One Last Christmas Cookie

Today is the Epiphany, the day the wise men visited Jesus.  And last night, in Italian folklore, is the day La Befana, an old lady, visits kids and gives them presents, or a lump of coal, depending on their behavior.  

 

My family wasn’t really big into La Befana (St. Anthony is a much bigger figure for us), but I liked the idea of having a cookie to commemorate the epiphany and mark the end of the Christmas season. 

 

These cookies have a hint of anisette flavor and are topped with sprinkles. They’re star shaped to represent the star the wise men followed to find Jesus.  I love them because they taste just like the anisette cookies my grandma used to make for me, so in her honor, I skipped the original glaze and coated them with the icing my grandma used to use on hers. 

 

La Befana’s Stars, from Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma

3 ½ cups flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 ¼ c granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks, divided

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tbsp anisette (or 1 tsp anise extract)

Zest of 1 orange

 

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp water

Multicolored sprinkles

 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. 

 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about two minutes.  Beat in the egg and two yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, anisette, and orange zest.

 

Remove the dough from a bowl and flatten it into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about one hour. (Dough can be frozen at this point for two months).

 

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment.

 

Divide dough into three pieces. Keep one out and refrigerate the rest. 

 

On a floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick.  Using a star cookie cutter, cut the dough into stars and place an inch apart on baking sheet.  Re-roll scraps, and repeat process with remaining pieces of dough. 

 

Bake cookies 12-14 minutes, rotating the sheets in the oven about halfway through.  Allow cookies to cool completely before glazing.

 

To glaze:

Mix water and powdered sugar together. You may need to add more, depending on how thick you like the icing. More water will give it a runnier consistency, less will keep it thick and add a lot of extra sweetness to the cookies.

 

Using a pastry brush, apply the glaze to the cookies. Top with sprinkles. Let dry.

 

Cookies will stay fresh for 4 days, kept in an airtight tin.

Snowman Sugar Cookies

I hate making sugar cookies. Every year, I have these visions of beautiful cookies, decked in colorful icing and sparkly sprinkles. I get all excited and plan what I'm going to do.

And then I start to create my masterpieces and the reality is nothing like the vision, and I get frustrated.  Lines don’t come out straight, I can’t get the icing colors right, and I always underestimate the complexity of the design. 

Eventually, I begin accidentally on purpose cracking cookies, so there’s less to decorate.   Then I swear I’ll never do this again, which is a joke, because (of course) they’re my husband’s favorite. 

So over the years, I have figured out the simplest way to execute these and have them still look good. They’re still a bit of a project, though, and this is a really long post, so consider yourself warned!!

Okay so first, start with the cookies. You can make these ahead of time and freeze them to make your life easier.

Neil's Scalloped Sugar Cookies, from Great Cookies by Carole Walter
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
2/3 cup (1 and 1/3 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed and very cold
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 or 2 tsp cold water as needed

Combine flour, sugar, butter in bowl of food processor, fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to combine, then process for approximately 10 seconds, until the mixture is the texture of fine meal (it will look crumbly and not much like dough).

Combine the yolks and vanilla in a bowl, and add to the processor's work bowl. Pulse to combine, and then process for about 10 seconds until a mass forms. If it looks very dry, add a tsp of water. Empty the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a disk. It will seem rather dry and crumbly. Don't worry.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 3 days. Dough can be frozen for up to three months.

To bake: Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with foil.

Working with 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll out on floured surface until about 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick. Using your cookie cutters, cut into your desired shapes.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until edges are golden brown.

**If you don't plan to decorate these, you can brush with an egg wash and top with sprinkles.

Next up, I use Wilton's royal icing recipe:

Royal Icing, from Wilton

1 1/2 tbsp meringue powder (you can substitute powdered egg whites as well)

2 cups powdered sugar

3 scant tbsp warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks. This will take 7-10 minutes on a stand mixer, 10-12 on a hand mixer.

To Decorate:

Supplies:
White glitter sprinkles
Holly berry sprinkles
Black food coloring
1 pastry bag fitted with a round tip with a small opening- I usually use a #6
Skinnier black tip
1 pastry bag, fitted with another small round tip (again, #6 for me)
1 black food coloring pen

Dump your white glitter sprinkles out on a plate for dipping. 

Take one third of the icing and tint it black. Add a few drops of water to thin the consistency slightly. It should NOT be too runny, more like sour cream. Add this to the pastry bag fitted with the coupler.

Fill the pastry bag fitted with the TIP and no coupler with 1/3 of the white icing. 

Using the white icing, outline the body of each snowman in white. Leave the hat part alone.  After you pipe, press each snowman into the plate of glittery sprinkles. 

Then, using your black frosting, pipe out the outline of the hat. Fill this completely in with black frosting.  Press holly berry sprinkles in for hat detail. Allow to dry partially. 

Thin the remaining white frosting with more water, until it is pourable. Using a spoon, spread it around the snowman’s body. Let dry.

When dry, use the food coloring pen to draw dots for the snowman’s coal eyes, mouth, and buttons.  If you don’t have a food coloring pen, you can use the black frosting, just transfer it to a new bag and cut a very small hole. Let dry fully overnight, and then store airtight. 

These cookies will keep for about a week.  You can freeze them, fully decorated. Defrost at room temperature, as condensation in the fridge can melt the icing.

Bayou Bars

These delicious cookies are pretty much pecan pie in bar form. They're from, of course, Great Cookies, and named "Bayou Bars" by the author because they contain some classic Southern dessert flavors- pecan, brown sugar, and coconut.

Mississippi Bayou Bars, from Great Cookies by Carole Walter
For the Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 cups flour, spooned in and leveled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

For the Topping:
1 10 ounce package sweetened flaked coconut (about 3 and 3/4 cups)
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 large eggs
1/2 cup dark corn syrup (dark is important, for both color and flavor)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups broken pecans, lightly toasted.

Prep:
Heat oven to 350. Toast pecans for 7 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool.

Tear a large piece of aluminum foil and fit it over a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1 inch jelly roll pan. Generously butter the bottom and sides.

Make the crust:
Melt butter in a saucepan, and set aside to cool to tepid. Add flour and sugars, blending with a fork until large crumbs form.

Distribute crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan, using a flat bottomed glass to spread evenly and flatten. A small offset spatula will help you work the crumbs into the corners.

Bake for 20 minutes, until top is set and edges brown. While baking, make the topping.

Make the topping:
Place coconut in the bowl of a food processor, and process for 15 seconds, until finely chopped. Set aside.

Strain together flour and baking soda. Set aside.

Place eggs in a large mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Stir in corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture, then blend in coconut. Don't overmix, or too many bubbles will form. Pour mixture over hot crust and then sprinkle the pecans over the top.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until the edges begin brown and the top feels set. Place on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around sides of pan to loosen edges. Using a sharp knife, make seven cuts across the narrow side and seven cuts across the wide side, to cut into 64 bars. Let air-dry on a cooling rack before storing.

Store airtight, between sheets of wax paper, for two weeks. These cookies freeze beautifully, just defrost at room temperature.

Molasses Spice Cookies

These cookies are so perfect for winter. They are chewy, warm and spicy; amazing for a snow day. 

 

My husband and I ate these warm out of the oven, with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Holy cow, that combo was one of the best things I ever made. You have to try it. 

 

Molasses Spice Cookies, from Great Cookies by Carole Walter

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter

2 cups all purpose flour, spooned in and leveled

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp cloves (I used nutmeg)

2 cups sugar, divided

¼ cup molasses

1 large egg

 

Melt the butter in a 3 quart saucepan. The dough will be mixed by hand in this pan. Cool to tepid.

 

Strain together 3 times the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves (or nutmeg). Set aside.

 

Using a wooden spoon, stir 1 and ½ cups sugar, molasses, and egg into the butter, mixing until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in two parts and blend well. Cover with wax paper and chill for an hour. 

 

To bake:

Position shelves in upper and lower third of oven. Preheat to 375. Lightly butter cookie sheets. 

 

Shape dough into 1 inch balls by rolling between the palms of your hand. Place the remaining ½ cup sugar in a shallow dish and roll each ball in it. Flatten ball slightly and arrange 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

 

I like to chill cookies for 10 minutes in the fridge before I bake.

 

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until tops begin to crack. Toward the end of baking time, rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back. Remove from oven, let stand 2-3 minutes, and then loosen with a spatula and cool on a rack.

 

Makes about 40 cookies. Will keep airtight for up to 2 weeks.

Sugar Saucers

This is my official favorite sugar cookie. It has no frosting or royal icing; just the simple sweetness of sugar, butter, and vanilla, happily rolled in sprinkles.

 

I first saw the recipe on Lottie and Doof, and felt immediately called to make them. The first batch was inhaled in two hours by my coworkers, so I went home and made a second. I’ve never been compelled to make a second batch of the same cookies just a day later. But that’s how good, and maybe more importantly, how easy these are.

The cookies lend themselves to many sizes, from giant saucers to smaller rounds . Mine were about 2 and a half inches across, and I found that the bigger they were, the more variety there was in consistency. A larger cookie will have a crisp edge with a chewier center (aka perfection).

I made these with regular grocery store brand vanilla and butter, but my next step is to pick up some good European butter and dig out my good vanilla, to see if I can make them even better. I’m also looking forward to all the holiday opportunities these cookies provide- now I can have festive Christmas and Michigan football season cookies without having to mess with royal icing and cookie cutters. Awesome.

Sugar Saucers, from Piece of Cake: Home Baking Made Simple via Lottie and Doof

4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp kosher salt

1 ½ c unsalted butter, at room temp

½ cup canola oil (I used corn oil, no issues)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 large eggs

4 tsp vanilla extract

Lots of rainbow sprinkles for decorating

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for two minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the oil, and then add the two sugars, eggs, and vanilla, mixing well after each addition. 

Add the flour mixture slowly, a quarter of it at a time. Mix until just combined. This will be a very soft dough. Scrape it out of the bowl, and flatten it into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour, or up to three days.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment, and fill a bowl with rainbow sprinkles.

To form cookies, remove a small piece of dough and roll it into a ball. You can really make the cookies any size you want, I worked with balls of dough about the size of a walnut, but you may want to go bigger or smaller. The original recipe recommends anywhere from 2 oz to 5 oz, and uses an ice cream scoop (a tool I do not own) to measure.

Using your hands, flatten balls of dough into a disk, and press them into the sprinkles.  Arrange on baking sheet, leaving room for spreading, and bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.  I found they were done when they had started to puff and crack a little, and were very slightly golden on the edges.

Enjoy!!

These cookies are really best the day they are made. Even kept airtight, they were stale after just three days.  However, you can freeze the dough or make it up to 3 days ahead with no issues.

Almond Cookies

The hubs and I ate dinner at Babbo last Christmas, and while the food was quite good, the only thing that really knocked my socks off was dessert. We shared an apple crostata, topped with creamy gelato and sea salt caramel. It was amazing.  I'm not usually a dessert eater, but that night I housed the whole thing.

Afterward, I decided to pick up Gina DePalma's book, Dolce Italiano. Gina is the pastry chef at Babbo, and her book is full of Italian dessert recipes. They're simple, authentic, and not overly sweet, and reading the book makes you long for a crunchy biscotti and a glass of vin santo.

I love this recipe for almond cookies. They have a delicious almond and lemon flavor, and go perfectly with a hot cup of tea. 

 

Almond Cookies, from Dolce Italiano

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup almond flour (I used Trader Joe’s Almond Meal)

¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp kosher salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, separated

Zest of one lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sliced almonds

Powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, baking powder, salt, and put aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in the egg yolk, then the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Beat in the dry ingredients (I did this in two stages) on low speed. Remove dough from bowl, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Preheat oven to 325. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat.

Place almonds in a dish, and lightly beat the egg white.

Divide your dough into three equal pieces. Put two pieces back into the fridge, and roll the third one into a log about ½ inch in diameter. Slice the log into 1/4 inch slices. Roll each slice in beaten egg white, and press the top into the almonds. Line up on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining portions of dough

Bake for 14-16 minutes, until golden at edges, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. Let cool on baking sheet for two minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Cookies keep well for up to four days. They taste better at room temperature, rather than fresh out the oven.

Enjoy!

Cookie Baking Tips

It’s Christmas cookie season! Every year, I bake large batches to share with family, friends, and coworkers, and I’ll be sharing a bunch of my favorite recipes over the next few weeks.

But first, I thought I’d start with my best baking tips. Cookies are a food I’m very particular about. I like for them to be perfect, to the point of tossing a batch if it isn’t. The following tips have helped me to really improve my baking:

• Use a good recipe. This seems so obvious, but it’s important to know where your recipe comes from. I really trust recipes from Ina Garten, Carole Walter, and Dorie Greenspan, but I don’t necessarily trust miscellaneous entries I find in a Google search.
• Use fresh ingredients. Last year, one of my family members actually baked cookies using flour that expired in 2001. No one died from eating them, but they tasted like the inside of a coffin. Replace your flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, etc yearly.
• Additionally, to preserve freshness, store ingredients airtight. You can find lots of storage options in places like Bed Bath and Beyond, Walmart, or Crate and Barrel.  

Source

• Measure the way the recipe creator does. When I watch Ina Garten, I notice she fluffs her flour, and scoops it out with a measuring cup. Carole Walter spoons the flour into cups, then levels it off. The way you fill a measuring cup can compact the flour and sometimes add as much as a quarter cup extra to your recipe, so take care with this step. Measure as the recipe writer did, and you will be more likely to have similar results.
• Better ingredients = better cookies. I typically use store brand butter, but for a cookie such as a shortbread, where the butter flavor really stands out, I like to spring for a high quality European style butter. High quality vanilla extract always matters too.
• You eat with your eyes first, so be neat with presentation. Take care when shaping cookies, using cookie cutters, or decorating.  Make them the same size, and space them out on the tray so they don’t run into each other and form one large cookie blob.
• Refrigerate shaped cookies on the baking sheet for ten minutes before baking. I find this helps retain the shape and keeps them from spreading too much, especially baking rolled cookies with cookie cutters. (Note: this is in addition to any dough refrigeration your recipe may suggest).
• Make sure your ingredients are at the right temperatures. If a recipe calls for creaming room temperature butter, don’t start with a stick straight from the back of the fridge. And if you try to soften it and overdo it, don’t try to work with butter that’s half melted. Get a fresh stick and start over.  Don’t be wasteful, but know when you need to start fresh.
• Use aluminum baking sheets. I learned the hard way that dark metals retain too much heat, resulting in scorched bottoms and underbaked insides. It actually blows my mind that so many baking companies keep producing dark metal pans. You can purchase two aluminum half sheet pans for around $10 in Costco or Sam’s club.
• Keep ingredients on hand so you can bake when the mood strikes. I like to keep a cabinet full of sprinkles and decorating equipment, and I always have pounds of butter in my freezer.
• Most cookies freeze well. Store airtight between layers of wax paper, and freeze for 1-3 months. I like to defrost at room temperature, and "refresh" the cookies by arranging on a baking sheet and baking at 350 for 5 minutes. They won't cook further, but they'll rewarm adn taste freshly baked.

What are your best cookie tips or recipes?

Snickerdoodles

A few years back, I bought myself Carole Walter’s “Great Cookies,” and it is easily one of the best cookbooks I’ve ever had. The recipes have extremely specific directions and loads of tips, resulting in perfect cookies every time.

Today I thought I’d share my favorite recipe from this book: Snickerdoodles! They’re a soft, chewy sugar cookie encased in a crackly coating of cinnamon sugar. People love these- I remember back when Mr. B and I were dating, I took a batch to visit him at school and as we sat in his dorm talking, I watched our friend Phil quietly eat almost every single Snickerdoodle I'd made (Brad was not pleased, but I was!)

These are perfect for office potlucks, bake sales, and casual gatherings. The dough and baked cookies both freeze well, so they’re good to keep on hand.

Bear in mind that the dough needs to chill for 8 hours, so it's wise to spread the baking over 2 days.

Snickerdoodles (From Carole Walter's Great Cookies)
2 and 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (don't substitute)
1 and 3/4 sugar, divided into 1 and 1/2 and 1/4 c
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Strain together flour, cream of tartar, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and shortening on medium speed until lightened in color. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar in a steady stream, and mix another two minutes.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing until just blended. Scrape dough into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let chill for 8 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, position the shelves in the upper half of the oven, or in the middle and bake only one sheet at a time (that's what I do. In my oven, anything on the bottom rack tends to burn so I just do it one cookie sheet at a time, despite the fact that I have double ovens). Heat oven to 350 and line baking sheets with foil.

Combine the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Scoop pieces of dough about the size of walnuts and roll into a ball, flatten slightly, then roll in the cinnamon and sugar. Place 3 inches apart on baking sheet, and bake for about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven when they are golden brown around edges (they'll look a bit puffy, but will deflate as they cool, creating perfect, homemade looking cracks). Let cool for 5 minutes and then remove from foil and set on cooling racks.

These cookies will last 3 weeks if stored airtight. They can be frozen for a few months. To defrost, pop them in a 350 degree oven for five minutes- they’ll taste freshly baked!