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Rugelach:
Rugelach aren't really Christmas cookies, they are Channukah cookies but what the heck. My aunt used to make boatloads of these every Christmas and give them out as gifts. They remind me of my childhood and I love em.
1/2 lb. butter, softened at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
Cream butter and cream cheese. Add flour gradually and knead. Refrigerate dough one hour to firm. Combine sugar, raisins, cinnamon and nuts for filling. Roll out half the dough about 1/4 inch thick in a circle on floured surface. Cut in 16 wedges (like a pizza). Sprinkle with half the filling mixture. (Tip: move the chunky bits toward the outside edge.) Roll up from the wide end. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Remove immediately to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
Filling variations:
Apricot Preserves
Cherry Preserves
Pineapple Preserves
Prune Filling (Lekvar) it's like having a mini-prune danish
Chocolate (wrap chunks of milk or dark chocolate in the dough)
Raspberry Jam
also try Sweetened Marscapone or Sweetened Pot Cheese as a filling along with a smidge of preserves (ex: Pineapple Cheese Rugelach, Cherry Cheese, etc.)
Rum Balls
You can substitute gingerbread cookies or shortbread for the chocolate wafers
Chop the pecans by hand. Using a food processor will only leave you with a pile of messy nut paste and not give you the nutty texture you desire. Enjoy and Have a Boozy Christmas *hic-cup* scuse mi!!
1 1/2 c pecans
1 1/4 c chocolate wafer cookies
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
2 T cocoa powder
2 T corn syrup
1/4 c amber rum
+ powdered sugar, grated coconut and sweetened cocoa powder
1. Toast the pecans in a 350 degree oven until fragrant (about 10 minutes). Let cool and then chop finely. While pecans are toasting, crush chocolate wafers until fine.
2. In a large bowl, combine crushed pecans, crushed cookies, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa and stir until well mixed. Add in the rum and corn syrup and mix well. Chill for at least 1 hour.
3. Roll 1 teaspoon of the mixture into balls and roll in your choice of powdered sugar, grated coconut or cocoa powder.
Makes 28 balls...so go ahead and double the recipe!
Thumbprint Cookies
Makes about 20
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup finely chopped nuts of choice
1/3 cup jam (any flavor)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla extract and salt. Gradually stir in flour. Form dough into 1-inch diameter balls. Dip in lightly beaten egg whites, then roll in nuts. Place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Press down center of each with thumb. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Just before serving, fill centers of cookies with jam. Or, fill centers with 1/2 teaspoon of jam before baking.
Santa's Whiskers
Yield: 8 dozen cookies
1 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups red and/or green candied cherries, chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
Combine butter, sugar, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add 2 1/4 cups flour. Continue beating until well mixed.
Combine cherries and 1 tablespoon flour in small bowl; toss to coat. Stir cherry mixture and pecans into dough.
Shape dough into 3 (10x1 1/2-inch) logs on plastic food wrap. Roll each in 1 cup coconut. Wrap tightly. Refrigerate until firm (1 hour or overnight).
Heat oven to 350°F. Cut logs into 1/4-inch slices with sharp knife. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned.
Russian Teacakes/Mexican Wedding Cakes/Swedish Tea Cake
This favorite holiday cookie is known by many different names around the world, such as Mexican Wedding Cakes, Russian Teacakes, Swedish Tea Cakes, Italian Butter Nut, Southern Pecan Butterball, Snowdrop, Viennese Sugar Ball, Sand Tarts, and Snowball. Butterballs.
They always contain finely chopped nuts and are twice rolled in powdered sugar.
I N G R E D I E N T S
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup pecans, toasted, coarsely ground
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
I N S T R U C T I O N S
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Beat butter in large bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until well blended. Beat in flour, then pecans. Divide dough in half; form each half into ball. Wrap separately in plastic; chill until cold, about 30 minutes.
Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and cinnamon in pie dish to blend. Set cinnamon sugar aside.
Working with half of chilled dough, roll dough by 2 teaspoonfuls between palms into balls. Arrange balls on heavy large baking sheet, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake cookies until golden brown on bottom and just pale golden on top, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies 5 minutes on baking sheet. Gently toss warm cookies in cinnamon sugar to coat completely. Transfer coated cookies to rack and cool completely. Repeat procedure with remaining half of dough. (Cookies can be prepared 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature; reserve remaining cinnamon sugar.)
Sift remaining cinnamon sugar over cookies and serve.
Snowflake Sugar Cookies
This recipe is GREAT when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking. Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking these or any other cookies.
6 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself)
1 tsp. salt
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below)
Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350
degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe
can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies.
HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to
chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper.
Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.
Royal Icing for Snowflake Cookies
Ingredients:
3 egg whites, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
food coloring (optional)
Preparation:
1. Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature before beginning.
2. In the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer, place the egg whites, powdered sugar, and cream of tartar. Using the whisk attachment, beat all together on low speed until combined. You can use a hand mixer if you desire, but it will likely take longer for the icing to reach the right consistency.
3. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Restart the mixer and beat the mixture on medium speed until very thick, shiny, stiff and white. This should take about 7-10 minutes.
4. Check the texture to ensure that it is suitable for your needs. If you require a stiffer icing, add a little more powdered sugar at this point.
5. If you want to dye your icing just one color, you can add a few drops of food coloring into the bowl and mix it for a few seconds until the coloring is evenly distributed. If you want to make several different colors, divide the icing into several different bowls and stir in the food coloring by hand.
6. Royal icing dries to a very hard consistency, and it will begin setting as soon as it is made. To prevent the icing from getting hard before you use it, thoroughly wet a paper towel and place it over the top of the icing in the bowl. It is very important to keep the icing covered! Likewise, if you are using a pastry bag and piping tips with the icing, twist the back end of the bag tightly, and wrap a wet paper towel around the tip when not in use so the icing will not dry in the tip.
7. Depending on the temperature, humidity, and amount of icing used, royal icing should harden within 15-60 minutes of application. Do not refrigerate products with hardened royal icing, as the icing can become soft and sticky.
For the Snowflake Cookies I skipped the food coloring and sprinkled the iced cookies with Blue Sparkling Sugar by Wilton I used the green one too (see the photo with The Mexican Wedding Cakes recipe) and then piped add'l royal icing on top in a snowflake design (see photo above) Let finished cookies sit for at least 20 minutes to let the icing harden...I'm sure something equivalent to the Sparkling sugar is available at most supermarkets...
Source: joyofbaking.com
christmas-cookies.com
foodnetwork.com
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