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Baking Christmas Cookies
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Although I just celebrated a milestone birthday, this was the first year I baked Christmas cookies with my mom. This has been a somewhat difficult year, with all of the economic troubles and such. And with my mom being laid off, there have been mixed blessings. We will all miss her cushy salary, the company car, health care, and stock options. But I am not afraid to say that I love having her home to cook dinner every night. Or calling her at random times during the day and actually getting her on the phone instead of her assistant. So when she said we were going to spend the whole day baking, I was elated.
First up was the White Chocolate-Cranberry Bark. Yum. We did an awesome job tempering the chocolate-something that both of us are not ordinarily good at. Dad tried some and it passed his approval, letting out a few "ruff ruff"s between chewing.
Next were the gingerbread cookies. What an ordeal. The dough was extra sticky and the rolling pin did not have enough flour. but eventually we got in the groove and whipped up 2 dozen oddly shaped cookies. My brother and I decorated them, although you would think we hired a kindergartner to do it. (not our best work- but they taste good!)
Lastly, at 11:00pm we finished the Not Quite Linzers. We had originally planned to make linzer cookies, you know, with preserves sandwiched between two sugar cookies and dusted with powdered sugar. But it got late and we were tired so we rolled the dough into little balls, used our thumbs to make little holes and filled them with fig preserves (which we purchased at DeLuca's market in Boston last month). Yum Yum! They are by far my favorite cookies of the season. In case you are interested, here is the adapted recipe:
Not Quite Linzers
Ingredients:
1 cup lightly toasted pecans
2 cups all purpose
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
Confectioners' (Icing or Powdered) Sugar for dusting
1/2 cup seedless preserves (fig or raspberry are my favorites)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Toast the pecans on a baking sheet for about 5-8 minutes (or until lightly browned and fragrant). Once the nuts have cooled, place in a food processor and process with 1/4 cup of the sugar from the recipe until finely ground. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract, egg yolks, and lemon zest. Beat in the ground nuts. Add the flour mixture beating just until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and shape into two rectangles about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Roll dough into small balls, about 1 inch or so in diameter. Place on baking sheet (with parchment paper or greased) and then gently press thumb into top of cookie ball making a small divot.
5. Fill each divot with a little bit of preserve. Be careful not to put too much preserve in each hole, as they will overflow while in the oven.
6. Bake for 12-14 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
ENJOY!
This year I looked forward to Christmas more than ever. I was the last grandchild to come home from college, staying a week longer to make some extra cash. If anything, the anticipation of coming home and seeing my parents' house decorated was enough to get me home a day early. I love this time of year, not just because I have an excuse to eat cookies without remorse, but because of the memories that are made. I'll always remember this day spent with my mom in our little kitchen making batches of cookies that will soon be gobbled up by a house full of family members.
First up was the White Chocolate-Cranberry Bark. Yum. We did an awesome job tempering the chocolate-something that both of us are not ordinarily good at. Dad tried some and it passed his approval, letting out a few "ruff ruff"s between chewing.
Next were the gingerbread cookies. What an ordeal. The dough was extra sticky and the rolling pin did not have enough flour. but eventually we got in the groove and whipped up 2 dozen oddly shaped cookies. My brother and I decorated them, although you would think we hired a kindergartner to do it. (not our best work- but they taste good!)
Lastly, at 11:00pm we finished the Not Quite Linzers. We had originally planned to make linzer cookies, you know, with preserves sandwiched between two sugar cookies and dusted with powdered sugar. But it got late and we were tired so we rolled the dough into little balls, used our thumbs to make little holes and filled them with fig preserves (which we purchased at DeLuca's market in Boston last month). Yum Yum! They are by far my favorite cookies of the season. In case you are interested, here is the adapted recipe:
Not Quite Linzers
Ingredients:
1 cup lightly toasted pecans
2 cups all purpose
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated white sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
Confectioners' (Icing or Powdered) Sugar for dusting
1/2 cup seedless preserves (fig or raspberry are my favorites)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Toast the pecans on a baking sheet for about 5-8 minutes (or until lightly browned and fragrant). Once the nuts have cooled, place in a food processor and process with 1/4 cup of the sugar from the recipe until finely ground. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract, egg yolks, and lemon zest. Beat in the ground nuts. Add the flour mixture beating just until incorporated. Divide the dough in half and shape into two rectangles about 1/2 inch thick.
4. Roll dough into small balls, about 1 inch or so in diameter. Place on baking sheet (with parchment paper or greased) and then gently press thumb into top of cookie ball making a small divot.
5. Fill each divot with a little bit of preserve. Be careful not to put too much preserve in each hole, as they will overflow while in the oven.
6. Bake for 12-14 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
ENJOY!
This year I looked forward to Christmas more than ever. I was the last grandchild to come home from college, staying a week longer to make some extra cash. If anything, the anticipation of coming home and seeing my parents' house decorated was enough to get me home a day early. I love this time of year, not just because I have an excuse to eat cookies without remorse, but because of the memories that are made. I'll always remember this day spent with my mom in our little kitchen making batches of cookies that will soon be gobbled up by a house full of family members.