It’s really hard to bake when you’re sick for two+ weeks straight.  I woke up Christmas Eve morning with the worst sore throat I’ve ever had which left me with no energy, no voice and no appetite (imagine that?!) for four days.  Just as I was starting to feel better and resume normal daily activities, I got hit with a sinus infection which is still hanging on for dear life.  Luckily I had a lucid moment with no symptoms of contagion on New Year’s Eve–that gave me just enough time to throw a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies together.

After making all my favorite cookies for Christmas, I was at a loss for what to try next.  So I did what bored kids all around America do every day after school—stood in front of my open kitchen cabinets and refrigerator until something popped out at me.  I certainly wasn’t going to the grocery store to pick up any ingredients, so I had to make do with what I had.  And what I had was oats and raisins, leftover from various baking adventures last fall.  Might as well use them before they expire.

I don’t have a go-to oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, because I very rarely make oatmeal raisin cookies.  Google and Sally’s Baking Addiction to the rescue!  If you don’t already follow Sally’s Baking Addiction, check it out.  She’s got great recipes with perfectly detailed instructions.  And of course, beautiful pictures to drool over.

I decided to try Sally’s recipe for Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  Unfortunately I didn’t have quite 3 cups of oats—I had a little over 2 cups.  I got creative and decided to finely chop some pecans that are also awaiting their expiration date in the back of my cabinet, and mix the pecans with the oats to make 3 cups.  To be on the safe side, I added an extra ¼ cup of flour to my cookie dough because I read somewhere that oatmeal acts like flour, and I didn’t want my dough to be too sticky.

I was pleasantly surprised with these oatmeal raisin cookies!  They were soft, chewy and flavorful—what more could you ask for?  I loved the cinnamon and molasses—such warm and cozy flavors for chilly winter days!  Maaaaaybe they could’ve baked for another minute (Sally’s recipe said to bake for 10 minutes—my cookies could’ve used 11 minutes.  My recipe below says 10-11 minutes—all ovens are different, so use your own judgment).

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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Yield: Around 40 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon molasses
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1 cup raisins

Instructions

1. Place the raisins in a cereal bowl, cover with warm water and set aside. This makes the raisins nice and plump!
2. Using a food processor, finely chop the pecans. This can also be done by placing the pecans in a large Ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin until they are finely chopped.
3. Combine the chopped pecans with the oats and set aside.
4. In a large bowl beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs and beat until combined, about 1 minute.
6. Add the vanilla extract and molasses and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
7. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt using a wire whisk or large spoon.
8. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix with the electric mixer just until combined.
9. Drain the raisins and thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels.
10. Add the oats, pecans and raisins to the dough and stir to combine.
11. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for 30 – 60 minutes. If you chill the dough for longer than 60 minutes, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
12. Preheat oven to 350°F.
13. Shape dough into balls, using around 1½ tablespoons of dough for each cookie. (I use a medium cookie scoop to portion the dough.)
14. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
15. Bake for 10 – 11 minutes, until very lightly browned on the sides. The centers will still look gooey—that’s okay (they will firm up as they cool on the cookie sheet).
16. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes

Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/oatmeal-raisin-cookies/

The first time I used a pastry bag was when making cream cheese spritzes with my dad when I was little.  He always makes them at Christmas.  I started making them in recent years too, out of necessity (I live too far away from my dad now to continuously eat the spritzes he makes all through December).  These spritzes are light in texture, fun and festive!  You can decorate them with any sprinkles of your choosing or no sprinkles at all (but who doesn’t like sprinkles?!)

Cream cheese spritzes are easy to make, once you get the hang of the pastry bag.  If you already use pastry bags on a regular basis, you’ll have no problem.  But even if you don’t, this is a great recipe for pastry bag beginners.  I used the Wilton 1M decorating tip (I didn’t use a coupler because I didn’t have one that fit the tip) with a 12” Wilton disposable pastry bag (although if I had a larger disposable pastry bag it would have been easier).  I had to refill my pastry bag three times, and refilling pastry bags is never fun.  At least the pastry bag didn’t split apart in my hands this time!  I’ve had that happen before.  What a mess!  Suffice it to say, if you are using disposable pastry bags, be gentle!

Cream Cheese Spritzes

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Yield: Around 36 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 1 (8oz.) package Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature (I always use “original”. I am not sure if this recipe would work with a reduced-fat variety.)
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 18-20 maraschino cherries, drained and sliced in half
• Assorted sprinkles
Special Equipment Needed:
• Large pastry bag
• Wilton 1M open star decorating tip

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Slice cherries in half and place them in a strainer placed over a bowl, so the juice strains while you make your dough.
3. In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until fluffy.
4. Gradually mix in flour until well blended.
5. Scoop dough into the pastry bag fitted with the decorating tip.
6. Gently press dough in 2” swirl shapes, 2” apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Sprinkle each cookie generously with desired sprinkles.
8. Press half of a cherry into the center of each cookie.
9. Bake 12-15 minutes until edges and bottoms are light brown.
10. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/cream-cheese-spritzes/

Four years ago I didn’t know what a rainbow cookie was.  Scratch that.  Four years ago, the term “rainbow cookies” meant the sugar cookies Starbucks used to sell with the M&Ms on top.  (Those were the best.  I don’t know why they stopped selling them.)  Then my friend, Kelly, asked if she could bake cookies with me one day.  Kelly’s not much of a baker (I’m not being mean—she’ll tell you the same thing!) so I was excited to have her over to bake.  When I asked what she wanted to make, she said “rainbow cookies”.  I don’t remember exactly what led to the lightbulb going off in my head alerting me that she was talking about these rainbow cookies and not the Starbucks rainbow cookies.  I had seen these rainbow cookies before, not knowing what they were called.  I didn’t like them though (or I assumed I didn’t) because they have jam in them.  To me, jam belongs on sandwiches, not in cookies.  Chocolate belongs in cookies.  Duh.  Regardless, I agreed that we would make rainbow cookies, and I hit up my buddy Google for a recipe.

Rainbow cookies were an ambitious cookie to bake for the first time with someone who is not a baker.  It was basically the blind leading the blind.  I knew my way around the kitchen, but didn’t know what rainbow cookies were supposed to taste like or what the texture should feel like—that was Kelly’s department.  We didn’t have any major catastrophes though (unless you count Kelly and my son having a marshmallow fight in my kitchen), and the rainbow cookies were a success!  I tweaked the recipe since then, and this year’s rainbow cookies were the best yet (and check out how my chocolate didn’t crack at all when I cut them…a Christmas miracle!).  The rainbow cookie recipe continues to be the recipe I am most asked to share.  People are impressed when they see homemade rainbow cookies.  They are a project for sure, but they’re not impossible if you just follow the steps (plus they get easier every time you make them).

Here’s the other thing about rainbow cookies—my husband (who doesn’t care much for sweets) actually likes them.  And so, every year at Christmastime, I make rainbow cookies for him like a good little wife.  I still don’t particularly like them—I’ll eat one or two (must taste-test everything I bake!) but that’s enough.  I enjoy spending the time to make them because I know other people like them.  That first attempt at rainbow cookies was a turning point on my baking path (Thank you, Kelly!)–it was the first dessert I made solely because someone else wanted it.  I am admittedly a selfish baker—if I’m spending time making it, I’m going to make something I like!  Ever since the rainbow cookie era began though, I’ve been a little less selfish, taking the preferences of others into account when deciding what to bake.  Look at me being all selfless!  Who knows what might be next? (Linzer tarts for my mother-in-law perhaps?)

P.S.  I took pictures of every step of the recipe, so if you need a visual to go along with any of the instructions, just let me know.  I didn’t want to bog down the post with a million photos, but I’m happy to share them if they’ll help!

Rainbow Cookies

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Yield: Around 48 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 8 oz almond paste (Sometimes almond paste comes in an 8 oz can. Unfortunately the only almond paste the stores by me carry is in a 7 oz tube, so I have to buy two and use just 1 oz from the second tube. I made the recipe with just one 7 oz tube once, and my husband said it wasn’t “almondy” enough.)
• 1¼ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Red food coloring (I use Wilton Icing Colors)
• Green food coloring (I use Wilton Icing Colors)
• 1/3 cup seedless red raspberry jam
• 1/3 cup apricot preserves
• 1¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon shortening

Instructions

1. Read all directions before beginning, and make sure you have plenty of time (It usually takes around 3 hours, plus refrigeration time).
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Grease the bottoms and sides of three matching 13 x 9 inch baking pans with shortening (or reuse one pan). Line the pans with wax paper; grease the wax paper with shortening.
4. Place almond paste in a large bowl and break it up with a fork. Add butter, all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar (set those 2 tablespoons of sugar aside), almond extract and egg yolks only (set the egg whites aside in another large mixing bowl) and mix with an electric mixer until light, fluffy and smooth (it rarely comes out totally smooth. If you still have almond paste chunks, mash them against the side of the bowl with a fork or spoon, then mix again with the electric mixer. It still may not be totally smooth—that’s ok.)
5. Add salt and mix with electric mixer to combine.
6. Add flour, stirring just until combined.
7. Beat egg whites and 2 tablespoons of sugar until soft peaks form (with my electric hand mixer this takes around 5-8 minutes and I always worry the metal attachments from the mixer will leave the egg whites tasting "tinny"; with my Cuisinart Quick Prep immersion blender it takes 2-3 minutes and comes out better than with the hand mixer. Either way works though.).
8. Fold the egg whites into the almond paste dough, mixing with a spoon or rubber spatula until thoroughly combined.
9. Divide dough into 3 equal portions (about 1½ cups each—actually measure the dough as you divide it to be sure your portions are equal).
10. Color one portion with red food coloring and one with green food coloring. Leave the remaining portion uncolored.
11. Spread each portion of dough into a prepared 13 x 9 inch pan in a thin layer. (If you are reusing one pan, make sure to re-grease and re-wax paper it after baking each layer.)
12. Bake each layer for 10 – 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
13. Invert onto wire rack; remove wax paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over so the layer is right-side-up on a wire rack. Cool all three layers completely.
14. Place green layer on a large piece of plastic wrap on top of a large cookie sheet or cutting board (The plastic wrap needs to be more than double the size of the layer lengthwise. Make sure your cookie sheet/cutting board fits in your refrigerator before you put the layers on it). Spread raspberry jam on the green layer (I leave a ¼” border around the edge so the jam doesn’t ooze out once the layers are compressed). Top with the uncolored layer and spread with apricot preserves, leaving a ¼” border around the edge. Top with red layer.
15. Wrap the plastic wrap around the layers so they are completely covered. Set a cutting board or cookie sheet on top to compress the layers then put something heavy on the cutting board/cookie sheet to compress the layers further (old law school books work well!).
16. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours (I usually refrigerate 1-3 hours).
17. After refrigerating, remove the plastic wrap completely from the layers, leaving the layers on the cutting board/cookie sheet.
18. Melt the chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth.
19. Spread melted chocolate in a thin layer over the top layer of cookie. The chocolate will harden quickly since the cookie layer is cold from being refrigerated.
20. With a sharp knife (I use a long serrated bread knife) gently cut into ½ to 1 inch strips both lengthwise and crosswise, making 48 even cookies. I mark off where I’m going to cut before cutting to be sure my cookies will be evenly sized. Be careful not to crack the chocolate (sometimes it’s unavoidable, but do your best). Wipe your knife with a clean paper towel between each cut--this helps to keep the chocolate from cracking and keeps crumbs off the chocolate.
21. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Notes

Adapted from Lidia's Italy Rainbow Cookies and Taste of Home.

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/rainbow-cookies/

Peanut butter cup blossoms are one of my all-time favorite cookies.  My mom always made the best (softest!) peanut butter blossoms with Hershey’s kisses.  But every time I tried to make them, they came out hard—never as good as mom’s (looking back, I think was overbaking them).  Several years ago my mom started making these peanut butter cup blossoms, and I was in love.  She gave me the recipe (which she originally got from a friend she taught with for over 30 years), and I’ve been making them ever since.  They are a family favorite!

Peanut butter cup blossoms can be made ahead and frozen.  They are usually one of the first cookies I make for the holidays, t hen I just take them out of the freezer as needed.

Cookie made with a Hershey’s bell…yum…creamy…

Peanut Butter Cup Blossoms

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Yield: Around 48 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar + 1/4 cup sugar for coating
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (use “regular” peanut butter—e.g., JIF, Skippy, etc.)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 48 Miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (or 48 Hershey’s kisses or Hershey’s bells)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place mini muffin liners into the cups of a mini muffin tin.
3. Mix brown sugar and sugar using a spoon, until brown sugar is incorporated into the sugar.
4. Add shortening and peanut butter and mix with a spoon or rubber spatula to combine.
5. Mix in the baking soda, salt, egg and vanilla extract.
6. Add flour and milk, mixing until combined.
7. Shape 1 tablespoonful of dough into a ball (I use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough).
8. Roll balls in 1/4 cup sugar.
9. Place 1 ball in each mini muffin cup.
10. Bake 10-12 minutes until tops just begin to crack.
11. While the cookies are baking, unwrap 48 miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups.
12. Immediately press a miniature Reese’s peanut butter cup into each cookie, pushing down until the top of the peanut butter cup is even with the top of the cookie.
13. Remove cookies from muffin tin to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

I ran out of peanut butter cups, so I used Hershey’s Bells for a few cookies. Just press a bell (upside down) into each cookie, pushing down until the top is even with the top of the cookie. The bells are creamy and made for a delicious alternative to peanut butter cups.

Instead of using a mini muffin tin, you can place the balls of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until tops just begin to crack. Immediately press a Hershey’s kiss onto the center of each cookie.

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/peanut-butter-blossoms/

Bonbons are like delicious pieces of candy you can’t stop eating!  It’s way too easy to pop a few at a time, every time you walk by them.  The glaze is festive and sweet, and the cherry in the center provides a juicy surprise to unsuspecting cookie eaters.

Bonbons are easy to whip up on short notice—they take just 1 hour to make from start to finish.  They don’t last very long once glazed though—and not just because you can’t stop eating them!  The glaze starts to droop and sprinkles start to run after a few days.  I usually make the cookies ahead of time then glaze them within 24 hours of bringing them somewhere.  The glaze is quick and easy, and you can make a half or quarter of the glaze recipe if you need a few cookies to bring somewhere today and won’t need the remaining cookies until another day.

Bonbons

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Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: Around 24 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

For the cookies:
• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (use clear vanilla extract if you have it)
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Maraschino cherries, Hershey’s bells, nuts or chocolate chips
For the glaze:
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1½ tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use clear vanilla extract if you have it)
• Food coloring (optional—I use these Wilton icing colors)
• Assorted sprinkles, candies, nuts, coconut , etc. for decorating

Instructions

For the cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. I always use cherries in the center of my bonbons. If using cherries, it’s easiest to pour them into a strainer placed over a bowl, so the juice strains while you make your dough.
3. Mix confectioners sugar, butter and vanilla using an electric mixer.
4. Add flour and salt, mixing until the dough holds together. If the dough starts to resemble Dippin’ Dots at this point, use your hands to mix until the dough holds together. If the dough is still very dry add milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until dough holds together but is not sticky.
5. Shape 1 tablespoonful of dough into a ball (I use a small cookie scoop to portion the dough), then flatten it in your hand. Place 1 cherry in the center of the circle, then bring the edges of the dough around the cherry and use your fingers to work the dough to seal any seams or cracks. Gently roll into a ball in your hands, being careful not to crack the dough.
6. Place cookies 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 12-15 minutes until cookies are set and bottoms are light golden brown.
8. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
For the glaze:
9. Using a fork, mix confectioners sugar, 1 tablespoon of milk and vanilla extract until smooth.
10. Add more milk if necessary to reach the desired consistency.
11. Separate into smaller bowls and add food coloring as desired.
12. Dip tops of cooled cookies into glaze. Place glazed cookies on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet (to catch any glaze drippings).
13. Immediately decorate as desired with sprinkles, candies, nuts, coconut, etc.

Notes

You can leave the cookies plain if you don’t want any surprises in the center. The dough is sweet and yummy, and so is the glaze!

I prefer cherries in the center of bonbons, but I also tried it using Hershey’s kisses. The Hershey’s kisses were a little too hard for me once the cookies cooled. Hershey’s Bells might work nicely, since they are creamier than Hershey’s kisses. Nuts work too, except it’s harder to work the dough around the nuts without cracking the dough.

Bonbons don’t freeze well if you put cherries in the center. They would probably freeze ok (before glazing) with something dry like nuts in the center (or with nothing in the center).

I got this recipe from my dad. I’m not sure where he got it, although I think originally it is a Betty Crocker recipe.

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/bonbons/

Did you read my Prologue to Holiday Baking?  Check it out if you’re wondering where the fun stories are, and if it feels like maybe some pictures are missing.  Don’t worry…fun stories and more pictures will follow!

Do you see those two cookies that are flipped over? They illustrate what the bottoms of the cookies should look like when they are “done”. Try not to overbake!

These cutouts are softer than your usual cutouts, but they aren’t flimsy.  They can withstand any frosting and decorations you add to them.  They taste great too!  I usually make the actual cookies ahead of time, freeze them for a week or 4, then take out what I need and decorate only those cookies.  That way I always have a supply of cutout cookies in the freezer, ready to be frosted and decorated for any holiday gathering that might pop up.  They are super-easy to decorate straight from the freezer—no worries about breaking the cookies.  But they are also sturdy enough to decorate without freezing.

Cutout Sugar Cookies and Frosting

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Yield: 3 - 5 dozen cookies (depending on the size of cookie cutter used).

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Note: You may need more or less frosting, depending on how big and detailed your cookies are. Have extra frosting ingredients on hand in case you need to make another batch.

Ingredients

For the cookies:
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the frosting:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use clear vanilla extract if you have it)
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
• Food coloring (optional; I use these Wilton icing colors)
• Assorted candies and sprinkles for decorating

Instructions

For the cookies:
1. In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, butter, egg, whipping cream, vanilla and almond extract. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat at low speed until soft dough forms. It may turn into the consistency of Dippin’ Dots at this point—if so, use your hands to mix just until a soft dough forms.
3. Cover with plastic wrap.
4. Chill 1 to 2 hours, or until firm.
5. Heat oven to 400°F.
6. Grab a large handful of dough. On a floured surface (I use my Wilton Roll-n-Cut Mat), roll dough to ¼ inch thickness. Don't forget to flour your hands and your rolling pin. I usually keep a paper plate of flour nearby, and use it to flour my surface, hands, rolling pin and cookie cutters as needed.
7. Using cookie cutters brushed with flour, cut desired shapes into dough.
8. Place shapes 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
9. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes, or until bottoms are light golden brown.
10. Repeat steps 6 through 9 until all dough is used. Note—I roll out the scraps from the same handful of dough just twice—any more and the cookies will be too dry. After using that handful of dough twice, I add whatever scraps I have to a new handful of dough and incorporate it. Repeat until all the dough is used.
11. Prepare frosting as directed.
12. Decorate cookies as desired.
13. Let dry completely before storing. Store in a single layer if possible. If you must stack cookies, put a sheet of wax paper between each layer.
For the frosting:
14. In a large mixing bowl combine butter, shortening and vanilla. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until creamy.
15. Add confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating at low speed until well blended.
16. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. You may not use all the milk, depending how thick or thin you want your frosting.
17. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
18. Separate into smaller bowls and add food coloring as desired.
19. Decorate cookies with frosting and sprinkles/candies as desired.

Notes

Adapted from Special-occasion Sugar Cookies and Decorator Frosting in Cookies! A Cookie Lover's Collection.

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/cutout-sugar-cookies-and-frosting/

Actual conversation I had with my then-13-year-old son last spring:
Jake:  “Oh Ma, I forgot…I need to bring a baked good to school for Spanish class.  Can you make something?”
Me:  “You mean can we make something?”
Jake:  “Do I really have to help?”

And this is my life.

In the end, he did help (he had no choice).  I did the “mixing with your hands” part, but Jake helped with everything else, beginning with deciding what to make.  Jake googled recipes and settled on Mexican wedding cookies aka Polvorones (and because they look like snowballs, they are now a holiday cookie in my house!).  We needed a cookie that would be easy to make and travel well (because I just knew he would put them in his bookbag).  These fit the bill.  And the best part?  His Spanish teacher thought we bought them!  There is no greater compliment than someone thinking your homemade baked good came from a bakery.  It warms my heart.

I was pleasantly surprised with how our Mexican wedding cookies turned out.  I did not think I would like them as much as I did, since I don’t really love nuts.  I expected a dry cookie and I worried the confectioners sugar would get soggy after 24 hours.  Totally not the case.  They are crumbly when you take a bite, but not dry.  I don’t know how that works exactly—maybe it’s magic.  And the confectioners sugar?  Not soggy after 24 hours.  Not soggy after 72 hours!  No joke—these cookies were still good after sitting on my kitchen table for a week.  Magic again?  Perhaps.

I don’t know the history of Polvorones or why they are called Mexican wedding cookies.  I could look it up, but at the risk of getting it all wrong and somehow offending someone, I’m not going to.  I do recall noticing there are a million different Polvorones recipes, so it seems “Polvorones” are a different cookie to different people.  I think my Italian grandma makes a similar cookie, but I don’t think I ever tried it.  Now I’m regretting that, because if I liked the ones I made, I probably would love grandma’s version!  Oh well…next time I see them on a cookie platter at a family gathering, I’ll take a taste.

The minute I took a bite of our Mexican wedding cookies, I added them to my mental “Christmas cookies” list.  They look like perfect little snowballs!  Unlike anything else I make at the holidays.  Hopefully my family and friends will enjoy this addition as much as I do, and not ignore these cookies like I always did, opting for the more glitzy holiday treats.  Lesson learned!

P.S.  Check back soon for updated photos!  I’ll be making Mexican Wedding Cookies in the coming weeks for the holidays.

Mexican Wedding Cookies... Polvorones

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Yield: Around 30 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pecans, ground or finely chopped
• 3/4 cups confectioners sugar, plus more for dusting
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Using a food processor, finely chop the pecans. This can also be done by hand by placing the pecans in a large ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin.
3. Add the confectioners sugar to the pecans in the food processor, and grind or chop until combined (or combine with the pecans in the ziploc bag).
4. Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
5. Add the chunks of butter to the flour and salt, and drop in the shortening by teaspoonful. Begin to mix with your hands until the butter and shortening are mixed in with the flour and salt. The mixture will turn into a coarse dough with chunks of butter and shortening throughout.
6. Add the pecan/confectioners sugar mixture to the bowl, and mix with your hands to combine.
7. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix with your hands to combine. In less than 1 minute, the dough should be soft and malleable enough to form a ball. Do not mix beyond this point or your dough may become too greasy. If your dough becomes too greasy, cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before continuing.
8. Butter a large cookie sheet.
9. Using your hands, form small balls of dough (1 to 1½ inches in size—you can use a cookie scoop to measure the dough before rolling it into balls with your hands) and place 1 inch apart on the buttered cookie sheet.
10. Bake for 14-16 minutes, just until the bottoms are golden brown.
11. Remove from oven and generously dust confectioners sugar over the tops of the cookies. I used a sifter for the dusting, but you could also probably use a small mesh strainer or put the confectioners sugar in a clean empty spice container and shake it over the cookies.
12. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
13. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Notes

Adapted from Pati's Mexican Table

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/mexican-wedding-cookies-polvorones/

Want your house to smell like a million bucks?  Have an hour to spare?  Just whip up a batch of cinnamon snaps!  My dad introduced me to cinnamon snaps last year and I knew right away I needed the recipe so I could make them again.  These cookies just ooze “fall”.  They bring to mind leaves turning and fires crackling (we don’t have a fireplace) and cookies baking (duh).  Suffice it to say they give me a warm fuzzy feeling.  Also cinnamon snaps are in the select group of “Jake-approved” treats, so you know they must be good.

Cinnamon snaps seem to be one of those unassuming cookies that people dismiss without trying.  I’ll admit they aren’t the prettiest cookies to ever pass through my oven.  I mean, they’re brown. And in a non-chocolate way.  It’s unfortunate though, because you are missing out if you don’t give them a shot!  Some people may be scared away because they contain molasses.  I feel like molasses has a negative connotation.  I don’t know why, but “molasses” sounds like something only old men like, which is funny because I liked molasses cookies even when I was a child.  I dare you to try these cookies even if you think you don’t like molasses.  You won’t be disappointed!

This batch of cinnamon snaps made its way to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for Thanksgiving.  I was so excited when my stepfather told me to make sure I bring them again for Christmas!  AAYSR (“Ask and you shall receive”).  As usual we had way too many Thanksgiving desserts, which meant we had lots of cookies left for munching on the next day.  Turns out cinnamon snaps go down a bit too easily–it’s hard to walk past them and not grab one or two!  I may or may not have eaten one before breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.  Oops!  It’s ok, I worked off the calories playing in the snow that day!

Here’s the secret for the perfect cinnamon snap (which I learned the hard way):  Do NOT overbake.  Bake them until they crack but still look gooey.  The first time I made them I baked until they were done, and they ended up hard.  Still good dipped in tea—none went to waste.  But only after making them again and baking for less time did I realize how amazing these cookies are.  Rolled in cinnamon-sugar.  Soft.  Rich.  Moist.  Chewy.  I wish we didn’t eat them all, because now I want one!

Cinnamon Snaps

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Yield: Around 30 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream shortening and brown sugar in a large bowl.
3. Add egg and molasses, and mix to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and salt using a whisk or spoon.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing with the electric mixer until combined. Continue mixing with your hands or a rubber spatula until a dough forms (around 1 minute).
6. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
7. Using your hands, form dough into 1 inch balls then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. I use a cookie scoop to measure the dough before rolling it into balls with my hands. This gives you uniformly sized cookies that bake evenly.
8. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. (I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you do not have parchment paper, just bake on ungreased cookie sheets and wipe the cookie sheets with a paper towel between each batch to remove any grease.)
9. Bake 8 – 10 minutes, until tops are cracked but cookies are still slightly gooey in the center. Keep an eye on the cookies while they bake--they may reach the "cracked but gooey" stage sooner, depending on the size of the cookies.
10. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/cinnamon-snaps/

This weekend is our annual Girls Weekend with my friends from high school/college.  I cannot wait!  Once a year for the past 13 (14?) years, the five of us travel from our respective geographic locations to convene at one of our homes for what we lovingly refer to as “Foodfest”.  We basically pick a “when” and “where” a few months in advance, then spend countless email hours planning the most important part–the menu.  Sometimes we pick a theme for our cuisine (e.g., make-your-own-pizzas, Mexican, finger foods/appetizers, etc.) and sometimes we just wing it (like this year).  We may or may not have also incorporated certain party themes in years past (e.g., New Kids on the Block, Totally ‘80s, Michael Jackson’s “Black or White”) to the embarrassment of our husbands/significant others.  No matter what, the food is always the focus of the weekend!

For whatever reason, this year’s menu was all over the place.  We waited until the last second to plan (despite the fact that we picked the date 4 months in advance), then none of us could decide what to bring (and there was no theme for guidance).  To make life easier, I went with two old standbys:  chocolate chip cookies (at the request of my good friend, Katie) and funfetti cookies (to satisfy my own craving).

The first time I had funfetti cookies was on Easter around 5 years ago.  I live 5 hours away from my family, so I never go home for Easter since it’s on a Sunday.  My husband is Jewish, so his family doesn’t celebrate.  That leaves us alone for the holiday, and I always do my best to make it special.  That year, we invited our friends Sara (a member of the Foodfest crew) and Jordan over for Easter dinner.  I made lasagna and all the fixings, and Sara brought dessert, introducing me to funfetti cookies for the first time!  I was in love.  Deeply.  We all know I love cake.  And frosting.  And now I can have cake and frosting packaged in a neat little cookie that I can make in less than an hour.  I am forever in your debt, Sara!

Funfetti cookies are seriously simple.  Four ingredients.  Mix, bake, frost, eat.  That’s it.  You can even go the super-lazy route and just drop the cookies onto the cookie sheet instead of rolling into balls and flattening with a glass.  The super-lazy route gives you a thicker, less uniformly shaped cookie.  They are delicious either way.  Confession:  I almost always take the super-lazy route, but today I did the flattening thing so I could decorate the cookies for Halloween.

The other great thing about funfetti cookies is the price.  You can almost always find the cake mix and frosting on sale, so you only need to spend a few dollars to make cookies everyone will love.  Plus you can buy an extra cake mix and frosting when they are on sale to have on hand for unexpected baking occasions (you know, like Saturdays).  I think Pillsbury caught onto this, because they now sell a specific “Funfetti Cookie” mix, which costs more than the funfetti cake mix and doesn’t make as many cookies.  Don’t fall for their trap–just buy the cake mix.

Note:  This was the first time I used chocolate frosting on funfetti cookies.  I used it for looks and because I had a can of chocolate frosting open already in the fridge.  Chocolate frosting is my favorite, but I am proclaiming that funfetti cookies are better with vanilla frosting.  That’s just my humble opinion though.  Try both for yourself!

Funfetti Cookies

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Yield: 24 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 1 pkg Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 (15.6 oz) can Pillsbury Funfetti vanilla frosting
• Decorations—candy, sprinkles, food coloring, etc.

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs. Stir with a rubber spatula until thoroughly moistened.
3. Using your hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Dip the flat bottom of a glass in flour and use it to flatten each ball, dipping in flour as needed.
5. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
6. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to wire rack and cool completely.
7. Once cookies are completely cooled, decorate as desired using frosting and sprinkles.

Notes

Instead of rolling the dough into balls and flattening with a glass, you can drop the dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets. This gives you thicker, less uniformly shaped cookies. They are delicious either way.

Adapted from Pillsbury Funfetti Cookies

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/funfetti-cookies/

If there is one cookie that comes to mind when people think of me, it would be the chocolate chip cookie.  It is my signature cookie.  I’ve had this recipe memorized since I was a teenager.  (Don’t ask me what I wore yesterday–that I cannot recall.)  Looking back, I think I made chocolate chip cookies once a week in high school.  My friend Kevin always wanted to come over after school when he knew there were chocolate chip cookies hanging around.  We would sit at my kitchen table and he (“he” not “we”) would devour a plate of cookies while we chatted about the day.  I’m talking like a dozen cookies in one sitting.  It just occurred to me that maybe he ate so many cookies so he didn’t have to answer my prying questions. Hmmm…that Kevin is so sneaky!

Whatever cookies survived Kevin’s attack would surely be eaten by my stepbrother before the next morning.  I used to have to hide a couple cookies in the back of a cabinet so I could enjoy them the following day.  (This is not the only food I’ve been known to hide.  If you look in the back of my cabinets, you’ll likely find an emergency bag of M&Ms, some peanut butter cups and maybe a halfmoon cookie from a recent trip to Utica NY.  I’m sure there’s a fancy name for this type of eating disorder, but I don’t know what it is and I haven’t come up with a clever name yet!)  Nowadays my father-in-law is my biggest chocolate chip cookie fan.  Although he won’t eat a whole plate in one sitting, he does request them often.   My husband and son on the other hand–they say my chocolate chip cookies have “too much chocolate” in them.  As if such a thing exists!

No conversation about chocolate chip cookies would be complete without mentioning one of my family’s great debates–chocolate “chips” vs. chocolate “chunks”.  I always made these cookies with chocolate chunks.  Always.  It’s what the original recipe called for, and I loved it so no reason to change it.  But in an effort to make a cookie my husband and son would enjoy, that didn’t have “too much chocolate”, I started using chocolate chips instead.  I resisted at first, insisting the chocolate chunk was superior–-what could be better than chunks of chocolate?  But then I decided to truly view the chocolate “chip” cookie objectively.  And you know what?  I liked it.  Possibly more than the chocolate chunk cookie.  While the chocolate chunks give the illusion of more chocolate in each cookie, the chocolate chips allow for a higher “chocolate to dough” ratio–so there’s chocolate in every single bite.  Genius!  Unfortunately switching to chocolate chips didn’t leave my husband and son drooling over these cookies, because I still use too many chocolate chips (according to them!).  I promised my son the next batch would include a few cookies that are “heavy on the dough, light on the chips”.  That should make the entire household happy!  The cookie batter itself is delicious, so you can’t really go wrong here.  In fact, you can throw in any combination of add-ins from your cupboard—mini chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, M&Ms, white chocolate chips, oreo pieces (so good)…whatever floats your boat!

What’s your preference–chips or chunks?  My heart will always be on “Team Chunk”, even though my taste buds are currently shouting “Team Chip”!

WARNING:  If you make these chocolate chip cookies once, you will be making them forever. People will keep asking you to make them, again and again.  And you will do it, because they are so quick, easy and delicious, and you like making people happy.  You might as well put your bummy pants on now—I see lots of “taste-testing” in your future.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Yield: 34-40 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 large egg
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 (12 oz.) package chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks if you prefer)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar, butter and shortening; beat until light and fluffy.
2. Add vanilla extract, almond extract and egg, mixing until well blended.
3. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and cornstarch; mix just until flour is moistened.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
6. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
7. Cover cookie sheets loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 375°F.
9. Remove cookie sheets from refrigerator and remove plastic wrap.
10. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.
11. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes

I use a rubber spatula for all the mixing (not an electric mixer).

I measure the vanilla and almond extracts by using a ½ tablespoon measuring spoon—I fill it halfway with vanilla extract then top it off with the almond extract. You can omit the almond extract and use 1½ teaspoons of vanilla extract if you prefer.

If you don’t have parchment paper, just bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheets, and wipe your cookie sheets with a dry paper towel between batches.

If you don’t have room in your refrigerator for the cookie sheets, or if you have extra dough that didn’t fit on your cookie sheets, you can refrigerate the dough in the mixing bowl, covered tightly with plastic wrap. When you are ready to bake the cookies, remove the mixing bowl from the refrigerator and let it sit out while the oven preheats (or until the dough is soft enough to scoop onto the cookie sheets).

For uniformly sized and shaped cookies, use a cookie scoop like this. Or refrigerate your dough in the mixing bowl then roll dough by hand into tablespoon-sized balls. They come out a little too perfect for my taste when they are hand-rolled. I prefer the cookie scoop.

The recipe can be doubled in one bowl. If you’re going to triple it, use separate bowls for each batch.

Bake just one cookie sheet at a time (this goes for any cookies you bake!)

2.6

http://www.sweetsbeforeeats.com/chocolatechipcookies/