Christmas Cookies

There was a time when Christmas baking began the day after Thanksgiving. It would take the 4 weeks between that holiday and Christmas for the stollen to mellow and for me to bake all my favorites (and there are many). Cookies were wrapped and frozen until just before Christmas when I would make up trays and platters to give away as gifts. Of course, it was always necessary to sample the wares and that is one of the reasons I no longer do that kind of baking.

Needing to make up about 15 small bags of cookies to give away to local seniors served by a volunteer group I work with, I turned to a simple recipe that goes together quickly and produces a stiff dough that rolls out easily and bakes up in 12 minutes. The recipe yielded 12 dozen cookies. These are butter cookies, not too sweet, and, for some reason, they've been labeled Italian Christmas cookies. My mother always made them in twists, but I opted to use small to medium-sized cookie cutters.

Cookies
12 cups flour
12 large eggs
1 lb unsalted butter
4 cups sugar
3 Tbs baking powder
2 Tbs vanilla
2 Tbs almond extract

Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
milk
dash extract (almond or vanilla or anise or peppermint)

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, baking powder, extracts, and 3 cups of the flour. Add remaining flour until a stiff dough forms. At this point, you can divide the dough and color it, if you wish. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Work with 1/4 of the dough at a time. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out desired shapes.If dough gets warm, place it back in the refrigerator until it chills. You must keep your surface well-floured. Place cookies on silicone mats and bake 10-12 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Cool completely, then glaze and decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, etc.

To make glaze:  add dash of extract then small amount of milk; add just enough milk to make the glaze like a thick Alfredo sauce.
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TASTE NOTES
A simple, not-too-sweet butter cookie, these cookies are perfect for baking with children or for when you need a large quantity of cookies in a short amount of time. The dough puffs up nicely when they bake and they keep well in an airtight tin.

SPRITZ COOKIES

I am incredibly excited about my latest food toy, a Wilton Cookie Pro Ultra II cookie press. I never had much luck with mom's metal cookie press, so I don't think I've made spritz cookies in over 30 years. It all started when DSO and I went to cut our Christmas tree this weekend. We go to a local tree farm and the owners always put out mulled cider and a plate of Christmas cookies for the customers. It was those lovely little green Christmas trees that put the idea in my head. Our municipality has a volunteer group that provides services such as transportation to and from doctor's visits to local seniors and adults with disabilities. I coordinate the program and along with a number of volunteers will be delivering pointsettia plants to those neighbors this weekend. I like to include a small goody bag of cookies with the plants and thought that the spritz cookies would be this year's treat.

A recipe is included with the cookie press, though Wilton also has a website with many yummy-sounding recipes. I followed the recipe exactly and was amazed at how simple it was to form the cookies. I dyed one-third of the dough green and another third red. I chose just 3 discs, the Christmas tree, the flower (which was my pointsettia), and one that looks like an ornament. The recipe said the yield was 7-8 dozen, but I got 11 dozen. I baked the cookies exactly 11 minutes. I added colored sprinkles before I baked the cookies since I didn't want to use a frosting and they adhered perfectly and did not burn.

I can't say enough good things about the pro-plus. It is simple to fill, requires no wrist-turning or other special move to produce perfectly-formed cookies; it also washes easily. I was disappointed that one of my disks was broken, but emailed Wilton and a replacement is already in the mail.

Here is the recipe from Wilton's site.
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TASTE NOTES
In addition to being festive and dainty, these spritz cookies were a perfect buttery bite. I'll be making more during the week and will experiment with sandwiching some of them with apricot or raspberry jam. I'm in love with my Wilton Cookie Pro Ultra II!

BUTTERBALLS--THESE COOKIES ARE NO TURKEYS

I've been baking cookies here and there and waiting until Larry finishes up one batch before I make the next. As I was blog-hopping the other day I discovered Emily of http://backtothecuttingboard.com/ and her chocolate-filled Mexican wedding cakes. Although I make Mexican wedding cakes and their close cousin Russian teacakes, I decided I'd try out Emily's idea with my butterballs. The essential difference among these 3 cookies is that the wedding cakes and tea cakes are made with nuts and lard and the butterballs are made with butter, coconut, and no nuts.

The butter produces a somewhat different texture than the lard and they're less dry. I use a small amount of coconut, actually about half what the recipe calls for. The addition of the chocolate in the middle was pronounced a "good thing."

Ingredients - Yield 2 1/2 - 3 dozen

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate bits

more confectioners' sugar for rolling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Cream the butter and confectioners' sugar

Blend in the flour

Fold in the coconut

Break off walnut-sized pieces

Stuff 4-6 chocolate bits into middle
Roll dough around chocolate, covering completely

Roll balls in confectioners' sugar
Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets

Bake 18-20 minutes

Roll in sugar again and place on racks to cool

I had to show off the Christmas table runner I made this year and the new candy-cane candles I found.