Christmas Cookies

[Syrah]

It was a cool morning, so I had the urge to start my baking today.

I made the dough for pecan brown sugar shortbread, kourambiedes, lemon black pepper sweets and baked one tray of Speculaas (freezing the rest). Delicious!

[gfron1]

Thanks Merstar and Rona. I'm awake again and ready to start baking - great suggestions.

[CaliPoutine]

Upthread Andie talked about some sour cream topping type thumprint cookies. I made them last year and they were amazing. Ina Garten's Jam thumbprints are pretty effing good too.

[Marmish]

I've made my list for this year, I think. In the summer, I got Martha Stewart's Cookies, so I'm working from that.

Rugelach fingers - chocolate apricot nuts

Chocolate pistachio cookies - two pistachio cookies sandwiching a chocolate filling, then dipped in chocolate and topped with slivered pistachios

Magic blondies - baked in mini cupcake liners and topped with dried cranberries and coconut

Lemon shortbread (not from Martha's book)

and I may make one more old standby because I didn't like the test batch I did of Martha's rum meltaways. Too much nutmeg I think.

[CanadianBakin']

Might not be enough time for you all to help here, but just in case.  I'm doing a kids holiday cookie class tomorrow.  Ages 7-14.  I've been too busy with my own stuff to plan the recipes.  I'm thinking three easy recipes and lot's of decorating, but because of how we promote our store, the recipes have to be unique.  No sugar cookies.  No hershey kiss in thumbprint, etc.  (Not that those are bad, just not what I can have in my classes).  I found Mama Kemp's Vienna cookies in RecipeGullet - that sounds promising.  Any other suggestions while I sleep?  As soon as I get up I'll need to start making recipe cards and prepping anything that needs chilling.

Thanks!

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I thought you had typed this note on Friday so I didn't reply. I guess I didn't interpret the time difference correctly. A fun thing to do is make your favourite brownie recipe in a mini muffin pan, when cooled a bit I turn the pan upside down and press to flatten the tops. Then tip them out upside down, pour some ganache over each one so it's running down the sides and then decorate with whatever you like. I often use a chocolate covered coffee bean or some edible gold. Simple and always popular.

[Jaymes]

Might not be enough time for you all to help here, but just in case.  I'm doing a kids holiday cookie class tomorrow.  Ages 7-14.  I've been too busy with my own stuff to plan the recipes.  I'm thinking three easy recipes and lot's of decorating, but because of how we promote our store, the recipes have to be unique.  No sugar cookies.  No hershey kiss in thumbprint, etc.  (Not that those are bad, just not what I can have in my classes).  I found Mama Kemp's Vienna cookies in RecipeGullet - that sounds promising.  Any other suggestions while I sleep?  As soon as I get up I'll need to start making recipe cards and prepping anything that needs chilling.

Thanks!

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I thought you had typed this note on Friday so I didn't reply. I guess I didn't interpret the time difference correctly. A fun thing to do is make your favourite brownie recipe in a mini muffin pan, when cooled a bit I turn the pan upside down and press to flatten the tops. Then tip them out upside down, pour some ganache over each one so it's running down the sides and then decorate with whatever you like. I often use a chocolate covered coffee bean or some edible gold. Simple and always popular.

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What a great idea! Thanks.

[jess mebane]

Ok, so I like to check in 'bout this time each year to get the xmas cookie pix from my fellow elves....where ya at? I kid. With Love, I kid.

But seriously, now--I know I'm not the only one out there buying my birth weight in butter! My MIL gave me four lbs. this a.m. with three bags of Costco nuts and a gimlet stare, like, "Better see these in action soon, grrl..."

Happy Holidaze

[kalypso]

Gourmet mag has compiled a list of their best cookies since 1941. Is anyone else trying any of these? I actually made a few of them when the recipes were first published so it's kind of a blast from the past to see them again.

The Chocolate Crinkle Sambuca Cookies from 1999 are very good and the Cranberry Turtle Bars from 2001 are wonderful. I made the Dutch Cashew Crunch Cookies from the 70's (boy, talk about a blast from the past) this afternoon and think they're delectable too. The 30+ year old method could use some tweaking, but the cookies themselves were outstanding.

I've got several others on deck for later in the week and next weekend when candy making gets started in earnest. And yes, not only have I purchased my body weight in butter, I've also purchased it in nuts and chocolate.

Edited December 7, 2008 by kalypso (log)

[gfron1]

Thanks for the help on the class from a gracious group of sugar-ed up kids!

[Tri2Cook]

Cool Rob. Looks like they're having fun.

[CaliPoutine]

Rob,

Are those the Maida sour cream cookies?

[prasantrin]

Rob--what the meringue-y looking ones? I love a good meringue! How did the peanut butter thumbprint with salted peanut caramel cookies turn out? I really want to try them, but I have too many other things on my to-make list right now!

[gfron1]

That wasn't all of the cookies - I was in a frenzy to finish the class on time, so there are three others not pictured including the sour cream ones. The meringues are from Bigelow's Chocolate Desserts - Chocolate Meringues. I wanted to let the kids do some piping, so those were perfect, then we dipped them in chocolate that they learned to temper, and they learned (and need to practice) how to dip the cookies and not leave feet with trails - some were perfect. You also see Lebovitz's pecan brown sugar shortbreads - very good. I liked the meringues because beyond the cocoa, you also added grated chocolate into them - very chocolaty.

The salted peanut caramel thumbs were good but you can see we had some troubles. The recipe didn't call for chilling before baking (I know better), and so they really spread. We reprinted them after they came out of the oven. On a later batch (for myself) I froze then baked and they were perfect. Part of that is the kids over handling the dough however - they were in a sugar revolt at that point and the more I said, "gentle," the more they smooshed them in their hands.

[CanadianBakin']

Gourmet mag has compiled a list of their best cookies since 1941. Is anyone else trying any of these?  I actually made a few of them when the recipes were first published so it's kind of a blast from the past to see them again.

The Chocolate Crinkle Sambuca Cookies from 1999 are very good and the Cranberry Turtle Bars from 2001 are wonderful.  I made the Dutch Cashew Crunch Cookies from the 70's (boy, talk about a blast from the past) this afternoon and think they're delectable too. The 30+ year old method could use some tweaking, but the cookies themselves were outstanding.

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Thanks for the link. Do you think the Cranberry Turtle Bars would work with dried sour cherries? I was thinking of making them in mini tarts and possibly use chopped almonds instead of the pecans. Or do you really need fresh/frozen fruit to get the right effect?

[kalypso]

Gourmet mag has compiled a list of their best cookies since 1941. Is anyone else trying any of these?  I actually made a few of them when the recipes were first published so it's kind of a blast from the past to see them again.

The Chocolate Crinkle Sambuca Cookies from 1999 are very good and the Cranberry Turtle Bars from 2001 are wonderful.  I made the Dutch Cashew Crunch Cookies from the 70's (boy, talk about a blast from the past) this afternoon and think they're delectable too. The 30+ year old method could use some tweaking, but the cookies themselves were outstanding.

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Thanks for the link. Do you think the Cranberry Turtle Bars would work with dried sour cherries? I was thinking of making them in mini tarts and possibly use chopped almonds instead of the pecans. Or do you really need fresh/frozen fruit to get the right effect?

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I think if you rehydrated the dried cherries in something you'd be okay. The cookie doesn't depend upon the fresh or frozen cranberries for it's identity, but I think a dried fruit that is not hydrated (macerated) in something might be a little too chewy. I think the cherries would probably be pretty good.

[Toliver]

In the plastic bags to the right of the checkerboard cookies are lime snowdrops. I loved those, they made my tastebuds smile.

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I love lime cookies. Can you post your recipe for the Lime Snowdrops?

[cakewalk]

In the plastic bags to the right of the checkerboard cookies are lime snowdrops. I loved those, they made my tastebuds smile.

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I love lime cookies. Can you post your recipe for the Lime Snowdrops?

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I used Ling's infamous recipe, they're on RecipeGullet. I think she calls them Lime Meltaways, I don't know why I changed the name to snowdrops. When I get home I'll look up my printed out recipe to see if I made any notes or changes. I do remember thinking I wanted them to be a bigger cookie rather than the smallish cookies they were.

[sugar plum]

TOliver, Ling's recipe looks similar to Martha's Lime Meltaways. I've made them and they are fab! This link should get you the recipe you're looking for:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lime-m...ys&rsc=header_2

[sugar plum]

Well, I think this topic needs a kick start as it’s December 9th and I’m sure many other eGulleters are happily baking away. Here’s my contribution. I’d love to hear what others have to say about their cookie recipe sources and experiments.

My standard recipes every year are heavy on the “Martha Stewart” and include:

Her Chocolate Crackles, Carrot Cake Cookies and Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread. I think these all can be found on her website or in her Cookie cookbook.

This year, I’ve started the Christmas cookie baking a little early. I decided to try to bake ~20-25 recipes as a little project for myself. I wanted to add to my repertoire and actually use some of the cookbooks I’ve amassed over the year.

Here’s my list and verdict:

Martha Stewart Christmas Cookbook-Orange Poppy Seed Spirals (a lot of work but well received)

Martha Stewart Cookies-Buttered Rum Meltaways (very ho-hum, her Lime Meltaways are much better), Rum Balls (batter too dry even after adding all the rum, sanding sugar didn’t stick…going to try a different recipe for rum balls next time), Gingersnap Palmiers (one word=disaster!). Next up from this cookbook is her Rum Raisin Shortbread.

Martha Stewart Dec’08-Key Lime Thumbprints (not very limey tasting…should have made the chocolate version instead)

Martha Stewart Dec’07-Espresso Icebox Coins (excellent and so easy to make—satisfies the chocolate and coffee craving all in one cookie)

Martha Stewart Dec’05-Coconut Sugar Cookies (fantastic for coconut lovers)

Cook’s Illustrated-Rugelach (okay but I think I’m still searching for a better recipe, too much liquid and so it didn’t produce the prettiest cookies), Molasses Spice Cookies with Orange Essence (my mom’s recipe is better but the orange “twist” on it was neat)

Rose’s Christmas Cookies (Rose Levy Beranbaum)-Lora Brody’s Chocolate Phantoms (not sure if they’re worth spending the $$$ on macadamias)

Carole Walter’s Great Cookies-Chocolate Peanut Butter Yo-Yos (too much work, never again), Chocolate Shortbread Nuggets (again, a lot of in and out of the oven and tending to with this recipe but it produced a nice product in the end).

Nick Malgeri’s Modern Baker-Cappuccino Thumbprints (excellent)

For the Canadians, I’ve made Anna Olson’s Pinapple Squares (to die for! Imagine it’s like a lemon bar—shortbread topped with pinapple curd, yum!). Canadian Living’s Coconut Macaroon Surprises (fun shortbread cookie wrapped around a chocolate macaroon and rolled in coconut). I’m planning on baking some Pistachio Thumbprints with White Chocolate from the Canadian Living Complete Christmas Book.

Happy holiday baking everyone!

[cakewalk]

TOliver, Ling's recipe looks similar to Martha's Lime Meltaways.  I've made them and they are fab!  This link should get you the recipe you're looking for:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lime-m...ys&rsc=header_2

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Yes, I'm looking through my cookie binder (I can't believe I have such a thing) and I used the Martha Stewart recipe. The only notes I made were to roll out the dough into a larger diameter log (recipe says 1-1/4 inch), and to slice the logs into thicker rounds (recipe calls for 1/8 inch.) I don't know how they'll bake up, but I will try them in the larger size. I find that these cute itsy bitsy cookies are just to easy to pop in my mouth, and I end up eating a gazillion of them.

On another note: a few nights ago I made Dorrie Greenspan's peanut butter crisscrosses from Baking from My Home to Yours; they're baked and in the freezer, where they seem to be defending themselves well. My question is this: I tend to decrease the sugar content in recipes from this book, because I've found that they're usually too sweet for me. But the peanut butter cookies took a drastic sugar reduction: instead of 1 cup of light brown sugar, I used 3/4 cup; instead of 3/4 cup white sugar, I used 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. I still rolled the balls of dough in sugar before baking. They are really good. Very peanut-buttery, but still sweet. (Quite a few never made it to the freezer, of course.) So I'm curious -- those of you who have made them before, did you use the full amount of sugar? Everyone who has tried them so far has been an adult, and said they were great. I'm wondering if the reduced sugar content would go over well with kids.

[Toliver]

Thanks everyone for the posts about the Lime Meltaway recipes. I'll give them a try in a couple weeks when I visit my family for Christmas (the next door neighbor has a lime tree ).

[Lior]

This is obviously not especially for christmas, but perhaps a new cookie- maybe not. They are from the Morroccan kitchen and are called "rose cookies" because they resemble a rose sort of

!

[baroness]

Lior, do tell more! Are these cookies filled? They look wonderful.

[Lior]

uh huh. They are filled. They are light and delicious!! The filling is from egg whites sugar and vanilla pudding...

[Marmish]

Well, I think this topic needs a kick start as it’s December 9th and I’m sure many other eGulleters are happily baking away.  Here’s my contribution.  I’d love to hear what others have to say about their cookie recipe sources and experiments. 

My standard recipes every year are heavy on the “Martha Stewart” and include:

Her Chocolate Crackles, Carrot Cake Cookies and Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread.  I think these all can be found on her website or in her Cookie cookbook. 

This year, I’ve started the Christmas cookie baking a little early.  I decided to try to bake ~20-25 recipes as a little project for myself.  I wanted to add to my repertoire and actually use some of the cookbooks I’ve amassed over the year. 

Here’s my list and verdict:

Martha Stewart Christmas Cookbook-Orange Poppy Seed Spirals (a lot of work but well received)

Martha Stewart Cookies-Buttered Rum Meltaways (very ho-hum, her Lime Meltaways are much better), ...

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I made a 1/2 batch of the rum meltaways to test them out and didn't like them. Too much nutmeg I think.