Best Christmas Cookies 2019
It's Christmas Time! And Lancaster County is ready to celebrate. Enjoy great events like shows, shopping and small town events. Christmas along with winter is truly a wonderful time of year to visit Lancaster County; did somebody say Christmas Cookies? This list below is just a sampling of the many things that will keep your Chirstmas Cookie Give-a-way a special twist. Our area truly is a slice of Americana and Lancaster County is a great way to celebrate the Holidays.
Be sure while visiting The Harvest Moon B&B to check out all that Lancaster has to offer including our Restaurant Guide and our Holiday Baking Demo. Here you can find all types of restaurants throughout the county that will for sure please the "Foodie" in all of us. We also have your "Pocket Concierge"; our own app that you can down load onto your phone. Here you can discover the many different ways you can embellish your Lancaster County Experience.
Best Christmas Cookies for 2019
1. Burnt Chocolate Chip Cookies –
1 3/4 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter - divided
...1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 chopped toasted pecans (optional)
1) Preheat oven to 375 and adjust rack to middle position.
2) Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl & set aside.
3) Melt over medium-high heat, 10 tablespoons of butter, swirling pan constantly until whey is medium to dark brown and gives off delectable "nutty" aroma (1 - 3 minutes)
4) Remove butter from heat and transfer to large bowl. Stir in remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and stir until melted
5) Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add whole egg and additional egg yolk and whisk for approximately 30 seconds.
6) Let the egg mixture stand for approximately 3 minutes and whisk again for 30 seconds. Do this ...two more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny.
7) Add the flour mixture, chocolate chips and nuts and combine until no more “white” can be seen.
8) Divide dough into sixteen portions (about three tablespoons per cookie) and arrange eight to a cooking sheet. Do not be tempted to make a smaller cookie. Bake, one cookie sheet at a time, in preheated oven.
9) Remove when cookies are golden brown and still puffy, edges have begun to set, but centers are still soft – 10 -14 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time.
10) Transfer to wire rack to cool.
2. Grandma's Rum Balls –
A traditional favorite from my grandmother; always rich in taste (and rum) these holiday treats are simple to make.
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about one 7 ¼ ounce box)
½ cup rum
½ cup honey
1lb walnuts ground
Confectioners sugar to dust
Mix first four ingredients. Shape in balls and roll in confectioners’ sugar. Makes about five dozen! (Note), these stay moist and fragrant for up to six weeks. Rum balls can be dusted with sugar again before serving.
3. Zimtsterne –
2 egg whites (reserve egg yolk)
1-1/2 cup almonds, toasted and ground
3/4 cup hazelnuts or pecans, toasted and ground
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1. In a large mixing bowl, let egg whites come to room temperature, about 30 minutes. In another bowl, mix ground nuts, flour, and spices.
2. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form and sugar is incorporated. Fold nut mixture in to egg whites. Cover and let stand 30 minutes in refrigerator to let nuts absorb moisture.
3. Preheat oven to 325°. Sprinkle fine granulated sugar on work surface. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut dough using a star-shaped cutter dipped in powdered sugar. . Lightly brush with reserved egg yolk. Place cookies, about 1 inch apart, on nonstick or greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Dip in rum glaze. Store in an airtight container.
Rum Glaze
1 cup of powdered sugar
1tsp of Cinnamon
1tbl of lemon juice
1tbl hot water
Drop of Rum Extract
Mix ingredients until a thick paste forms and apply to stars with a brush or dip into mixture. For an interesting twist, color the glaze and decorate with silver or gold holiday baking pearls.
4. Sicilian Fig Cookies –
Cuccidata - Cuchidahti
(Sicilian Fig Cookies)
Ingredients :( Sicilian fig cookies)
Filling ingredients:
1 lb of dried figs
1 lb of raisins
1 jar of honey
1 cup of walnuts
1 cup of almonds
Rind of lemon
Rind of orange
Sherry
Dough ingredients:
4 1/4 cups All Purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups butter
1/2 cup plus 5 tablespoons cold water
Icing ingredients:
3 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. anise flavoring
Dash of salt
Filling description:
A meat grinder is best; using a blender can be a big mistake. A food processor may also work.
1• Soak the figs in some water, and stew them for a few minutes to soften them.
2• Chop nuts up fine in a nut chopper
3• Put a 1/2 cup of sherry and other ingredients into food processor a little at a time, and grind up (no need to add sherry during grinding if you use a meat chopper, you can add that later when you mix in the nuts).
4• Remove from processor and put in large bowl, add nuts and mix well.
5• Add more sherry as needed as to not have mixture too dry, A medium to dry consistency is what to look for.
6• Put in a covered plastic container and store in refrigerator. This can be stored for up to a year. Add a teaspoon of sherry to mixture once a month to keep fermented.
Dough description:
1• Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl
2• Add butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or knife until crumbly.
3• Sprinkle the cold water in and toss lightly with a fork until mixed.
4• Add remaining water, a tablespoon at a time, mixing until dough is smooth
5• Heat oven to 275 degrees and take half the dough on a lightly floured surface, roll it out into a 12 x 18 inch rectangle (it should be about 1/8“ thick).
6• Cut into 3” wide strips and spread 4 tablespoons of filling down the center of each strip, leave about 1“on either side
7• Moisten the bare sides with water, fold over and press lightly with a fork to seal.
8• Cut each strip into 6-2” cookies, cut and slit in the fold side of each cookie, almost like giving it gills.
9• Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, bending each cookie into a slight curve. Bake about 20 minutes until bottoms are brown.
Icing description:
1• While cookies are baking sift confectioner’s sugar into a mixing bowl, add milk, salt and anise flavor and beat until smooth. This is a runny icing that will dry hard.
2• When done baking, remove from each cookie from cookie sheet and cool them on a wire rack, then ice.
3• Repeat with remaining half of dough and filling
In conclusion: You can use this filling for the Italian cookies. Just flatten a small piece of dough and put a teaspoon of filling on it and fold sides up and pinch closed. Bake the same as for the plain cookies. And decorate or leave plain.
5. White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookies–
White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookies
A holiday favorite that compliments any cookie platter; lots of great decorating tricks with this cookie
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 ½ cups flour
¼ cup chopped fine pistachio
Green food color paste
White chocolate for “painting” cookies
Instructions:
Combine sugar and butter in mixing bowl and beat with wire whip till creamed. Add vanilla, salt and nutmeg and mix till incorporated. Then add one egg at a time and beat till egg is incorporated, then add next egg and do the same. Change mixing whip to the dough hook and then add flour and pistachios. Mix till dough forms and all is incorporated.
Place on floured work station and form into a ball. Then to get the Marbleized effect, add a couple of streaks of green food color and then lightly fold the dough into itself being careful not to incorporate the food paste. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
Remove dough from cooler and place on floured flat service to roll out. Work in small sections by dividing dough into four. Roll out thin sheets of dough and using a pastry wheel cutter to achieve the crinkle cut, cut squares of about 1 ½ to 2 inches. On half of the squares, us a small cookie cutter and cut out a shape. Place on un-greased cookie sheets and bake in oven at 350` for about 7 to 9 minutes or till just shy of golden.
Let cool and place aside.
On a double boiler, melt your white chocolate.
Assemble the cookies by taking a top (no cutout) and a bottom; the take your melted white chocolate and spread on the bottom. Place top onto bottom and press lightly to adhere. Sprinkle with crushed pistachios and silver or gold decorating balls as a garnish. To finish off; drizzle white chocolate on top, and sprinkle with bakers crystals to achieve a shimmering effect.
Note: with the little cutouts that you have made, you can do the same decorating with them and then server them to children. Just the perfect size!
Bonus Read –
Tips for making your very best Christmas Cookies... the best ways to decorate, prepare and assemble. These ideas are sure to make for the perfect cookie presentation.
Make your Lancaster County Vacation tops with a visit to the Harvest Moon Bed and Breakfast. We are centrally located and close to everything you want to see while visiting. Here at the Harvest Moon B&B, you'll enjoy the best breakfast a B&B in Lancaster can offer; your innkeeper is a chef with a culinary degree. When reserving your room, be sure to inquire about our list of off the beaten path places to visit. Visit our website to find out how to reserve your room.
