Peanut Blossoms

Ok, this is the last from the Christmas cookie files. I'm sure everyone has a recipe for these, but if not, here you go!

1/2 C butter
1 C peanut butter chips
2/3 C packed brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 C flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
Granulated sugar
Hershey's kisses, unwrapped


Preheat oven to 350. In a saucepan over low heat melt the butter and peanut butter chips, stirring constantly. Pour mixture into a large bowl and add the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Stir in flour and baking soda, blending well. Shape into 1 inch balls and roll them in granulated sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place a kiss in the middle of each cookie. Cool on a wire wrack.

Date Balls

More Christmas cookies... this one is kind of a pain to make, but they're my favorite!

1/2 C butter

1 C sugar

1/2 lb chopped dates

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

12 tsp salt

2 C rice krispies

1/2 C chopped nuts

Coconut

Combine the butter, sugar, and dates and set aside. Bring the egg, milk, vanilla, and salt to a boil. Important: stir constantly being very careful not to let the egg scramble. Add the date mixture to the egg mixture and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the rice krispies and chopped nuts. Cool the mixture until you can handle it without burning your hands, then form into little balls and roll in coconut. 

Toffee Nut Bars

Another from the Rowe family Christmas cookie archives.

1/2 C butter

1/2 C brown sugar

1 C flour

1 tsp vanilla

1 11 oz chocolate bar

3/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar, add the flour and vanilla. Press and flatten in to the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Melt the chocolate bar and spread over the cookie. Sprinkle the chocolate with the chopped nuts.

Thumbprint Cookies

I'm hoping to post a few of our family's christmas cookie recipes here. I don't remember where this one came from (mom?), probably a grandmother, but it's a staple every christmas. Very easy to make!

Thumbprint Cookies
Yields 1 dozen


1/2 C butter
1/4 C brown sugar
1 egg yolk (retain the whites)
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
Crushed walnuts (or other soft nut)
Your favorite jelly (I use raspberry)


Heat oven to 375. Mix together the butter, brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Sift the flour and salt into the mixture, and combine until incorporated. Beat the whites. Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball, dip in whites, and then roll in the nuts. Place cookies on a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Read to bake

Bake for 5 minutes, take the sheet out of the oven and use something (I used the bottom of an ice cream scoop handle) to create an impression in the center of each cookie. Bake for 8 more minutes, and allow to cool on a drying rack.

Cookies baked and with impression

When cool, fill the holes with jam, enjoy!

Danielle's Ginger Cookies

Danielle and I brought some ginger cookies to St. Nick's Christmas Extravaganza last night. Recipe comes from here, with possibly the most 5 star Allrecipe ratings ever.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies


2 1/4 C flour
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C margarine, softened
1 C white sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1/4 C molasses
2 tbsp white sugar
Optional: chocolate chunks


Preheat oven to 350. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. In a large bowl cream together the margarine and one cup sugar. Beat in the egg and then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients. If you want, stir in the chocolate chunks. Shape the dough into balls, roll in sugar, and flatten slightly on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the tray, then transfer to a cooling wrack. 


Party goers gave rave reviews!

Danielle says "you betcha."

Toffee Cookies - Take 2

Have I mentioned that I love toffee? Imagine my excitement when I came across this recipe while perusing food blogs (definitely not) at work. Warning: this recipe has a pound of chocolate in it. 

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 pound chocolate (I used a combination of bittersweet and semi-sweet, some Ghiradelli, some Baker's)

1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)

1 3/4 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

5 toffee bars (1.4 oz each) (like Heath), chopped

salt (optional)

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl with a whisk. Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler. If you're ghetto, like me, do this:

(The Pot-On-Pot "I don't have a" Double Boiler)

Use an electric mixer (I have one of these!):

(My BEAUTIFUL pistachio green KitchenAid mixer [thanks Dad!])

...to combine the brown sugar and eggs, beat for 5 minutes. Beat in the chocolate and vanilla. Stir in the flour, then stir in the toffee chunks (I suppose you could follow the original recipe and also add walnuts, but I think nuts are for pansies). Some toffee porn: 

Don't be alarmed by the batter being very thin. I was, because I did not read the whole recipe and did not realize there was refrigeration time involved. I loathe recipes with refrigeration time, I'm not that patient! But alas, it's necessary for this one. Refrigerate for about an hour, then drop spoonfuls onto a parchment paper/wax paper/silpat covered cookie sheet. If you want, sprinkle with salt. I did this for the first 1 or 2 batches and then forgot. If I knew which cookies came from which batches... I'd let you know if it made a difference. Bake for 12-15 minutes (I definitely needed at least 15). Also, let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes or so before transferring to a cooling rack, otherwise the bottoms will be too soft and fall out. 

I'd say these are better than Toffee Cookie attempt number one, but not every day cookies. They are VERY rich! Remember... a POUND of chocolate. On that note, I'll never fall asleep tonight from too much sugar intake. 

Cookies!

I can't believe it's been a month and I haven't posted a baked good! I guess oven temperatures in this CRAZY hot summer has kept me away from my favorite hobby.

If you know me at all, you know I love toffee. I was very excited the other night when I found toffee crumbles in the baking aisle of the grocery store. How long have these been hiding from me?! I decided to make some cookies with toffee and chunks of chocolate.

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

Recipe adapted from here

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C unsalted butter, melted

1 C brown sugar, packed

1/2 C white sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 bar of 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate

Toffee bits*

Preheat oven to 325. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugars (you should use an electric mixer, but I was lazy and did not). Mix in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Stir in chocolate and toffee. *I never measure add-ins to cookies, I use the "dump as much as seems appropriate method." Drop spoonfuls on greased or lined cookie sheets (I use a silpat). Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

Disclaimer: I forgot to add in the white sugar... give me a break, it's the weekend. They taste fine, but are a little less sweet than you might expect a cookie.

Verdict: The toffee bits kind of melted into the batter while baking, making the flavor a little less prominent than I would have hoped. I was hoping for a toffee crunch. As for the cookie, this is one of my easy, go-to recipes, but not my favorite. Perhaps I'll test some more and post... Krishnan tells me of some pretentious NY Times recipe that could be coming to the M St Kitchen soon!