Category: Cookies

Sparkling St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies

sparkingstpatrickscookiesThis weekend I stood in the baking aisle of my local craft store, staring at the “sorry, we’re out” tag hanging from the rod where the green sanding sugar should have been. To the left were dinosaur sprinkles; to the right, some type of “cactus mix.” And while I’d love to bake with dino and cactus sprinkles someday, I really needed plain old green sanding sugar for my sparkling shamrock cut-outs. To the grocery store I went, only to meet the same fate.

And so I returned home, consulted the internet, and made my own colored sugar. You could probably use regular granulated sugar, but I used the larger crystals known as sanding sugar that you can get at baking supply and craft stores. I had a bottle of white, so I placed about a half-cup in a glass container, added a few drops of green gel food coloring, and shook the container until all the granules were coated. I’m very pleased with how it turned out; the light shade of the shamrocks goes well with the gold coins, all of which are on their way to my favorite young ladies in Maryland, Mo and Margo.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla
  • Green and yellow sanding sugar

Preparation

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla and about half the flour mixture, beating until combined; beat in remaining flour. If necessary, add 1-2 teaspoons of water for a less crumbly dough; you’ll need a more pliable dough to roll and cut later.

Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until just barely firm, about 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper, then place green sanding sugar on a plate; place yellow on another.

Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into shamrock shapes, then press the tops of each cookie into the green sugar to coat. Repeat with a small round cutter for coins and press into the yellow sugar. Place on baking sheets about 1-2 inches apart – they don’t spread much when baking, but you don’t want to crowd your baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheets for 2-3 minutes before carefully transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days; if shipping, pack between layers of waxed paper. Makes about 3 dozen 3-inch cookies.

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Applesauce Raisin Cookies

applesauce raisin cookiesMike worked from home last week, so when I sought out something to bake, he requested “some kind of applesauce cookie.” At first I planned to just make an old reliable oatmeal applesauce cookie, but instead I searched Pinterest and found a recipe at Savory Experiments that I adapted to include golden raisins, as Mike is a raisin fan.

This recipe yields a very tender, cake-like cookie that you could certainly leave plain, but I decided to jazz up with an apple cider drizzle icing. The original recipe called for a melted white chocolate drizzle, which you could certainly do if you’re a white chocolate fan (I’m not). The cookies look incredibly homemade regardless, but they definitely look better with a drizzle on them. My un-drizzled cookies reminded me a bit of rocks – definitely not appetizing!

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup applesauce
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins

For the drizzle

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons apple cider

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and applesauce and mix to combine; stir in flour until just combined, then fold in raisins.

Using a two-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheets and flatten slightly with your hand. Bake for 10 – 14 minutes, until edges are set and bottoms are just brown; cookies will puff up when baking, so you want to ensure they have enough time to fully bake inside. Remove from oven and remove to a wire rack to cool.

To make drizzle, combine powdered sugar and enough cider to make a drizzly consistency; drizzle over cookies. Allow to set before storing in an airtight container between sheets of waxed paper. Cookies can sit at room temperature for 3-4 days. Makes 24.

Apricot Thumbprints

apricot thumbprintsThumbprint cookies: you know you love them. But do you prefer thumbprints with a blob of icing in the middle, or jam? For me, it depends on the day. And yesterday I decided that an apricot thumbprint would be a great idea, thanks to the jar of apricot preserves I had on hand. Fortunately I found this recipe from Knead Some Sweets, and it is absolutely delicious; I adapted it slightly because I didn’t have salted butter on hand, but you can always just add some salt to your dough to make up for that.

This dough is incredibly buttery – and honestly would make a great cookie on its own, without any thumbprinting. You could certainly substitute a different jam if you like, but I think the sharper apricot flavor balances the buttery flavor of the dough really well. These would be great with raspberry or blackberry jam, too.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • About 1/2 cup apricot preserves

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars, and salt until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat to combine, then add flour and mix on low to combine completely.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop generous portions of dough and roll into balls – you want the portions to be about the size of a gumball, or walnut. Place on the baking sheets and use a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to make the thumbprint indentation. Spoon (or pipe from a piping bag, as I did) apricot preserves into the thumbprints. You can be a little more generous with your preserves, as these cookies spread a bit when baking and you’ll want the preserves to fill out the thumbprint.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are golden. Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Makes 27.

Chocolate Chip Snowballs

chocolatechipsnowballsThe Russian tea cake is one of my favorite cookies. Many different recipes exist for treats like these; some are called wedding cookies, and others snowballs. Some use pecans instead of the classic walnuts, and I recently came across a version that used miniature chocolate chips. That sounded delicious to me, so I decided to whip up a batch and add some orange extract for a chocolate-orange hint.

While they are delicious, I think orange zest would have been a better addition to my dough, so that’s what I’ll use next time. I also scaled back the amount of mini chocolate chips in the dough from the original, which recommended a full cup. You could certainly go with that quantity if you like, but I think a half-cup (or maybe three-quarters to split the difference) gives a better balance between the flavor of the dough and the little morsels of chocolate.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract
  • 1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
  • Powdered sugar, for rolling

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Stir together flour and salt; set aside.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and orange extracts and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and mix on low until the dough comes together; stir in chocolate chips.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop out dough and roll into balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are just golden. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, until cookies are easier to handle. Roll in powdered sugar and allow to cool completely on wire racks. Re-roll before storing in an airtight container at room temperature; keep for 2-3 days. Makes about 18 cookies; for a higher yield, use a 1-inch cookie scoop.

Italian Butter Cookies

italianbuttercookiesThe butter cookie is a simple yet amazingly delicious creation. You know them well – there are Danish varieties, Italian varieties, British varieties, and more, all made with simple ingredients and either formed or piped into fun shapes. I desperately wanted those beautiful cookies with defined ridges in them…but alas, my dough was too soft and the cookies spread significantly when they baked.

The challenge with a piped butter cookie is that the dough needs to be soft enough to fit through your piping bag nozzle, but sturdy enough to keep its shape when baked without spreading into things that look like, well, goodness knows what. My dough certainly wasn’t sturdy enough, but these cookies are beyond delicious. I found the recipe below at Cucina By Elena and Mike has proclaimed it one of the best things I’ve ever made.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers
  • Multicolored sprinkles

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until very light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Slowly add flour mixture until the dough comes together.

Fit a piping bag with a large tip; I used both the Wilton M1 and 4B for different textures. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper; I clip mine to the baking sheets with small binder clips to hold it in place. Pipe desired shapes; I did wreaths, swirls, S-shapes, and finger-type shapes. Freeze piped cookies for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, until edges are just turning golden. Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate, melt chocolate wafers and dip cookies as desired; I also created sandwiches with my finger-style cookies, kind of like a Milano cookie. Store in an airtight container and room temperature for 2-3 days. Makes about three dozen, depending on the size of your cookies.

Anise Twists

anisetwistsEveryone knows a cookie like this: tender, lightly flavored, and absolutely delicious, the type of thing you know someone’s grandma or favorite aunt always made around Christmas. Such are these anise twists, my spin on the traditional anise love knot, because I just couldn’t seem to make knots. There are several recipes for this type of cookie out there, and the recipe below is a hybrid of those. 

I will absolutely, positively make these cookies again, though probably in smaller sizes and perhaps just as round cookies next time; I might also dial back the anise flavoring slightly, because they left me with a stronger aftertaste than I’d expected. Mike loved them, especially how only one side of the cookie is dipped in the icing; he has requested an almond version dipped in chocolate that could accompany coffee, so stay tuned. 

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour 
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 teaspoon anise extract

For the icing

  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon anise extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons milk
  • Multicolored nonpareils

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Sift together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs and sugar until light in color, about 3 minutes. Add melted butter and anise and stir to combine. With the mixer running on low, add flour about 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until completely combined. 

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead in additional 2 tablespoons flour. Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough and roll into 8-inch ropes. Twist together and place on baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes, until bottoms are just golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make icing, stir together melted butter, powdered sugar, anise, and enough milk to make a dipping consistency. Carefully dip the top of one end of each cookie into the icing (or use a spoon to pour over; these cookies are incredibly delicate and a few of mine broke in the dipping process). Sprinkle with nonpareils. Allow to set before storing; makes 20. 

 

Chocolate Orange Rounds

embossedchocolateMy dear friend Carrie gave me a lovely embossed rolling pin for my birthday this year. It has a folk art-type pattern of flowers, and I’ve been looking forward to using it for months now. As I’m on vacation this week, I’m baking up a storm, and decided to go with a chocolate orange roll-out cookie to test my embossed rolling skills.

While the cookies look absolutely delicious, they are too bitter for me. I used a King Arthur Baking recipe went with dark cocoa for my cocoa powder, but next time I’ll use regular unsweetened cocoa for a lighter chocolate taste. Mike proclaimed them as delicious and remarked that they’d be good with a pint of Guinness. Perhaps I’ll pick some up for him while running errands today.

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • zest of 1/2 a large orange
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preparation

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and powdered sugar. Add salt, vanilla extract, and orange zest and beat until fluffy. Add flour and cocoa powder and beat on low to combine, or stir in with a spoon. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a regular rolling pin, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using your embossed rolling pin, roll the dough again to imprint the pattern. Using a round cutter, cut out circles and place on the parchment-lined sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until edges are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for 1-2 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Makes about two dozen cookies.

Vanilla Pizzelles

vanillapizzelleMy Budapest-born grandma Zella made pizzelles throughout my childhood. I like to think that, in a city with proud ethnic heritage like Pittsburgh, she learned to make them from an Italian friend from her neighborhood or local church. In my imagination Zella and this friend swapped recipes, and right now there’s a girl of Italian heritage making apricot kolaches for her family’s Thanksgiving desserts, just as I’ve made pizzelles for ours.

However she learned to make them, Zella’s pizzelles were absolutely delicious. I have her recipe around here somewhere, and am determined to find it now that I’ve given these treats a try. I used the recipe that came with my pizzelle iron, and while they have a long way to go in terms of even color they do taste very good. I started with a basic vanilla, but plan to branch out to anise and almond, and perhaps even chocolate, over the holidays. We’ll see how it goes.

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

Preparation

Heat and prep your pizzelle maker according to the manufacturer’s directions; I let mine heat up while I made my batter and brushed it with vegetable oil just before making my first pizzelles.

In a mixer, beat eggs and butter until light and almost lemon-colored, about 3 minutes. Add melted butter and vanilla and beat until blended. Sift together 1 cup flour and baking powder, then fold into the egg mixture. Sift the remaining flour over the batter and fold in to combine; the batter will become thick and fluffy.

Using two tablespoons from your flatware, drop a rounded tablespoon* of batter onto the center of the pattern; close the lid and bake for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Remove using kitchen tongs and cool on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. My recipe yielded 15 pizzelles.

*The original recipe called for placing 2 tablespoons of batter on each pattern, but when I did that they were far too large and spread out beyond the pattern part of my pizzelle iron. I recommend testing out what amount works for you based on your machine. 

Bailey’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

baileyschocolatechipcookiesEarlier this month I got the flu, even though I got (and still firmly believe in) my vaccine. The Original Gangster Flu, the type that knocks you out of commission for a solid week. During my flu experience Mike found this recipe courtesy of Baker by Nature, and I promised him once the plague lifted I’d bake it. I’ve been symptom-free for about a week now, so today I gave it a try. I adapted my recipe to use milk chocolate chips instead of semisweet because that’s what I had on hand, so I think you can go with either one.

While I don’t really taste the Bailey’s in these cookies, they are delicious. Bailey’s is one of my favorite things to bake with, but to me these just taste like rich chocolate chip cookies with a hint of something I can’t quite identify. Mike loved them though, and that’s all that matters to me. My only recommendation for next time is that I bake them for less time; I think they turned out crisper than I’d prefer, so I’ll pull them around 8 minutes in the future and let them finish baking while they cool.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 12-ounce package milk or semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and espresso powder; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and Bailey’s and mix to combine; add eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Stir in flour mixture, then stir in chocolate chips; batter will be fairly thick, but be careful not to over mix it. Cover and chill for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees; line four baking sheets with parchment paper and let your dough sit out at room temperature while the over preheats. Using a two-inch cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough and place on cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are set but center still look puffy; remove from oven and cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature; makes about 32 cookies, depending on how generous you are with your scoops.

Autumn Leaf Shortbread

leafshortbreadThis morning Tucker and I had a lovely walk at North Park, one of our favorite local places. North Park sits on more than 3,000 acres and includes a manmade lake for kayaking, paddling, and fishing, miles of hiking trails through beautiful woods, an ice rink, a swimming pool, various ballfields and tennis courts…pretty much everything you’d expect from a suburban park.

The trees at North Park are stunning at this time of year, and this year especially. Cooler weather has brought out vibrant reds and oranges, which are some of my favorite shades. These shortbread cookies, inspired by a recipe I found at Tastemade, are inspired by Mother Nature’s lovely fall showcase; while they look beautiful, they weren’t quite as flavorful as I would have liked. They have a lovely crumbly texture, but I think they need more vanilla extract – or even vanilla paste – to give them a richer flavor.

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • Yellow, orange, and red gel food coloring

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add flour and salt and mix to combine completely; this takes a few minutes. Divide dough into three portions and tint each portion a different color, then marble your dough together. If necessary, you can chill your dough, but I skipped this step because it was cool enough in my house today and the dough didn’t get that soft.

Roll your dough into a log, then roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut cookies using a leaf-shaped cutter; press lines for leaf veins into each cookie using a sharp knife. Place on baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, until bottoms are very light golden brown.

Remove from oven place on a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about a dozen, depending on the size of your cutter; I used a maple leaf shape that’s about 2 inches wide. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.