Baking with B: 7 Days of Christmas Cookies: Orange Crunch Cookies

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Although I live in Canada and there is nary an orange tree in sight, I still manage to think of Christmas when I think of orange-y flavors. Maybe it’s because there’s always a clementine in the toe of my stocking. Or maybe it’s because it’s been a long-standing joke in my family that we give my dad a Terry’s Chocolate Orange from a “mystery person” every year. Or maybe I just like orange because it pairs so nicely with all those Christmas spices. And chocolate. Man, does it ever taste good with chocolate.

Orange Crunch Cookies (makes approximately 24 cookies)

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. butter, diced

1/3 c. soft dark brown sugar

1/2 egg yolk, beaten

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp orange zest

Icing:

1 c. icing sugar

3 tbsp orange juice

Sift flour in a bowl and rub diced butter into it until it forms a bread crumb-like texture. Using a table knife, stir rest of ingredients in the flour until mix forms clumps. Working with your hands, work dough into a small ball. Roll into log and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 1/2 hours or until firm.

Preheat your oven to 350F. Slice log of dough into thin discs and place on a parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 7-9 minutes and allow cookies to set a bit on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack.

While the cookies are baking, you can make the icing. Beat sugar and orange juice together to form smooth paste. Pour into a piping bag and drizzle over cooled cookies.

B’s Tip: To create orange zest you can use a zester or you can grate the orange lightly on either a tabletop or hand-held cheese grater. Just make sure you don’t start grating what’s called the “pith”- the stringy white stuff that’s underneath when you peel an orange. Including that in your recipe will diminish the sweet orange flavour that’s coming from the peel and instead just make it bitter.

Instead of drizzling with orange icing, why not try dipping cooled cookies into melted chocolate or drizzling with a chocolate ganache? Better still, leave cookies as-is so they can act as the perfect dippers in a mug of your favourite hot chocolate.

Happy baking!

B

KBwB-Flower-50

I’m counting down Christmas by sharing some of my favourite holiday cookie recipes with you! I’ll be posting a different Christmas cookie recipe every day for the next seven days so you can follow along in my family’s baking tradition, and have more cookies to add to your Christmas baking arsenal! For more inspiration, you can check out more of my baking here. For even more recipe inspiration check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

Baking with B: 7 Days of Christmas Cookies: Rugulahs

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Are you ready for a cookie challenge? Because let me tell you, these rugalahs are a challenge. My family and I first tried these when we ended up celebrating Hanukkah with some family friends years and years ago. Even after we fell out of touch with them, this rugalah recipe shows up periodically in our Christmas cookie repertoire. I’m not sure if it’s more traditional to make them with the sticky jam filling or the chocolate but I’ve included both here so you can take your pick! Or why not go all out and do both? It is Christmas after all!

Rugalahs (makes 48 pastries)

Pastry:

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. butter

8 oz. (240 g) cream cheese

1 egg

 

Chocolate Filling

I c. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/4 c. granulated sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

 

Jam Filling

1/2 c. raspberry or apricot jam

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. finely chopped walnuts (optional)

2 tbsp cinnamon

2 tbsp cocoa powder

 

Glaze:

1 egg, beaten

1/4 c. granulated sugar

To make pastry: Place flour in a bowl and cut in butter until you achieve a texture of coarse crumbs. (You may want to use a pastry blender if you’re lucky enough to have one!) Stir in cream cheese and egg, just until dough forms a ball. Turn out onto a work surface and knead gently a few times until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

When you are ready to make your cookies, divide dough into quarters. On a lightly floured surface, roll it out until it is about a 1/4″ thick circle (the thinner you roll the dough, the crispier the pastry).

To make the jam filling: Spread 2 tbsp of jam over entire circle. In bowl, combine brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and cocoa. Sprinkle 1/4 of the mixture over the jam.

To make the chocolate filling: Combine chopped chocolate, cocoa in sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 of mixture over each pastry circle.

To roll up the cookies: Cut one pastry circle into 12 wedges; roll up each wedge tightly, starting at the outside wedge. Place on greased baking sheet with tip of crescent on the bottom. Brush with egg, then sprinkle with sugar. Repeat with remaining dough and fillings.

Bake the cookies in a preheated 350F oven for about 30 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Remove to rack to cool.

B’s Tip: Pizza cutters aren’t just for pizza! Use to cut the dough into wedges for a sleek line that will ensure the dough doesn’t break the same way a regular knife would. No pizza cutter? Try dipping the knife briefly into cold water or refrigerate it briefly for a smoother cut.

These cookies not only look incredibly complicated and therefore will impress all your friends and family during Christmas, they also look beautiful- like a croissant in cookie form! Reduce the measurements for fillings so you can experiment with the same batch of pastry and figure out which are the ones you like the best.

Go ahead, try them! I dare you. And while you’re in the mood, maybe you could make some of those amazing latkes. If you do that, I just might need your number!

Happy baking!

B

KBwB-Flower-50

I’m counting down Christmas by sharing some of my favourite holiday cookie recipes with you! I’ll be posting a different Christmas cookie recipe every day for the next seven days so you can follow along in my family’s baking tradition, and have more cookies to add to your Christmas baking arsenal! For more inspiration, you can check out more of my baking here. For even more recipe inspiration check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

 

Baking with B: 7 Days of Christmas Cookies: Traditional Swedish Gingersnaps

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Do you find yourself scrambling to figure out what to make leading up to the Christmas holidays? Me too. It’s not so much a matter of not knowing what to serve- it’s having to pick and choose! There are so many tasty ideas for holiday foods out there- but what really gets me going is all that Christmas baking.

Part of my background is Swedish so holiday baking is a huge must in our family. It’s a tradition every year around Christmastime to bake seven different kinds of cookies. Why this is a tradition I have no idea but I can’t complain- I love to bake and I love to eat, so everybody wins as far as I’m concerned!

As we begin our countdown to Christmas, I’ll be sharing seven of some of my favorite cookie recipes so that you can get some ideas on what to bring- and what to eat- at your upcoming holiday dinner.

So to kick off our cookies we’re going to start with the traditional Swedish gingersnap, or pepparkakor. It’s much spicier and a little less sweet than its North American counterpart, but is still incredibly satisfying when paired with your favourite after-dinner holiday drink, a strong cup of coffee, or just an old-fashioned glass of milk.

Swedish Gingersnaps (makes approximately 48 cookies)

7 tbsp butter, softened

1 c. dark brown sugar

1/2 c. dark corn syrup (light works too)

1/2 c. whipping cream

2 tsp ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground cloves

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the corn syrup and beat until light and fluffy. Pour in whipping cream and spices. In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking soda.  Add into the wet mixture and knead until smooth (you may want to use your hands). Roll dough into ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature overnight.

When you’re ready to bake your cookies preheat the oven to 350F. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface. Cut into shapes and place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake on the center oven rack for around 8 minutes.

B’s Tip: If you prefer your cookies to be chewier, don’t roll out the dough as thinly. Thinner dough leads to crispy cookie, so roll away if that’s what you prefer. You may want to shorten the baking time to avoid burning. Beware- getting a little too rolling-pin happy might mean your shapes won’t cut very well.

Don’t worry if the gingerbread cookies look puffy and soft when they come out of the oven. Place a cooling rack to let them cool and harden slightly before icing.

These gingerbread cookies look beautiful when iced with all-white icing but you may want to experiment with different colours to determine which you like best. Or why not go all out and add sprinkles, Smarties or mini gum drops to create that perfect candy-coated look?

Happy baking!

B

KBwB-Flower-50

I’m counting down Christmas by sharing some of my favourite holiday cookie recipes with you! I’ll be posting a different Christmas cookie recipe every day for the next seven days so you can follow along in my family’s baking tradition, and have more cookies to add to your Christmas baking arsenal! For more inspiration, you can check out more of my baking here. For even more recipe inspiration check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

 

 

Baking with B: Chocolate Banana Cookies

KBB_baking_chocolate_banana_cookiesYou guys, I have the solution for banana bread boredom- you know, when you use so many overripe bananas you start to get sick of baking with them? (I know right? How could you get sick of banana bread? Or these banana muffins.)

Enter the chocolate banana cookie, the cookie that tastes like chocolate cake, with just a hint of banana flavor. This cake-like cookie even has the stamp of approval from my co-worker Lucy who, to the best of my knowledge, has never consumed a piece of fruit. Like ever.

Try these! They’re easy and yummy and I promise you’ll never feel like you’re in a rut baking with bananas again.

Chocolate Banana Cookies (yields 60)

1 c. margarine or butter, softened

1 c. brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 c. mashed banana

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/2 c. milk chocolate chips (optional)

Cream margarine and brown sugar together in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well blended. Add banana. Beat well until mixed.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Gradually add to banana mixture until well blended.

If desired, add chocolate chips. (This is highly desired.) Stir until evenly distributed. Drop by level tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake in 350F oven for about 14 minutes.

Happy baking!

B

KBwB-Flower-50

Baking with B appears every other Monday on the Keeping Busy with B Blog. Find out why I like baking so much here. For more of my baking, click here. And for even more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

Baking with B: Double Trouble Chocolate Chip Cookies

Remember how Lucy’s cake was “chocolate chocolate”? Well, these cookies are like her cake’s little brothers- all cakey, and gooey and sprinkled throughout with melt-in-your-mouth-chocolatey-chip-goodness.

Why are they double the trouble, you ask? Because they disappear from your kitchen in double the amount of time of any cookie I have ever made, ever. That’s why after I popped them out of the oven, I grabbed a stack of cookies and a glass of milk and high-tailed it out of there. They may not even make it off of the cooling rack. Seriously. I barely had time to take this picture.

KBB_baking_double_chocolate_chip_cookiesDouble Trouble Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. butter

¾ c. brown sugar

¾ c. granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 ¼ c. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

2 c. chocolate chips

In large bowl, cream butter with both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. In smaller bowl, sift flour with cocoa and baking soda. Stir together well. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop batter by teaspoons onto greased and lightly floured or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake in preheated 375 oven 8-10 minutes. Cool on racks.

Happy baking!

B

KBwB-Flower-50

Baking with B appears every other Monday on the Keeping Busy with B Blog. Find out why I like baking so much here. For more of my baking, click here. And for even more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

 

Baking with B: Chocolate Chip Cookies

KBB_baking_chocolate_chip_cookiesI am notorious for making batches upon batches of these and then giving them away because I can’t stand to have all of these tasty cookies in my house just waiting to be eaten. I used to make them for parties and have enough left over for goody bags I would shove into my guests’ protesting hands. Christmastime inevitably involves giving away tins of these dipped in chocolate, or covered in almonds, or peppered with peanut butter chips. They’ve been used in care packages, at art shows, as housewarming presents and as going-away presents. It’s because they’re simply the best chocolate chip cookie ever, and I will seriously fight you on that. But my mouth will be full of cookies. Just saying.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (makes 30-34 cookies)

1 1/8 c. flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. brown sugar, plus some for garnish

1/2 c. white sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

½ c. chopped walnuts (optional)

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

In a medium-sized bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add vanilla and egg. Beat until creamy. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt. Add into wet ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Roll into teaspoon-sized dollops on a greased baking sheet. Bake your cookies at 350F for approximately 10 minutes, or 20 minutes for crispy cookies.

Happy baking!

B

KBwB-Flower-50

Baking with B appears every other Monday on the Keeping Busy with B Blog. Find out why I like baking so much here. For more of my baking, click here. And for even more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.