, cut rounds from the remaining dough. Once you've transferred these cookies to a baking sheet, use your smallest cookie cutter or the end of a round piping tip to make a peekaboo cutout in the center of each. Place cookies in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
7. To bake: Bake all of the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
8. To fill the cookies: Place the cookies with the holes in them on a cookie sheet and sift confectioners' sugar over the top. Turn the remaining cookies flat side up and spoon jam into the center, spreading it slightly. Top with the sugar-dusted cookies.

Be sure to double this recipe -- they don't last!

Holiday Treasures: Apple Praline Cake and Soft Molasses Cookies

Food defines the holidays, doesn't it? Like the cookies your mom and grandmother made, the cakes that friends gave to you, the party dishes and traditional "must have" dishes that may only make an appearance once a year, just for the holidays.

Adding to the trove of new holiday favorites are

APPLE PRALINE CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour the bottom and sides of two 9 X 5 loaf pans.

2 1/4 cups pecans, chopped and divided
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups peeled and finely chopped Granny Smith Apples

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt

On a cookie sheet or low sided pan, toast 1 cup of the pecans in a single layer for 7 minutes, or until fragrant. (Check often after 5 minutes to avoid burning.) Remove from oven and cool; set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the sour cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla on low speed of an electric mixer until blended, about 2 minutes.

In separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add slowly to sour cream mixture, beating just until blended. Scrape down sides of blow and beaters; stir in apples and toasted pecans. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle tops with remaining pecans and press very lightly into surface of batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. You may need to shield the pan edges from excessive browning the last 15 minutes or so. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack while making the praline.

Bring butter, brown sugar and pinch of salt to a boil in a HEAVY BOTTOMED 2 qt. pan over medium heat stirring constantly; boil 1 minutes. Place cake loaves back into their pans, pour praline over tops and sides. Let cool completely, at least an hour. Cover tightly overnight to improve flavor and infuse the cakes with the rich apply goodness you love.

Makes two loaf cakes.

* * * * * * AND * * * * * *

SOFT MOLASSES COOKIES
from The King Arthur Cookie Companion book
1 cup butter (2sticks, 8 oz.), room temp
1 cup sugar, plus more for coating dough
2 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1  tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup molasses (Brer Rabbit is the best)
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses while beating at low speed, then the baking soda, salt, and spices. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl to incorporate everything well. Stir in the flour. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) two cookie sheets. Shape dough into tablespoon sized balls, roll in sugar, and place 2" apart on cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. The centers will look soft and puffy, which is OK. As long as the bottoms are set enough to lift off the baking sheet without bending or breaking, they're ready to come out of the oven. Cool 10 minutes on pans, then move to wire rack to cool completely. 44 cookies.


Happy Holidays!

Thursday, February 14, 2008 - Aunt Esther's Hearts

One of the fondest memories from my childhood is Valentine cookie baking day with my Aunt Esther. My dad's brother and his family lived directly across the street from us, and my Aunt Esther was a wonderful baker. But it was always the Valentine day cookies I loved best and can still taste.

Aunt Esther's Hearts

1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour

In a bowl, sift the salt, baking powder and flour; set aside.

In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg, blend well on medium low speed. Add vanilla and blend until incorporated. Add the sifted dry ingredients a little at a time and mix only until blended.

Divide dough into three balls. Roll out a ball at a time on a lightly floured surface to approximately 1/8" thick. Cut into shapes. Gather scraps and reroll all scraps from all previously rolled dough in a single batch after rolling out each ball of dough. Place on parchment papered baking sheets. Bake at 400 degrees Farenheit for six minutes. Cookies should not brown, but be set. Remove to a rack to cool completely.

ICING

2 tblsp. butter, melted
2 cups 10X (confectioners) sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tblsp. milk
a drop or two of red food coloring

Add butter to sugar in mixing bowl. Blend, adding salt, then vanilla, at low speed. Add milk one tablespoon at a time, blending well after each addition. Scrape bowl sides and bottom, mix until smooth. Add red coloring. Icing should be pale pink, not Pepto looking!

Frost cookies and allow to set until dry on a rack. Place between sheets of waxed paper in a tin to store. Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

The Zebras are Out! - Eight Layer Shortbread Cookies

We're reaching the end of November, and fast approaching Christmas. One constant in our family is the almost obscene amount of baking we do. Cookies, cookies and more cookies! Here is one recipe that is a "must make" every year.

EIGHT LAYER SHORTBREAD, AKA “ZEBRA SHORTBREAD”

Everyone’s Christmas favorite

2 ¼ cups flour

½ cup cornstarch

1 ¼ cups butter, room temp

1 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg white, whisked

Sift flour and cornstarch together and set aside. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until blended. Add vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture to make a soft dough. Divide in half. Knead cocoa powder into half the dough, adding a tablespoon of butter if necessary to keep from being too crumbly. Flatten both doughs and wrap separately in waxed paper, then chill at least an hour. Roll each batch of dough between two sheets of waxed paper into an EXACT 10” square. (Make a 10” square cardboard template for this) Push dough sides in to make absolutely even using the blade of a chef knife or wide long spatula. If dough gets too soft or sticky, refrigerate on a cookie sheet for a half hour and resume. Remove top sheet of waxed paper from the vanilla dough. Brush top with the egg white. Remove waxed paper from the chocolate dough, and brush top with egg white. Let stand a few minutes to set egg white. Invert the chocolate dough onto the vanilla dough, matching up the sides exactly. Cut into 4 EQUAL 10” X 2 ½” strips. Brush with egg white. Stack dough strips neatly to make eight alternating layers. Wrap each stack in plastic wrap and chill several hours, up to one week.

To bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice dough with a very sharp knife while dough is very cold into 1/8’ thick slices and transfer onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until set and slightly pale golden at edges. Transfer to a rack to cool. Store in tins a cool, dry place up to a week.

Makes about 5 dozen shortbread

Sunday: Pumpkin Bars

What's more wonderful than waking to the smell of cinnamon and baking?

Claire made Pumpkin Bars as her celebration of the season. The recipe makes a large batch, so she left a plateful at home and took the rest to work with her today.

They are fabulous!

Claire's Pumpkin Bars

4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
16 ounces pumpkin
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine everything in a bowl and blend thoroughly. Smooth batter into an ungreased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool in the pan, then frost with:

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese
6 tablespoons butter
4 cups powdered (10X) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until blended. Add 1 cup sugar, blend, then add vanilla and salt. Blend in remaining sugar and beat until creamy, about 5 minutes. Frost cooled pumpkin bars.

Makes four dozen pumpkin bars.