5 to survive
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Sometimes selecting which holiday cookies to bake can be more trouble than the actual baking. With every magazine and celebrity chef offering scores of ideas for holiday treats, how do you pick between one molasses cookie, gingerbread man or oatmeal-chocolate chip something-or-other and the 20 other similar recipes?
You don’t. We’ve done it for you, leafing through dozens of magazines and stacks of books in search of just the right mix of holiday favorites that are easy, light on labor and look and taste great.
31/4cups all-purpose flour
1/2cup ground almonds
3/4cup caster (superfine) sugar
1 1/2sticks (3/4 cup) butter, cut into small pieces
3egg yolks
2/3cup currant jam
2-3tablespoons powdered sugar
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, ground almonds and sugar. Add the butter and egg yolks, then beat until mixed and crumbly, about 1 minute. Press the dough together by hand.
Divide the dough into three pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Halfway through the chilling, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out each ball of dough on a lightly floured work surface, or between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a 21/2-inch star cookie cutter, cut out cookies. Use a smaller star-shaped cutter to cut stars out of the center of half the cookies.
Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Spread a thin layer of jam over the cookies without the center cut out. Sift the powdered sugar thickly over the other cookies. Place a sugar-dusted cookie over each jam-coated cookie.
Makes about 70 cookies.
From “Baking with Love” by the editors of Reader’s Digest ($24.95)
Chocolate peppermint stars
1 1/2cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2teaspoon salt
1/2teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2sticks (3/4 cup) butter
1cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1large egg
1tablespoon water
1teaspoon vanilla extract
6ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1/2cup (about 31/2 ounces) finely crushed red-and-white-striped hard peppermint candies or candy canes
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
In a separate, larger bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until light. Add the sugar and beat until well incorporated. Add the egg, water and vanilla and beat until the mixture has lightened both in color and texture, about 2 minutes. Gently mix in the dry ingredients.
Shape the dough into a flattened disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, or overnight. This dough is very soft, so it is imperative to chill it before you roll it out.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease or line with parchment two or three baking sheets.
On a clean, heavily floured surface, roll the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use a large star cutter to cut cookies from the dough. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. The cookies won’t expand much, so you don’t need to leave much space between them.
Bake for 17 to 18 minutes. They are easy to burn, so watch them carefully. When you start to smell them, they’re probably done. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack, and cool them completely.
Place the chocolate in a glass measuring cup. Microwave in 20-second increments, stirring between, until melted. Dunk a spoon in the chocolate and drizzle the chocolate over the cookies in a zigzag pattern. Sprinkle the cookies with crushed candies, then drizzle with remaining chocolate.
Makes about 30 cookies, depending on size of cutter.
From “The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion” ($29.95); design adapted from the December issue of Bon Appetit magazine.
Giant ginger cookies
21/2cups all-purpose flour
21/4teaspoons baking soda
1/2teaspoon salt
1tablespoon ginger
1/2teaspoon allspice
1/2teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2cup packed light brown sugar
1/2cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for coating
6tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1large egg
Arrange oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, allspice and pepper. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and egg and beat until well mixed. Slow the mixer to low and gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and freeze for 20 minutes for easier handling.
Tear off chunks of the dough and with your hands shape into 2-inch balls. Place the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl and roll the balls in it to coat. Place the coated dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, at least 4 inches apart.
Flatten the balls into 3-inch rounds. Pressing the balls with the bottom of a heavy mug works well. Sprinkle the cookies evenly with any sugar remaining in the bowl.
Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the cookies are set and cracked on top, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
They can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
Makes 12 cookies.
From Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Everyday Food magazine, Collectible Cookie Edition
Cranberry-orange shortbread cut-outs
2sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/4cup packed light brown sugar
1/4cup granulated sugar
11/4cups all-purpose flour
1cup whole-wheat flour (or another cup all-purpose flour)
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1/2cup whole fresh or frozen cranberries, finely chopped
1/4teaspoon salt
1teaspoon vanilla extract
Place one rack in center of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line one baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and both sugars. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add both flours, the orange zest, cranberries, salt and vanilla. Beat on medium-low until mixture is fully combined.
Turn the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet. Use fingers and the palm of your hand (or a lightly floured rolling pin) to pat the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle. Bake until slightly firm to the touch in the center and edges are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.
Transfer the baking sheet to a work surface. Let cool about 5 minutes. Working one at a time, press a cookie cutter into the large shortbread to create shapes. Use a small knife to cut away any cranberry pieces. Continue until all the shortbread has been cut. (Serve the scraps as an ice cream topping.)
Once cool, transfer the shortbread to an airtight container.
Makes about 12 cookies.
From Country Living magazine’s Holiday 2006 issue
Chocolate malted whopper drops
13/4cups all-purpose flour
1cup malted milk powder
1/4cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2teaspoons baking powder
1/4teaspoon salt
1stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3cup sugar
2large eggs
1teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4cup whole milk
2cups chocolate-covered malted milk balls, coarsely chopped
6ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1 cup chocolate chips
Position oven rack to divide the oven into thirds. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, malted milk powder, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.
Beat in the vanilla. Don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled; it will even out once the dry ingredients are added.
Reduce the mixer speed to low, add half the dry ingredients, mixing until they just disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. The batter will resemble frosting more than cookie dough.
With the mixer on low, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the malted milk balls and chocolate pieces.
Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, one rounded tablespoon per cookie, leaving about 2 inches between each. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through.
When done, the cookies will be puffed and set, but slightly soft to the touch. Let the cookies rest for 2 minutes before using a wide metal spatula to transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature. Bake remaining dough in similar fashion.
Makes about 30 cookies.
From Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours” ($40)
