Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I was inspired to make these cookies this year by my friend Maxine.  Rugalach is a traditional Jewish dessert served during Hanakkuh.  But it is also a cookie that originated in Eastern Europe and was embraced by many ethnicities.  My Mother made a similar cookie with leftover pie dough.  It is interesting that so many traditions were shared by various immigrants to our country.  I remember as a child loving the rolled dough pieces with cinnamon more than the pie that was the reason for their existence.

Rugelach are made with a pastry that includes cream cheese.  The filling usually includes apricot jelly, ground walnuts and sometimes chocolate.  Because I love chocolate, that was a necessary  inclusion.  I made the pastry one day while I also made the dough for my sugar cookies.  It made it easy the next morning to pull each wrapped dough out of the refrigerator as I needed it.  All was finished by noon.

Here are some of the snowflake sugar cookies.

The rest of the sugar cookies, above.  It is nice to have a variety of cookies ready for the Grandkids.  My heart is full of gratitude that I can hold them close this year.  The events of the past week have broken my heart.

RUGELACH (Martha Stewart)

For the Dough
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pur vanilla extract
Pinch of coarse salt
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough

For the Filling
4 ounces walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of salt
12 ounces apricot jelly, melted*
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, or currants or a combination

For the Finishing
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup fine sanding sugar

Directions

1. Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and cream cheese at medium speed.  Add sugar, and beat until fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks, on at a time, beating to combine after each addition.  Add vanilla and salt, and beat to combine.  Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour.  Remove from bowl, and divide into 3 pieces on a lightly floured surface.  Pat into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.

2. Make the filling;  In a food processor, combine walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and salt,  Pulse until fine.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.  On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 12-inch round, less than 1/8 inch thick.  Brush evenly with jelly.  Sprinkle with one-third of the walnut mixture and one-third of the chocolate chips.  Using the rolling pin, gently roll over filling to press.

4. Cut the round into 16 equal-sized wedges.  Beginning at the large base of each wedge, roll to enclose filling, forming crescent shapes.  Pinch to seal.  Place on prepared baking sheets.  Repeat with remaining dough and filling ingredients.  Brush tops with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Bake until golden brown 20 to 25 minutes.
* I did not use all of the apricot jelly.  I just smeared a thin layer on each of the rounds.

ICED SUGAR COOKIES

Makes 24 to 36 cookies

2 1/2 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1-pound box confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder (Available at Michael’s)
Nonpareils, for decorating (optional)

1. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

2. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl witha mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.  Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just incorporated.  Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

3. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, lightly dust the dough with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8-inch thick.  Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 15 minutes.  Cut out shapes using 2-to-4 inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.  Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll once to cut out more cookies.  Refrigerate the cutouts until firm, about 30 minutes.

4. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F.  Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until just golden, 13 to 15 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

5. Meanwhile, make the icing; Sift the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder into a large bowl.  Beat in 6 tablespoons water with a mixer on medium speed until soft, glossy peaks form.  Spread on the cookies and decorate with nonpareils.  Let set, about 1 hour.

Printable recipe: Rugelach

Printable recipe Iced Sugar Cookies

This is such a pretty cookie to add to your Christmas cookie tray.  It was one of the cookies featured in The Food Network magazine December issue.  Now if you look at the cookie in the magazine, you will see  a much prettier cookie.  The swirls are more defined and even.  But hey, I’m not complaining.  I still like the looks of my cookies.

You start with a basic sugar cookie dough, divide in half and add food coloring, chocolate and cinnamon flavoring to one half.  Roll out each dough on a piece of parchment.

Turn the red half by lifting the parchment and place it on top of the plain half.

Trim the edges.  I saved this dough and made multi colored cookies from it.  Once the edges are trimmed roll the dough into a log.

There are a number of trips to the refrigerator for this dough but it is easy once you reach this stage.  Just slice and bake.

I am making several types of cookies this year because the Grandchildren will be here for the holidays.  Making cookies certainly has a way of putting you in the holiday spirit.  I am also taking the time to wrap my presents with pretty bows.  I will tell you more about that technique in my next post.

Enjoy!

CINNAMON PINWHEEL COOKIES  (The Food Network Magazine)

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon extract (optional)*
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon sanding sugar (clear or red), plus more for coating

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bow.  Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.  Remove half of the dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Add the cinnamon extract, cocoa powder and food coloring to the remaining dough beat until incorporated; wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate both pieces of dough until firm, about 1 hour.

Dust the dough with flour and roll out each piece on parchment paper into a 10-by-11-inch rectangle.  Flip the red dough on top of the plain dough; remove the top piece of parchment and trim the edges.  Sprinkle the ground cinnamon and sanding sugar on top  Starting from a shorer end, tightly roll up the dough, using the parchment to help; roll the log in sanding sugar.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.

Position rack in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.  Slice the log crosswise 1/4 inch thick; arrange the slices about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets.  Bake, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until slightly puffed and lightly golden on the bottom, 12 to 15 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to rack to cool.

* I could not find cinnamon extract, but did find cinnamon oil at Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating department.  It is stronger by 4.  I used 1/16th of a teaspoon.  To be honest, I don’t think you need it.

Printable recipe

The weather is rapidly changing as both hurricane Sandy and Winter bear down upon us.  But last Thursday was a perfect Fall day in North Carolina.  I baked these delightfully Fall tasting cookies after a day spent with one of my best buddies and blogging pals, the other Penny.  Penny has two blogs now; her lifestyle blog, The Comforts of Home and her cooking blog, From Harvest to Table.  We spent the morning in Asheville antiquing in the downtown area.  It is so much fun to spend time with someone who shares your interests.  We were both on the same quest.  We were looking for props for our cooking blogs.  After a successful morning of shopping we stopped for lunch at Creperie Bouchon.

The leaves were falling and the dappled sunshine made eating outside delightful.  Not even leaves falling into our crisp Sauvignon Blanc deterred us.

Our lunches of Pesto Chicken Crepes with arugula, tomatoes and Swiss were just right.

We couldn’t resist the frites dusted with Herbes de Provence and served with Roasted Red Pepper Mayonnaise.  Perfect.

One of my purchases was this cute blue polka dot plate.  It pairs well with the milk bottle that I picked up in France this summer.  It inspired me to make these cookies with cinnamon spices,  pumpkin and biscoff spread.  I am cleaning out my pantry  before my return to Florida and my jar of biscoff had just enough left in it.  I found the recipe on the Two Peas and Their Pod blog.  A perfect recipe for a perfect day.

BISCOFF PUMPKIN OATMEAL COOKIES (Two Peas and Their Pod)

Ingredients:

Directions

Printable recipe

I have three little girls coming to visit soon.  I wanted to make some cookies especially for them.  What better option than these pink sprinkled kiss cookies.  I found the recipe originally on Foodgawker.  It came from  The Cafe Sucre Farine blog.  Thank you to Chris for such a fun recipe.  Take a look at her beautiful cookies.  Mine would have looked better if I had pink food coloring.

What makes these cookies so good is the addition of Biscoff Spread.  It is used in place of peanut butter and I love the flavor.  It is made from biscoff cookies that are made in Belgium by the Lotus Baking Company.  It tastes like a graham cracker spread.  I was surprised that my supermarket carried biscoff spread right next to the peanut butter.

The addition of Hershey’s Hugs (kiss) in the center just makes them even more special.  Now I just have to come up with a cookie for the two little boys who will be here.

BISCOFF KISS COOKIES (Recipe from The Cafe Sucre Farine)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup biscoff spread or peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon pink gel food coloring
1/2 cup pink sanding sugar
Hershey’s hugs unwrapped (recipe called for 48 but I needed only32)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine sugars, butter and biscoff spread.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat for a few minutes more.

Combine salt, flour and baking soda.  Add in 3 additions to bowl of mixer on low speed.  Beat until all is incorporated.

Add pink gel food coloring and mix well.  Add additional pink gel until desired color is achieved.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll balls in pink sanding sugar and place balls 2-inches apart of ungreased baking sheet.  

Bake in batch es for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately press a Hershey’s hug into center of each cookie.  Remove to a rack to cool.


Printable recipe

I have been baking cookies this week.  It is not one of my favorite pursuits, but Christmas seems to dictate the practice and I have done it every year for as long as I can remember.  When my Son was young, the baking was always Christmas cutout cookies and decorative icing.  Now, when I bake cookies it is usually on a whim.  The only constants are Scandanavian Tea Cookies ( shortbread crust cookie topped with chocolate and pecans) and the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that I know from Cooks Illustrated.

But these two cookie recipes are new to me and I enjoyed trying them.  The confectioners’s sugar covered snowball cookies are different than the standard pecan flavored wedding cookies.  These are flavored with lemon and coconut.  The recipe was in a Southern Living book that my DIL gave me for Christmas last year.  The Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies were in an old issure of Gourmet magazine.  I like them because they can be prepared ahead of time and the dough logs kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to slice and bake.  I did have trouble with them though.  The dough was very crumbly and they were not easy to slice.  Add a little water to your mixture when you are forming your logs and this should help them stick together.

LEMON-COCONUT SNOWBALLS

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2Tbsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and extracts, beating well.  Add flour, lemon rind, and salt, beating until combined.  Stir in coconut.  Cover and chill dough 30 minutes.

Shape dough into generous 1″ balls; place 1″ apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until goldern on bottom, but pale on top.  Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool 5 minutes.

Place 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in a bowl, and roll warm cookies in powdered sugar, coating well.  Cool cookies completely on wire racks.  Roll cooled cookies in powdered sugar again, coating well.  Yield: 2 dozen.

PISTACHIO CRANBERRY ICEBOX COOKIES

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
1/2 cup shelled pistachios (not dyed)
1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup decorative sugar (preferably coarse)

Stir together flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, granulated sugar and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until dough just comes together in clumps, then mix in pistachios and cranberries.  Gather and press dough together, then divide into 2 equal pieces.  Using a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper as an aid, form each piece of dough into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.  Square off long sides of each log to form a bar, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until very firm, at least 2 hours.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.  Brush egg over all 4 long sides of bars (but not ends).  Sprinkle decorative sugar on a separate sheet of parchment or wax paper and press bars into sugar, coating well.  Cut each bar crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices, rotating bar after cutting each slice to help keep square shape. (If dough gets too soft to slice, freeze bars briefly until firm.)  Arrange cookies about 1/2 inch apart on lined baking sheets.  Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are pale golden, 15 to 18 minutes total.  Transfer cookies from parchment to racks using a slotted spatula and cool completely.
 
Printable recipe Lemon-Coconut Snowballs

Printable recipe Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies