Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Another one of my favorite Christmas cookies! This is another recipe that was passed down to me from my wonderful aunt. Although I only made red ones this year, you can also use green maraschino cherries and green food coloring, and dip them into milk chocolate.

Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ cup chopped, drained maraschino cherries (put on paper towels to drain after chopping)
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ½ cup butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ½ tablespoon mlk
• ½ tablespoon almond extract
• food coloring
• 1 bag of white chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Stir together flour and sugar
• Cut in butter using a stand mixer or pastry blender until dough resembles fine crumbs
• Stir in cherries, milk, food coloring, and almond extract
• Form dough into a ball, knead until smooth
• Roll dough into 1" balls, use the bottom of a glass to flatten them (I put a small piece of parchment paper on top of the dough first, so the dough does not stick to the glass)
• Bake for 20 minutes until the cookies are firm and light brown on the bottom
• Let cookies cool competely
• Melt white chocolate chips in microwave
• Dip half of each cookie into white chocolate, place on parchment paper to dry
  

Pinwheel cookies

Every year when I make these cookies, I swear that I'm never going to make them again. Then I think about how pretty they are and how nice they look on a cookie tray, and I cave. These are very labor intense - it involves rolling out 9 pieces of dough almost paper thin, but I think it's worth it! The dough is a shortbread dough, so it's not overly sweet, and the cookies taste great with coffee or hot cocoa.

Pinwheel Cookies
Original Source: Unknown, my aunt gave me the recipe

Ingredients: (you will need to make 3 separate batches, so when you are gathering ingredients, keep in mind that you will need 3 times the amounts listed below):

• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ½ cup butter
• ½ tablespoon almond extract
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ½ tablespoon milk
• food coloring (red and green)
• pearl sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Stir together flour and sugar
• Cut in butter using either a stand mixer or pastry blender
• Stir in milk, almond extract and food coloring
• Form dough into a ball and knead until smooth (the dough is dry, it will take some work to incorporate all the ingredients into a smooth dough)
• Make 3 batches - red, green and white
• Chill dough 1 hour
• Separate each color of dough into 3rds for a total of 9 balls of dough
• Roll each ball of dough into an 8x10 sheet on wax paper
• Chill sheets of dough until firm
• Layer one sheet of each color, brushing lightly with milk in between layers
• Roll jellyroll style from the 10" end, rolling as tightly as possible
• Chill logs until firm (I put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes)
• Brush logs with beaten egg white, then roll in pearl sugar
• Slice the logs into ¼" slices
• Bake on parchment paper for 10 minutes

Oreo bark

A coworker of mine gave me a little tin of this stuff last Christmas, and I was hooked. It is SO good, and I'll warn you, pretty addictive. An added bonus is that it is a cinch to make, but looks pretty impressive.

Oreo Bark

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. milk chocolate (I use Ghirardelli chips)
• 6 oz. white chocolate
• 15 Oreos

Directions:

• Put the oreos into a large ziploc bag and crush them until they are in small, bite-sized pieces.
• Melt the milk chocolate in a double boiler.
• When chocolate is melted and smooth, carefully stir in Oreo pieces.
• Spread the mixture onto a foil covered cookie sheet, trying to keep the cookies in an even layer.
• Melt white chocolate in microwave and drizzle it on top. Use a knife to swirl.
• Let cool & harden (I put the tray in the refrigerator to speed things up). Break into bite sized pieces.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

Freakin' Martha Stewart, man. Seriously, does she do anything that is just mediocre? I made these cookies for my husband last night, and they were absolutely the best cookies I have ever had. I only made a small change to the recipe (instead of 1 cup of raisins I used 1/2 cup golden raisins and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts). So good.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies
Source: Martha Stewart

Makes 25 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 cup raisins (I used 1/2 cup golden raisins)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (my addition to the original recipe)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, use an offset spatula to spread about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

St. Patrick's Day, Part 2

We had a potluck at work for St. Patrick's Day, so I brought the pistachio cake, but I also decided to make some Oreo Truffles decorated for the holiday. Both were a big hit!

Oreo Truffles - all dressed up for Valentine's Day

One of my favorite things about baking is sharing treats with my friends and family. Since I've had a lot of time on my hands recently, I decided to make some little Valentine's Day gifts. I had made these truffles for Christmas, and they were a huge hit, so I figured that I would dress them up for Valentine's Day and gift them as gifts. They turned out super cute, and were delicious as always!





Oreo Truffles
Adapted from Recipezaar

Ingredients:

• 1 pound oreo cookies
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound milk chocolate
• ½ pound white chocolate (I used red candy melts for V-day)

Directions:

• Using food processor, grind cookies to fine powder
• With a mixer, blend cookie powder, cream cheese and vanilla extract until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese)
• Roll into small balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper
• Insert toothpick into middle of each ball
• Freeze until firm
• Dip balls into melted chocolate
• Remove toothpicks
• Drizzle with melted white chocolate