Day 14 Almond Biscotti and Raspberry Rugelach

These are by far the cookies that require the most time, (besides of course pizzelles), but they are both faves of my grandmom, so I will be making them for her!


Almond Biscotti

• 1 Cup Blanched almonds, toasted and chopped coarsely
• 1 tsp baking powder 
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. In a bowl, beat together all the dry ingredients until mixed.
3. Add in the wet ingredients.
4. mix until a dough forms.
5. On a lightly floured surface form a log 14 inches long and 2-3 inches wide.
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until firm to the touch.
7. Take out and cool for 10 minutes and then slice into 1/2 inch slices/.
8. Lay cut side down on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10 minutes.
9. makes about 28

Raspberry Rugelach
for the dough

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup flour

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together.
2. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and mix until combined
3. Add the flour, mixing until a dough ball forms.
4. Shape into a flattened ball and wrap with plastic wrap, chill for at least 1 hour.

For the filling

• 1/2 cup black raspberry jam
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chopped raisins
• 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. On a lightly floured board, roll dough to form a 13 inch round
3. Mix all the filling ingredents.
4. Spread filling evenly over the dough almost to the edge.  
5. Cut dough into 16ths using a pizza cutter
6. Starting at the wide end, roll each up into a triangle and place it point side down on the baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
7. Bake in the center of the oven 15-20 minutes or until golden.
8. makes 16

Day 13 Chocolate Chip

I am always amazed at how many requests I get for plain old chocolate chip.  I guess people don't bake that much any more.  I do have a special secret that makes mine extra good, I make my own vanilla.  I take a big bottle of inexpensive vodka, slice open about 10 vanilla beans and put them in it.  Leave it on my counter and shake it every day for a month or so.  This is a great way to make a large amount of really good quality vanilla!!


Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup bronw sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 bag of chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 
2. Beat butter and sugars until fluffy
3. Add baking soda, egg and vanilla and beat until combined
4. Add flour and continue mixing until you get a sticky dough.
5. Add in chocolate chips
6. Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet and bake 9-11 min or until the edges are golden.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Day 12 Pecan Sandies

This cookie always reminds me of our family friend Carolyn ( pecan sandies were her favorite cookie).  She was the first woman advertising executive in Philly and just an all around neat person.  She lived next door to us in the house we lived in til I was six and I can still remember she and my Mom sitting in these round wicker chairs she had on her front porch and drinking Segram's smoking cigarettes and I guess solving the world's problems.   On my tenth birthday she gave me a bottle of champagne, starting me on my way to drunk baking.  She was one of a kind and I miss her still!


Pecan Sandies

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 cup pecans , finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. In mixer, beat butter, vanilla and 1/2 cup of the sugar until smooth
3. Mix in flour until just mixed and gradually add in pecans.
4. Take one tablespoon of dough and shape unto a crescent shape.They should be about 2 inches long.
5. Bake 45 minutes or until edges are slightly brown, rotating cookie sheets halfway through cooking.
6. Transfer to wire cooling racks, and sprinkle remaining sugar over them thru a seive.
7. Makes 3 dozen,

Day 11 Toffee Crinkles

Around this point in the baking process, my freezer starts to get really full of cookies, my family starts to complain I am not cooking dinner, and I am a little dizzy from all the flour everywhere.   But still I soldier on, I still have many cookies to make to make all my little friends dreams come true. 


Toffee Crinkles

• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup Heath Bits of Brickle ( 1 bag )
• 1 tsp vanilla
• granulated sugar ( I use Sugar in the Raw)

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Beat butter at high for 30 seconds or until fluffy
3. Mix in brown sugar and baking powder until combined.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla, scraping sides as you go.
5. Mix in flour until a dough forms
6. Mix in Bits of Brickle.
7.  Shape into 1 1/4 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar, place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
8. Bake about 20 minutes or until tops are slightly cracked and sides are set (DO NOT LET EDGES BROWN)
9. Makes 48

Day 10- Mexican Hot Chocolate Balls

Oops forgot to post this one last night! These are sort of like those little white ball cookies they have a nutty flavor!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Balls

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp banilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Beat butter until fluffy.
3. Add 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar,1/4 cup of the cocoa powder and vanilla, mix until combined
4. Add cinnamon, pecans and flour
5. Mix until it forms a dough.
6. Shape into 1 inch balls and bake for 20 minutes or until bottoms are light brown
7. Cool completely
8. Combine remaining 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa powder and roll the cookies in the mixture
9. makes 48

Day 9 Mocha balls!

This one is for my neighbor and coiner of the Drunk Baking phrase, Lisa and her beautiful daughter Alex, if you are home, come on over to taste!!

Mocha Balls-makes 5 1/2 dozen

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup semisweed chocolate chips
• 3 teaspoons instant coffee
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter 1/2 cup chocolate chips, remove from heat and stir until smooth.  Stir in coffee.  Let cool for 5 minutes.
3. Mix sugars, eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, baking soda in mixer.
4. Mix in cooled chocolate coffee mixture.
5. Mix in flour until it forms a dough.
6. Lastly stir in the remaining one cup of chocolate chips.
7. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart and bake for 9-11 minutes until tops slightly crack.

Day 8- Cinnamon Sugar Rugelach

This one is my next door neighbor Paula's fave! I may have to run a few over for her to taste test for me!


Cinnamon Sugar Rugelach

• 1/ cup butter softened
• 6 oz of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• milk
• 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans ( toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for 10 min stirring once)
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Beat butter, cream cheese, 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla and salt until fluffy.  
2. Add in flour and mix until a dough has formed.
3. Divide dough into 3 equal portions, shape each into a disk and put into zip lock bags to chill
4. Chill dough 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350.  Roll each portion of dough into a 9 inch round on a lightly floured surface.  
6. Lightly brush each round with milk. 
7. Combine the cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar with the chopped  nuts.
8. Sprinkle nut mixture evenly over each round , leaving a 1/2 inch border.  
9. Cut each round into 12 wedges with a pizza cutter, and roll into a crescent.
10. Bake one inch apart for 14 -16 minutes until lightly browned.

Makes 36.

Day 7- Coconut Macaroons

Tonight my good friend Donna is coming over to assist, so I decided to make one of her faves!!

Coconut Macaroons

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 package ( 14 ozs ) sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  If you are using Silpat mats, that is all you need, if not, line the baking sheet with parchment or coat with nonstick spray.
2. In  a large bowl beat egg whites, sugar and salt until frothy.  Stir in coconut until moistened.  
3. Drop by tablespoons onto sheet and bake 25-30 minutes.  They will be lightly browned.

Makes approximately 30.

Day 6 -White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut

This recipe entered the rotation at the request of some of my friends in Memphis! It is a highly requested cookie !!
Tip for today-cookie scoops, I use a cookie scoop which is like a small ice cream scoop with a lever for release to make sure my cookies are mostly the same size.  This means they will cook evenly and not burn!

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 12 oz package white chocolate chips ( I like Hershey's)
• 1 1 /2 cups dry roasted macadamia nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy
3. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well
4. Mix in flour and baking soda, you will have a firm dough
5. Stir in white chocolate chips and nuts
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking pans, bake for 10-12 min.

Day 5- Riley's Cookies

Six years ago I finally convinced Joe that we should get a dog.  Being who he is, he went out and bought two dog breed dictionaries, and proceeded  to read thru them and narrow down the selections.  We wanted a medium dog, who was really good with kids, since Ronan was only six at the time, and we have so many kids in our neighborhood.  Joe narrowed his list down to 20 breeds, and then I went to work on finding breeders, and picking my own top five.  The biggest selling points for the Nordic Spitz were it's size, it's great disposition with children and the fact there is no doggy odor. ( She sheds like a full grown bear, but she always smells fresh!   ) We found Viking Heaven Kennels and our Riley.  She makes my every day better, and as Joe will tell you promptly replaced him on the chain of priority in this house so now it goes: Ronan, Riley, Joe. 

Riley has had some tummy issues, and we have to be careful what we feed her.   We have  a great food we get from the Vet, but  I decided baking her treats made sense.

I am counting these as Christmas cookies because even though Riley gets them year round, I do tend to gift them to my favorite doggie friends!

Riley's Cookies

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp of baking soda
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together in mixer until it forms a dough ball, add a smidge more flour if needed.
3. Roll dough and cut in fun shapes ( I use little cookie cutters, or a one inch biscut cutter.)
4. Bake for 20 min.

Day 4 Maple Pecan White Chocolate Chip

This cookie is for my friend Elizabeth who specifically asked for a white chocolate chip kind of cookie, and it happened to be the year we went to Vermont and brought back a bunch of wonderful maple syrup!!

Maple Pecan White Chocolate Chip

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup - the good kind not pancake syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup each , white chocolate chips and chopped pecans ( I sometimes leave them whole )

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until well  mixed, it will look like wet sand.
3. Add the egg, vanilla and baking soda.
4. Add in the flour and mix until it is combined.
5.  Mix in the white chocolate chips and the pecans.
6. Drop tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Flatten them slightly with your palm.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until pale golden and set around the edges. 

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Day 3 Snickerdoodles

You may wonder the origins of drunk baking.  My girlfriend Lisa coined the phrase, as she spent most of one November taste testing for me and drinking wine.  ( She is a Pilates instructor so she can eat as many cookies as she likes! )   Her daily texts consisted of "Is the oven on??" I think that is what makes this time of the year so much fun for me, and why my cookies taste so good, they are filled with love and friendship.

Tonight I am making Snickerdoodles, my nieces Tracey and Jamie usually request these!

Snickerdoodles

• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup room temperature butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp sugar mixed with 2 tsp cinnamon for mixing

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
2. Cream butter, sugar and eggs until light in fluffy
3. Mix in flour mixture until it is dough like.
4. Chill until the dough is stiff and easy to handle.
5. Form dough into walnut size balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar.
6. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet
7. Bake 8 to 10 min or until firm , do not over bake!

makes about 5 dozen

Enjoy!

Day 2-Peanut butter MandM cookies!

Halloween is over, now to deal with all the candy, I usually bake it into cookies.  This recipe is what I came up with for all the leftover M and Ms we had!


Peanut Butter M&M Cookies
Servings: about 24 cookies
Ingredients
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1 and 1/2 cups M&M’s
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda, whisking until combined.  Set aside.
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
5. Add the sugars and peanut butter, mixing until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
6. Reduce the mixer speed and add the egg, vanilla, and milk, mixing until completely combined.
7. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in the M&M’s.
8. Drop the cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets and bake the cookies until lightly golden around the edges, about 10 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Day one - Tools and Tips and Molasses Crinkle

 

Baking cookies involves science, which I really suck at , so having good tools is very important! I use Silpat mats and Chicago Metallic Commercial II cookie sheets available on Amazon.  I also still use the Kitchenaid stand mixer my fabulous bridesmaids gave me as a wedding present   (thanks girls!) 

Since recipes depend on chemical reactions, I don't double batch.  I make one batch of cookie dough, and then another one if I am making a double.  If you just double everything, sometimes the cookies are off and you don't get exactly what you planned for. 

I also freeze all my cookies, in ziplock bags once they are cooled, this keeps them fresh, and keeps the family out of the cookies. 

I also am a firm believer in butter.  Do not ever  substitute for real butter. 

Here is today's recipe.

Molasses Crinkles
Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter at room tempurature
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp each salt, ground cloves and allspice
• turbinado sugar ( sugar in the raw) for rolling

Preheat oven to 375

1. Beat brown sugar and butter until fluffy.  
2. Beat in egg and molasses.
3. Beat in remaining ingredients except turbinado sugar.
4. Refrigerate this for 30 min until it is fir.m.
5. Roll dough in to balls of about 1 tablespoon  each , roll in turbinado sugar to coat, place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  . Each sheet of cookies should be about 1 dozen, these spread.
6. Bake 12 to 14 min or until tops are crackled and set.  Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen.