Holiday Cookie Baking!

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osucook

Assistant Cook
Joined
Sep 29, 2004
Messages
13
Location
columbus ohio
Is anyone else getting excited for the holiday baking this year? I am just trying to decide which cookies to bake when I go home for break.

So far some of my traditional favorites are:
-Russian Tea Cakes
-Chocolate Chip (nothing tops this!)
-Pistacio Party Cookies
-Chocolate Covered Cherry cookies
-Family recipe frosted x-mas tree sugar cookies (YUM)
-Peanut Blossoms
-Oreo (white/milk chocolate covered)
-Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

OoO the list goes on and on! Please add your favs to give some more ideas!
 
candy- toffee
pralines, fudge
butter cookies, decorated
peffernese
springerle (because I have the molds, and feel guilty about not using them. But they acutally grow on you after awhile, but you must like the taste of anise. good w/tea.)
choc.chip (w/a touch of cinnamon)
I think that covers it.
 
What exactly is peffernese and springerle? I've never heard of them.

Hmmm but the toffee sounds good and so does the pralines. Do you give candy as gifts during the holidays?
 
There are several that seem traditional in my family.

Gumdrop Cookies
Snickerdoodles
Pecan Pie Squares
Lemon Bars
Peanut Butter Ritz Bites, chocolate dipped
Wasp Nests
 
Here are a few of my T&T favorites. The last 2 are recipes I posted by request, and those who tried them gave them excellent reviews.

CHEWY DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (T&T)

WHITE CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE COOKIES (CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS) (T&T)

MOCHA TRUFFLE COOKIES (T&T)

WHITE CHOCOLATE DRIZZLED MOCHA THINSIES (T&T)


PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH COOKIES

CHEWY COCONUT COOKIES
 
osucook said:
What exactly is peffernese and springerle? I've never heard of them.

Hmmm but the toffee sounds good and so does the pralines. Do you give candy as gifts during the holidays?
springerle are cookie 'tiles' that are imprinted w/beautiful carved scenes. the original molds were carved from wood, now their some sort of resin, but still lovely. They are heavy on the anise, and if you like that flavor, they are very lite, interesting cookie and they must be made in advance to age.
peffernese are a spicy german cookie that my dad loved during the holidays-mom bought them at the A&P....I tried to make them a couple of years ago and found a recipe. I thought I'd try them again this year, as I have a new food processor and they have a lot of fresh ground spices in them. they're finished off w/powdered sugar.
toffee is the easiest, just remember to wipe the surface of the toffee before you pour on the choc. pieces. or the butter film will interfere with your chocolate sticking to the toffee.
 
It's so hard to limit myself to just a few kinds! But we have a small family who aren't big sweets people (can you believe it?!?) so they don't eat much of them. Work and neighbors will benefit. So far I've narrowed it down to:

Lemon Buttercups
Vanilla cut outs (this year I think stockings and snowflakes)
Chocolate cherry chunk
Extra spicy gingersnaps (have a touch of cayenne pepper in them)

And I think I'm going to do some candy this year--a couple different kinds of truffles, coconut filled chocolates, sugared cranberries and almond brittle.

It's too much, but this is as much restraint as I can muster!!! :D
 
PA Baker said:
It's so hard to limit myself to just a few kinds! But we have a small family who aren't big sweets people (can you believe it?!?) so they don't eat much of them. Work and neighbors will benefit. So far I've narrowed it down to:

Lemon Buttercups
Vanilla cut outs (this year I think stockings and snowflakes)
Chocolate cherry chunk
Extra spicy gingersnaps (have a touch of cayenne pepper in them)

And I think I'm going to do some candy this year--a couple different kinds of truffles, coconut filled chocolates, sugared cranberries and almond brittle.

It's too much, but this is as much restraint as I can muster!!! :D

Yes to the extra spicy gingersnaps...I put red pepper in my brittle sometimes, when I'm having a dessert to end a latin meal. serve it broken up over icecream. excellent!
What is chocolate cherry chunk?
 
The best German cookie, as determined by a poll of people I give cookies to, is Ischler Tortchen. Posssibly, the best cookie, period. It is an sandwich cookie based on ground almonds and raspberry jam. Everyone wants to know the recipe and when I give it to them, they are too lazy to make it. Second on my list are hazelnut crescents which are traditional in many European countries. My personal favorite German cookie is Zimtsterne. It is a star shaped cookie cut from rolled out almond macaroon batter (flourless) which is not easy to do.

When I make these, I will post recipes with pictures.
 
I'll be sure to post the choc. cherry chunk recipe--I'll dig it out over the weekend. We have company coming so I may not get to post it 'till Monday. Just remind me if you don't see it! ;)
 
Here are a few of my favs:

Kahlua Mudslide Brownies
Kahlua Pizza Brownies
Streusel Caramel Bars
Gingersnaps
Vanilla Creme-Filled Chocolate Shortbreads
Rum-butter cookies
good ol' chocolate chip cookies but with M&M's
good ol' peanut butter cookies
Snow balls
Hay stacks
easy peanut clusters

I'm sure I'll think of more.. my aunt makes a lot of these at Christmas. I have made some in the past.
 
I remembered (and the weekend’s not even over yet!)! :D Here’s my recipe for Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies (mmmm, I need to make these soon!). Plus when I was searching for that recipe I came across a good ginger one that I thought southern cook (and others) would enjoy—Chocolate Ginger Shortbread Cookies. Here they both are:

Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies

1 c dried cherries
1 c boiling water
½ lb unsalted butter, room temp
1 c light brown sugar, packed
1 c granulated sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs, room temp
2/3 c unsweetened cocoa (I use Scharffen Berger)
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 lb good quality semi-sweet chocolate or white chocolate, or a combination of both

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cover cherries with boiling water and let stand 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cream the butter and 2 sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the cocoa and mix again. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the batter with the mixer on low until just combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate and cherries.

Drop the dough on the lined baking sheets using a rounded tablespoon (I use 1 ¾” ice cream scoop. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone.). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack using a metal spatula. Cool completely before storing in a tightly sealed container.



Chocolate Ginger Shortbread Cookies (Jacques Torres)

4-6 pieces of candied ginger
½ vanilla bean or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¾ c cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 c powdered sugar
4 large egg yolks
pinch baking powder
pinch salt
½ c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 2/3 c flour

Use a rolling pin to mash the candied ginger into a paste.

Use a sharp knife to slice the vanilla bean lengthwise. Separate the seeds from the outside skin. Place the vanilla bean seeds, butter, sugar, egg yolks, and ginger in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low until combined, about 1 minutes. Combine the baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and flour and add to the butter mixture all at once. Beat on low just until combined, about 1 minute. Do not overmix the dough or it will become tough. Remove dough from bowl.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Roll dough into log and slice or use a flexible baking sheet with dome-shaped cavities (roll the dough into a rope that is about the same diameter as the cookie mold. Use a knife to cut each piece of dough and press into the mold, filling all cavities). Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

Have to go start dinner for our company!
 
thanks, PA! And I see we have to pry the Kahlua mudslide brownies recipe out of Julie (should have known).

C'mon girl, cough it up.

Julie-Sierra cook beat you to it.
 
PA..I've got everything to make those cookies RIGHT NOW!!! is that luck or what! there's dessert- and munchies for the game! ThankYOU!!
 

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