Christmas Cookies!

[pepperhead212]

Who else is baking cookies this year? Last year, due to Covid, I did very few, but this year, I got a few batches of dough ready to bake. Nothing like I used to do, but most of the people I used to give those to are gone, in one way or another, or are diabetic! But I have some new friends that I can get hooked.

I just made 5 more recipes of cookies - 3 different ones, which puts me up to 17 recipes, of 9 different types. It's just over 1,000, which is the first time I've done that since I was working! Now, the baking...

I still have 8 oz of that browned butter left. Not sure what I'll make with it, but but maybe just some shortbread - the southern version with some light brown sugar, known as "shortnin' bread".

BTW, butter has gotten cheaper around here! That one day at Lidl it was $1.29/lb, and I stocked up on it, but it's gotten down to 1.89@ Aldi's - I only got one there this morning because I wanted one more lb that I wouldn't have to thaw!

Here's what I have, so far:

2 CC Oatmeal Snickerdoodles
2 Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles (new for me)

All the rest of these are "icebox cookies" - my usual varieties, that I can make, and freeze, and slice and bake, on bake days.

3 Habanero Gingersnaps
2 Rolled Barley
1 Oatmeal
2 Chocolate Orange
1 Wienerstube
2 Browned Butter French Vanilla Sables
2 Sesame

[MissS]

Wow, you are ambitious to be making all of those. I haven't made Christmas cookies in several years now.

[Spike]

3 Habanero Gingersnaps

You gave me the recipe for those and we are addicted!!

[bower]

I would love to see some recipes for icebox cookies.
I've been thinking about it and reading a few, but.... ah maybe I'm dreamin.
I will probably run out of steam once I've made the usual suspects, and realized there aren't a lot of people around to feed!

I saw some beautiful icebox cookies made on a cooking show, where they combined the different colors of dough. I wondered if I could use some leftover 'juice' from my jelly preps to color them (besides chocolate which a chocoholic must include!). That got me thinking how easy it would be, to cut and bake some whenever there really is someone to feed (or just me, who'm I kiddin!) .
Chocolate orange, that is one of my favorite flavor combos hands down.

[PNW_D]

for those who love shortbread - this is the best one I've made in a while ..... small batch ..... this woman is a vendor at our local Farmers Market

I just rolled mine in a log, chilled and sliced ........ but the decorated ones .......... its starting to look a lot like Christmas

https://www.the-farmersdaughter.com/blo ... 12/18/2020

[pepperhead212]

Chocolate orange, that is one of my favorite flavor combos hands down.

Here's that Wienerstube recipe, that I make the Chocolate orange one with, by substituting orange zest for the spices.

Wienerstube

3/4 cup(s) dutch cocoa
1 1/2 cup(s) flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup(s) sugar
3/4 cup(s) butter; chilled
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg

A. Combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and spices in food processor and process until mixed. Cut up butter and add to FP. Process until totally cut in, then add vanilla and egg while pulsing. Process until ball forms. Shape into a 14" long log, about 1 1/2x1 1/2". Wrap in wax paper and freeze.

B. When ready to bake preheat oven to 375º. Remove dough from freezer and slice into 1/4" slices. Place 1" apart on greased or lined baking sheets, and bake 12-13 min. Cool on a wire rack.

Variation:

Chocolate Orange - omit the three spices and add 1 1/2 tsp freshly grated orange zest.

Tip: Remove log from freezer about 10 min. before slicing, as these tend to be hard.

[worth1]

Maybe Scottish shortbread cookies.

[pepperhead212]

I started baking today! All I baked were the cream cheese snickerdoodles and CC oatmeal snickerdoodles - none of the frozen logs.
Cooling cream cheese snickerdoodles. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 2/3 of the CC oatmeal snickerdoodles, cooling by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pondgardener]

I would love to see some recipes for icebox cookies.
I've been thinking about it and reading a few, but.... ah maybe I'm dreamin.
I will probably run out of steam once I've made the usual suspects, and realized there aren't a lot of people around to feed!

I saw some beautiful icebox cookies made on a cooking show, where they combined the different colors of dough. I wondered if I could use some leftover 'juice' from my jelly preps to color them (besides chocolate which a chocoholic must include!). That got me thinking how easy it would be, to cut and bake some whenever there really is someone to feed (or just me, who'm I kiddin!) .
Chocolate orange, that is one of my favorite flavor combos hands down.

@Bower Here's an interesting recipe if you're a fan of chocolate/orange combos...
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/dark- ... e-cookies/

[GoDawgs]

Even though retired, I still continue my tradition of playing Cookie Santa where I used to work for several departments there. Five plates were delivered this year plus separate individual bags for the CEO and my old boss. It's always fun to see old friends and play catch up on the news. A lot of these plus two kinds of biscotti get sent to the brother. This year's rendition is pretty much the same as years before except for the substitution of peanut butter-marshmallow for the sugar cookies which break so easily:



Starting from top right and going clockwise are Double Chocolate, my aunt's Butterscotch, ginger snaps and peanut butter marshmallow. In the center are my mom's Ranger cookies with some long Scandinavian Almond on top.

[pepperhead212]

I baked 10 more recipes today, 3 Habanero gingersnaps, 3 of the chocolate ones - wienerstube and chocolate orange - and 4 French vanilla sables, almost like shortbreads. More of the gingersnaps than any, since they are thinner.
Habanero gingersnaps, a third of them with no nuts. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Wienerstube - elongated ones - and chocolate orange - the square ones. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

French vanilla sables - almost like shortbread. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Still have 10 recipes left, and I might bake more later. I have to use some new sheets of parchment, due to the spices in these.

[pepperhead212]

I'm done! I baked those last logs of cookies tonight starting with 3 sheets of the barley and oat cookies, and finished with 2 sheets of everything after that.
Rolled oats icebox cookies (square ones) and rolled barley cookies (elongated ones). by pepperhead212, on Flickr

2 batches of Tennessee icebox cookies, and the end of the barley icebox cookies. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sesame icebox cookies, 2 batches. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[greenthumbomaha]

That is a lot of cookies!

The rest of the year a warm chocolate chip cookie just out of the oven is my favorite, but at this time of the year it's the amazing variety of cookies on the plate that gets the star (even when one or two are not quite yummy) . For chocolate, I always buy the chocolate orange slices that come in a box at Xmas time, so trying those chocolate orange cookies is a must. The butter I bought on sale @ Aldi is spoken for now !

How do you keep the cookies fresh until the big day, and how do you store for long term enjoyment ?

- Lisa

[GoDawgs]

@pepperhead212 , all I can say is WOW! Do you sell these, give them away or eat them over a whole year? Do you freeze them?

Love the hardware cloth racks. Did you make those?

[greenthumbomaha]

That is a lot of cookies!

The rest of the year a warm chocolate chip cookie just out of the oven is my favorite, but at this time of the year it's the amazing variety of cookies on the plate that gets the star (even when one or two are not quite yummy) . For chocolate, I always buy the chocolate orange slices that come in a box at Xmas time, so trying those chocolate orange cookies is a must. The butter I bought on sale @ Aldi is spoken for now !

How do you keep the cookies fresh until the big day, and how do you store for long term enjoyment ?

- Lisa

These taste just like the chocolate wafer cookies that I grew up on. I used dark chocolate cocoa powder. Yum!

[pepperhead212]

@pepperhead212 , all I can say is WOW! Do you sell these, give them away or eat them over a whole year? Do you freeze them?

Love the hardware cloth racks. Did you make those?

I give away most of the cookies, and I'll put the large tins out on my back porch, which is like a refrigerator temperature.

I made those 2'x3' cooling racks back in the 80s, when friends and I would bake huge numbers of cookies, and I had 12 cooling racks, and a knock down rack to slide those into. Here's a close-up of it. A friend pulled them all out my attic, along with a bunch of other things, but I couldn't bring myself to throw this away. Hopefully I will find someone I can give them to.
The rack I used to use to hold 12 of those cooling racks, when making a lot more cookies. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Here are the brownies I baked to take over tomorrow - one of those things I only make to take somewhere; otherwise, I will eat them all in very little time! I have no willpower with these, even though with all those cookies I made I only ate a few of.

I've been baking these since I discovered them back in the 80s. I've got all of Maida Heatter's books, and most of my cookies are recipes from her books, or variations of them. This batch was my variety - left out the expresso powder, and added the zest from 2 navel oranges.
https://www.thebutterlab.com/blog/palmbeachbrownies

Unbaked Palm Beach brownies, for Christmas by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Baked Palm Beach brownies. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Shule]

I was feeling festive, so I made a couple batches of oatmeal raisin cookies (using a slightly modified version of the Doubleday Cookbook recipe entitled Dropped Oatmeal Chippies).

I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour. I used old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats.

The second batch used the same recipe, except I used ~⅔ teaspoon of baking soda instead of 2 teaspoons of baking powder. I mixed the ingredients in a somewhat different fashion, too.

For both batches, I melted the butter instead of waiting for it to get to room temperature.

They all turned out well. The second batch produced flatter cookies and didn't taste quite as sweet, but was otherwise about the same.

They're not quite as chewy when you use whole wheat flour, but they're still good.

Here's the original recipe ingredients (roll into balls and bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 to 18 minutes on greased cookie sheets; it's supposed to make 42 cookies per batch):
1 cup sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter or margarine, softened to room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1½ cups uncooked quick-cooking oatmeal
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pitted dates or seedless raisins

I've made cookies using this approximate recipe since I was a child. It's one of my favorites. This is my first time trying it with baking soda. I consider that change a success. I was hopeful that it would work, since the recipe already uses brown sugar.

Here's a picture I just took of what we had left. Some on the top of the top plate were overcooked a bit on accident. The baking soda ones are on the bottom plate. Counting the eaten ones (and 21 others that are unpictured), it made about 56 cookies (about 28 per batch); I guess I made bigger cookies than the recipe wanted.

[pepperhead212]

I finally got started baking cookies! Late this year, since I was sick, starting a week after TG, and I wanted to be totally cleared up, then get the kitchen basically sterilized, before starting to make any dough. Today, I made some of my favorites - CC coconut macaroons, which are made in the smaller oven, then after cooling, the bottoms coated, and slapped on the waxed paper, to cool. Best done when not baking other things. Those logs from the freezer I'll do when I get some help.
Chocolate chip coconut macaroons, one of 4 sheets by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Coating the bottoms of the CC coconut macaroons with dark Merckens chocolate, cooling on waxed paper. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[GoDawgs]

Cookie Santa rides again! These weren't baked today (about two weeks of baking and freezing them) but I put on my Santa hat and delivered yesterday to folks where I used to work. I've been retired ten years but still keep the tradition I started 14 years ago. There are still good friends of mine there who were working there when I did and it's always great to catch up on the news.



The cookies:
Toffee chip center left and double chocolate center right.
Top half, L to R: Scandinavian Almond, ginger snaps, sugar cookies (with very light lemon flavor)
Bottom half, L to R: my mom's Ranger cookies, peanut butter marshmallow, and my aunt's butterscotch cookies



Here's what's left in the freezer; the whole middle section of the top shelf and a couple bags to the left. But I still have my brother's big box to pack plus goodie gift bags for friends. He'll get enough keep him in cookies for a while and he'll freeze them. Thankfully there won't be much left when I'm done giving them away.



I still have two kinds of biscotti left to make, cappuccino hazelnut and cranberry pistachio and I'll get started on that today, maybe do both. They should have been done with the cookies but this year there was absolutely no spare room in the freezer for them! The Bro knows his box will be a few days late but doesn't care if there's biscotti involved!