Aubrey's Snowman

For the thirteenth day of Cookiemas, we decided to bring out the sugar cookies.  My choose is sugar cookies is a recipe that doesn’t have much sweetness on its own.  If you like a really sweet cookie, you will want to be sure to roll these in granulated sugar before baking or ice them afterward.

This time out, we decided to just make rolled cookies instead of cut-outs.   We did throw in a couple of special characters along the way.

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Sugar Cookies ~ Yields 5 Dozen

• 1 c butter
• 1 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix together, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla with an electric mixer until nice and fluffy.  Combine the flour, backing powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.  Gradully stir flour mixture into the butter mixture until blended.  Chill dough for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400º F.  Roll dough into 1″ balls  and place 2″ apart on cookie sheets.  Decorate with decorator’s sugar as desired.

Bake for 6 minutes or until edges of cookie are light brown.  Remove to wire rack to cool.

After searching all over Richmond, Austin was finally able to locate hazelnuts.  According to the clerk at our local Kroger, there is a nation wide shortage this year. Fortunately, they still had some hiding in the back and we were able to make one of our favorites.

My new food processor was not as quick to make hazelnut butter as the Magic Bullet was (RIP Magic Bullet).  The end results were just as tasty as we remembered.

On the eleventh day of Cookiemas, Mommy was still away.

So, another advanced planning day for Daddy.

Step 1: Purchase Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Shortbread Cookie Kit.

Step 2: Follow package directions.

Step 3: Enjoy a Merry Cookiemas.

The recipe for this evening took extreme advance planning.  They made White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut cookies.

Recipe steps go as follows:

1. Order cookie dough from school fund raiser of co-worker.  Note: This step must be completed around 3 months in advance of cookie baking.
2. Receive cookie dough and store in deep freeze.
3. Place pre-formed cookies on baking sheet.
4. Bake according to directions.
5. Enjoy!

If you’ve opened just about any food or cooking magazine, you’ve seen the ad.  Gorgeous, decadent, tempting chocolate cookies  – the kind that makes your mouth water just from looking at them.   You can find the full recipe  here.

And, the magazine ad doesn’t lie — these cookies are delicious.  And they only get better the next day.

There are a few things not mentioned in the beautiful full page ad that may give you some pause when making these.  First off, they failed to mention the dough is the consistency of pluff mud.  For those of you unfamiliar with pluff mud – just think of the gooey-ist thing you’ve ever come across and think of something 10 times worse.

You will make a mess when slicing these cookies.  They will not hold their shape when you cut them – no matter how long you refrigerate them.  Embrace the mess — it’s worth it.

We baked the perfect oatmeal-raisin cookies.  These are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and full of flavor.  Add in craisins and walnuts and you have the perfect taste sensation.

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Oatmeal-Raisin-Cranberry Walnut Cookies ~ yields 54 cookies

¾ c butter, softened

1 c packed brown sugar

½ c sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground cloves

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¾ c all-purpose flour

2 c oats

1 c raisins

1 c craisins

½ c walnuts

Preheat oven to 375º F.  In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and cloves.  Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.  Beat in flour.  Stir in oats, raisins, craisins and walnuts.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for one minute.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

A good tip for any Hershey kiss cookie – instead of placing the kiss into the cookie after baking, add the kiss for the last minute of baking.  This softens the kiss so it is not as hard to eat.

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Super Duper Chocolate Kisses – yields about 40 cookies

1 16 ½ oz package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

1/3 unsweetened cocoa powder

2/3 c chocolate sprinkles

2 Tbs milk

40 Hershey kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 375º.

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine cookie dough and cocoa powder.  Seal bag; knead dough with your hands until it is mixed well.  Remove dough from bag

Place chocolate sprinkles in a shallow dish or small bowl.  Place milk in another small bowl.  Shape dough into 1” balls.  Roll balls first in the milk and then in the chocolate sprinkles.  Place balls 2” apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 7 minutes.  Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each kiss and then return the cookies to the oven for 1 more minute or until cookie edges are firm.  Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

These cookies are essentially a lemon poppy seed shortbread thumbprint cookie with a cream cheese filling.  These were new to us and produced a small, pretty cookie that is very tasty.

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Hungarian Cheese-Filled Cookies – Makes 6 to 7 dozen

2 c butter, softened

½ c sugar

2 Tbs milk

1 ½ tsp lemon extract, divided

2 Tbs poppy seeds

4 c all-purpose flour

¾ c ricotta cheese

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

½ tsp lemon zest

½ c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325º.

Beat butter, sugar, milk and 1 tsp lemon extract on medium speed until creamy.  Add poppy seeds.  Gradually add flour, beating on low speed until blended.  Beat on medium speed until stiff smooth dough forms.  Set aside.

Beat ricotta, cream cheese, egg, lemon zest and remaining ½ tsp lemon extract in separate bowl on low speed until smooth.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.  Press thumb into center of each cookie to make large, shallow indentation.  Spoon about ½ tsp of cheese mixture into the center of each cookie.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until cookie looks dry and set.  Cookies will not brown.  Cool completely on wore racks.  Dust with powdered sugar.  (Note: powdered sugar will dissolve into the cheese mixture, so don’t worry if your cookie doesn’t look “pretty” after this step.  It will.)

Note: The dough for these needs to be made ahead of time so you can slice and bake. Also, be sure to have lots of pretzels on hand. Breaking them so they form the perfect antler shape can be tricky.

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Maple Reindeer Cookies

1 c packed brown sugar
½ c butter, softened
1 tsp maple flavoring
1 egg
1 ½ c all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

Decorations
M&Ms
Large pretzels broken in half

Combine brown sugar, butter, and maple flavoring in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough in half. Roll each hale into a 6-inch log. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours).

Heat oven to 350º. Cut 1 log at a time into ½” thick slices. Place each slice on a cookie sheet. Pinch one end of each slice to form a point for the bottom of the face. Press 2 pretzel antlers onto the wide end, 2 M&Ms for eyes and 1 red M&M for the nose.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on the cookie sheets for 1 minute; remove to cooling racks to cool completely.