Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

A place for members to talk about things outside of Virgin Islands travel.
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

Got a good recipe to swap? It's fun to get new ideas. I know it's early, but I start on cookies usually in October because I do a HUGE endeavor for Hubby's chuch fundraiser. I make up my cookie doughs and freeze them and them bake thousands of cookies in the days just prior to the cookie sale so that they are all fresh. Last year I estimated that I donated more than 100 dozen cookies - thank goodness Christmas cookies are usually small! I've been hunting down bargains for weeks already - 12 lbs of butter stashed in the freezer, 30 lbs of flour, like amount of sugar, choc chips, etc. Pecans seem to be ridiculously expensive here this year again so if any of you Forumites in the South have a source for reasonably priced pecans PLEASE PM me!! I'm looking for recipes that are tasty, don't involve extensive deocrating (but look pretty) and can withstand some handling since they need to travel to the church sale and then to the home of the purchaser. Last year's new favorite - homemade Samoas - good enough to make the Girl Scouts cry...hahaha!! If you come across a good one, let's share!! I think I posted the recipe for the Samoa's last year, but I didn't I can always do it again.
News of St. John
Posts: 386
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:14 am

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by News of St. John »

Homemade Samoas? Sounds delicious! Where in CT is the fundraiser? We're in central CT.
Jenn, News of St. John
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

Not too far.....it's New Hartford Immaculate Conception Church. This year the sale will be Sat. Dec. 8th 11 am to 1 pm at the South End Fire Station at the intersection of Rt. 202 and Rt. 219. You purchase a 1 lb coffee tin for $5 and can fill it with as many cookies as you can fit in.
mindehankins
Posts: 3014
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
Location: Western NY State

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mindehankins »

That's a great deal, Lindy! I'll be watching and posting in the Christmas cookie thread - one of my favorites!
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

You and I will have to keep it going Minde!
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

I normally don't make cut out cookies at Christmas because they just take too much time when working with huge numbers. This year I have more time so decided to give it a whirl, but I did want to try to find a recipe for a cookie dough that's easy to work with. Well......I FOUND it...finally! I made about 10 dozen of them yesterday and I must say that this cookie dough is a dream to work with. I rolled them out between layers of parchment paper with minimal flour so the dough could be reworked several times without getting too "floury" so there was almost no scraps to waste. It was created by America's Test Kitchen so the spent alot of time and effort to research and came up with a winner, tastes good too. Here it is:

http://ingridschlueter.wordpress.com/20 ... r-cookies/
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

Just talking to myself so far.......but found another one I'd like to try:

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Servings: Makes 20 to 24 cookies
Note: Adapted from the Cravory in San Diego.
Cookie dough
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup (3½ ounces) sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) brown sugar
1/4 cup (1 ounce) powdered sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups plus 1 teaspoon (13 ounces) unbleached flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1 ounce) cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined, then beat in the vanilla extract.
2. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. With the mixer running, slowly beat in the flour mixture just until combined, being careful not to overmix. Remove the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until well-chilled, at least 1 hour.
Filling
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup (4 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (½ stick) butter, melted
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Shortly before assembling the cookies, prepare the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, mixing until well-combined.

Glaze

2 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup (4 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
1 vanilla bean, scraped
Zest of ½ orange, optional
3 tablespoons milk
1. Flour a cutting board or work surface. Turn the dough out on to the work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a 10-by-10-inch square.
2. Spread the filling gently but evenly over the dough.
3. Gently roll the dough into a tight log. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least one hour, preferably overnight.
4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. Prepare the glaze: In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, whisk together the cream cheese and butter. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar, then the vanilla bean and orange zest (if using). Finally, whisk in the milk until the glaze is smooth and thick.
6. Grease 2 (12-cup) muffin tins. Remove the dough log from the refrigerator and cut the log into half-inch-thick slices. Place each slice in a greased muffin cup.
7. Bake the cookies until the tops are slightly browned, about 15 minutes, rotating halfway for even baking.
8. Remove the cookies and cool, still in the muffin tins, on a rack. Using a fork, generously drizzle the glaze over the baked cookies before serving.
mindehankins
Posts: 3014
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
Location: Western NY State

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mindehankins »

Thank you, Lindy, for the sugar cookie recipe! I've never had luck with sugar cookies, but will give this one a try. I like the chilling step and the freezer step , cause I always ended up with too much flour when rolling.
I probably won't try the other one, cause it, too, needs to be rolled out. I like drop and bar cookies :wink:
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

The chilling and freezing part work REALLY well and then I just froze my cut out cookies and packaged them to be baked off a few days before the cookie sale. The cinnamon roll one shouldn't be too bad because you're only rolling the dough out to put the filling on and then roll it up into a spiral and it doesn't have to be perfect. You actually form the cookies by slicing the log of rolled up dough. Again, if you get it good and cold or partially frozen it cuts very neatly. And you put the glaze on them so if they're not perfect no one will notice! I'm going to try making them without the muffin tin part because I'll probably triple the recipe and I don't want to take the time to mess around with muffin tins. I'll just bake them on parchment paper after slicing them.
User avatar
mbw1024
Posts: 7347
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:54 pm
Location: The Garden State

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mbw1024 »

Not a cookie but I think I am making these this year.

http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2012/02/pea ... -truffles/
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

Oh yummy! I may have to try those too. Let me know how yours turn out.
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

I made the Cinnamon Roll cookie recipe and here's my observations:

Yum, yum and yum!! I added about a teaspoon of orange extract in addition to the vanilla and that magically made the dough taste EXACTLY like a Cinnabon. The dough is VERY soft even after chilling so be sure to roll it out between parchment or waxed paper with a generous amount of flour and use the paper to roll it up after the filling - just google instuctions for doing jelly rolls, same technique. Rolling out to the 10" x 10" size specified in the recipe makes a really fat log which results in huge cookies - I went more for 10" x 14" and rolled up the long edge but they were still pretty big (3 to 4" when baked) .OK, if making them for home use but since I'm doing this for mass production I froze the logs and will try rolling them out a little more "rope-style" before I slice and bake to try to make them a little bit smaller. I cut a few slices off the ends to test bake and the room temp dough was very difficult to slice because it stuck to the knife and got out of shape, so I'm hoping that it's much easier to work with when frozen. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to appearance so don't worry about being fussy if you don't want to. The icing also hides a lot of sins. The bigger the cookie, the more soft it is...thinner ones get a snap. Either way they are a GREAT tasting cookie and went fabulously with my coffee this morning!
User avatar
jayseadee
Posts: 2312
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 7:16 pm
Location: New England

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by jayseadee »

My grandmother used to make Italian chocolate/pine nut cookies; small balls actually.

I can't find a similar recipe anywhere. If anyone knows what I'm talking about and has a recipe, that would be great. The pine nuts were rolled in the cookie, not on top.
janet
User avatar
Lindy
Posts: 658
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:07 am
Location: Connecticut

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

jayseadee - This is Giada's recipe which I would think would be excellent. Does this look right to you?

Chocolate Cookies with Pine Nuts

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Punch of salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Using a mixer, blend the mixture until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, pine nuts and chocolate. Stir until just blended.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Form 1″ balls of dough and place on cookie sheet. Bake until the tops look dry, about 18 minutes. (I always rotate the sheets halfway through). Cool 15 minutes on the baking sheets. Dust with powdered sugar and serve. Yield: 40 cookies.
mindehankins
Posts: 3014
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:21 am
Location: Western NY State

Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mindehankins »

I just wanted to say.... "Lindy rocks!" 8)
Post Reply