Top Seven Holiday Cookies

The holiday season is almost here, readers! Before we know it, Christmas trees will be up in our homes, twinkly lights will light up our streets, and, of course, we’ll be invited to countless Christmas parties. When that invite comes in the mail, don’t worry about what dessert you want to bring! Try one of these top seven holiday cookie recipes that are sure to be a hit with your friends.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies (Found at foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth
• Beat in the egg
• Beat in the vanilla extract
• Beat in the cake mix
• Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls
• Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in the confectioner’s sugar
• Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and “gooey.”
• Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

Chocolate-Dipped Espresso Meringues (Found at realsimple.com)

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to room temperature

Directions

• Preheat oven to 200° F.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the vanilla, espresso powder, salt, and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Very gradually (1 tablespoon at a time) beat in the sugar; increase mixer speed to high and beat until the mixture holds glossy peaks
• Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart
• Bake until dry, crisp, and firm, about 2 hours (The meringues are done when they release easily from the parchment)
• Turn off the oven, prop open the door about ½ inch (use the handle of a wooden spoon), and let the meringues sit inside for 1 hour. Slide the parchment (with the meringues on top) onto racks and let cool completely
• Peel the meringues off the parchment. Then dip the bottom of each into the chocolate, allowing any excess to drip off. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate just until the chocolate is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days

[pagebreak]

Caramel Pecan Treasures (Found at tasteofhome.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 30 Werther’s® Original Chewy Caramels, halved and flattened
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.
• Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
• Roll into 1-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets; flatten slightly.
• Bake at 325° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.
• Place a half-caramel on each cookie. Melt the chocolate chips and shortening; drizzle over cookies.
• Sprinkle with pecans. Let stand until firm.

Gingerbread Trees with Lemon Icing (Found at marthastewart.com)

Ingredients

 For the Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

 For the Icing:

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• Sanding or coarse sugar (optional)

Directions

• Make cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until creamy, 3 minutes. Add egg and beat to combine. Add molasses and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. With a sharp knife or cookie cutter, cut dough into small 2-inch-wide triangles. Arrange triangles, 1 inch apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are firm and golden at edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.
• Make icing: In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar and whisk until smooth. Drizzle icing over cooled cookies and sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired.

Thumbprint Cookies with Jam (Found at huffingtonpost.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, apricot, or strawberry preserves

Directions

• To make the dough:
• Whisk together flour and salt. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, then beat in egg and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture just until a dough forms. Form into a 6- inch disk, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour
• To assemble and bake cookies:
• – Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 1 large baking sheet with parchment paper
• – Roll a level teaspoon of dough into a ball, then flatten each ball slightly (to 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick)
• – Make a deep indentation in center of each round with your thumb or wooden spoon handle. Make more cookies, arranging them 1 inch apart on baking sheets
• – Fill indentations in each cookie with about 1/8 teaspoon jam, avoiding any large pieces of fruit
• – Bake until cookies are baked through and golden-brown on edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

[pagebreak]

Cinnamon Pinwheels (Found at goodhousekeeping.com)

Ingredients

• 2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/4 cup(s) cinnamon red hot candies
• 3/4 cup(s) (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup(s) sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• Red paste food coloring

Directions

• On waxed paper, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In mini food processor with knife blade attached (or in coffee grinder), pulse cinnamon candies until finely ground; set aside.
• In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Reduce speed to low; beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Transfer half of dough to small bowl; with hand, knead in candies, then enough red food coloring to tint a pretty red.
• Between two 20-inch sheets of waxed paper, roll cinnamon dough into 15″ by 10″ rectangle. (If paper wrinkles during rolling, peel it off, then replace it to remove wrinkles.) Repeat with plain dough. Refrigerate dough rectangles 10 minutes or until chilled but still pliable.
• Remove top sheet of waxed paper from each rectangle. Place plain rectangle (still on waxed paper) on work surface with a long side facing you. Invert cinnamon rectangle on top of plain rectangle, so that edges line up evenly; remove top sheet of waxed paper. Starting from a long side, tightly roll rectangles together jelly-roll fashion, lifting bottom sheet of waxed paper as you roll. Wrap log in plastic wrap and freeze at least 1 hour or overnight, or until dough is firm enough to slice.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease large cookie sheet. Remove log from freezer. With sharp knife, cut log crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices, 1 inch apart, on cookie sheet.
• Bake cookies 14 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.
• Store cookies in tightly covered container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in freezer up to 3 months.

Checkerboard Cookies (Found at countryliving.com)

Ingredients

• 1 pound(s) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 1 cup(s) Sugar
• 2 large Eggs
• 1 Egg White
• 2 teaspoon(s) Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) Salt
• 5 cup(s) Flour, sifted
• 3 tablespoon(s) Dutch-Process Cocoa

Directions

• Make the dough:
• Beat the butter using a mixer set on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually and continue to beat until pale and fluffy. – – Add the whole eggs one at a time and blend in the vanilla.
• Combine the salt and flour and stir it into the butter mixture. Remove half of the dough and set aside. Mix the cocoa into the remaining dough on low speed, until fully incorporated. Pat the vanilla and the chocolate doughs each into an 11- by 9-inch rectangle. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill until firm.
• Make the checkerboards:
• Brush the vanilla dough with egg white and place the chocolate dough on top.
• Press gently and cut in half lengthwise. Brush one half with egg white and stack the remaining half on top, making certain the vanilla and chocolate doughs alternate. Cut the resulting stack in half lengthwise and set one stack aside.
• Slice one stack into thirds lengthwise and flip the middle stack over; lightly brush the sides with egg white and gently press together to form a checkerboard-patterned log. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm.
• Repeat with the remaining stack.
• Bake the cookies:
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking pans with parchment paper.
• Slice a checkerboard log crosswise into 1/4-inch cookies. Place the cookies on the baking pans, 1 inch apart, until firm (12 to 15 minutes).
• Rotate pans once while baking. Cool completely on a rack. Cookies can be stored for up to 1 week in an airtight container.

Show off your culinary skills with these recipes, and you’re sure to impress all of your friends! Happy holidays from HC-App State! xo

• Appalachian State