Iced Soft Gingerbread Cookies

Growing up, one of my favorite store bought cookies was Archway's Iced Spice cookies (though for some unknown reason we called them "Icy Spicy"s).  It now appears that they may have stopped making them, though I thought I bought some maybe last year (I'm probably mistaken and had bought another iced variety).  When it was announced that this month's What's Baking theme was "Baking with Gingerbread" I knew I wanted to try to recreate my beloved spice cookie.

I had made gingerbread men in the past but those weren't the soft cookies I was going for.  I did a little Google search and the picture accompanying this recipe was exactly what I was looking for.  I set out to make them ,but I wanted to go a little more festive with them.  I was going to use these for my cookie swap I signed up for on my cooking forum, so I bought a snowflake cookie cutter and got to work.

I also used a trick I learned from watching Rachael (Rachael Ray's daytime show).  When using molasses or honey, line the measuring cup with plastic wrap.  Pour the sticky stuff in, then lift out the plastic wrap carefully, and while holding it over the bowl of batter, cut a hole in the plastic and let it drip through.  You can squeeze it out to make sure you get every last drop, plus you don't have to clean the measuring cup after!

The end result was exactly what I was looking for.  It tasted just like I remembered!  Of course they puffed a bit in the oven so the detailed edges of the snowflakes were a bit lost and after looking at the photos I realize I inadvertently made and sent iced Jewish star cookies.  Oops!  At least they were delicious Jewish stars!

Iced Soft Gingerbread Cookies (slightly adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
2 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup molasses

2 cup confectioners' sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, sift together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg until well combined, then stir in the water and molasses.  Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients.
- If you want regular cookies, roll into walnut sized balls, place onto a lined cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
- If you are going to use a cookie cutter, roll all dough into one large ball and wrap well in plastic wrap.  Chill for at least an hour in fridge.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4 in thickness.  use cookie cutter to make desired shapes, re-rolling excess dough  only once more.  Place onto a lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cookies are cooling, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, melted butter and vanilla extract.  Add the additional tbsps of as needed to reach your desired consistency.  Carefully dip cookies in the icing and allow to harden before storing.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies - Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

When I asked my uncle what I could contribute to our Thanksgiving meal, his response was "how about a cookie that is appropriate for little fingers?".  We had nine kids 5 and under (including my own) so I was happy to oblige.  And I knew the perfect holiday treat to make, too!

My dear friend Jessica over at Sunny Side Up had just made these Iced Pumpkin Cookies for her Blogger's Choice swap and raved about them, so they were the obvious choice for my Thanksgiving dessert.  To make them more toddler-friendly I left the icing off, but everyone still raved about them.  My sister-in-law even made them herself that weekend!  And bonus, the recipe Jessica had based hers on was actually dairy-free, so if you're looking to make them parve, just check out the post at Dough See Dough.

These cookies went over so well at Thanksgiving (and made so many - I got about 45 cookies with one batch!) I knew immediately that these were the cookies that I would send out this year for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.

I love this cookie swap.  You send out 3 dozen or so of one cookie and get cookies in return from 3 different bloggers.  It always opens up my world of blogs to follow, as well!  I sent my cookies to Take a Bite out of Boca, Flamingo Musings, and Shikha la Mode and in return I got delicious molasses spice cookies from Three Sixty Five Degrees, chocolate chip oatmeal hazelnut macaroons from My Upbeet Life and cranberry chocolate chip cookies from The Dreamery.

From the response I have been getting from everyone that tries these cookies, I know that they will be making a comeback next fall.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies (from Sunny Side Up)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup pack dark brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree (I used fresh, but you can also use 100% canned pumpkin)
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cup confectioners' sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract


Directions
- Preheat oven to 350f.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.  Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer (fitted with a paddle attachment) cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla.  Mix  until well combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients (I add 1/4 cup at a time), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Using a rounded tablespoon (or a cookie scoop), place the dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Wet your hands with a little water (so the dough doesn't stick to them) and gently mold the dough into a more rounded circle, flatten, and smooth.
- Bake 13-15 minutes.  Allow to cool on teh baking sheet for 5 minutes  before transferring to a wire cooking rack.
- While the cookies are cooling, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, melted butter and vanilla extract.  Add the additional tbsps of as needed to reach your desired drizzling consistency.  Drizzle over the cookies and allow to harden before storing.

It's noted that the cookies may become too moist being stored in tupperware or a ziplock bag.  If this happens, you can store them with parchment paper between each layer and leave a corner of the tupperware lid open.

Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every Passover I like to make some treats to enjoy.  This  year I was, again, trying to avoid using boxed mixes.  This recipe for chocolate chip cookies caught my eye and I knew I wanted to try it.  I mean, who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies?!

In the end, the cookies were maybe a smidgen drier than I normally like, but they were in no way a "lesser" cookie that was obviously made for Passover.  I threw in some walnuts, as well, which I think added nicely to the flavor.  My husband and I really enjoyed these and I think they will make a return appearance in Passovers to come.

Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies (slightly adapted from The Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking)

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla (must be kosher for Passover)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup matzah cake meal
1 cup potato starch
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts


Directions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla with the butter.  Blend in the eggs.  Stir in the salt, matzah cake meal, and potato starch.  Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Chill the dough for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop generous tablespoonfuls of dough and place them on the baking sheet.  Press down to flatten the dough a bit.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes to desired crispness.

Crunchy Molasses Cookies - Great Food Blogger Cookies Swap

Last year I participated in a cookie swap from a message board I'm on.  I had fun with that swap, so when I heard about the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap I knew I wanted to be a part of it this year.  The concept of it is that food bloggers from all over join in for a small donation to Cookies for Kids' Cancer, then you are assigned three bloggers to send a dozen cookies to and you'll receive three dozen cookies in return from other bloggers.  Doesn't that sound like a great swap?!

There are so many food blogs out there, so it was nice to be connected to blogs I otherwise wouldn't have known about.  The bloggers I was assigned were:
The Crafty Foodie
Embracing Homemaking
Cardio Cats and Cooking


Knowing I needed to make at least 3 dozen cookies (with a few extras for us to enjoy here) and knowing that this was to raise money for Cookies for Kid's Cancer, I turned to my Best Bake sale Cookbook, which happens to give all proceeds from book sales to the same charity!  I wanted to make something "holiday"-ish.  One of my favorite holiday flavors is gingerbread, so these molasses cookies are the perfect holiday treat!  And my favorite part of these cookies is the sugar coating they get before going into the oven.  It helps bring out the sweetness from the otherwise spicey cookies.

I baked them, packed them up and sent them off to the recipients.  Then as I was on my way home from the post office I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of them!  What is a girl to do??  Bake more, of course!  I knew that I wanted to make holiday treats for our neighbors, so I whipped up another batch for them, and this time I remembered to take a picture before giving them away.  And another thing about making the extra batch was that I adjusted the bake time so they didn't come out quite as well done as the ones I had sent to my swap recipients.

Oh, and the best part of this swap?  Receiving cookies!  I was sent walnut sable cookies from La Peche Fraiche which I think lasted 2 days in our house, Ritzy Peanut Butter Crackers in Chocolate from Crackers on the Couch (when I opened this box the scent of chocolate and peanut butter wafted through the air...every box should have this scent!) and yummy jelly cookies from Mooshu Jenne.

I'm looking forward to doing this swap again next year!



Crunchy Molasses Cookies (slightly adapted from The Best Bake Sale Cook Book)

Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks (6oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar, plus additional for rolling
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup robust molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until smooth and creamy.  Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Place the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a separate bowl and mix well.  Add to the butter mixture.  Beat until everything is well incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.
- To form the cookies, break off small pieces and roll into 1 inch balls.  Roll the balls in sugar and place 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.  Using your hand or the bottom of a water glass, press down until flattened.  Transfer to the oven and bake until the cookies begin to brown at the edges (approx. 10 minutes).  Cook on the cookie sheet.  Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough.

Flu Fighter Cookies

For this month's What's Baking, the theme was Baking Healthy.  We could either take a recipe and make it lighter, or just use an already-light recipes.  I went for the second option, though to be quite honest, I don't know how "healthy" these are with a stick of butter....but it doesn't have a ton of sugar since you use molasses and it uses low-fat Greek yogurt for added creaminess.

Of course, as luck would have it, as I decided to make the "flu-fighter" cookies, I was struck down with a nasty cold.  I've been horribly congested and coughing for almost a week.  So my submission this month is a little delayed, but, oh well.  These cookies aren't necessarily going to cure your flu, but with all the antioxidents, it helps boost your immune system.  And with the awful flu going around across the country this year, I'm sure we all could use some extra help in keeping it at bay!

Flu-Fighter Cookies (slightly adapted from FoodNetwork.com)

Ingredients 
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cups golden raisins, plus more for topping
3/4 cups dried cranberries, plus more for topping
3/4 cups chopped pecans

Directions
- Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a medium bowl.
 - Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Add the molasses, yogurt, ginger and lemon zest and beat until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture to make a sticky batter (do not overmix). Fold in the oats and the raisins, cranberries and walnuts
- Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets. Top each with some of the additional dried fruit and chill for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake the cookies until dark golden but still soft, 10 to 12 minutes; cool on a rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Another addition to my holiday treats I gave out this year was Brown Sugar Cookies.  The recipe is from my Best Bakesale Cookbook that I bought to support Cookies for Kids' Cancer.  I had everything in my pantry, so this was easy to throw together.

My cookies didn't end up looking like the picture next to the recipe (they look like they spread out nicely, mine didn't spread so much) but I think that the flavors were all still there, so I don't think it was that much of an issue.  I used my deep teaspoon scoop to put them on the baking sheet.  After I did my first batch and noticed they weren't spreading, I ended up flattening the next few trays, which made them look a bit better.

I had made different things for my family and my husband's family (mostly due to the Chanukah parties being a week apart and wanting to try new things and not just repeat everything for the second round).  These were in the second round, so they went to my in-laws.  When it came time for handing out presents, I passed the treats out to everyone.  About 10 minutes later I see my husband's uncle sitting on the couch popping these in  his mouth one after another.  I gave a good amount of cookies to each family, but I'm not quite sure my husband's aunt got to enjoy any of these, as they were most likely gone by the time they got in the car to go home!

Brown Sugar Cookies (as printed in Best Bakesale Cookbook)

Ingredients
1 1/2 stick butter (6oz)  unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Add the egg and beat well.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Place the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a separate bowl and mix well.  Add to the butter mixture and beat until everything is well incorporated.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again.
- Drop large teaspoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake until the edges are just brown (8 - 12 minutes).
- For crispy cookies, let cook on the sheet.
- Let the cookie sheet cool completely between batches and repeat with the remaining dough.

Pecan Sandies

For the holidays this year I decided to give our families containers of holiday treats.  We buy gifts for our parents and nephews, but we see aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc so I always felt weird not having things for everyone we spend the holiday with!  So I made a whole bunch of cookies and other holiday treats.  Everything seemed to get good reviews (and my husband kept telling me to take pictures for my blog already so he could eat more), so hopefully they weren't just being nice!

One type of cookies I made was pecan sandies.  I had never had them before, but I kept seeing recipes for them in all of my cookbooks, plus Food Network Magazine included them in a spread on holiday cookies, so I decided to give them a go.  After looking at all the different recipes, I opted for the one from Food Network Magazine, as they looked the most interesting (most were just basic round cookies, these were textured and had a pecan on top, so it looked nicer than the rest).

The original recipe calls for turbinado sugar, which I didn't find at either of my regular markets (I'm sure if I looked elsewhere I could have found it, I was just short on time) so I improvised a bit.  I think they came out great, and will definitely make them again.

Pecan Sandies (slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients
2/3 cup pecans, plus 36 more for decorating
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
brown sugar for sprinkling

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until browned (10-12 minutes).  Let cool completely.
- Sift 3/4 cup flour, the salt and baking bowder into a medium bowl.
- Pulse the toasted nuts with the remaining 2 tbsp of flour in a food processor until finely ground.
- Beat the butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (3-5 minutes).
- Add the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined, then stir in the nut mixture.
- Pat the dough into a rectangle on a piece of plastic wrap; wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight)
- Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of your oven and preheat to 325 degrees.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of parchment into a 9-by-6-inch rectangle, slightly less than 1/4 inch thick.
- Sprinkle the dough with brown sugar.
- Slice the dough into sixths cross-wise and length-wise to make 36 rectangles.  ***I used a pizza cutter for this step
- Arrange the rectangles about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Pierce each rectangle a few times with a fork, then press a pecan onto each.
- Bake, switching the position of the pans halfway though, until golden brown (10-12 minutes)
- Let cool 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Gingerbread Cookies

I love the holiday time and all the yummy treats that come with it.  I think no matter what religion you are, you can appreciate a good cookie.  When my running club announced the date for our annual holiday party and said that everyone could bring either an appetizer or a dessert, I knew I wanted to make something festive.  I had never made gingerbread men before, but I always enjoyed eating them, so I decided to whip up a batch for the party.  First stop was to NY Cake & Baking Supply, which is not too far from my office to pick up the proper cookie cutter.  I had to leave the store quickly or else I would have bought almost everything they sell!

I turned to my trusty How to Cook Everything where I found the recipe for "Aunt Big's Gingersnaps" which has an adaptation to make them into Gingerbread Men.  The recipe is very simple to follow.  As with most cookie recipes, you have to let the dough chill for a bit in the fridge, so I made the dough Friday night, then chilled it until Saturday morning.  That afternoon I decorated them and let them set before the party that night.  For the icing, I mixed 1 cup confectioner's sugar with 2 tbsp boiling water (if the icing is too thick, just add more water).  I put it into a sandwich bag, cut the tip of the corner off and piped the icing right onto the cookies.  For the most part, they came out looking well, though there were a few "special" ones.  A few I salvaged, turning a wonky face into something different - one ended up with eyebrows, and another became a vampire.

The cookies were a hit at the party, too!  It was crowded, so not a lot of people saw me bring them in.  The pile kept getting lower and lower, and when people found out I brought them, they told me that they'd already had a few of them.  If they were going back for seconds, then I don't doubt these were delicious cookies!

Gingerbread Men (as printed in How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman)

Ingredients
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 heaping tsp baking soda
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 heaping tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
pinch salt

Directions
- Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth.
- Mix the baking soda with 2 tbsp hot water and beat into the dough.
- Combine the flour, spices, and salt in abowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the dough and beat well.
- Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
- Remove from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before you are ready to roll it out.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- When the dough is sightly softened, roll it out as thinly as possible; use a gingerbread man cutter (or hand-cut if you're brave) to cut the cookies out.
- Bake on ungreased  baking sheet until golden around the edges (about 10 minutes), watching carefully to prevent burning.  ***For softer cookies, remove the dough from the oven when the center is still puffy and soft
- Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rach to cool.
- Decorate if you wish.
- Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to several days.

Cranberry & Chocolate Cookies

Last year my husband and I went to the New York Chocolate Show.  One of the events on the day we were there was a cooking demonstration by Johnny Iuzzini, who we had watched as a judge on Top Chef: Just Desserts.  At the end of the demonstration Johnny mentioned that he'd be signing autographs over by the bookstore section, and aside from his own cookbook he would love for us to purchase another book - the Best Bake Sale Cookbook, which was published by the founders of Cookies for Kids' Cancer.  We thought it was such a good cause, that we made sure to purchase that book.

One of the recipes in it is for cranberry and chocolate cookies.  Essentially it's a chocolate chip cookie with the added yum of dried cranberries.  What's not to like???  I had made these previously to bring to a party and they were a hit there.  This year I participated in a holiday cookie exchange, and while I had a few ideas of what to send, I knew these were tried and true, so I opted to make these to send off to her.  I also included them in my gifts for my family for Chanukah along with a few other treats.

The cookies are extremely simple to make (basically just throw everything in the mixer and then put on a cookie sheet and you're done).  I hope that when they make it to my secret cookie exchange buddy she and her family enjoy them!

And if you get a chance to check out the charity's web site, please do; it's a great cause!

www.cookiesforcancer.org

Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies (as published in The Best Bake Sale Book)

yields 3 - 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 sticks (10 oz), unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup quick cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Directions

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

- Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until smooth and creamy.

- Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions.

- Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

- Place the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl and mix well.

- Add the dry mixture into the butter mixture and beat until everything is well incorporated.

- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the chocolate chips and cranberries and beat again.

- Drop the dough by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

- Transfer to the oven and bake until the cookies begin to brown at the edges (12 to 15 minutes).

- Cool on the cookie sheet.

- Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough.

Hazelnut Linzer Cookies

After my hamentashen baking session 2 weeks prior, I had plenty of pie filling left over, and I didn't want it all to go to waste.  So I skimmed through my cookbooks and in The Craft of Baking I came across a recipe for Hazelnut Linzer Cookies.  They looked delicious, and I knew that my sister-in-law was going to be giving birth at pretty much any second, so I wanted to make a treat to bring to her and my brother.

These were very simple to make, and I only had a few "I have no idea if I'm doing this right" moments.  First off, I realized I didn't have any cookie cutters, so I quickly ran to my favorite kitchen gadget store Chef Central and bought this 6 piece linzer cutter set then I got down to business.  The recipe calls for finely ground hazelnuts.  I decided to use my manual food processor from The Pampered Chef that I received as a bridal shower gift.  It took a little while to get all those hazelnuts ground (and I had to pick out the large pieces still in there after I was grinding them for a while)  but it ended up working out pretty well.

My other "is THIS how it's supposed to be??" moment was when I took the dough out of the fridge and rolled it.  At first, it was too hard and was cracking, so I let it sit for a few min before rolling it out.  It warmed up very quickly (maybe due to the gorgeous weather outside), so once I started rolling it, the dough became very soft and a little too malleable.  I ended up having to use my icing spatula to help lift the dough off of the counter intact to get the cookies looking right (and fitting together in the same shape).

In the end, the cookies came out looking wonderful and tasting scrumptious.  I even got to use the "duster" that came with my sifter to add the powdered sugar to the top.  I always like using new kitchen gadgets!

Hazelnut Linzer Cookies (recipe from The Craft of Baking)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, finely ground
12 tbsps (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for sprinkling
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
3 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp kosher salt
approx 1/4 cup fruit preserves (I used Raspberry pie filling)


Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spread the ground hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, until lightly toasted.
- Remove from the oven and set the baking sheet on a rack to cool.
- Turn the oven off if you won't be baking the cookies right away.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter, confectioners' sugar, and the lemon and orange zests on medium speed until well mixed, about 4 minutes.
- Beat in the egg yolks, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredient to the butter mixture and beat until combined.
- Add the hazelnuts and beat until combined.
- Turn out the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and shape it into a flattened disk
- Wrap it in the plastic and chill until firm, 30 minutes or up to 2 days (the dough can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 1 month).
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
- Using a 2 inch round cutter, cut out 36 cookies.
- Transfer the cookies to parchment-covered baking sheets, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart.
- Using a 1/2 inch round cutter, cut out and remove the centers of half of the cookies; these cookies will be the tops.
- Chill the tops and bottoms in the refrigerator until firm, 10 - 15 minutes.
- While the cookies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees (if necessary).
- Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown, 15 - 20 minutes.
- Transfer the cookies, still on the parchment to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- When they are cool, sprinkle the cut-out top cookies with confectioners' sugar.
- Spoon about 1/2 tsp preserves on each whole bottom cookie then set the cut-out cookies over the whole ones to sandwich them together.

**Unfilled, the cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.  Once filled, they are best eaten on the same day.

Hamentashen

It's the time of year again - Purim!  Ok, so it's not a big holiday to most.  Even I rarely know what day Purim is, and when a co-worker asked me what it was I said something along the lines of "there's Queen Esther (she's pretty) and Hamen (we don't like him) and then Vashti and King Ahashverosh...ummm....and they all did something...."   For the record, according to Jewfaq.org, Purim commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination

Growing up, I remember making hamentashen with my mom every year for Purim.  These are the delicious triangle cookies (symbolizing Hamen's hat) that are filled with yumminess (aka pie fillings or chocolate).

I was going to a party last weekend, and decided to try my hand at baking hamentashen for the first time in years.  I went classic with most of my fillings and bought Solo Pie Fillings in apricot, raspberry, prune, and poppy.  I'm not a huge poppy fan, but those are the most traditional and my father and husband both love it.

I went a little more creative with my chocolate ones.  Originally I put in chocolate chips, as I had done as a child.  They weren't melting well and the cookies were actually spreading out, so I started using a single rectangle from a Hershey bar and folding the dough around it into the triangle.  Then for this one, I brushed the dough with egg white and sprinkled cinnamon sugar over it.  It came out super yummy!

A few opened up and didn't keep the triangle shape, but it seemed to work better if I didn't just pinch the corners, but also folded the sides in a bit.

Hamentashan (my family's recipe with a few adjustments)

Ingredients
3/4 c sugar
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c margarine
1 egg
2-3 tbsp water (I used 2 1/2 tbsps)
Various fillings- you can get cans of apricot, raspberry, prune, poppy seed, etc. in the baking aisle by the pie fillings.  You can also use any jam or jelly that you like.  Or chocolate!  Be creative!

Directions
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Put the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and mix well, counting 35-40 strokes to blend thoroughly. (I just mixed it in my Kitchenaid)
-Cut the margarine into little pieces and add to the bowl.
- Mix until you have an evenly crumbly mixture.  Be patient- it'll take a few minutes.
- Add the egg and water.  Mix until the dough sticks together in a ball.
- Sprinkle flour on your board or wax paper (or countertop).
- Pinch off a piece of dough and roll it between your hands into a 1 1/2 inch ball.
- Sprinkle a little extra flour onto the ball and roll it flat with a rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thickness.  Or you can roll out the dough and use a glass to cut the circles if you wish.
- Take a teaspoon of filling and put it in the middle of the circle.
- Fold up three edges and pinch together to make a triangle. 
- Put it on the cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.