Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

I wanted to put a twist on the normal peanut butter hershey kiss cookies.  My favorite hershey kisses are the candy cane kisses, so I knew I was going to use those.  All the recipes for the traditional kiss cookies had peanut butter it in, and I didn't think that would taste too good.  I ended up creating my own cookie recipe for these, which turned out fabulous.

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
makes 7 dozen cookies


7 dozen candy cane kisses, unwrapped (you'll need two regular sized bags)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 sticks butter, softened
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Beat sugars, cream cheese, shortening and butter until fluffy.  Add eggs and mix well.  Stir in flour, baking sode & powder, and mix until fully combined.  Scoop with a small cookie scoop and roll into 1" balls.  Roll balls in additional sugar.  You can use colored sugar, like I did!  Place about 2" apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly brown.  Remove from oven and place 1 kiss into center of each cookie.  Let cool on wire rack.

Adapted from Betty Crocker's Peanut Butter Blossoms

Colorful Swirl Cookies

Today is the last day of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies series.  These colorful swirl cookies were a bit of a challenge to make, but the end result is so pretty!  I'm going to try making these one more time, with red & white, to coordinate.

These can easily be adapted to any season by changing the color and the sprinkles.  The directions are kind of long, so here is the source I used for the Christmas version (Our Italian Kitchen), which was adapted from Sprinkles Bakes.

Enjoy!  & stay tuned for a lot more Christmas recipes in the next two weeks!

Decorated Sugar Cookies

Definitely the most time consuming cookie (hence the late post today), but these are so worth it in the end!  I've been through many sugar cookie recipes, and finally landed on the perfect recipe.  I also experimented with royal icing and tried a new recipe today.  The end result is these cute trees, Christmas light bulbs & ornaments.

Sugar Cookies

Yield ~40
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions:Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool. 

Source: from Annies-eats.com

Royal Icing

3 oz pasteurized egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Whisk the egg whites and vanilla in a stand mixer on medium until frothy.  Add powdered sugar slowly and mix until combined.  Turn the speed up to high and mix 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form.  Color as desired.  To thin, add water by the 1/2 tsp until you reach flooding consistency.

Gingerbread Snowflakes

These gingerbread snowflakes are perfectly spicy and perfectly pretty.  I love the snowflakes, but I also made some cutout reindeer, along with mini & regular sized gingerbread men.

Don't be scared about the pepper, you won't be able to pick out the flavor once everything is mixed together :)

Gingerbread Cookies
yield 24 cookies
6 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground gloves
1 tsp finely ground pepper (do it!)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup molasses

Sift together flour, baking powder & baking soda; set aside.  Beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy, then mix in spices, salt, eggs, and molasses.  With the mixer on low, add flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Divide into thirds and refrigerate one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4 inch thick and cut out snowflakes (or whatever shape desired).  Place on parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.  Bake cookies 12-14 minutes, until crisp.  Cool on wire rack, then decorate with royal icing and sanding sugar.

Homemade Peppermint Oreos

These cookies are delicious!  I was a little skeptical if they could really be a replacement for Oreos, but figured even if they weren't, a dark chocolate cookie and peppermint buttercream filling sounded good anyway.  I had no need to worry.  The cookies taste exactly like the real thing!  Even better, they have fairly normal ingredients and mix & bake super fast.

Homemade Oreos
yield 28 sandwiches
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup dutch process unsweetened cocoa powder (like Hershey's Special Dark)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 eggs

Mix dry ingredients together in a stand mixer, then add butter.  Blend on low, then add eggs and beat until smooth.  Drop by a heaping teaspoon onto lined baking sheets - I used my small cookie scoop - and bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool.  Once cookies are completely cool, match up pairs of similarly size & shape cookies.

Filling
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
drop of red food coloring

Cream the butter in the stand mixer, and slowly add in the powdered sugar.  Mix until combined, add the cream & peppermint and beat on high for 1 minute.  I added the food coloring last and barely mixed in so I could get a swirl look to the buttercream.  Place buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a #10 or #12 tip and fill cookies.

Recipe barely adapted from Cate's World Kitchen

Coconut Macaroons

No, these aren't the cute meringue cookies with the sweet filling, but they're just as good!  This cookie combines coconut, vanilla, & a dip in chocolate for one delicious treat!

Coconut Macaroons
yield 32 cookies
1 bag (14oz) shredded sweetened coconut
4 large egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 oz melted chocolate (semisweet or dark is recommended)

Mix the coconut, egg whites, sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until completely combined.  Drop by the tablespoon onto a lined cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes at 325 degrees, until the cookies are lightly golden.  When cooled, dip the bottom (or drizzle the top!) with the chocolate.  Enjoy!

Recipe from Real Simple

Canadian Butter Tarts

These are arguably my favorite Christmas "cookie".  They're really not a cookie, but more like mini buttery caramel pies that everyone loves.  They are a little tricky to bake, because more often than not the filling bubbles over, but they're still worth it!

Canadian Butter Tarts
yield 2 dozen mini tarts
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup currants or nuts
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 batch pastry

Use a circle cutter to cut the pastry and press down gently into a mini muffin pan.  Mix the ingredients, and place a tablespoon of the filling into the pastry.  Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Palmiers

Have you ever had a palmier?  Delicious, right?

Did you know they are so, so, so easy to make?

Seriously.  2 ingredients.  Even better, they look impressive, like you slaved away in the kitchen all day.  I even made little mini palmiers because my second sheet of puff pastry wasn't looking too hot.  I used a 1/3 of the sheet & I may just like the minis better :)

Palmiers
1 package puff pastry
~2 cups sugar

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on a surface generously sprinkled with sugar.  Pour about 3/4 cup of sugar on top of the puff pastry and spread evenly.  Using a rolling pin, roll dough out to a 12x12 square.  Roll two of the sides toward the middle, until the big roll looks kind of like a heart.  Cut slices just under 1/2" thick and lay on a baking sheet.  Give them some room, they'll puff up!  Bake at 40u0 degrees for 6 minutes, flip over, and then bake for another 4-6 minutes.  You want both sides to be golden brown, so adjust the baking time as necessary.  If your baking sheet is lined, you can let them cool on the sheet. If not, remove immediately to let cool.  These are best the day they are made!

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

These chocolate cherry cookies are one of my favorites that I remember making every year.  They are relatively simple, but look extra special with the cherry half and the chocolate drizzle.  I usually use white chocolate, but found some green candy melts and thought it would look extra festive!

Chocolate Cherry Cookies
makes 4 dozen
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries
6 oz chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until well combined.  Roll dough into 1" balls and place on cookie sheet.  Press down with your thumb to make an imprint, and place a cherry in the center of the cookie (I cut the cherries in half and only use a half for each cookie).  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  When cookies are cooled, drizzle with chocolate and decorate with sprinkles.

Snickerdoodle Cookies

These are my favorite, Christmas or not.  I love cinnamon, so that is my own addition to this recipe.  I love that these cookies are a little crisp on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside.  The dough is pretty simple, so really it's just a vehicle for the cinnamon sugary goodness that you roll it in!

Snickerdoodle Cookies
makes 5 dozen


1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix together and set aside: 1 cup sugar & 1 tbsp cinnamon

Mix shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and eggs thoroughly.  Sift together dry ingredients, and stir in.  Roll into 1" balls, then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet.  These spread, so leave some room! Bake at 400 degrees until lightly browned, 8-10 minutes.

Shortbread Cookies

These shortbread cookies are a Christmas staple.  I can't remember a single Christmas without them!  They are buttery, rich, and melt in your mouth.  I can remember helping my grandma make these and watching her cut the candied cherries into minuscule pieces that she uses to decorate them.

I (obviously) did not use the candied cherries on mine, I'm a bit of a rebel!

Shortbread Cookies
makes a lot - the recipe says not to double!


2 cups butter, softened
1 cup corn starch
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla

Sift together the dry ingredients, then add the butter in a little at a time.  Mix well until the sides of the bowl come clean.  Roll into 1" balls, then place on the baking sheet and flatten.  You'll want the cookies to be about 1/4" thick before baking.  If you want to add sprinkles (or cherries), decorate before baking.  Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.

Lemon Oat Lacies

It's day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies series!  Today's cookie is Lemon Oat Lacies.

This is my grandma's recipe, and if I remember correctly, one of my mom's favorite Christmas Cookies.  They are "lacies" because that's how they look after their final sprinkle of powdered sugar!  Because we always have so many cookies at Christmas, we tend to make our cookies smaller.  These were portioned out using a small cookie scoop, probably about a tablespoon of dough.

Lemon Oat Lacies
yield 6 dozen


2 cups margarine
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
3 cups oats
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla

Cream the margarine and sugar, then add the flour, oats, lemon zest and vanilla.  Chill for 15 minutes (or longer), then roll into 1" balls and dip in powdered sugar.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.  When cooled, dust with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Spritz Butter Cookies

It's the first day of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies Series!  Over the next 12 days, I'm going to be sharing my favorite Christmas cookies with you!

First up are Spritz Butter cookies.  I'll be honest that I've never made these before, and the only ones I remember trying are the hard, tasteless cookies from the store that came in a plastic container.  However, I managed to snag a cookie press at 75% off at last year's after Christmas sales, so Spritz cookies it is :)

I searched through a few recipes to find one that I hoped would be the best.  The addition of the cream cheese in this recipe was ultimately what made me choose it.  I knew it would give the cookies a rich, creamy flavor that can't be achieved by only butter.

The recipe also called for cinnamon and orange zest, which are both usually welcomed ingredients.  I added just half of the cinnamon and omitted the orange zest, as I wanted a more pure butter flavored cookie.


Buttery Snowflake Spritz Cookies
yield: 6 dozen
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together flour, salt, and cinnamon, set aside.  Cream together butter and cream cheese, add sugar and egg yolk and beat until fluffy.  Mix in vanilla, then gradually add dry ingredients. Follow instructions for filling cookie press.  Add colored sugar sprinkles if desired, then bake for 12-15 minutes on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.  Store in an airtight container; will keep well frozen.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Bachelorette Cookies

Another idea from Pinterest, these cookies were for a friend's bachelorette party.

I used a roll out sugar cookie recipe and cut the cookies with a heart cookie cutter, then trimmed off the point.
Bake as directed, let cool, & decorate with royal icing.