Please Share - What's Your Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe?

I make three different kinds of shortbread all are delicious and very different from each other. The Fluffy Whipped is very light - like a butter cloud, the Maple Pecan is really rich but so good and the Irish is more traditional because they are rolled and cut. I find that these taste better the following day the same as the Maple Pecans.

PS You can cut the Irish Shortbread recipe in half because it does make a fair bit and if you are not familiar with icing sugar, it is the same as confectioners sugar (the kind that you use to make frosting).

Fluffy Whipped Shortbread

1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

Beat butter and icing sugar with a hand mixer for 2 minutes. Add flour and beat at high speed for 10 minutes.
Drop by spoonfuls on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for approximately 20 -25 minutes or until edges are golden. These are absolutely melt in your mouth cookies and if you want to fancy them up place half a candied cherry in the middle or a chocolate chip.

Maple Pecan Shortbread

1 cup of butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 T maple syrup (I don't use the real stuff)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 1/4 cups of finely chopped pecans

Cream butter, sugar, syrup, vanilla. Add flour mix till combined and fold in nuts. Shape into 1 1/2 inch round rolls and wrap in wax paper. Chill till firm or over night. Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices and place 2 inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 14-16 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Makes about 6 dozen. *note these taste best if allowed to mellow for a day before eating.

Irish Shortbread

1 lb butter
1 cup of brown sugar
2 tsp of vanilla
pinch of baking soda
4 cups of flour

Cream butter and sugar, add vanilla and soda and flour. Mix until smooth. Chill in fridge over night. Roll about 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes and place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for approximately 12 minutes.

I don't do cookies, would you take recipes for candy? I have recipes for homemade 'Mounds', 'Reese's Cups', and pralines.

MM

smoothseas said:

Thanks, kikazary. The maple pecan sound positively yummy. Gonna bake a batch first thing in the morning.

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You are welcome, just remember that the flavour takes a day or so to intensify. These will also flatten with a rolling pin and you can cut them with a cookie cutter if you wish. I just find that the long rolls are easier to keep the slices uniform.

I'll be looking forward to reading about your opinion.

Gee, we don't have any really special xmas biscuits, and our most popular sweet is White Christmas but the main ingredient is the Australian Copha and it is very difficult to find outside of Australia.

Pecan Pralines

3 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups pecan halves

In a large heavy kettle (recommend cast iron), combine everything except butter and pecans. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly. Cook and stir until soft ball stage (234 degrees F with candy thermometer). Remove from heat and add butter and pecans. Beat until mixture is thick enough to drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. If it gets too stiff while dropping, add 1 teaspoon hot water. Makes approx 45 pralines.

Enjoy!

MM

Icelandic Pepper Cookies have become a tradition in our house. (oddly enough, despite the name, pepper is the smallest ingredient and not even noticable. They're more clove-like than anything.)

1 1/4 Cups Butter, softened
1 1/4 Cups White Sugar
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
2 Eggs
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teas. Baking Powder
1 teas. Baking Soda
1/2 teas. Salt
2 teas. Cinnamon
2 teas. Ground Cloves
1 teas. Ginger
1/4 teas. Black Pepper

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Stir in corn syrup and eggs; cream well. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and pepper. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until smooth. Refrigerate dough over night. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Place at least 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Makes 3 dozen

kikazaru said:

Fluffy Whipped Shortbread

1 cup soft butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

Beat butter and icing sugar with a hand mixer for 2 minutes. Add flour and beat at high speed for 10 minutes.
Drop by spoonfuls on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for approximately 20 -25 minutes or until edges are golden. These are absolutely melt in your mouth cookies and if you want to fancy them up place half a candied cherry in the middle or a chocolate chip.

Maple Pecan Shortbread

1 cup of butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 T maple syrup (I don't use the real stuff)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 1/4 cups of finely chopped pecans

Cream butter, sugar, syrup, vanilla. Add flour mix till combined and fold in nuts. Shape into 1 1/2 inch round rolls and wrap in wax paper. Chill till firm or over night. Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices and place 2 inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 14-16 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Makes about 6 dozen. *note these taste best if allowed to mellow for a day before eating.

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I made both of these, and they were a hit! And you're so right about the maple pecan cookies - waiting a day. I had one last night after I made them, and it was really good. I had another one today, and you could taste the maple a lot more. My husband loved the ones I left for him. I took the rest into work, and the fluffy whipped are all gone. I'm leaving in an hour, and I think I'll get to take home some of the maple pecan...

That so great that both of you like the cookies. I'm always nervous posting recipes since taste is so individual.

It's -18F outside right now (going up to a "high" of -15) and it just may be a cookie baking day in this house. I'll post results later.

I make several varieties of cookies for Christmas every year.

I do snickerdoodles, but instead or regular cinnamon sugar, I roll them in a gourmet "Burnt orange cinnamon sugar" I found. They're fantastic; my husband's work went through four dozen of them in about a minute and a half and regularly ask if I'll be making them again. You can find gourmet sugars at any baking store or spiffy grocery store; it's worth a look around. Because snickerdoodles are such a lovely basic cookie you can dress them up with just about anything--you could try vanilla sugar or powdered dark chocolate or any number of things.

I also make cherry almond cookies with Hershey's Ksses pressed into the top. Again it's like a basic snickerdoodle recipe but with a tsp or two of almost extract and chopped maraschino cherries.

I have a recipe for Buried Cherry cookies from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and they're fantastic.

And some oatie cookies, little ones, spread with Nutella and made into little sandwiches.

If any of those recipes interest you let me know and I'll post them. (Yeah, I could have done it now but I just got comfy.)

Shadow Ferret, I'm going to get around to making your spice cookies this weekend I hope. They sound great to me and I'm curious about both the pepper and the corn syrup. I will post back with my results.

This is the flavored sugar I use:

http://www.fiddespayne.co.uk/prod_flavoured-sugar.htm


I think the company only does wholesale but you can google them and hopefully find an online supplier, or maybe email them...?

Anyway. Here's the snickerdoodle recipe.


For the cookies:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups AP flour
***
for the topping/to roll the cookies in:

2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon


Beat butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar, beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much flour as you can & stir in the rest until all combined.

Cover; chill in fridge at least one hour.

Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl or on a plate.

Shape cookie dough into one-inch balls. Roll them in the sugar mixture, then place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

Bake 375 for 10-11 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool on wire rack.


Like I said I use the burnt orange & cinnamon sugar; you could try any other kind of flavored sugar as well, if you wanted.

.

kikazaru said:

Shadow Ferret, I'm going to get around to making your spice cookies this weekend I hope. They sound great to me and I'm curious about both the pepper and the corn syrup. I will post back with my results.

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I'm curious if you made them, if you liked them or not. They are different. Our kids like them, but then our kids are weird. My nieces and nephews won't touch them.

smoothseas said:

Ed’s Icelandic Pepper Cookies were a BIG hit with my neighbor. She ate a whole plateful yesterday when she stopped by for coffee.

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Cool. So glad they were enjoyed.

smoothseas said:

I have this sudden and unaccountable urge to engage in a baking marathon.

Would you? Could you, share your favorite cookie recipes?

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My Great Grandmother made the best holiday cookies, and then would gift them in a giant tin.

They were sugar cookies, similar anyhow, except formed like a chocolate kiss. And on the inside she'd place an Andes Mint. It would melt throughout and then melt in your mouth.

Deelish. I'm not sure if it's a known recipe, or something she did.

My grandma makes this white chocolate bark w/ pistachios and dried cranberries that is far too delicious. I made myself sick just last night by eating almost a plateful of the stuff. She's told me how to make it, but I'm gonna look up a written recipe for fear of leaving a step out.

Okay, here's what I found, it sounds exactly like what she told me:

Ingredients:
-2 pounds white chocolate, though I suppose milk/dark chocolate would work as well
-3 cups shelled, unsalted raw pistachios
-3 cups dried and sweetened cranberries

Melt the chocolate:
1. Line a 12- by 15-inch baking sheet with cooking parchment, Chop the chocolate and place with 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening in a heatproof bowl that will nest in a 3- to 4-quart pan. Heat 1 inch of water in the pan just until steaming. Remove from heat and place bowl over water (bowl shouldn't touch water). Stir occasionally just until mixture is melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over pan.

Then:
Stir in 2 cups each of the pistachios and cranberries. Using a flexible spatula, scrape mixture onto buttered parchment and spread 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick (mixture should almost cover sheet). Sprinkle with 1 more cup each pistachios and dried cranberries; gently press them into the chocolate.

Let it set (room temperature 4-6 hours or outdoors/refrigerated for a lot shorter a time, obviously) and break/cut into pieces.

Make sure it's kept cool before serving, if it's melty and soft that severely detracts from the experience.

There you go! Hope you like it as much as I do...okay, not quite as much, that's just unhealthy =)

Shadow_Ferret said:

I'm curious if you made them, if you liked them or not. They are different. Our kids like them, but then our kids are weird. My nieces and nephews won't touch them.

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I made a point of getting corn syrup (ran out) and I've had the butter sitting out on my cupboard for DAYS in anticipation of making these. I haven't yet, but I'm going to. I will report back.

I thought that "tis the season" so this thread deserves a bump.

PS Shadow Ferret I never did get around to baking those cookies, but I AM going to.

This week is going to be my cookie-baking week! So here's the recipe for the Hazelnut-oatmeal sandwich cookies:


½ cup shortening
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cups packed dark brown sugar (or dark muscovado sugar if available)
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cups quick-cooking rolled oats
½ cup Nutella (or other chocolate hazelnut spread)


Preheat oven to 375F.

Beat shortening 30 seconds or until soft. Add sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in flour, then mix in oats (either with beater or by hand).

Shape dough into ¾-inch balls and place 1 ½ inches apart of a greased cookie sheet. Flatten them into 1-inch circles with the bottom of a glass. Bake 5-7 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

When completely cool, spread the flat sides of half the cookies with scant tsps. of Nutella, and match the spread cookies with the unspread ones to make little sandwiches.


These are best the second day when the oat cookies have had a chance to moisten a little bit, if you know what I mean.