Man, you would think that all we've been eating lately is desserts based on my recent posts! I'm still catching up on all of the holiday goodies I made, so I'll be continuing the trend for now.
Per usual, we spent days negotiating and scheduling to find a way to spend time with our many families here in town (Colin's mom and stepdad, my mom and stepdad, and my dad) for Christmas. I decided to bring a tin with a variety of cookies to each of our parents and came up with several tasty ones. I wanted the cookies to be a little something different--a standard chocolate chip just wouldn't do! Here are the ones I went with (even though there are so many yummy cookie options out there I could barely narrow it down!):
Macadamia Butter Cookies
2/3 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 375. Place nuts in a food processor; process until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping sides of bowl once. Combine macadamia butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until combined (mixture will be very thick). Stir in cranberries. Chill 10 minutes. Divide chilled dough into 30 equal portions into a ball. Place 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in a small bowl. Lightly press each ball into sugar; place each ball, sugar side up, on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Gently press the top of each cookie with a fork. Dip fork in water; gently press top of each cookie again to make a criss-cross pattern. Place 15 cookies on each of 2 baking sheets. Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time for 9 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pan; cool on a wire rack. Repeat procedure with remaining cookies. Yield: 30 cookies
Source: Cooking Light
Mexican Chocolate Cookies
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao), coarsely chopped
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of black pepper
Dash of ground red pepper
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Place chocolate in a small glass bowl; microwave on high 1 minute or until almost melted, stirring until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through ground red pepper); still well with a whisk. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat well. Add cooled chocolate and vanilla; beat just until blended. Add flour mixture; beat just until blended. Drop dough by level tablespoons 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 35o for 10 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven. Cool on pans 2 minutes or until set. Remove from pans; cool completely on a wire rack. Yield: 32 cookies
Source: Cooking Light
Spicy Oatmeal Crisps
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg (I just used ground nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional)
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl. Place sugar, butter and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffly. Add egg; beat well. Stir in flour mixture and oats. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake for 12 minutes or until crisp. Cool on pans 2-3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks. Yield: 24 cookies
Source: Cooking Light
Festive Peanut Butter Blossoms
1 pouch Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie dough mix
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
Sugar
36 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped
Holiday sprinkles
Heat oven to 375. In a medium bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water and egg until dough forms. Shape dough into 36 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately press 1 kiss in center of each cookie. Add sprinkles or additional decorations as desired. Remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely, about 20 minues. Yield: 36 cookies
Source: Bettycrocker.com
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