I love all the festivities in December leading up to Christmas, particularly Christmas cookie bakes. Being involved in 2 bakes this year meant I could pick out a few more recipes than usual. Since we give most of our creations away as cookie platters, I felt free to be an ambitious baker since my immediate family and I wouldn't be the only consumers!
We always make Meyer Lemon Cutouts, Gingerbreadmen, and Mocha Butterballs, and then I pick a few more to add to our list. My choices were a mix of brand-new and tried-and-true. The majority turned out well with just a few batches on the crispy side. Making perfect cookies is a tricky feat!
I'm the most ambitious baker in the cookie-baking bunch, which works out well because others can assist in the rolling, shaping, baking, and decorating. My brother is usually the primary cut-out decorator, but his flight from New York was delayed, so the cut-outs are a bit less elaborate this year.
2013 Cookies
Meyer Lemon Cutouts
Gingerbreadmen
Mocha Butterballs
Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut cookies
Cocoa Linzers
Chai Shortbread
White Christmas Dream Drops
Mochaccino Spirals
Baking Tip: Rock the parchment!
Our local newspaper had an article on Christmas cookie baking that included helpful tips from the famous Alice Medrich. She advises "rocking the parchment" by portioning out cookies onto parchment paper so that you can pop the cookies in the oven once a cool cookie sheet is available. Using hot cookie sheets should be avoided because the cookies will start to cook prematurely.
Parchment paper is definitely a worthwhile expenditure and can be found at Costco and other grocery stores.
Mochaccino Spirals
Printable Recipe
Adapted from Food & Wine magazine
The dough goes through 2 refrigeration periods, so plan to start in the morning and then finish in the afternoon or evening. These cookies have a buttery texture and excellent flavor and are on my "make-again" list.
Log style cookies are the easiest because you don't have to roll a bunch of balls or make multiple cut-outs.
Notes: I modified the original recipe by using whole wheat pastry flour for half the white flour, used half & half instead of cream because I had it on hand, and modified some of the directions to make them more user friendly.
Ingredients
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 c white flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 T cream or half & half
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp instant espresso
pinch of cinnamon
Process
1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flours with the baking powder and salt.
2. In the large bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolk and beat for 1 minute. Add the cream (or half & half) and vanilla and beat to incorporate.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients while the mixer is on and beat just until everything is incorporated.
4. In the mixing bowl, pat the dough into a ball with your spatula, then cut in half. Pat one half into a square and wrap in a large sheet of plastic wrap (you'll be rolling it out into a big rectangle on this later) and keep the other half in the bowl of the mixer.
5. Melt the chocolate in a microwavable ramekin, being careful not to over-cook. Melt 30 seconds, stir, then cook another 20-30 seconds until just melted. Stir in the espresso powder and cinnamon. Note: if this step is done too much in advance, chocolate will harden and will have to be reheated.
6. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the dough still in the mixing bowl and beat until everything is incorporated. Pat mocha dough into a square and wrap with a large sheet of plastic wrap (you'll be rolling it out into a big rectangle on this later).
7. Refrigerate doughs until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.
8. Remove mocha dough from fridge and hit a few times with your rolling pin to soften. Then unwrap mocha dough and roll out into an 8x12 rectangle. Do the same with the plain dough. Make sure that both are the exact same size. Slide doughs (still on plastic wrap) onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 5 minutes.
9. Remove from fridge and invert the plain dough on top of the mocha dough, so that the edges are aligned. Peel off the top layer of plastic wrap and pat the dough so that the layers adhere.
10. Working from the longer side, roll the dough into a cylinder, using the plastic wrap to nudge the dough along. If dough becomes too soft, stick in the fridge for a few minutes. Once you have a cylinder, round out any hard edges with gentle patting, place on a cookie sheet and then refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
11. Preheat oven to 375º or 350º convect. Unwrap log and cut with an arm's length of floss into very thin slices (1/8" to 1/4" thick). Place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet spaced 1" apart. Avoid repositioning dough because it will be pretty soft by this point. Note: I had to use 3 cookie sheets and kept 1 in the fridge while 2 were in the oven. See Medrich's tip about "chilling out."
12. Bake 11-12 minutes, keeping an eye on any really thin ones. You want the plain swirl to have a golden blush. If cookies turn brown, that means they are a little overdone. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.
The White Christmas Dream Drops are the meringue cookies in the photo below (look for recipe in future blog post).
Comments
Post a Comment