Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

I took a bit of a break from the world of blogging. I was feeling a bit lazy, to be honest, and uninspired. But there's nothing like putting up your Christmas tree and decorating your house to get you in the mood for baking. I saw these cookies over at Lauren's Latest and knew that I had to try them. In her version, the dough is rolled in icing sugar before baking, but I omitted that step. I figured with my addition of a white chocolate glaze and a sprinkling of candy canes after baking, they wouldn't miss the extra sweetness. These cookies taste just like a sugar cookie, the centers are nice and chewy - and the candy cane adds a hint of mint - nothing overwhelming. Festive, pretty and delicious -enough said.

Recipe for Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

Source: adapted from: Lauren's Latest
4 regular sized candy canes, crushed with rolling pin, divided
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside. Place unwrapped candy canes in a small zip loc bag and crush with a rolling pine. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer, using paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, scraping sides bowl as needed. With mixer on lowest setting, add your dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add about three-quarters of the crushed candy canes and gently combine. Roll the dough into balls using a scant table-spoon for each and place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges just begin to turn a light golden brown. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before moving onto wire rack to cool completely. Melt the white chocolate in your microwave at 50% power, watching closely. I always do 1 minute - then stir until completely smooth. Drizzle white chocolate over cooled cookies and sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the chocolate before it sets. Allow to set for about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

I asked my 4 year old son what we should bring to his sister's school dance and he said, without hesitation, "those cookies with the two kinds of icing...one is white and one is dark brown...", to which I quickly responded, "No!" He was referring to Black and White cookies, which I never blogged about and really should have cause my kids haven't stopped asking for them since I made them. But for this occasion, I needed something simple and quick to bake for a large crowd of kids. His second suggestion was, "Sprinkle  Cookies".  Hmmmm...didn't I just pin something like that the other day? I told him he was a genius. Him: "What's a genious?" Me: "Never mind."

These cookies are serious kid pleasers. Just look at them! Full of sprinkles, exploding with colors and sugar. I actually didn't mind them either, truth be told. They taste just like sugar cookies should, the addition of sprinkles didn't make them any sweeter than a regular sugar cookie, just prettier. And if baked for the right amount of time, they have the perfect amount of 'chew'. 

Recipe for Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
(adapted from Tasty Kitchen)
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup rainbow jimmie sprinkles
extra Nonpareil sprinkles, on a small plate, for rolling the dough

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer for about 2 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until fully incorporated. Mix in the 1/4 cup of jimmie sprinkles, being careful not to over-mix or the sprinkles will bleed and discolor the cookie dough.

Scoop the cookie dough with an ice cream scooper onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Place the dough ball onto the small plate with extra sprinkles and press lightly so the tops of the cookies have sprinkles on them. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies, or until the edges just begin to turn a light golden color. (Do not over bake, or the cookies will not be chewy.) Cool on a wire rack.

Two Tone Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two tone cookies are kind of fun if you're looking for something different and don't mind a little extra work. I'd seen these on Nosh with Me a long time ago and have been meaning to try them out for a while. Basically, you make a regular chocolate chip cookie dough, divide it in half, add more flour and chocolate chips to the first half the dough, and cocoa powder and white chocolate chips to the second half. Then you roll each type of dough into small balls, and combine one of each of the dough balls to make one cookie. Time consuming? Yes, but you literally get two cookies in one.

My only critique would be that the recipe calls for them to be baked at 375 degrees F., which I did. Next time, I'll bake them at 350 degrees, for a chewier cookie. But overall, these cookies were delicious and a fun alternative to a simple CCC.

Recipe for Two-Tone Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Source: Nosh with Me)

2 cups plus 3 Tbsp. AP flour, divided
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup white chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, whisk 2 cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium high speed until creamy. Add both sugars gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add one third of the flour mixture on low speed, until incorporated. Gradually add remaining flour mixture, mixing until just blended. 

If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the dough and then divide into 2 equal portions (otherwise just eyeball it). To the first portion, add remaining 3 Tbsp. of flour and mix until incorporated. Then add the semisweet chocolate chips. Set aside. To the remaining portion of dough, add the sifted 3 Tbsp. of cocoa powder and the white chocolate chips. Mix until thoroughly incorporated. Chill the doughs in separate bowls for 2 hours (or overnight). 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. (I would try it at 350 degrees next time.) Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll each type of dough by the rounded teaspoon into small balls. (Much smaller than you would for regular sized cookies.)

 Once all the dough has been rolled, take one dough ball from each type of dough and press together.

Roll the combined dough with your hands until one solid round is formed.

Place the ball on the cookie sheet so that dough ball has both colors side by side. Press gently to flatten slightly.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the sides begin to turn golden brown. (Closer to 10 minutes for me.) Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Pizzelles (repost)

This is my final post before Christmas. It's actually a re-post - but if you're new around these parts, then you may have missed it. These are, hands-down, my favorite Christmas cookie. Actually, I'm not sure they're "Christmas cookies" at all, but this seems to be the only time I make them, which is a huge oversight on my part. You obviously need a pizzelle iron to make them, which not everybody has, but everybody should in my humble opinion.

I grew up eating Pizzelles, not because my mom made them, but because my Italian friends' moms made them. I always got so excited when I saw them come out - usually in a simple ice-cream bucket. No frills, nothing fancy about them, just a simple waffle cookie that packed a lot of flavor.

I've tested these cookies out on my friends who grew up eating Pizzelles to see if they measure up, and I've been given the stamp of approval. In fact, I've been told they're even better than the ones they remember. I've made three batches this Christmas - they don't last long - which is always the sure sign of a good recipe.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas with loved ones.

Recipe for Pizzelles

(Source: Brown Eyed Baker)
Yield: Approximately 3 dozen
6 eggs
1 cup butter, melted
1½ cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon anise extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3½ cups all-purpose flour

Beat the eggs on medium speed until pale and thick. Add the melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined. With the mixer still running, add the sugar and mix until combined. Add the extracts and continue to mix. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour, mixing until combined. Preheat the pizzelle iron according to the manufacturer’s directions. When ready, drop batter by heaping tablespoon onto iron, close, and hold closed for as long as the manufacturer states. (For me it's usually less than a minute.) When ready, open iron and remove pizzelle with a rubber spatula. Repeat until all batter is used.

Note: Be sure to drop the batter slightly above the center of the iron otherwise it won't spread properly.

Vanilla Roll Out Cookies

 "The elves are watching." Words that I've repeated dozens of times a day in the past few weeks. They are an excellent behavior modification strategy, a 'veiled threat', if you will, without the need of further clarifications for potential consequences should they decide not to stop doing whatever it is they are doing at the time these words are spoken.

The mere utterance of words "the elves are watching" has stopped brewing temper tantrums right in their tracks. Any and all plans for mutiny when bed time is announced have been completely aborted. Those words have brought peace when the kids are in the throes of serious bickering matches. They've made their mouths magically open to try new foods they'd previously refused to even allow on their plates in the past.

They're magical words. And I am saddened by the fact that their power will cease to pack as much punch in less than one week's time. My window for manipulating my children with that simple sentence is closing on me. And I'm wracking my brain for something equally as effective.

Now back to the baking. I baked up a double batch of these cookies for my daughter's kindergarten class to decorate. Knowing that the finished product would likely be adorned with gobs of sugary icing and copious amounts of sprinkles, I began searching for a sugar cookie that didn't have too much...well...sugar. Because sugar cookies are quite sweet on their own, never mind if they've been decorated, I opted to make these cookies instead. These are mildly sweet. The perfect canvass for little fingers to express their artistic side. I would, however, note that if you're looking for a sweet 'sugar cookie', these ones might not quite fit the bill. Unless, of course, you prefer your cookies not very sweet, then these are perfect.

I didn't bother to photograph the cookies I made for my daughter's class - they weren't decorated so there was no point. But these miniature stars...they're made from scrap dough. If you roll your dough out between two pieces of parchment, then there's no need for extra flour. (And given that these cookies aren't very sweet - you really don't want any extra flour.) But the other benefit of rolling them between parchment is that you can re-roll more than twice. (I never use the dough after it's been rolled twice cause the cookies tend to be tough and laden with excess flour.) The stars came from the third rolling and were the perfect little cookie to use up our Christmas colored smarties, not to mention keep my son happy, who was not impressed when informed that the bigger cookies were not, in fact, for him.


RECIPE FOR VANILLA ROLL OUT COOKIES
(Source: Dorie Greenspan via Bon Appetit)

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
seeds from one vanilla bean
2 cups all purpose flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and salt and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in vanilla and vanilla bean. Add flour and beat on low speed just to blend. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper to 1/8-inch thickness for smaller (2-inch) cookies and 1/4-inch thickness for larger (3- to 4-inch) cookies. Using decorative cookie cutters, cut out cookies and transfer to prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. If cookies become too soft to transfer to baking sheets, place in freezer on waxed paper for 5 minutes before continuing. Gather scraps, roll out dough, and cut more cookies, repeating until all dough is used. If not icing cookies, decorate with sprinkles or other sugar toppings, if desired.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are firm on top and golden around edges, about 10 to 12 minutes depending on size. Cool completely on rack.

*Mix approximately 1/2 cup of icing sugar with 1 tsp. of corn syrup and enough water to make a thin paste. Pipe a small dot of the paste onto the cookies and press a smartie onto the cooled cookie.

Candy Cane Blossoms

I made these cookies for my kido's Christmas concert. I only managed to get 24 cookies out of this recipe so I didn't let him have one the day I baked them. After his performance at his concert, he made a bee-line to the cookie table and grabbed one. I love how loyal he is to his mom - with all the other options on the table, he still wanted the ones I made. 

I adore the festive look of these cookies. Another perfect one for the kids- a sugar cookie rolled in colored sugar (or sprinkles) and then a candy cane Hershey's kiss pressed into the center. No surprises here, they taste exactly like they look...sweet but delicious. I'll definitely make these again for the kids next Christmas.

Recipe for Candy Cane Blossoms
(Source: With Sprinkles on Top)
1 bag Hershey’s Kisses Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons milk
Red and green colored sugar

Preheat over to 350 degrees F.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl and set aside. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment until well blended. Add flour mixture alternately with milk to the butter mixture, beating until well blended. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in red and/or green colored sugar. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cookies are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool 2 to 3 minutes. Press candy piece into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Smartie Cookies

Perhaps not a traditional Christmas cookie, but rather an old favorite with the kids, adorned with Christmas colored smarties so that it fits in with all the other seasonal treats. Substitute M&M's if you want, or even white or regular chocolate chips. They're versatile and delicious. Perfect for taking to Christmas school functions, because most kids will reach for something with chocolate and candy rather than shortbread.

Recipe for Soft and Chewy Chocolate Smartie Cookies
(adapted from What's Megan Making)
1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt (if using regular salt, use only 1/4 tsp.)
1 1/2 cups smarties, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until combined. Slowly add in the flour mixture while mixing on the lowest speed. Mix until just incorporated. Stir in 1 cup of the smarties, reserving the remaining 1/2 cup. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Press a few of the remaining smarties into the dough balls before baking.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set, but centers are still puffy. Let cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Brown Butter Toffee Shortbread Squares with Caramel and Chocolate

If you're totally "over" the sweet and salty combo - then you should just leave now. This recipe is not for you, unless of course you adapt it, which, come to think of it, wouldn't be hard at all (i.e. leave out the salt - or use unsalted butter - but don't do both). So I take that back, you can totally stay. 

Last year, I made a homemade version of twix bars. They were insanely good and quickly made the short list for this year's Christmas baking. However, while browsing recipes I stumbled on Toffee Squares by Joy of Cooking. They are a simple bar composed of a base of toffee-like shortbread, and then topped with chocolate and almonds. They're probably good as is, but I wouldn't know cause I went ahead and tweaked it beyond recognition.

What I ended up with was these, a buttery toffee-like shortbread base, (intensified with browned butter no less), with a chewy caramel layer, and a silky milk chocolate topping. With these squares on a plate of Christmas baking, no one is going to bother with the plain jane shortbread cookies sitting next to them. That's a fact. 

You do have to get over your type A personality though when it comes to cutting them. The base will crumble a bit, rendering it impossible to get a picture perfect square. But once you taste them, you'll get over that. I sure did.

Recipe for Brown Butter Toffee Shortbread Squares with Caramel and Chocolate
(adapted from Joy of Baking)
For the Base:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt (again, if you don't want them salty, you could omit - but don't omit if you're also using unsalted butter)
For the caramel layer:
1 package of craft caramels (340 gram bag), unwrapped
2 Tbsp. cream
For the chocolate layer:
6 ounces of good quality milk chocolate (or semi-sweet if you prefer, but I wouldn't recommend using chocolate chips - splurge on the good stuff here)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Continue to cook until it is golden brown in color. Remove from heat. Add brown sugar and vanilla, mix well. Add flour and salt and mix until completely incorporated. Press the mixture into a foil-lined 9 inch square pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown on the edges. Let cool.

Put unwrapped caramels and cream into a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for about 2 to 3 minutes, checking often and stirring in between. Only cook until you are able to get a smooth consistency. Pour over cooled crust. 

Allow to harden in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Melt chocolate. Pour over caramel and chill until set. Cut into small squares.

Modern Bakers: Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (with milk chocolate filling)

For this round of the Modern Bakers, it was decided that we'd skip to the cookies chapter, given that the season of baking Christmas treats was upon us, and pretty much everyone bakes cookies in December anyway. It's hardly a surprise that I chose the Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Milk Chocolate Filling. It was really a no-brainer.

The dough for the cookies themselves was not the easiest to work with. I had to really work it over with my hands in order to make it pliable. It was quite crumbly, and quick to tear. So I found that allowing it to soften after it was chilled was necessary, and I took great care to ensure that my rolling pin was well floured to prevent the tears and clumps of dough from sticking onto the pin. Be patient with it, and don't press too hard when rolling. That's my advice. 

After it was rolled and cut, it was necessary to use a very thin metal spatula to get the cut cookie off the work surface without breaking it and I would therefore urge to use a well-floured work surface, or roll it on parchment as I did. I refrigerated the cut cookies for about 10 minutes before baking them off to preserve the shape. The recipe says to bake for 15 to 20 minutes. I figured that I was erring on the side of caution by taking them out at 15 minutes, and found them over-baked. They actually tasted burnt. Thankfully, I hadn't put all the cookies in at the same time and only wasted about 1/3 of the batter. 10 minutes was plenty, so watch them closely, as chocolate cookies are harder to judge because of their brown color. 

 

Now, can we talk about the filling? Cream, melted milk chocolate and softened butter are whisked together to form the most amazing, rich and silky filling. Ever. I would have happily eaten the filling on its own with a spoon, it's that good. 

I pulled out all the stops for this one and used the last of my good milk chocolate. It was well worth it. 

Once the cream and melted chocolate are cooled, you whisk in the softened butter and then allow the mixture to sit until it reaches a spreadable consistency. 

These cookies are more work than your average cookie for sure, but I don't think you'll be disappointed. The cookies themselves aren't overly sweet, which complements the filling perfectly. They're great for kids and adults alike.

If you're looking for a great Christmas gift for someone in your life who loves to bake, I would definitely recommend this one. I have more than my share of cook books, and this is one of the few that I would refuse to part with. You can buy the Modern Bakers Cookbook here.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

So I may have gotten carried away with the pictures.

But these cookies are so good. Buttery shortbread cookie dough, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, rolled up, and then sliced into cookies. Delicious, easy and super photogenic. 

The original recipe calls for a cream cheese glaze but I skipped that step. I don't think they need it - and I like to keep it simple. Plus, if I covered them in glaze, it would hide their pretty cinnamon sugar swirl. But if you like the sounds of a cream cheese glaze, knock your socks off. Only, I wouldn't put the glaze on until just before you serve them. I think it might make them soggy if stored with the glaze already on. But that's just my opinion. 

P.S. - I think they'd also be dynamite with a nutella filling. I'd try it myself but my little cookie eater has a nut allergy. Let me know if you go that route though - I'll live vicariously through you.

Recipe for Cinnamon Roll Cookies

(Source: adapted from Recipe Girl)

Cookie Dough:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Filling:
1 large egg white
1 Tablespoon water
1/4 cup granulated white sugar 

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cream the butter and sugar with the salt and vanilla. Slowly add the flour and mix until completely combined. Roll the dough into a 12 x 9 inch rectangle. Whisk the egg white with the water until bubbly. Brush generously onto the rectangle of dough (you won't use it all). In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture onto the dough. Roll the dough from the long end into a tight log. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate until hard. (At least an hour). Once hard, remove the log from the fridge and cut into cookies. 

Place cut cookies onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 8 to 12 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to wire rack.

Yields: 24 cookies