Spritz!

These crunchy little cookies are literally shot out of a gun -- a cookie gun, that is. (Fine - some people call it a cookie press!) Fast to make, fun to eat.

CLASSIC SPRITZ COOKIES
(thanks to Wilton.com for sharing)

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups butter softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Makes:

7-8 dozen cookies.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, vanilla and almond extract; mix well. Gradually add  flour mixture to butter  mixture; beat until combined. Do not chill. Fill cookie press with dough and with desired disks, press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. (Do not overbake - the cookies should be barely gold.) Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet on cooling rack. Remove from sheet; cool completely.

Editor's note: The Mama usually did not include almond extract in her spritz cookies. Sometimes she added half a package of jello powder, which gave the cookies color and an interesting tang. I remember green (lime) and red (cherry) the most.

Candy's Dandy, But...

Dipped Oreos are WAY quicker!

Normally, yours truly is not a big Oreo fan...but their holiday peppermint version has me swooning with pleasure. It's got a very nice hit of mint, mixed with the chocolate.
    After a day spent making Grandma's sugar cookies, I really longed for a simple cookie that I didn't have to schlep into the oven umpteen times. These are it!

DIPPED OREOS

1 package Oreo sandwich cookies (I'd really recommend the mint)
1 package semisweet, dark chocolate or white chocolate chips
any decorations you'd like -- sprinkles, candy cutouts, etc.

Hold onto your seats -- here we go.
Melt whichever chocolate you choose in the microwave. (Approx. 1-1 1/2 min. - watch and stop when it smooths out.) You can also melt it using a double boiler...but the mike's faster.

Dip the cookies in the melted chocolate, using tongs. Place them on a clean counter, or on top of wax paper.

Sprinkle with whatever edible goodies you've chosen.

Let cool, and store in single layers, separated by foil or wrap.

That's it!

And if you're a bit uncertain how they could look, try Home Based Mom's version (half-dipped, biscotti style) and Frugal Upstate's version below, fully dipped. (Frugal made them for Valentine's Day, but they would be gorgeous on a Christmas plate, too. Can't you see them sprinkled with blue sugar and silver dragees for Hanukkah, as well?)

Frugal Upstate's version...nice!

The Secret Sugar Cookie Recipe - Revealed!

Grandma Cumings was famous in our part of Michigan for her wonderful cooking. Casseroles, bread, fried chicken, baked beans and pie all flowed through her capable fingers. And she was willing to share them all, recipe-wise, except one: an amazing sugar cookie that stayed soft and delicious. The recipe had come down to Grandma from ancestors more than a century before...and she was proud of it.

Fortunately, she was willing to pass on the recipe to her children and grandchildren, who made her cookies by the bushelful at Christmastime. My mom would make dozens of sugar cookies, which were then decorated by Little Brother, yours truly and a close group of cousins during one very long day. 
    First, the confectioner's sugar frosting in different colors. (One cousin, a democratic sort, made sure to use a little of every color on each cookie.) Then chocolate chips for snowmen buttons, red cinnamon hots for eyes and lacy edges on stars and bells. Silver dragee balls for shoes and hats. (How come you can't find these much anymore?) And sprinkles everywhere...on the table, our smeary mouths, and the floor. By nighttime and supper, it looked as if someone threw up in rainbows on the kitchen floor!


Now you too can make these wonderful sugar cookies for your cookie platter. 

GRANDMA'S SECRET SUGAR COOKIES

1 cup margarine (that's what Grandma used - but you can substitute butter)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup sour milk  (or use regular milk with a teaspoon of vinegar stirred in - wait 5 min.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (may be omitted)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
4-5 cups flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together margarine, sugar and eggs until they're mixed and fluffy. Add everything else and mix - last of all, the flour, added in one cup measures until you've got a moist cookie dough.
    Heavily flour your work area. Thump a large batch of dough in the middle, and sprinkle generously with 1/2 cup flour. (I generally work with a quarter of the batch at a time.) Carefully fold the flour into the dough until it's easier to work without sticking, then roll out thickly (approx. 1/4") on your floured work area. (Add more flour whenever needed.) Cut cookies with whatever cutter you like -- or use a sharp knife to cut diamonds or squares. (A floured glass can also cut circles.)
     Transfer the cookie cutouts to an ungreased cookie sheet, then bake 8-10 min., until the cookies are set and juuuussst starting to turn brown. (This step is very important.)  Do not, if at all possible, let the cookies actually brown. Remove from the cookie sheet, and let cool before frosting.

These are not as sweet as some cookies -- something I actually prefer. You can sprinkle them with sugar, sprinkles or add red-hots before baking, to add sweetness. Or frost and decorate after the cookies are cool. Makes about 3 1/2 dozen. (Store flat in layers, with waxed paper in between -- or if you don't mind a bent leg or busted hat or too, just bung them in the cookie jar.)

Thank you, Grandma!

sugar cookies, ready for the oven

Almond Brittle and Almond Roca

The Mama was the youngest of eight, and nearly every one of those uncle/aunt pairs produced more than five children. By the time I was actually paying attention at our huge Christmas get-togethers, there were an awful lot of cousins to compete with for the contents of Grandma's Christmas candy plate. If I was lucky, a piece or two of brittle was left, along with the peppermints. 
    Try this crunchy recipe at your next holiday shindig, and watch the pieces disappear. (Just make sure the youngest cousin gets a crack at it before the older relatives grab it all.)

Honey Almond Brittle  (thank you, Cooks.com)

  

2 cups sugar
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups slivered blanched almonds

In a heavy bottom saucepan, stir together sugar, honey, salt and water. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until mixture reaches 300°F on a candy thermometer (see Sugar Candy Chart).Remove from heat and add butter and almonds, stirring only enough to mix them in.
Pour mixture out onto a well buttered or oiled marble slab or cookie sheet (with sides). Spread using a spatula or the back of a large spoon until mixture is very thin. Let cool, then break into pieces and store in a lidded container.

For more, visit here.

Almond Roca is hands-down one of The Mama's favorite candies. She's even partial to this version of the chocolate-covered nut toffee:

Almond Roca (the homemade way, thanks to Food.com)

• 1 lb real butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 (11 1/2 ounce) bag milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Over medium heat, melt butter in a large pot.
2. Add corn syrup, water and sugar to pot and cook until temp reaches 290 degrees OR until the mixture becomes the color of a brown paper bag (about 15-20 minutes) stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (mixture will rise and bubble quite a bit).
3. Remove from heat and stir in half the almonds
4. Turn mixture onto a greased cookie sheet with sides
5. While the mixture is cooling, melt the chocolate over low flame until all the chips are gone, and chocolate is smooth.
6. Score the almond butter mixture into squares, diamonds or rectangles
7. Pour the hot chocolate over the almond mixture and spread evenly.
8. Sprinkle with remaining almonds and allow candy to cool completely and chocolate to harden before breaking apart and serving.

Read more here.

No Truffle At All!

Candy often shares the plate with other Christmas goodies. Why not make them yourself this year? Truffles are one of the best candidates, both for their ease of making, and the delicious results. They literally are no truffle at all!

This excellent  recipe comes by way of Lynn's Kitchen Adventures, a helpful blog for down-home food.

Truffles

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped)
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans or chopped Andes Mints

In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a boil; remove from heat, and add chocolate. Let stand 3 minutes; whisk until smooth. Transfer chocolate mixture to a medium bowl, and refrigerate, uncovered, until thick and firm enough to spoon out in mounds, about 3 hours.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Drop level tablespoons of chocolate mixture onto baking sheet. Refrigerate chocolate mounds until firm, about 1 hour.
Place pecans in a shallow bowl. Using hands, roll each chocolate mound into a ball; roll balls in pecans, pressing lightly to adhere, and place on baking sheet. Refrigerate truffles until set, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

More great truffle recipes here.

COMING UP NEXT:   Peanut Brittle and Almond Toffee

Yum...Brownies!

When he was a feisty young bachelor, the Brick would make a pan of brownies every weekend, then sit down and help his brother eat the whole pan-ful while watching Saturday Night Live. He still loves a good brownie...and these, thanks to thirty years of tweaking on my part, are pretty darn good.


DAVY'S DELIGHT BROWNIES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1/4 pound margarine or butter (1 stick)
8 heaping tablespoonfuls of cocoa
2 teaspoons  vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup flour (a heaping measure, if you live in high altitudes)


Options: 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS:

Butter or spray a 9" square or round pan. Microwave butter until melted, then quickly stir in the rest of the ingredients. (This is one baked good you don't want to over-mix, so no worries if it's still a bit lumpy.) Pour into pan -- top with one or both options, if desired -- bake approx. 25 min., until the top is springy when you gently push on it. (Don't check it with a toothpick - it will still be 'dirty.')
Let cool, then cut into 9 squares....or 6, if you're feeling generous.

This recipe doubles beautifully -- use a 9x13 pan. You may want to use 5 eggs instead of 4...but otherwise, just double the ingredients.

Try your brownies with a little icing, as well -- melt chocolate chips (along with a few spoonfuls of milk or sour cream) and spread on top. Bliss.

I Can't Put My Finger (Thumb) On It!

But these crunchy, nutty cookies are absolutely wonderful. A hit of raspberry or strawberry jam in the pushed-down center gives them a holiday look and touch of sweetness. (Or try chopped almonds with orange marmalade or peach jam.) These are some of the easiest cookies in the world to make -- but they don't look it. An elegant addition to your next cookie tray!

Thumbprint Cookies:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg, separated

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (80 grams) hazelnuts, almonds, pecans or walnuts,  finely chopped

1/4 - 1/2 cup (60 - 120 ml) raspberry jam 

Directions:  Cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla together, then gradually mix in flour and salt. (Your dough will be quite firm.) Shape into balls, roll in chopped nuts and use your thumb to press down the center of the ball down deeply. Bake at 350 degrees on a greased cookie sheet approx. 12-15 min, until lightly browned. Let cookies cool, then fill with jam. 

 

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ThumbprintCookies.html#ixzz1g43oWmqD
For a helpful video and more cookie tips, go here. 



(Editor's Note: I'm sorry this blog has been quiet for the past week -- an uncle died suddenly, and I had to make a quick trip back for his funeral service, and help out. The Mama does not believe in the Internet, and I wasn't able to check in too often that way. Back now.)