Saturday, December 24, 2016

Thumbprint - Split-Second Cookies by Lisa Lavery

https://www.chowhound.com/recipes/split-second-cookies-30219

Ingredients (8)

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup smooth jam 

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
  2. Whisk the measured flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl to aerate and remove any lumps; set aside.
  3. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer, scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl, and add the egg and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until incorporated, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.
  4. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until the dough just comes together, about 45 seconds.
  5. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and form it into a disk. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. 
  6. Using your hands, roll each portion into a 10-by-1-inch log.  
  7. Carefully transfer 2 of the logs onto each prepared baking sheet. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make a 1/2-inch-wide and 1/2-inch-deep trough in the center of each log, leaving a 1/2-inch border at each end. 
  8. Place the jam in a piping bag or a resealable plastic bag (snip off one bottom corner of the plastic bag, if using) and pipe the jam into each of the troughs.
  9. Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom and bake until the cookie logs are light golden brown around the bottom edges, about 10 to 12 minutes more. Place the baking sheets on wire racks and let the logs cool for 15 minutes.
  10. Pick up 1 of the parchment sheets and carefully transfer the two logs to a cutting board. Cut each log on the diagonal into 1-inch-wide pieces. Transfer the cookies to the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining parchment sheet and cookie logs. Let the cookies cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Classic Sugar Cookies

https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/recipe/classic-sugar-cookies-1/5626a5fbf79cf9120df39113
Makes 4 dozen
Ingredients
  • 3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup(s) salted butter
  • 1/4 cup(s) Neufchâtel cheese
  • 1 cup(s) sugar, granulated
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg(s)
  • 1/2 cup(s) fat free skim milk
  • 1 tsp all-purpose flour, for rolling out dough
  • 1/3 cup(s) sugar, colored (for decorating)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg; set aside.
Place butter and cheese in a large bowl; cream using an electric mixer. Add sugar and beat until batter is pale yellow; beat in vanilla extract and egg.
Add about 1/3 of flour mixture and 1/3 of milk to cheese mixture; mix batter on low speed until just combined. Repeat 2 more times with remaining flour mixture and milk, until thoroughly combined.
Shape dough into a ball and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Using your palms, press down on plastic wrap to flatten dough into a hamburger shape; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
Sprinkle a teaspoon of flour on a flat work surface. Pull off about 1/3 of dough and, using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch circular cookie cutter, cut cookies out of dough and place on ungreased baking sheets. Roll up dough scraps and add back to dough ball. Pull off another 1/3 of dough and repeat process until all dough is used — recipe will make approximately 45 cookies.
Sprinkle cookies with colored sugar and bake until edges just start to turn golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove cookies to wire racks and cool completely. Yields 1 cookie per serving.
Notes
Make these cookies any shape you want. You can sprinkle them with colored sugar as we’ve done here or make colored icing and paint on your own designs (could affect SmartPoints value). To ice the cookies, bake them without the colored sugar topping. While they are cooling, combine 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 to 3 teaspoons of hot water in a small bowl. Divide icing in half and add drops of different food coloring to each half; paint designs on cookies using small painting or basting brushes.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Texas Sheet Cake Cookies


350oF for 7-8 minutes

makes 24 cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1⅓ cup flour
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
Icing
  • ½ cup butter
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • 3 Tbsp milk
  • 2½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cookies
1.     Preheat oven to 350°
2.     Line baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat, set aside.
3.     In bowl of stand mixer beat butter and sugar together until light, scraping sides frequently.
4.     Add in egg and vanilla and continue mixing until incorporated. Mix in baking powder and salt.
5.     Turn mixer to low and slowly add in flour. Dough will be thick.
6.     In a microwave safe bowl heat chocolate chips on high in 30 second increments until melted, stirring after every 30 seconds.
7.     Mix melted chocolate directly into cookie dough until evenly mixed.
8.     Drop dough by a measured tablespoon sized mounds onto baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes until cookies just appear set. They will still be very soft on the inside. DO NOT overbake!!
9.     Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Icing
1.     In a medium saucepan combine butter, cocoa powder and milk over medium heat, whisking until melted together. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar.
2.     Pour icing over cookies and allow icing to set before serving.
Notes:
·        store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
·        *Make sure not to overbake these cookies. The insides will remain soft and dense if baked correctly.

Made by Sami