CREAM CHEESE FRILLS

 

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These cookies have no sugar in the dough and rely completely for sweetness on the sugar in the preserves, so if you don’t like oohy gooey stick-to-your-teeth-type cookies, these are probably the ones you will like. They are not only beautiful, but also have a melt-in-your-mouth quality that is delicate and delicious. Once we figured out how to keep them from opening up in the center as they baked, with toothpicks, they were a snap to make. Using a fluted pastry wheel to cut them gives them a little bit fancier shape. Fill with a variety of jams for a kaleidoscope of color and flavor.

Cream Cheese Frills

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
• favorite preserves

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. 

3. Add flour, salt and oats; mix well until blended. 

4. Add cream cheese and beat smooth. Wrap, forming a disc shape in plastic wrap and chill thoroughly.

5. Roll out on lightly floured board (I use a pastry cloth and stockinette covered rolling pin) to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch squares with a fluted pastry wheel, pizza wheel, or knife.

6. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Spoon 1/2 tsp. preserves into center of each square (I use a 1-inch ice cream scoop). 

7. Bring together two opposite corners into center over filling and overlap slightly. Insert a toothpick at an angle away from the direction it would pull open during baking.

8. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned at edges and puffed. Bake for 7 minutes in a convection oven. 

9. Remove toothpicks once cookies have cooled. 

Can be frozen between sheets of waxed paper. Makes about 60 2-inch cookies.

FINNISH STARS

 
These cookies are very distinctive-looking among the assortment, and like the Cream Cheese Frills, are delicate and not overly sweet. Also like the frills, they have a tendency to open up in the middle when baking, so we have applied the toothpick trick to these as well. Prunes have gotten a bad rap over the years as food for constipated old folks, but we always liked them. In order to overcome the marketing hurdle, they are now being sold as dried plums. Funny how a plum is something so desirable, yet drying it into a prune makes it undesirable. A special cookie cutter exists to facilitate this particular shape of pinwheel cookie, but the shape is pretty easy to create by hand as well—just a square with the corners cut.

Finnish Stars

• 1 cup pitted prunes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1-1/4 cups small-curd cottage cheese, sieved
• 1 cup butter
• 2-1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour (I use Ceresota or Hecker’s)

1. Heat prunes, water and sugar in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer covered until prunes are tender, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly. 

2. Purée in blender or food processor 3 to 5 seconds. Stir in lemon juice. Refrigerate covered 3 hours. 

3. Meanwhile, cream cottage cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Mix in flour. Refrigerate covered with plastic wrap until firm, about 3 hours. 

4. Preheat oven to 400°F. 

5. Divide dough in half. Roll one half on lightly floured surface into an 18 x 12-inch rectangle. (I use a pastry cloth and stockinette-covered rolling pin.) If dough becomes too soft, refrigerate during shaping to firm. 

6. Cut into 3-inch squares. Cut slits with sharp knife from each corner toward center, about 1-1/2 inches (Figure 1). Alternatively, use pinwheel cookie cutter.

7. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Place about 1 tsp. of the prune mixture in the center of each square. 

8. Fold half of each corner over the center, pressing to form pinwheel (Figure 2). 

9. Put a plain wooden toothpick down through the four corners in the center to help hold them in place while baking. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes in a conventional oven, 8 minutes in a convection oven. 

10. Remove toothpicks. Cool on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough and prune mixture. 

11. When cool, pipe a star or dollop of royal icing into the center to cover the hole and keep the corners together. 

Makes about 4 dozen. 

Once icing has set completely, cookies may be stored in a single layer in covered shallow trays in the freezer.

Royal Icing (See blog post for gingerbread people or click on the link above.)

MANGO TEA CAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

We make so many different kinds of cookies in my family, but we are always on the lookout for something new and different that incorporates a favorite ingredient, in this case, fresh mangoes. If you have never cut into a mango, be advised that it has a large, white, flat seed at the center to which the pulp clings tenaciously. Cut in half a little off center as close to the seed as possible. Score the pulp in the halves with a sharp knife into squares and invert the peel to pop out cubes of the pulp to make separation from the peel easier. Wikipedia calls this the hedgehog method.

The recipe came from the Food Network site a few years ago. The cookies were delicious and sturdy, but looked so plain compared to the others we make that I needed a way to spiff them up a bit. After making a batch of mini chocolate ganache cupcakes, I had some of the white chocolate ganache left over and decided to add a tiny drop of pink food coloring to distinguish these cookies and add some color to our assortment. By the following year, everyone still remembered them and asked me to make the pink cookies again, so they did distinguish themselves among all the others. Alex still can’t eat them, though, unless I leave some of them plain.

The raspberry extract (McCormick’s) is a relatively esoteric ingredient that I only found recently. When I used it this year, I noticed that it contains propylene glycol, not one of my favorite ingredients. Since I already had bought it, I used it, but the cookies are delicious without it.

Mango Teacakes with White Chocolate Ganache

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup mango puree (pulp from one large, ripe mango puréed in a food processor)
• 1-1/2 tsps. lemon zest (use a microplane)
• 1 tsp. raspberry extract (optional)
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use Ceresota or Hecker’s)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Add the mango purée, lemon zest, extracts and egg and mix well.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. On very low speed, carefully stir portions of the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.

4. Drop portions of the dough with a 1-1/4-inch ice cream scoop onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.

5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in a conventional oven; 10 minutes in convection oven, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Top with White Chocolate Ganache. Makes about 4 dozen.

White Chocolate Ganache

• 5 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 small drop pink food coloring (optional)

1. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let stand five minutes, then stir until smooth. 

2. Stir in the butter until incorporated. 

3. Stir in the food coloring, if using.

4. Let stand until set enough that a ribbon of the ganache, dripped across the top of the mixture with a spoon, takes a count of 10 before disappearing back into itself. If it sets too much, rewarm gently on very low heat and cool again until the correct consistency is reached. 

5. Use a mini ice cream scoop (1-inch) to scoop a portion onto the center of each cookie. Let the chocolate set completely for 12-24 hours before packing between layers of waxed paper. 

These cookies freeze very well. 

MELT-AWAY COOKIES

 

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These cookies, visually, are probably the stars of the cookie assortment that our family makes. A few years back, Jess told us a humorous story about pandemonium in her office because of these. She had brought a large plate to work for her colleagues to share. As we make almost 30 different cookies, the plate had just one or two of each type. Rather than choose individual cookies, her co-workers had chosen to slice each one up into miniscule slivers so that each one could have a taste of all of them. Over several days, the tray had diminished until just the one large, beautiful heart-shaped cookie remained. Then, a colleague who had been away for a few days came back and ate the last cookie. When the others discovered that the last cookie was missing, and that the whole large cookie had been eaten by one person, they were aghast. The disingenuous soul who had eaten the cookie was severely castigated by the others and Jessica called me to see if there were any more remaining, but there were none.

Adele and I made these together this year as there are several steps involved, although none are particularly difficult, especially if you roll the dough out using a well-floured pastry cloth and stockinette covered rolling pin. We poured the melted chocolate through a wide-necked funnel into a squirt bottle to apply the chocolate around the top cut-out heart. If the chocolate starts to set, let the bottle sit for a few minutes in a hot water bath. An individual tea strainer with jointed handle makes a great little device for neatly shaking on powdered sugar. This year, I discovered a delicious organic strawberry spread from Kirkland brand at Costco, and we were delighted with the intense taste and texture both in these cookies and in the Cream Cheese Frills.

Melt-Away Cookies

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 6 oz. pkg. (1 cup) semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup preserves, jam, or jelly
• powdered sugar

1. In a large mixer bowl, beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.

2. Add half of the flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and almond extract.

3. Beat thoroughly and then beat in remaining flour.

4. Divide dough in half. Wrap in plastic wrap, shaping dough into thick discs and chill for at least one hour or until firm.

5. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough 1/8-inch thick. (Keep the remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready to roll.) Cut into shapes with cookie cutter.

6. Place on ungreased baking sheets.

7. With a smaller cutter, cut out centers from half of the unbaked cookies.

8. Bake at 375°F. for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the edges are firm and bottoms are very light brown. Cool.

9. Repeat with dough scraps and remaining dough.

10. In a small, heavy saucepan, melt chocolate pieces over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread about 1 tsp. of the melted chocolate on the bottom of each cookie with the removed center. Immediately place chocolate side atop whole cookies to form a sandwich.

11. Sift powdered sugar atop cookies.

12. Spoon preserves or jelly in the center hole of each cookie.

Makes about 30-40 sandwich cookies.

These freeze well layered between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container.

MINI PECAN PIES

 

These were very time-consuming in the beginning as we attempted to neatly spoon the egg mixture over the pecans so that errant drips would not cause the pastry to stick to the pan when baked. Then, I hit on the idea of pouring the egg mixture through a funnel into a squirt bottle and voila! It became neat and easy to get the mixture where it was supposed to go. A small, thin offset spatula is invaluable for removing these types of pastries from the pan.

Mini Pecan Pies

• 6-oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened plus 2 Tbsp.
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 beaten extra-large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• dash of kosher salt
• 1-1/2 cups broken pecans

1. Blend cream cheese and the 2 cups of butter. Stir in flour. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

2. Shape dough into 48 1-inch balls. A mini ice-cream scoop is useful to portion the dough.

3. Place in ungreased 1-3/4-inch mini-muffin pans; press dough over bottoms and completely up sides of pans.

4. In small bowl, beat together egg, brown sugar, the 2 Tbsp. butter, vanilla, and salt just until smooth.

5. Divide the pecans among the pastry shells.

6. Spoon or squirt (from a squirt bottle) about 1/2 Tbsp. of the egg mixture over the pecans in each shell.

7. Bake in 325°F. oven for 25-30 minutes, or until filling is set and pastry is golden.

8. Cool and remove from pans. They are easier to remove while still slightly warm.

These freeze well, in a single layer, in an airtight container. Makes approximately 48 mini pecan pies.

MINI FILLED CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

 

These mini cupcakes are yummy, self-contained, and sturdy little bites that freeze beautifully and have that yin and yang quality that attracts the eye.

Mini Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

• 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1  cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 Tbsp. plain white vinegar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Topping

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 6 oz. chocolate chips

1. Line mini cupcake pans with decorative paper mini cupcake liners.

2. Mix first five ingredients with electric mixer.

3. Add next four ingredients and mix well.

4. Fill mini cupcake papers half full.

5. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add egg, sugar, and salt, and continue beating until creamy, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally.

6. On lowest speed or by hand, beat in chocolate chips.

7. Top each cupcake with a teaspoon-full of the creamy mixture.

8. Bake at 350°F. for 15-20 minutes.

9. While still slightly warm, remove from pans using a small offset spatula.

10. These freeze beautifully in an airtight container.

Makes about 5 dozen mini cupcakes.

LEMON CHEESE LOGS

These cookies are crispy, melt-in-your mouth delicacies that are fun to make and are especially appealing to make with children because the dough is firm enough to be easily handled; and who doesn’t like dipping almost anything in chocolate and sprinkles?

Lemon Cheese Logs

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 small package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use Ceresota or Hecker’s)
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel (use a microplane)
• 1 small package (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted
• colored decorating sprinkles

1. Cream sugar, butter and cream cheese in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk. 

2. Stir in flour, walnuts, salt and lemon peel. 

3. Refrigerate covered at least two hours. 

4. Heat oven to 325°F. Shape about 1 Tbsp. of the dough into a log, one inch long. Repeat with remaining dough. 

5. Place on ungreased baking sheets. 

6. Bake until light brown, about 12 minutes in conventional oven; about 8 minutes in a convection oven. 

7. Cool on wire racks. 

8. Dip ends of logs in chocolate; dip chocolate coated ends into decorating sprinkles. 

9. Let stand on wire racks until chocolate sets. 

Can be frozen, stacked between layers of waxed paper in airtight containers. Makes about 8 dozen.