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Holiday Cookie Exchange

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Dec. ~ 2006 Feb.: Cooking Corner: Holiday Cookie Exchange users admin

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Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 8:02 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
This may be a bit late but...

A group of girlfriends gets together once a year for our annual cookie exchange. Every year, I try to make something new and a bit different. (This is also the party where I have to bring my spiced cranberry sauce over cream cheese!)

Sometimes I've tried to make cookies with a holiday orientation. I have a recipe for great peppermint cookies (little balls of peppermint dough with peppermint cream cheese icing, rolled in crushed peppermints). I've also made peppermint pinwheels. And sometimes I'll do something non-traditional, like Dutch Almond Thins or Orange Shortbread cookies.

This year... I'm a bit stumped. I had bought a new cookie press, but decided the cookie press needs a bit more practice to be perfect. Plus, the cookies are basically just butter cookies and although cute when they come out right, or just butter cookies.

So then I was going to make a new recipe for Rum Fruitcake Cookies. The recipe looks good and not too difficult. And makes more than enough cookies (we need to bring at least 3 doz cookies each).

Anyways... two questions:

1. Do you think rum fruitcakes cookies are a good idea? Or do too many people hate anything about fruitcakes? (Honestly, I love a good, dense, fruity fruitcake!)

2. Do you have any other suggestions? I need to make a run to the grocery store this afternoon anyways (for cream cheese for the appetizer), so it's not a big deal if I don't have the ingredients.

HELP! :-) (And thanks!)

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 8:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
there was an article recently about the love of fruitcake. costa, darling, you i'm afraid, are in the minority for that love.

how about shortbread? it can be cut out with cookie cutters in christmas shapes. or those butter cookies could be done with jam or a hershey's kiss in the center.


Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 8:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
count me in the "no fruitcake, please" group. Can' stand candied fruit. :-)

I have a recipe for cream cheese spritz cookies that is wonderful. The problem is, once you eat one of those cookies, you can't stop because they're so good! :-)

I'm making shortbread this year -- my ex's grandmother's recipe. Rather than go the cookie cutter route (takes too long), I scoop out balls of the doubh and use a small cookie press to flatten them. Puts a nice holiday impression on the cookies and goes quickly. :-)

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 8:47 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
what a great idea max of the cookie press! i hadn't thought of that! i have a shortbread pan that i press the dough in, and then you just cut the wedges. makes it look just like walkers!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 9:22 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Kids are decorating ginerbread men tonight. I cheated though and bought a kit with the cookies already made. Couple weeks I'll get the nieces and nephews over and we'll do our annual Christmas bake and crafts day. We do chocolate chip (not very christmasy) and Christmas sugar cookies which the kids decorate with frosting and sprinkles.

My granny used to make popcorn bowls. She'd take two big bowls and grease the outside, then make a popcorn ball (thats what they're called right?) recipe and spread it on the outside of the bowl. Then she'd make a bunch of popcorn balls and decorate with the red and green sprinkles, make fudge and cookies, wrap everything seperate and then peel off the popcorn from the bowls, fill them with all her goodies and then seal the two halves together. She'd wrap in red or green cellophane with a big bow and that was usually her gift to people outside the family or for Christmas parties. I don't remember that ever taking her too long, but she'd been doing it for so long she probably could have done it with her eyes closed.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 9:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Max! You wanna share your cream cheese spritz cookie recipe?

I did orange shortbreads last year, so kinda wanted to stay away from shortbread this year. (I hate to do the same thing twice in a row!)

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 9:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
P.S. I had thought of decorated cutouts (you know, sugar cookies with cookie cutters?). But I kinda want to do something that is a bit less labor intensive.

I may make two batches of cookies... the fruitcake ones and spritz cookies. I can color the dough green and use the tree cookie press.

BTW Max... didya mean cookie press or cookie stamp? (Cookie press is the extruding thing, cookie stamp is like a rubber stamp for cookies.)

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 9:57 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
costa, if you make the trees, don't forget the sugar sprinkles!

Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 10:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
Cookie stamp for the shortbread. :-)

Here's the spritz recipe. Got it from a friend back in the '80s and have been using it ever since! :-)

Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour

Blend together butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until soft and fluffy. Add flour and mix well.

Put dough in cookie press and spritz onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Decorate with colored sugar, slivered almonds, cherries, or whatever.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Cookies will be slightly brown around the edges.

Makes quite a few, but I've never written down how many! :-)

Holly
Member

06-19-2005

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 10:14 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Holly a private message Print Post    
Uuum, is a cookie press like the bag you use to squeeze icing out of? (not a baker! Or cook!)

Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 10:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
cookiepress
This is a cookie press. :-) This one is electric, you can also get the old-fashioned manual kind. :-)

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 10:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Mine is battery operated. And, honestly, they aren't as easy to use as they look! :-)

Thanks for the recipe Max! I'm gonna make those, tinted green for trees!

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 10:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
LOL, that doesn't look easy to use at all (though I'm usually a disaster in the kitchen anyways!) I could see me making a huge mess with something like that.

Holly
Member

06-19-2005

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 10:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Holly a private message Print Post    
Thanks Max. So do I NEED to use one for those Cream Cheese cookies or can I just spoon the batter out? (I'm seriously challenged when it comes to the kitchen.)

Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 12:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
You can spoon it out if you want to, Holly. It will flatten a bit, but not a lot. If you do that, you can put a depression in the middle and then add jam after they're baked or whatever you like. :-)

Jagger
Member

08-07-2002

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 1:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jagger a private message Print Post    
No hints or suggestions from me on cookies, I can't bake, but I sure can put them away once their baked. uuummmmmmm fresh baked cookies right out of the oven.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 2:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Holly, my cookie press includes about 16 different discs (for different shapes), plus a couple of nozzle tips (for making different types of decorations and fillings. It was on sale at Ace Hardware for ten bucks Thanksgiving weekend, so I succumbed to an urge and bought it.

Holly
Member

06-19-2005

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 3:31 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Holly a private message Print Post    
Gosh, Costa. That sounds WAY too complicated for me. Think I'll be sticking to the slice and bake kind :-)

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 09, 2005 - 4:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Actually, loading it is quite easy. Getting the danged cookie to come off the end of the press and look like it's s'posed to is the trick. I'm thinking it's probably because I always back cookies on parchment, and the dough didn't stick as well to the parchment (which would've forced it to come out of the extruding end easier).

I'd finally get it going right and get about a half dozen cookies spit out. Then it'd mess up. On the plus side, it's just the Play Do extruders... if you don't like what you see, you just put the dough back in and start over!

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 10:12 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Max!! Thank you SO much for the cream cheese spritz recipe! They are so much better than the ones I make! And they turned out awesome! I tinted the dough green, used little sprinkles and green sugar crystals, and my tree disc.

I also figured out how to use that danged cookie press. The secret is that you are supposed to use ungreased and NOT nonstick cookie sheets. But I always back cookies on parchment paper, and the cookied dough doesn't stick to the paper when using the press. Today, I ran a damp paper towel over the parchment before I started to press the cookies, et voila! Cookie dough stuck!

And I have perfectly darling little Xmas trees! To add to the platter of fruitcake cookies (which actually did turn out pretty good, too!).

Max
Moderator

08-12-2000

Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 11:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Max a private message Print Post    
Glad you like it Costa. I love those cookies, but I can't stop eating them once I start, so I have to make sure to give them away quickly if I make them!

We had a cookie extravaganza last night at my car club meeting. Everyone brought in goodies to share and we did a white elephant gift exchange. It was fun. I made shortbread for it, though, instead of the cream cheese spritz cookies. :-)

And yes, getting them to stick to the parchment or cookie sheet can be a challenge. I'll have to try the paper towel trick next time! My experience has been that the first batch always works well and then subsequent batches have more problems staying on the sheet instead of attached to the cookie press. The problem is, the dough is really good, too, so too many mistakes equals too much dough in the mouth! LOL

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 9:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
That's one reason why I use parchment... you have a clean slate each time. And I can press out cookies on a sheet of parchment and slide it onto a cookie sheet when it's ready to go.

Next time I do Xmas tree, I must remember to add a few drops of yellow to the green. The green color straight outta the bottle looks a bit blue-ish. Maybe like a blue-ish fir! :-)

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 9:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tishala a private message Print Post    
Nobody uses SilPat? Or do I only use it because I'm a baking idiot and it's a good crutch?

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Sunday, December 11, 2005 - 7:57 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Nah. I've used parchment for so many years, that it's just easier. And I use parchment for everything, including lining cake pans. Plus, it's easy to just throw away! :-)

Webchiq
Member

07-11-2005

Monday, December 12, 2005 - 4:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Webchiq a private message Print Post    
SilPat is the best, Tish, I've been baking for a long time and when SilPat came out, I was ecstatic. So easy to clean and the cookies come right off.

Sillycalimomma
Member

11-13-2003

Monday, December 12, 2005 - 7:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sillycalimomma a private message Print Post    
This is not a cookie-but oh my goodness it is the best thing to eat at the holiday times I tell you!

HARVEST LOAF


1 3/4 Cup sifted flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 cup butter unsalted and softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Combine flour, baking soda and spices in bowl. In seperate bowl cream butter. Gradually add sugar to butter then blend in eggs. Slowly add flour mixture. Once that is all mixed together add pumpkin then stir in chips.
place in greased 9x5 bread loaf pan
bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour-75 minutes (I have always gone the full 75 minutes)

let loaf completely cool and then top with icing

ICING

1 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1-2 tbsp cream or milk

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 6:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Yum, Silli. That does look good! I may have to try it!

Darrellh
Member

07-21-2004

Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 11:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Darrellh a private message Print Post    
Chocolate-Heath Bar Cookie Recipe from White Lace Inn

Ingredients
2 cups butter
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
4-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
7 cups Quaker Oats old-fashioned oatmeal
One 7-ounce Hershey milk chocolate candy bar, chopped into large pieces
6 Heath candy bars (chocolate and English toffee), chopped
1 cup nuts, optional

Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Set aside. Mix together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Fold this into butter mixture. Add this to the oatmeal, candy bars, and nuts (if using nuts). Make large cookies and bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes (note: it is best to under-bake a little). Also, you can use 1/2 butter and 1/2 margarine.

Makes: 4 dozen large cookies.

Darrellh
Member

07-21-2004

Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 11:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Darrellh a private message Print Post    
This recipe is from The Magnolia Bakery.

Peanut Butter Heath Bar Blondies

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 cups self-rising flour
Topping
1 cup peanut butter chips
3 tablespoons heavy cream
4 coarsely chopped Heath candy bars
1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts

24 bar cookies Change size or US/metric
Change to: bar cookies US Metric

1 hour 30 mins prep

Grease and flour a 18 x 12 inch jelly roll pan.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and peanut butter until fluffy.
Add in the sugar and beat until smooth.
Add in the eggs and vanilla; mix until well combined.
Add in the flour and beat until well mixed.
Evenly spread the batter into the jelly roll pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a pick comes out with moist crumbs attached.
Let cool to room temperature.
In a saucepan, melt the peanut butter chips and cream over medium heat, stirring until smooth.
Drizzle the mixture over the cooled blondies.
Sprinkle the chopped Heath bars and peanuts on top.
Let cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.