7 Days of Christmas Cookies: White Chocolate, Hazelnut and Cherry Coins

Psst- this post is in a series where I share my family’s tradition of baking seven different cookies every Christmastime. To save time and money, each cookie in this series is based on this basic vanilla cookie dough recipe.

Talking with my friends about the food that we were nostalgic for when we were young inspired this Christmas recipe. I don’t really maraschino cherries, but the idea of making a slightly-less sweet (but no less delicious) cookie version of a cherry blossom was the closest I could get to making my friends the real thing. (In fact, it was so much fun that I might end up making real cherry blossoms next time!) For those of you who don’t have a sweet tooth, not to fear- the nuttiness takes a little bit of the edge off.

White Chocolate, Hazelnut and Cherry Coins (yields 10 dozen)

1/3 c. finely crushed hazelnuts

1/3 c. finely chopped white chocolate

1/3 c. whole maraschino cherries

one batch of this vanilla cookie dough (include the baking powder this time!)

Prepare the vanilla cookie dough by following the instructions here. In a separate bowl, mix together nuts and white chocolate. Incorporate into cookie dough until fully mixed. Divide  dough into four logs, about 5 inches each. Set two aside. With the remaining two, make a trench down the middle of the log using your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon. Carefully line with whole maraschino cherries, taking care not to leave too many gaps, but not cramming them so close together that they’ll squish. Cover each cherry log with the other plain cookie dough log and carefully mold the two together, taking care to make sure the dough fully conceals the cherries. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate on a flat surface (like a cookie sheet) until very firm, approximately two hours.

Once dough is set, remove from fridge and unwrap plastic wrap. (Reshape the log if it’s looking a little sad.) Using a clean, sharp knife, slice your log into diagonal pieces, approximately 1/8-inch thick. If you go slowly and carefully enough, each of your cookies should have a slice of cherry in the middle! Place on a cookie sheet approximately 1/2-inch apart. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F on a parchment-lined cookie sheet until firm, approximately 12-14 minutes.

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 Treats: Chocolate Roll

 

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Take it from me- there is no way that you can mess this recipe up. It feels like taking everything that tastes sweet and good in your pantry and throwing it all into one fudgey slice of a cookie. The sheer amount of stuff in it makes it tricky to roll-putting it together just feels like throwing lumps of dough onto a pan- but once you’ve molded it into a nice shape, it looks pretty no matter what. I bet this would be a blast to make with kids.

Chocolate Roll (makes approximately 24 slices)

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp butter or margarine

1 egg, beaten

1 c. icing sugar

1 1/2 c. small colored marshmallows

1/2 c. maraschino cherries, well-drained and quartered

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

coconut for topping

Melt chips and butter in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Add beaten egg, icing sugar, marshmallows, cherries and walnuts. Stir to mix. Cool if very warm. Form mixture into a roll. Sprinkle some coconut over countertop, in space big enough to move around to coat with coconut. Wrap in either wax paper or plastic wrap. Chill well before attempting to slice. Slice thinly with clean, sharp knife.

B’s Tip: I ended up using glaçe cherries instead of maraschino cherries and they ended up working just as well because of their ooey-gooey sweetness.

Happy baking!

B

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Last year I counted down to Christmas by baking seven different types of Christmas cookies as per my favorite Swedish holiday tradition. This year I’m making it a thing, and sharing seven more delicious recipes with you. 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.