Christmas Cookies and Biscuits

There are tons of christmas recipes at merrychristmasrecipes dot com. Many of them are cookie recipes that are specific to christmas. I'm sure you can find some that you can use there.

Have you tried any of their recipes,  chef matt?  which have you tried?  how did they come out?  I think that's what ChefKDS is looking for.   On a website that has recipes there are tons of untested recipes and a lot of them don't turn out.

I've tried most of the cookie recipes on that site (I'm a bit
Of a cookie freak) and all but one turned out well. I would avoid the coffee crisp cookies. No matter what I did, I just could not get them to turn out and look presentable.

One of my favorites from that site is for cream cheese sugar cookies.

I do lots of baking, but only one type of cookie, a fairly basic (non-authentic, but yummy) shortbread. The recipe:

 

2 1/4 cups butter (I use salted butter)

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)

1/2 cup rice flour

1 cup cornstarch

3 cups all purpose flour

salt - the amount will vary depending on your choice of salted or unsalted butter. With salted butter I add about one heaping teaspoon of salt.

 

I mix this in the order given, in my KA mixer. I form the dough into logs of about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, wrap in waxed paper, place in fridge to firm up, then into large plastic bags to store in the freezer. This year I made 28 pounds of this dough(!)

 

The cookies are formed by simply slicing the logs of dough into tidy slices, dough needs to be thawed to slice nicely. I like these blond, so I bake at 325 (non-convection) until they're just barely, slightly browned at the edges. As with many butter-based cookies, these age rather well, in fact the flavor will improve after a few days. I ship tins of these all over North America to family and friends....but they're fragile and need to be packed carefully.

 

My one variation is the addition of lime zest to the recipe....I use (only) the zest of 3-4 limes to one batch. (Adding juice will change the nature of these cookies...gluten will develop, cookies will be tough, etc.) The lime cookies get a half-dip into white chocolate that's been tinted a very, very pale green. They mess with people's minds somewhat....people see green and expect mint. They taste lime and expect lime icing, but it's chocolate. Not my cup of tea, but they're wildly popular so I continue to do some of these every year. If you're one of those people who really plans ahead, it's a nice idea to measure out the sugar for a batch, and add the lime zest to it a few days before making the dough so as to infuse the sugar with the limey perfume. Some day I'll remember to do this. (The inspiration for this lime/white chocolate combo comes from eclairs that I made for the caterer I worked for, called "Lunar Eclairs", which were stuffed with ricotta, sugar, lime zest, and finely grated white chocolate. I'd credit the writer, but I can't for the life of me remember the source.)

 

I didn't mention this, but all of the plain cookies get a sprinkle of Christmas-y-colored sugar before baking, which seems to be a requirement.

Thanks chef matt.  I'll check it out myself since i'm always looking for new recipes for christmas. 

Chef KDS, make a lot of cookies at christmas, and can give you some recipes i've collected and tested over the years, but i'm away right now until next week. This is a sample picture of my cookie tray at christmas (i'm sorry, i've posted it before, but I'm pretty proud of them!)

 

From the white stars at the bottom left, going clockwise, they are lemon butter stars, frosted brownies (with butter/chocolate ganache), walnut meringues and chocolate chip walnut meringues, behind them are pistachio butter cookies, chocolate butter stars, white chocolate chip cookies with raspberry, ,  chocolate crackles, in the center pecan squares with short crust and brownsugar/pecan topping, chocolate crackles, butter heart sandwiches with raspberry jam, spice snaps with royal icing decorations and hermits. 

If any of them appeal to you let me know and i'll give you the recipe.

 

 

Edited by siduri - 11/26/11 at 4:10pm

 

Lovely photo of the assorted Christmas cookies ... I have my Mom and Grandmom's cookie cutters and so this could be a nice idea for my twin grandsons.   

Sure.  I'm away but can send it next week.  If i forget please send a personal message to remind me

 

 

Good Morning, Chef K.D.,

 

I gourmet it up in the kitch at the weekends only as it is impossible during the professional working week, and I cook a hell of alot better than I bake ( I hardly ever except for holidays and birthdays ), my twin grandsons would dispute this fact ... Here is a lovely recipe for their favourite Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies ...

 

Makes about 18 ...

 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 large eggs

1 pound of bittersweet chocolate of choice ( I use Swiss Lindt or Sprüngli which owns Lindt ); do not use un-sweetened chocolate

1/4 cup butter sweetened and not unsalted

1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1 tblsp vanilla extract

Five 1.4 oz. chocolate covered toffee bars ( Heath from the U.K. or similar in U.S.A. ) coarsely chopped

1 Cup Walnuts toasted and chopped

 

1) Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl

2) whisk to blend the items in Number 1

3) Stir chocolate and butter in top of double boiler and set over simmering water until melted and smooth

4) Remove from water and cool mixture to room temperature

5) Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, the eggs in a bowl until thick about 5 minutes

6) Beat in the chocolate mixture and vanilla extract and stir in the flour mixture afterwards, then the toffee and the nuts.

7) Chill this batter until firm about 1 hour.

8) Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Farenheit, and line 2 large baking sheets with waxed paper or parchment paper.

9) Drop batter by 1/2 tblsps onto paper

10) Space the drops of batter at 2 1/2 inches apart

11) Bake until the tops are dry and cracked and the interiors of the cookies are soft to touch - 15 minutes or so ( watch )

12) Cool on sheets

13) Serve with a capucchino or semi sweet dessert wine of choice, for example: Moscatel or Semi sweet Cava or Sparkling wine

 

Happy Holidays,

Margaux Cintrano = Margcata