Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint Cookies

(Source: Recipe Zaar)

1 17.5 oz pouch of sugar cookie dough mix

1/2 C butter, melted

1 egg

3 T all-purpose flour

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Raspberry Jam Variation:

1/3 C raspberry jam

finely chopped nuts

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Chocolate variation:

1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 C coarse ground sugar
Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses

Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg and flour until soft dough forms.

Roll dough into 3/4" balls roll into nuts (for raspberry variation) or coarse sugar (chocolate variation)and place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Using thumb or a spoon, make an indent in the middle of each ball. Spoon 1/4 tsp of jam into each indentation. For chocolate version, skip this step.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 5 mintues before using a spatula to transfer to cooling racks. For chocolate version, press chocolate kiss into each cookie immediately after removing from oven.

WHOLE GRAIN GINGERSNAPS

Whole Grain Gingersnaps

(Source: Good Housekeeping)

Makes 3 1/2 dozen

1 C all-purpose flour

1 C whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C sugar

6 T trans-fat free vegetable oil spread

1 large egg

1/2 C dark molasses

nonpareils or white sprinkles

In a small bowl, combine flours, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, with mixer on low speed, beat sugar and vegetable oil spread until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and creamy, occasionally scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in egg and molasses. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture just until blended. Cover dough in bowl with plastic wrap and chill 1 hour or until easier to handle (dough will be slightly sticky).

Preheat oven to 350F. With lightly greased hands, shape dough by heaping teaspoons into 1" balls. Dip top half of balls into nonpareils and place onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 1/2" inches apart.

Bake 9-11 minutes or until tops are cracked. Cookies will be soft. Cool on sheets for 1 minute then remove with a spatula onto wire racks to cool completely.

Store in tightly covered container at room temp for 3 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.

Shortbread Bites

Shortbread Bites

(Source: Good Housekeeping)

1 1/4 C All-Purpose Flour

3 T Sugar

1/2 C butter (1 stick), cold, cut into pieces

1 T red and green non-pareils or 1/2 C mini chocolate chips

In a food processor with knife blade attached, pulse flour and sugar until combined. Add butter and pulse until dough begins to come together. Place dough in a medium bowl. With your hands, add non-pareils or baking bits, and knead until dough becomes a ball.

On a lightly floured sheet of wax paper, pat dough into an 8" x 5" rectangle; freeze 15 minutes. Cut dough into 1/2" squares. Place squares on and ungreased baking sheet, a 1/2" apart. Preheat oven to 325F.

Bake cookies 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store in a tightly covered container at room temp for one week; or freeze up to 3 month.

I melted red-tinted candy melts in the microwave and dipped the tops of the bites into the candy. Then added snowflake sprinkles on top while it was still melted. I put them in the fridge to set.

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

(Source: Allrecipes.com)

1 C Butter

2 C white sugar

2 eggs

3 tsp vanilla extract

3 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

10 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark chocolate cocoa)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs one at a time, beating well. Mix in the vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa powder and baking powder; add to butter mixture and mix well. Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degreesF. Divide dough in half. Roll out each half to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with desired cookie cutter shapes. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Sugar Cookie Icing

1 C confectioners sugar

2 tsp milk

2 tsp light corn syrup

1/4 tsp almond extract

assorted food coloring

In a small bowl, stir together confectioners sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each bowl to desired intensity. Dip cookies or paint them with a brush.

Russian Tea Cakes

Russian Tea Cakes

1 C butter or margarine, softened

1/2 C powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 C finely chopped nuts

Powdered sugar (to coat cookies)

Heat oven to 400F.

Beat butter, 1/2 C powdered sugar and vanilla on medium speed with an electric mixer. Stir in flour and salt. Stir in nuts.

Shape dough into 1" balls. Place 2" apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8-9 minutes until set, but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and roll in additional powdered sugar. Cool completely on a rack. Roll in sugar again once cooled.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons
(Source: Brown Eyed Baker)
Yields 3 dozen

For the cookies:
2/3 C sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg white
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 C sweetened flaked coconut

For the Chocolate:
10 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 325F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

In a large bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, egg white, vanilla and salt until combined. Stir in coconut.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Form the cookies into loose haystacks with your fingertips, moistening your hands with water as necessary to prevent sticking. Bake, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are light golden brown - 15-20 minutes.

Cool cookies on the baking sheets until lightly set, about 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack with a wide metal spatula.

Once cooled to room temperature, line 2 baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt 8 oz of the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in remaining chocolate until smooth. Holding a macaroon by the pointed tip, dip the bottom into the chocolate. Scrape off excess chocolate and place macaroon on parchment covered sheet.

Refrigerate the macaroons until the chocolate set, about 15 minutes.

2009 Ficco 4th of July Party Desserts

I was in charge of making desserts for my family's annual 4th of July party. I picked a bunch of fun things to make and take with me...a little something for everyone!

The line up...

Zesty Lemon Sugar Cookies

(Source: Feeding My Enthusiasms)

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
Mix the above ingredients together until creamy.
3 cups all-purpose flour (I ran out of regular flour, so I ended up using 2 C white flour and 1 C whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
zest from ½ a medium Meyer lemon (I used regular lemon)
Mix the flour, baking soda, salt and zest together. Combine with the butter mixture. If too dry, add mile, one tablespoon at a time until dough forms.
Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters. Place unbaked cookies on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees F. until lightly browned, about 6-7 minutes. (If dough sticks while rolling, refrigerate briefly). Remove from oven when done, cool on baking sheet a minute, then cool on cake rack until fully cooled.
After cookies have cooled, can be frosted and decorated as desired.

Lemon Glaze
Zest from ½ a lemon
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
juice from Meyer lemon, heated for one minute in the microwave

Place zest and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl. Whisk in a little of the lemon juice. Add dribbles of the juice until a glaze is formed. If too thin, add a little more sugar; if too thick whisk in more lemon juice. Reserve left over juice for another use. Using small offset spatula, ice tops of each cookie. Set on cake rack to dry.

Oreo Rice Krispy Treats

Just your basic recipe, kicked up a notch....

4 T butter

10 oz mini marshmallows

6 C rice krispies

1 bag of mini Oreos

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in cereal and oreos. Stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares.

Mounds Angel Food Cupcakes (pic disappeared into the depths of my computer)

1 box of just-add-water angel food cake mix (prepare as directed on box EXCEPT replace 1 T of water with coconut extract)

1/3 C shredded coconut

1/3 C mini chocolate chips

3 T cocoa powder

Fill paper cupcake liners 1/2 full with batter. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

Icing

In the interest of time, I mixed a tub of whipped vanilla icing with some coconut extract and shredded coconut. I put a dollop on top of each cupcake along with a few chocolate chips.

Red/White/Blue Birthday Cake

We celebrate the family's summer birthdays over the fourth of July. My 3 nieces are the lucky summer b-day girls! I let them help me decorate the cake.

Basically I used 2 boxes of plain white boxed cake mix (prepared with the directions on the box)...and stirred in a bottle of food coloring in each, and baked as directed. I iced the giant cake using an icing made of cool-whip and pudding mix (1 box of cheesecake flavored pudding mix, 1.5 cups cold water...mix well, fold in a container of cool whip).

Christmas Cookies!

Here's a pic of my cookie platter...its a good representation of what I made for my family for our Christmas weekend celebration.

From the top:

Russian Tea Cakes

Raspberry Pecan Thumbprints

Gingerbread Biscotti

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Kiffles - Hungarian Pastries (apricot, nut & poppyseed)

Chocolate Crinkles

Magic Cookie Bars

Spooky Sugar Cookies

So my neice, Taylor, asked me a week ago while I was babysitting her if I had any Halloween cookie cutters. Curiously I said yes, why do you ask? She said because she wanted to bake cookies with me when we were at Gramma's house. Who am I to deny a 5 year old a cookie baking and decorating experience???? My neices are my best kitchen helpers and for the last couple of years we've made everything from cookies to cupcakes to pies to anything they could "help" with...and the older they get the more fun it is to have them in the kitchen with me.

Saturday morning Taylor was up bright and early, ready to get cookin'! So we mixed up the dough (an old school betty crocker sugar cookie recipe from one of my mom's cook books), only to read at the very end that it had to chill for an hour. Panic in the kitchen!!!! An hour to a 5 yr old is apparently multiple lifetimes...60 minutes is an excrutiating amount of time. I heard "is it an hour YET" more times than I can count. Soooo while the cookie dough was chilling, I had to find another activity. So we made soft pretzels (thanks to Amber's Delectable Delights!). Her pretzels were shaped as good as mine by then end of this exercise!

I also brought with me black and orange icing, halloween mix M&M's, Autumn mix dark chocolate M&M's, candy corn and white icing to decorate the cookies. Taylor told me very matter of factly that purple was also a halloween color, so I mixed 1/2 the white icing into a lovely shade of lavender for her. She also got increasingly better at cookie decorating by the time we were done. Good times!