Holiday Ideas
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Holiday Ideas
| Wed, 12-07-2005 - 11:12am |
Hi all, I have started some Holiday idea threads in the "around the house" folder. I would love to see everyone's great recipes and ideas!
Traci



Hi ladies,
Here's one of the cookie recipes I make EVERY year - it's to die for!
Lydia's Austrian Shortbread:
1 pound unsalted butter (4 sticks) softened at room temperature
4 egg yolks
2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raspberry jam, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until soft and fluffy, add the egg yolks and mix well.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the butter/egg yolk mixture and mix just until incorporated and the dough starts to come together.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form into 2 balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and freeze at least 2 hours or overnight, or as long as a month.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Remove 1 ball of dough from the freezer and coarsely grate the frozen dough into the bottom of a 9 by 12-inch baking pan or a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure the surface is covered evenly with shreds of dough.
6. With a spoon or spatula, spread the jam over the surface, to within 1/2-inch of the edge all the way around.
7. Remove the remaining dough from the freezer and coarsely grate it over the entire surface.
8. Bake until light golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
9. As soon as the shortbread comes out of the oven, dust with confectioners' sugar.
10. Cool on a wire rack, and then cut in the pan with a serrated knife.
NOTES: You can use any jam in this you like - I usually use blackberry. Also - the butter MUST be at ROOM TEMP! This is so critically important! The first year I made these I forgot and softened it in the microwave - the cookies DID NOT come out right - they were to soft and the dough didn't form right!
Here's something else I make every year:
Petit Pains Au Cholat:
2 Large eggs
2/3 cup Milk
4 TBSP Butter, unsalted, cut into pieces and softened
2 1/2 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour
2 TBSP Light brown sugar
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp SAF yeast -OR- 2-1/2 tsp bread machine yeast
8 ounce Semisweet chocolate, chopped and broken into ½ ounce pieces¹
1 Egg, beaten with 1 tsp milk, for glaze
1. Place the ingredients, except the chocolate, in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. Program for the Dough cycle; press Start. The dough will be sticky. Grease a deep bowl. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, press Stop and unplug the machine. Using a dough car, turn the dough out into the bowl, scraping the sides of the pan and supporting the dough as it comes out. Cover with 2 layers of plastic wrap² and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight.
2. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with melted butter. Turn the cold dough out onto a work surface dusted with flour. With a metal bench knife, divide into 15 equal portions. With a floured rolling pin, roll out each portion to a 4-inch square about 1/4 inch thick. Place 1/2 ounce of chocolate in the center of each square. Fold each corner up into the center to encase the chocolate. Pinch to seal. Place seam side down on the baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Cover loosely with plastic wrap² and let rise at room temperature until puffy, about 1 hour.
3. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.
4. Brush each pastry with some egg glaze. Bake, one pan at a time, for 15 to 18 minutes, until light golden brown and dry to the touch. Transfer to a rack to cool, although these are good eaten warm.
I'll be trying these for the first time this year:
Blackberry-Sage Thumbprints:
Karsty's (QuinNKysMomma's) Recipe
Prep: 25 minutes Bake: 10 minutes per batch
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
11/2 tsp. dried sage, crushed
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
11/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup blackberry preserves
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sage, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg yolks, lemon peel, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour mixture.
3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly press the tip of your thumb into center of each ball. Fill centers with about 1/4 teaspoon of the blackberry preserves. Bake 10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack; cool completely. Makes about 60.
And this is another new one I'll be making:
Chocolate Sparkle Cookies:
Dusanka’s Recipe – Courtesy of: Senses Bakery
These are amazing. The recipe was given to me by a workmate whose fiancée is a chef. She is friends with the chef who developed this recipe for Senses Bakery in Vancouver. This recipe was published in the Los Angeles Times last year and was selected as one of the top 10 (out of about 350).
It is flourless. The sugar forms a firm shell, and the inside is very soft, almost like molten chocolate (when they're warm). Wonderful combination. Very chocolaty.
Be sure to beat the egg-sugar mixture to "ribbon" stage and to chill the dough thoroughly. Also, you can add a tiny bit more butter. And don't overcook.
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate
3 Tablespoons butter, room temp
2 eggs
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
3/4 cup ground almonds
2 teaspoon cocoa powder
pinch of salt
powdered sugar, for garnish
Melt the chocolate on top of a double boiler, over (but not in contact with) simmering water. Remove from heat. Cut butter into small pieces and mix into the heated chocolate until melted.
Beat eggs with electric mixer, gradually adding the sugar and honey until light and the mixture falls into thick, smooth ribbons from the beaters (about 10 min). Fold into the chocolate-butter mixture.
Add the cocoa powder and salt to the ground almonds and mix; gently add to the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use an ice cream scoop to form the dough into 1-inch balls. Working quickly, roll the balls in granulated sugar, place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart and bake at 325 F for 12 minutes, until the centers are moist, but not wet. Cool slightly. Dust lightly with powdered icing sugar.
Makes about 36 cookies.
Yum! There's some ideas for you!
Hugs,
K