Sweet Treats

It has been quite a long time since anything new was posted here at the end – part laziness and part hectic times in the office for my part, I assure you, although Ox has been sick off and on for a while now. But she is feeling better, and I m considerably less busy and less lazy.

And we bring cookies – a basic recipe and 4 variations – to help celebrate the Christmas season.

Basic Butter Cookies

Makes 3 to 4 dozen

2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
Coarse red or green sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat the butter and the sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, roughly 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Reduce speed and beat in the dry ingredients just until combined.

Using 1 tablespoon for each cookie, form the dough into balls. Roll the balls in the sugar, and arrange 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake until edges are golden, about 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to racks to complete cooling.

Variation #1: Holly Jolly Cutouts (makes 3 to 4 dozen)

1 batch of Basic Butter Cookie Dough
Decorating Icing and sprinkles as desired.

Form the prepared dough into two 6 inch disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm – at least 1 hour, but not more than 3 days.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Working with one disk of dough at a time and leaving the other in the fridge, roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness on a lightly floured surface (or use powdered sugar instead of flour – sweeter that way). Cut out cookies and transfer to baking sheets. Refrigerate the baking sheets for 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

Gather the scraps of the dough and shill until firm enough to re-roll. Make additional cookies with scraps, but do not re-roll more than once.

Decorate the cooled cookies as desired.

(Alternate Baking Method: Roll the dough into a 2 inch diameter log and chill until firm. Cut into 1/8 inch thick rounds and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Drizzle with melted chocolate, or sprinkle with sugar before baking.)

Variation #2: Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (makes 4 to 5 dozen)

10 ounces good quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoon mint extract
1 batch Basic Butter Cookie Dough
Coarse sugar

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring until melted and smooth. Cool.

Mix chocolate, cocoa powder, soda, and mint extract into the dough (the dough will be stiff) Form into a log and roll in sugar. Refrigerate until firm.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut dough into ½ inch thick rounds and arrange on baking sheet. If it crumbles, just press the cookie back together and place it on the baking sheet.

Bake until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool on racks.

Variation #3: Pecan Caramel Diamonds (makes about 2 dozen)

1 batch Basic Butter Cookie Dough
1 cup caramel ice cream topping
2 cops toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan. Line the pan with foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang on both ends. Grease the foil.

Press the dough evenly onto the bottom of the baking pan, using plastic wrap to keep the dough from sticking to fingers. Chill for 20 minutes.

Bake crust until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer pan to rack and cool for 20 minutes.

Heat the caramel topping in a small saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in pecans. Spread topping over crust. Bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack.

Use the foil to lift cookie from pan and cut into diamonds.

Variation #4: Super Lemon Sandwich Cookies (makes about 6 dozen)

1 batch Basic Butter Cookie Dough
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup purchased lemon curd (available in the jelly aisle at gourmet food stores and many supermarkets)

Stir lemon juice and zest into cookie dough. Form dough into 2 disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but no more than 3 days.

Preheat over to 375 degrees F.

Working with 1 disk at a time and leaving the other in the fridge, roll the dough out on a lightly floured (or powdered sugared) surface to ¼ inch thickness. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible.

Arrange cookies on baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. While they are still warm, dredge them in some of the confectioners sugar.

Repeat rolling, cutting, baking, and dredging with remaining disk.

When cookies have cooled, spread ¼ teaspoon lemon curd on half of the cookies and top with the remaining cookies. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.