Christmas Cookies

[Toliver]

Thanks for the reply kbjesq, but I can't view the recipe because I am not a CI member...and I am just too darn cheap.  :-)

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Did you try the link? I don't think that this is a recipe that requires a membership to view. (I do have a membership but I have not had to log in to see this recipe, and usually the site requires a log-in for non-free stuff).

Let me know, I'm interested. And FWIW, I'm probably not going to renew my CI membership. I don't think that it's a good value. I'd rather spend the $20 annual fee on another cookbook.

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20.00? I only paid 12.95!!

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You got the half-off discount rate (like I did). Check out the current rates on their subscription page.

Andie, thanks for the link to the gingerbread cookie recipe! I'll give it a try when I visit my mom for the holidays.

[CaliPoutine]

Andie,

Did you use the margarine as directed in the cookie you linked to?

Or did you use butter?

Oh and thanks for the sour cream pecan cookie. Those were amazing!!

Edited December 5, 2007 by CaliPoutine (log)

[andiesenji]

I used butter. I never use margarine in anything. I do sometimes use Crisco because it works best in a very few cookies but 99% of my cookies are made with butter, cream cheese or a combination.

I used unsalted butter and added 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt. If using regular table salt I would use half that amount.

Edited December 5, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[emilyr]

I'm working on figuring out which cookies I'm going to make this year, and tried this Emeril brown sugar shortbread with the addition of a bit of vanilla, some ground ginger and pinch of cloves (maybe a 1/4 tsp of each - I don't actually think they made a big difference). Instead of a springform pan, I used a stoneware shortbread plate, and next time I will porbably leave out the cinnamon and sugar that I put on the bottom instead of the top (since the bottom became the top when it was flipped out). They stuck just a bit in the middle. Then again, maybe they just need more butter!

I think I'm going to add these to my Christmas goodie bags. They make pretty, tile-like wedges, and I'm always looking for a good non-peanut, non-chocolate cookie.

[patsikes]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I now have the CI recipe and that one looks great!

I made my caramel last night and it looks great this morning. No I get to have a great big wrapping part tonight! I will post some pictures of the finished product.

Patrick

[Lindacakes]

Thanks for the confimation on the fruit cake cookies -- I nabbed them off the Web. I'll try them.

[Marmish]

I'm doing a dessert buffet at home on Saturday for about 20 people. I have an outline, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the details. I tried to break it down to chocolate, fruit, and nuts. Tell me what I'm missing.

Chocolate raspberry tart (from Dorie's book)

petit fours

a cherry cranberry layered cookie

rugelach (sp?) mostly with nuts and apricot jam, some with chocolate

7 layer bars

coffee

sparkling wine

port

tea and sodas

[baroness]

Sounds good so far; I would add some less sweet/gooey items for contrast such as shortbread, korovas, and perhaps some cheese straws for those with minimal sweet teeth.

[patsikes]

Well, the caramels came out well.. I also made some spritz cookies but forgot to take pictures of those.

Here are my caramels:

[Marmish]

Sounds good so far; I would add some less sweet/gooey items for contrast such as shortbread, korovas, and perhaps some cheese straws for those with minimal sweet teeth.

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Those with minimal sweet teeth are not invited! I was thinking about shortbread. I have a good lemon shortbread recipe. I'll post later what book it's from. Thanks for the suggestion.

[gfron1]

I taught a kids cookie class today and we created 1) Pam R's gingerbread hamentaschen with sour cherry jelly (I didn't bother telling the kids that we made it for the wrong holiday), Amernick's almond lace cookies (too hard for the kids), and a cherry, coconut skillet cookie from a contest I judged a few years back. Everyone agreed that the hamenstaschen was the best and most fun to make. The recipe is in RecipeGullet.

[JeanneCake]

I am looking for a new gingerbread cookie recipe that yields a nice fat puffy soft cookie cutouts. 

I have a recipe that I like, but no matter how thick I try to roll them they are still crunchy.

One recipe I am contemplating for the puffy version is a honey based dough.  It is from Disney and is what they use for their huge gingerbread houses.  They sell cookies supposedly make from the same stuff which is close to what I want but with more spice.

Any help on a recipe would be great!!

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I have better luck with pudgy soft GB men when I underbake them. I love the recipe from RLB's Christmas Cookie book that I stopped trying new ones. If you bake for the recommended time, they will be crunchy. If you pull them early when you think they aren't done, they will still firm up but remain softer - meaning there's no crunch when you bite into them.

[andiesenji]

I am looking for a new gingerbread cookie recipe that yields a nice fat puffy soft cookie cutouts. 

I have a recipe that I like, but no matter how thick I try to roll them they are still crunchy.

One recipe I am contemplating for the puffy version is a honey based dough.  It is from Disney and is what they use for their huge gingerbread houses.  They sell cookies supposedly make from the same stuff which is close to what I want but with more spice.

Any help on a recipe would be great!!

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I have better luck with pudgy soft GB men when I underbake them. I love the recipe from RLB's Christmas Cookie book that I stopped trying new ones. If you bake for the recommended time, they will be crunchy. If you pull them early when you think they aren't done, they will still firm up but remain softer - meaning there's no crunch when you bite into them.

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I agree with this. I should have mentioned above that I bake these cookies 5-6 minutes (in a convection oven) and they are still quite soft if touched. I roll them about 3/8 inch thick or when sliced from a log cut them about 1/2 inch thick and flatten slightly (I use my favorite instrument for this, a batticarne.)

[scarlett]

I'm off to a Christmas potluck with some co-workers this evening and my contribution was a fantastic recipe for sweet/spicy glazed nuts I grabbed off Epicurious. I made them last night and already ate about half. Good thing I doubled the recipe  Anyway, they're not cookies but they do make a good addition to a Christmas baking gift box - make up a big batch and package them in individual cellophane bags.

You can find the recipe here. I did a batch of almonds and a batch of pecans, which I kept in the oven for about 10min more on the advice of one of the reviewers, and I also cut the salt by half.

They are obscenely good. I had to lock them in my desk drawer to keep me from eating them all before the party. 

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Scrolling through older posts...I found mention of these nuts and gave them a whirl yesterday. Holy hell...these are amazing!! I'm not a big fennel fan, but these were so good. I'll definitley be making them again and again. They're a nice sweet-savory addition to carepackages...and an easy thing to have on hand for holiday cocktail parties.

And now...for the cookie thread tie in... Yesterday my girlfriends and I rented out a commercial kitchen and made our cookies there. A big bowl of these nuts sat by the ovens and we munched on them as we baked. Mmmm...

I still haven't figured out how to upload photos on eGullet...but I've got a photo over here.

Edited December 9, 2007 by scarlett (log)

[Marmish]

Sounds good so far; I would add some less sweet/gooey items for contrast such as shortbread, korovas, and perhaps some cheese straws for those with minimal sweet teeth.

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Those with minimal sweet teeth are not invited! I was thinking about shortbread. I have a good lemon shortbread recipe. I'll post later what book it's from. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Our party was last night. The final line up was:

chocolate raspberry tart (Baking from my home to yours)

7 layer bars

Cranberry Cherry Icebox Ribbons (All American Cookie Book, by Nancy Baggett)

Iced Lemon Shortbread fingers (All Am. Cookie Book)

Rugelach - chocolate/pecan and apricot/pecan (Baking)

Brownies

Baked brie with pecans in a maple/brown sugar syrup (made by a guest)

cheese ball

Warre's 10 year Tawny port

Moscato d'Asti

coffee, tea, etc.

[jende]

I just ended a 10-hour Christmas cookie baking marathon. My sister-in-law and 7-year-old niece participated in the first half, but it got to a point where they just couldn't hang. Amateurs.

Anyway, we made:

Ling's toffee butter cookies (as delicious as everyone says)

Walnut Acorn cookies (and old family recipe that uses walnuts, but is shaped like an acorn)

Peanut butter brownies

Lemon bars (Martha Stewart recipe -- SUPER rich and probably not worth the millions of steps)

Rugelach (Dorie recipe, with a made-up filling of dried cranberries, pecans, cinnamon and honey)

Chocolate chip cookies with peppermint bark (delicious and cute)

Gingerbread people (niece went a little overboard decorating these)

Coconut sandwiches

Cocoa cookies with chocolate chips and crushed pretzels (I don't know why, but the pretzels got soft)

Almond meringues with grated chocolate

We kept my niece busy for a short time making reindeer cookies: she took break-and-bake chocolate cookies and decorated them with m & m's for the reindeers' eyes, a candied cherry for the nose, and mini pretzels for the antlers. They turned out cute.

[patsikes]

I am looking for a new gingerbread cookie recipe that yields a nice fat puffy soft cookie cutouts. 

I have a recipe that I like, but no matter how thick I try to roll them they are still crunchy.

One recipe I am contemplating for the puffy version is a honey based dough.  It is from Disney and is what they use for their huge gingerbread houses.  They sell cookies supposedly make from the same stuff which is close to what I want but with more spice.

Any help on a recipe would be great!!

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I have better luck with pudgy soft GB men when I underbake them. I love the recipe from RLB's Christmas Cookie book that I stopped trying new ones. If you bake for the recommended time, they will be crunchy. If you pull them early when you think they aren't done, they will still firm up but remain softer - meaning there's no crunch when you bite into them.

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I agree with this. I should have mentioned above that I bake these cookies 5-6 minutes (in a convection oven) and they are still quite soft if touched. I roll them about 3/8 inch thick or when sliced from a log cut them about 1/2 inch thick and flatten slightly (I use my favorite instrument for this, a batticarne.)

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Well I made the CI Gingerbread cookies the other night. They taste wonderful but with this new bit of "under baked" info, I think I over baked. I have a somewhat suspect apartment oven here and they took about 12 minutes to look "done". They are not "puffy", more chewy. But they are still good.

Since we have pretty much gobbled them all up, I may try again thicker and less cooking time.

Patrick

[sgschef]

I made the cranberry/orange/coconut cookies that everyone has raved about-the dough never really went togethter in one mass-and when I made the cookies they were difficult to get into a round ball-they never flattened-just stayed vry high---However-they tasted fantastic! Any ideas about why it happened.

[Pam R]

I taught a kids cookie class today and we created 1) Pam R's gingerbread hamentaschen with sour cherry jelly (I didn't bother telling the kids that we made it for the wrong holiday), Amernick's almond lace cookies (too hard for the kids), and a cherry, coconut skillet cookie from a contest I judged a few years back.  Everyone agreed that the hamenstaschen was the best and most fun to make.  The recipe is in RecipeGullet.

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I'm so happy they liked them. It doesn't matter what holiday they are meant for, they'd make a great addition to a Christmas cookie plate.

[kiliki]

I just pulled the Salted Prailine Langues de Chat cookies from this month's (December 2007) Gourmet from the oven, and they are outstanding. Highly recommended. Their unique shape and texture (prailine and salt topped) made a nice addition to my usual Christmas cookie assortment.

[Margo]

I just made a resolution to bake more cookies in 2008. Can I hang with you guys?

My grandmother gave me a box of her recipies when I got married, including her Christmas cookie standards. So every year, I make a bunch and send them out to family. My father starts asking about them soon after Thanksgiving, and if he's quick enough on the turnaround I'll refill his tin. These show up every year:

Springerle (when Oma died, I inherited her springerle rolling pin)

Lebkuchen rounds

Frosted Lemon Balls ("Calvin Coolidge's favorite!" says the recipe)

Danish Pfeffernuesse (decorated with an icing I found in a Penzey's catalogue a few years ago)

Plus every year I try to add something new. This year it was from Fine Cooking #75 (two years old but new to me), rugelach and cardamom palmiers made with the same cream cheese dough. These are terrific, great taste and looks without too much effort.

OK, one more round of baking to go!

[Lindacakes]

Welcome, Margo.

Wanna talk about those lemon balls?

[Kris]

This year I made 11 varieties of cookies:

Cocoa rum balls

Pecan tassies

Rainbow cookies

Gingerbread boys and girls

Chocolate cherry spritz

Lemon spritz (shaped like Christmas trees)

Italian Fig Cookies

Peanut Blossoms

Chocolate florentine sandwiches

Raspberry jam thumbprints

Cranberry pistaschio biscotti (with one end dipped in white chocolate)

I packed them up in personalized window boxes I had printed up. Then I gave them out as party favors (along with personalized packets of hot cocoa mix) to my Christmas party guests this past weekend. They were well received.

Next year I'm looking forward to trying a few new favorites, such as Ling's chocolate toffee cookies.

[Margo]

Welcome, Margo.

Wanna talk about those lemon balls?

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You bet. I just put the recipe in Recipe Gullet.

They're butter cookies, not at all fussy to make, especially since I got a teaspoon-size portioner from Baker's Catalogue. They were one of my favorites when my grandmother made them. I doubled the lemon zest from the 1 T she called for, so you really taste it, and this year I used double-strength vanilla--so they're less delicate than I remember, and I guess now they're "mine."

[Domestic Goddess]

This was my first time to make Christmas cookies. It was like a catharsis on my end as our puppy just recently died. So I decided on the day of election here in Korea, me and my son were going to bake cookies. Here's what we made:

Plain Shortbread cookies

Shortbread cookies with colored sugar

M&Ms Shortbread cookies

Shortbread kisses

And Gingerbread cookies