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Christmas Cookie Recipes!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

my true love baked for me.

Twelve Molasses Crinkles,

Eleven Chocolate Caramel Bars,

Ten Sparkling Toffee Cookies

Nine Rocky Road Brownies

Eight Pistachio Bites

Seven Mint Bars

Six Browned Butter Cookies

(with Cardamom)

Five World Peace Cookies,

Four Peant Butter Bars

(Honey roasted with chocolate ganache!)

Three Buttermilk Cookies

(with Nutmeg and sour cream frosting)

Two Cocoa Cuties

and a chocolate Almond Bar!

I’m sending my platter full of Christmas Cookies to Susan at Food Blogga. She is hosting the 3rd annual *Eat Christmas Cookies* event. You can check out her site for all the details. And be sure to check out the virtual cookie jar for Christmas Cookies from all over the world.

And be sure to check out my baking buddies Christmas Cookies too!

Barbara Bakes

My Baking Adventures

Stirring the Pot

Keeper Worthy Recipes

Abby Sweets

Merry Christmas!

Molasses Crinkles

(Printable Recipe)

3/4 cup shortening

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup Molasses

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ginger

Cream shortening, add sugar gradually, beat in egg and Fancy Molasses. Add sifted dry ingredients. Chill 1 hour. Shape into balls the size of walnuts. Place on greased cookie sheet. Press with fork. Brush top with cold water. Sprinkle each cookie with sugar. Bake at 375^oF for 10 minutes.

Labels: 12 Cookies of Christmas, Christmas, cookies

Chocolate Caramel Bars

Two weeks till Christmas folks! All the houses in the neighborhood are decorated and every weekend there seems to be more parties and festivities to attend. I wish I could bottle the spirit of the season and pull it out when I need a little holiday cheer throughout the year.

I might not be able to bottle the holiday cheer, but these bars could cheer me up in a hurry!

Chocolate Caramel Bars

A brown sugar shortbread topped with a chocolate caramel that is sprinkled with a course sea salt. If that doesn't spell “special” to you then I don't know what will. :)

This cookie bar is the 11 cookie in my….

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

It was also my turn to pick the Martha Monday project hosted by Brette from Martha and Me so I picked this bar from the November issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

I must admit, I had a bit of difficulty with this bar. I doubled the recipe and had no problem with the crust. But twice, not once, but twice, I made the caramel and it screwed up. (Notice how I said “IT” screwed up, not me!)

I boiled the sugar and water just like the directions said but I ended up with a giant hard sugar crystal cube. I didn’t stir it at all during the boiling process because that would cause sugar crystals but I still ended up with them. I don't know if it was because I doubled the recipe or what, but I’m on a mission to play with more caramel this weekend and find out what went wrong.

The third time I tried the caramel, I added a 1/2 cup of corn syrup to the sugar and water. I should have let it boil a little longer and become more amber in color but I was a bit flustered. That neurotic behavior left me with a caramel that didn’t quite set. It was more like a chocolate ganache then a caramel. Not that I’m complaining mind you. It was a delicious disaster.

OK, it wasn’t really a disaster but you see, these cookie bars were suppose to get mailed to one of my cookie baking buddies. And you want to know the worst part? I’m the last baking buddy to mail her package.

I’m a slacker. There I said it!

And I cant send her these bars because they would not hold up in the mail. (sigh)

Speaking of sending cookies, I got my package from April of Abby Sweets. April was my very first blogging friend that I ever met and we hit it off at the very beginning.

What did she send me you want to know? She sent me Lemon Cake Cookies, Orange Vanilla Shortbread, and Sugar Glazed Almonds.

She also sent me some Scripture Tea and some mini Christmas Loaf pans. I had myself a very merry tea party!

Thank You April!

Your the best and I appreciate you more then words can say!

I’m sending my delicious disaster bars to Susan at Food Blogga. She is hosting the 3rd annual *Eat Christmas Cookies* event. You can check out her site for all the details. And be sure to check out the virtual cookie jar for Christmas Cookies from all over the world.

I’m also ending these to Michael of Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday. Check out what everyone is making over there.

And be sure to check out my Cookie Baking Buddies!

Chocolate Caramel Bars

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

Makes 16

FOR THE CRUST
4 1/2 ounces (9 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for parchment
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
FOR THE CHOCOLATE CARAMEL
10 1/2 ounces milk chocolate, chopped (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sea salt, preferably fleur de sel

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the crust: Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides; butter parchment, excluding overhang. Beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add flour and table salt, and beat until just combined.
Press dough evenly into pan, and bake until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.
Make the chocolate caramel: Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, washing sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming, until amber, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter, cream, and table salt. Bring to a boil, stirring until smooth. Pour over chocolate. Let stand for 2 minutes. Stir to combine, and let stand until cool, about 10 minutes.
Pour mixture over crust. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. Run a knife around edges; lift parchment to remove whole bar from pan. Sprinkle with sea salt. Trim edges, and cut into 16 bars. Bars can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

From Martha Stewart Living, November 2009 |

Labels: 12 Cookies of Christmas, bars, Christmas, cookies

Sparkling Butter Toffee Cookie Recipe

The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies!

Presents…

Sparkling Butter Toffee Cookies!

My cookies look like they have the measles. Let me explain.

I found this beautiful Sparkling Christmas Cookie recipe over at Recipe Girl’s Blog.

I thought her recipe would make such a pretty cookie and I thought of my cookie press. I try to use it every Christmas and this seemed like the perfect cookie.

It didn't even occur to me that it wouldn’t work. Not even when Recipe Girl said “I used a fork to do the crisscross pattern- the pattern disappears as the cookies are baked.”

No Bells went off in my head, no whistles, no red flags, nothing.

I was just thinking *Oh how cute these will be*

It was kind of hard to really see the pattern, but needless to say, my stamped design did not turn out at all. They baked right in just as Lori had said.

That’s when I got out the red sparkly sugar. I decided to *dress them up*, make the cookies more festive now that my holiday design disappeared.

I should have left well enough alone. I should have left them all sparkly and white. They had such a seductive simplicity about them.

So the red sugar baked right into the cookie and just didn’t behave like the white Sparkling sugar. Instead, my cookies look like they have a bad case of the measles.

But what they lack in sparkle, they made up for in taste.

See for yourself!

Please stop by and check at the Christmas cookies that all my buddies are baking. Tis the season!

Barbara from Barbara Bakes
April from Abby Sweets
Denise from Keeper Worthy Recipes
Megan's from My Baking Adventures
Kim from Stirring the Pot

SPARKLING BUTTER TOFFEE COOKIES

(printable Recipe)

Found at www.RecipeGirl.com

1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ cup toffee bits
additional sugar for rolling*

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (or leave them ungreased).

2. Combine sugar, butter, egg and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to wet mixture and beat until well mixed. Stir in toffee bits by hand.

4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2-inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each with bottom of glass to 1½-inch circles (if glass sticks, dip in sugar). Cookies may also be flattened with a fork in a crisscross pattern.

5. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are just lightly browned. Do not overbake. Sprinkle with additional sugar while warm. Cool completely.

Yield: About 3 dozen

*To make these cookies extra sparkly, use “White Sparkling Sugar”- which can be found in cooking supply stores.

Labels: 12 Cookies of Christmas, Christmas, cookies

Recipe for Rocky Road Brownies

This Week’s

“The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies”

is…

Oh my sparkling stars, I can’t believe it’s already cookie #9. That means I only have 3 cookies left in my cookie series, but so many more bookmarked!

Let’s see what we have had, shall we?

We started with…

Chocolate Almond Coconut Bar

Cocoa Coconut Cuties

Buttermilk Cookies with Nutmeg and Sour Cream Frosting

Honey Roasted Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Ganache

World Peace Cookies

Browned Butter and cardamom Cookies

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Pistachio Bites

And # 9 is…

The Rocky Road Brownie!

Today’s Platter selection is not a cookie at all, but a brownie. A brownie is a must at the holidays, and one I want to include on my cookie platter.

But this one has a secret!

It’s made with a boxed mix. You know it’s the holidays and everything is crazy, you have 500 cookies to bake and you need a little break. That’s where this brownie comes in!

But it’s richened up with evaporated milk. Then topped with mini marshmallows , nuts and chocolate chips. Considering this is all that was left when I went to take the picture, I’d say they were a success.

Actually, I know they were a success. My teen told me so!

Rocky Road Brownies

(Printable Recipe)

1 pkg (19.5-21 ounce) fudge brownies mix
large eggs (per package directions)
vegetable oil (per package directions)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch metal pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Mix the brownie mix, eggs, oil, and milk together in a mixing bowl and beat for 50-60 strokes or until mixed. Pour into pan and bake according to package directions, Do not overbake!

Top with marshmallows, walnuts and chocolate chips

Return to oven for 5 minutes so that marshmallows can melt.

Remove from oven. . Let cool at room temperature for about an hour

Lift the brownies from the pan and cut into squares.

Check out my Baking Buddies' Christmas Cookies

They’re Delightfully Delicious!

Labels: 12 Cookies of Christmas, bars, Christmas, cookies

Recipe for Pistachio Bite Cookies

It’s beginning to look a lot Like Christmas!

Black Friday is just days away and if that’s not the official kick off of the season, then I don’t know what is. I’ve already attended 2 potlucks celebrating the holidays already, so for me…

It’s full steam ahead.

Today’s cookie for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies is a festive little fellow!

Christmas Pistachio Bites!

A tender little butter cookie flavored with almond and a chockfull of pistachios are thrown in. I loved them!

I used white chocolate to dip these in instead of the almond bark. For me, they were a little to sweet with the dipping. Maybe that would be different if I used the almond bark instead. But the truth be known, I liked them best naked. Yep… I could have eaten half of each one of those little jewels, but I held myself back. I couldn’t take a tray of half eaten cookies to a potluck now could I,... Could I?

These would also make a perfect cookie for St. Patrick's Day. Dip them, or in my case, drizzle some green tinted chocolate on them. Now that would make a St. Patty Statement!

Stop by and check out what my other cookie baking buddies are making. I have them listed below for your linking pleasure!

I hope you have a great day!

Pistachio Bites

(Printable Recipe)

1 Cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped-divided
6 oz vanilla flavored candy coating (almond bark)
1 teaspoon shortening

Heat oven to 325°F.

Combine butter and sugar in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add flour, almond extract, and vanilla. Beat,until well mixed and a dough forms. Stir in 1/2 cup of the pistachios by hand.
Shape dough into a log. Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. (I made my dough a few days in advance and kept it in the fridge)

Slice log into 1/4 inch slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute and then transfer to wire cooing rack. Cool completely

Place candy coating and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high (100% power) for 1 minute. Stir, continue microwaving ,stirring every 15 seconds until candy coating is melted and smooth.

Place waxed paper on flat surface. Dip each cookie halfway into warm coating, shaking off excess. Place onto wax paper, immediately decorate with remaining pistachios.