Wednesday, December 14, 2005
December Recipe Club / Cookie Exchange
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies - from Kerry (via Courtney)
Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
Glaze:
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 drops mint extract, or more to taste (I used two capfuls)
3 1/2 teaspoons water
For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer beat together the butter with the sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the vanilla. On a low speed beat in the flour mixture a little at a time. Gently mix in chocolate chips.
On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop teaspoons of the batter about 2 inches apart. Bake until just cracked on top, about 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. Cool completely.
For the glaze:
In a small bowl mix together the sugar; mint extract and water until smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium resealable plastic bag and snip off the corner. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Let cookies stand until set, about 10 minutes
Adding crushed peppermints or candy canes to the top would also be a nice touch. I tried, but accidentally pureed the heck out of them in the food processor.
Scandanavian Almond Cookies (Jennifer)
Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
Glaze:
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 drops mint extract, or more to taste (I used two capfuls)
3 1/2 teaspoons water
For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer beat together the butter with the sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in the vanilla. On a low speed beat in the flour mixture a little at a time. Gently mix in chocolate chips.
On an ungreased cookie sheet, drop teaspoons of the batter about 2 inches apart. Bake until just cracked on top, about 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. Cool completely.
For the glaze:
In a small bowl mix together the sugar; mint extract and water until smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium resealable plastic bag and snip off the corner. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Let cookies stand until set, about 10 minutes
Adding crushed peppermints or candy canes to the top would also be a nice touch. I tried, but accidentally pureed the heck out of them in the food processor.
Scandanavian Almond Cookies (Jennifer)
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 cup milk
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and almond extract; mix until fluffy. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; mix well.
- Divide dough into 4 pieces, and roll each one into a log about 12 inches long. Place 2 logs per cookie sheet 4 to 5 inches apart. Flatten each roll by hand until it is about 3 inches wide. Brush flattened roll with milk and sprinkle with sliced
almonds. - Bake in preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. While the cookies are still warm, cut them crosswise at a diagonal, into slices about 1 inch wide. When cool, drizzle with almond icing.
- Almond icing: In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle over the cookies.
