Holiday treats incorporate peppermint, cranberries and more
With just two weekends left before the holidays, the baking
continued in my kitchen this weekend. I made the mistake of
flipping through a few cooking magazines we have around the house,
all filled with ideas for holiday sweets. It made it nearly
impossible to decide which cookies and treats to make this
weekend.
Holiday treats incorporate peppermint, cranberries and more
With just two weekends left before the holidays, the baking continued in my kitchen this weekend. I made the mistake of flipping through a few cooking magazines we have around the house, all filled with ideas for holiday sweets. It made it nearly impossible to decide which cookies and treats to make this weekend.
We had the main ingredients for most of the recipes since we stocked up on flour, sugar, and other baking essentials such as baking soda and baking powder when we started working on our baked goods for our holiday gift baskets bake at the end of November. We just needed to pick up a few extras such as white chocolate chips, cranberries, peppermint candy canes and espresso powder – not all for the same recipe, of course.
In light of the holiday season, we picked a few festive recipes including one for candy cane cookies that incorporates peppermint extract, some that are sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies and another that mixes in dried cranberries. We also made a Mexican mocha cookie that uses the espresso powder and is covered with a sweet Kahlúa-flavored frosting (which we found a bit too sweet for our taste, but which others might like).
We also had a few other cookies on the list but after making four different kinds of cookies, we opted to save the rest of the baking for next weekend.
Oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies
Recipe courtesy of Ocean Spray
2/3 c. butter or margarine, softened
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ c. old-fashioned oats
1 ½ c. flour
½ tsp. Baking soda
1 /2 tsp salt
1 6-oz. package of dried cranberries (Ocean Spray craisins)
2/3 c. white chocolate chunks or chips
Preheat oven to 375. Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 min. or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 2 ½ dozen.
White peppermint snowballs
Recipe courtesy of Sandra Lee
1 package (18-oz.) refrigerated sugar cookie dough, room temperature (recommended: Pillsbury)
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (recommended: McCormick)
1/3 c. crushed peppermint candies, plus more for garnishing
1 c. powdered sugar, divided
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut the cookie dough into eight pieces. In bowl of electric mixer, on medium speed thoroughly combine the dough pieces, peppermint extract, 1/3 c. crushed peppermint candies, and 1/2 c. of the powdered sugar.
Roll the dough into 1-inch diameter balls. Arrange, two inches apart, on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake until set, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on cooling racks.
Add 1/2 cup of the remaining powdered sugar to a small bowl. While the cookies are still warm, roll them in the sugar. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies and serve.
As the cookies cool, they will flatten slightly. Makes about two dozen cookies.
Peppermint Candy Cane Twists
1 package (18-ounce) refrigerated sugar cookie dough, room temperature (recommended: Pillsbury)
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (recommended: McCormick)
1/2 tsp. red food coloring
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Cut the roll of cookie dough in half. Put the halves in separate large mixing bowls. In 1 bowl, thoroughly mix 1/4 c. of the flour and the peppermint extract into cookie dough.
In the second bowl, add the remaining 1/4 c. flour and enough food coloring to make a red dough. Mix well with gloved hands until the color is well blended.
Divide the white and red dough into 24 pieces each, (for a total of 48 pieces). Roll each piece into a rope 8 inches long and about 1/4-inch in diameter.
To shape candy canes, arrange 1 rope of each color side by side on parchment lined cookie sheets. Gently twist together and shape into a candy cane. Repeat with the remaining pieces, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are very lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest, about 5 minutes, before transferring the cookies to racks. Gently remove them from the cookie sheets with a long metal spatula and cool on cooling racks. Makes about two dozen cookies.
Mexican mocha cookies
Recipe courtesy of ‘Something Extra’
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. instant espresso powder (near the canned coffee)
1½ tsp. cinnamon
3 ¹/³ c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 c. milk chocolate chips
Kahlúa Icing:
1/2 c. softened butter
5 c. powdered sugar
5 tbsp. Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream together butter and sugars, then beat in eggs, espresso powder and cinnamon. Add flour, baking soda and salt, stirring until just combined; stir in chocolate chips. Place heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until slightly soft in the center. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. When completely cool, frost with Kahlúa icing.
Kahlúa Icing: Beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 5 cups powdered sugar and about 5 tbsp. Kahlúa or other coffee liqueur until smooth. (Reserve any additional icing for another use.)
