Alfajores

From Food52 - I needed a way to use a can of dulce de leche - and this was it ...
and they can be frozen!

100 g butter - room temperature

40 g powdered sugar

75 g cornstarch

75 g flour

about 4 tablespoons dulce de leche

Cream the soft butter together with the powdered sugar until the mixture is fluffy. If your butter is very soft already, this should take no more than a couple of minutes with a handheld mixer.

1. Whisk together the cornstarch and the all-purpose flour, then combine it with the butter and sugar using a large wooden spoon until the dough starts coming together into a ball.
2.  Line a sheet pan with non stick foil or parchment paper. Place the disk of dough on a floured surface, or between two sheets of wax paper, then carefully roll the dough out to a thickness of no more than 5 millimeters (less than 1/4 inch - I did about 1/4 inch).
3. Using a 5 centimeter (2 inch - I used a one inch) round cookie cutter, cut out 24 cookies (you will have to re-roll the dough a couple of times to do this), and place the dough circles on the prepared sheet pan, leaving about 1 centimeter (about 1/2 inch - they don't spread - so don't worry about spacing) of space between the cookies.
Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C) and place the sheet pan in the fridge for approximately 10 minutes, so that the cookies can firm up.
1. Bake them for 12 minutes, or until they’re just starting to color around the edges. Lift the cookies onto a cooling rack and leave them to cool.
2. Once they’re at room temperature, top half of the cookies with dulce de leche, using about 1 teaspoon on each one. Then sandwich those cookies with the plain ones. As you press the cookies together, carefully rotate the two cookies in opposite directions, which will help spread the dulce de leche all the way to the edge of the cookies.                
3. I dusted them with powdered sugar, or you could roll the edges in flaked coconut

Rugelach

These are really addictive - but they freeze well, which slows me down. Pat, this was your recipe - so if I've got anything wrong - let us know!

The fillings are each for an entire recipe - so if you're making various kinds you'll have to adjust. The fillings and amounts are just guidelines - not set in stone. If you devise some new filling you like, please post it ....


Dough

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 brick (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

Fillings

Apricot/Almond

• 2/3 cup apricot jam
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons almonds, toasted and finely chopped

Cinnamon/Walnut

• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 5 oz walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
• 3/4 c Currants

 Raspberry/Chocolate

• 2/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons almonds, toasted and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate  or mini chocolate chips

Glaze

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon water

First make the dough.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together until they are light and fluffy (a few minutes).  In a medium bowl, combine the dry dough ingredients, then pour flour mixture into the creamed butter mixture.  Beat on low speed until the flour just disappears.  Scrape the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap/wax paper and shape into 3 disks. Wrap well in plastic/wax paper and chill in the fridge for two hours (or up to three days).

While the dough is chilling, prep the fillings and prepare the baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or non stick foil.  Heat the jam just enough so that it loosens up a bit (I cheated and used the microwave for this step-worked just fine.)  Organize your fillings into four small containers- it will make the assembly a breeze.

Next, assemble the rugelach.  Take your chilled dough - Work with one third at time, and keep the others chilling in the fridge.) Roll the dough into a large, thin circle (about 12 inches in diameter).  The circle does not need to be perfect; this is intended to be a rustic dessert.  Spread 2-3 tablespoons of jam thinly (or butter for cinnamon/walnut version) over your dough.  Then, sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of the cinnamon sugar, 2 tablespoons chopped chocolate, and 1 heaping tablespoon chopped almonds/walnuts.  Use a piece of waxed paper to gently press the toppings into the dough to help reduce excess spillage.  Use a sharp knife/pizza cutter to cut the circle into 12 wedges.  Roll each wedge tightly from the outside to the center- keep the pointed end of each rugelach tucked underneath- and space them 1 inch apart on your baking sheets.  Pop the tray into the freezer/fridge for 15 minutes before baking.

While the dough rests in the freezer, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Repeat the rugelach assembly with the remaining dough.  Before baking, brush the rugelach with the egg wash.  Bake rugelach for 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.  Transfer the rugelach to cooling racks while they are still hot (this will prevent them from sticking to the parchment paper). 

Mincemeat Cookies

I love mincemeat - or maybe I just love the idea of mincemeat - I remember mince pies from my great grandmother, but even though I don't really like mince pie - I can't resist buying a jar of mincemeat at Christmas ...

These are nice soft cookies with lots of raisins and apples - nothing special, just really nice cookies. The original recipe was from Taste of Home, I didn't change much - just added some brandy to the mincemeat - these are really quite sweet, so I didn't frost them.


1 cup softened butter (if you use unsalted butter - add 1/4 tsp salt to recipe)

1.5 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 jar (about 29 oz) mincemeat

3.75 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp brandy (optional - to add to mince meat))

1 cup chopped, toasted nuts (walnuts or pecans)


In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add mincemeat; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart on to greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 14-16 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.(You don't need wire racks -just stick them on something clean)

Almond Madeleines

 I found this recipe at the Odense page, and pretty much followed it exactly - well except for slathering them with melted dark chocolate. I had tried another recipe using ground almonds, but it just wasn't right

1-7 oz box almond paste or 8 oz can. grated
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar or dark chocolate chips

Madeleine pan

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour a madeleine pan or just spray with that spray stuff.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat Almond Paste, butter and sugar until smooth.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each.  Beat on high for 5 minutes or until mixture is thick and pale colored.  Beat in extract. 
4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt (if you use salted butter, don't add more salt) together.  Pour flour mixture into almond mixture a third at a time, folding gently until incorporated.
5. Spoon one tablespoon batter into each mold. Bake 11-13 minutes until light golden and top springs back when pressed. 
6. Cool pan on wire rack for a few minutes and gently unmold.  Cool cookies on wire rack and dust with powdered sugar.  Repeat steps 5-6 until all batter has been used.

What I did differently was to freeze them plain, then when they were defrosted, melt some dark chocolate chips and coat the wide ends with the chocolate.

Made a batch with chocolate almond paste!

2020 - baked at 350f for 12 minutes

Christmas Crack

These sound kinda stupid - but they are scrumptious! I changed the recipe a little - I kinda burnt my first batch this year (my oven seems to be running hot) so I lowered the temperature and cooked them for a shorter time


Saltine Crackers
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 cup chocolate chips
1-2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

 Line a 17x12 inch Jelly roll pan with heavy duty foil and butter foil. Place saltine crackers side by side on entire cookie sheet, salt side up. 

 Combine sugar and butter in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil and boil for three minutes; pour over saltines and bake for 5 mins and check to see if everything is bubbling - it may need a minute more - my oven is running hot .... Immediately, sprinkle chips evenly. 

 When the chips have melted, smooth with a knife and sprinkle with chopped nuts. If the chips don't melt, shove them back in the oven for another minute. Refrigerate. 

 When completely chilled, break into pieces.

These can be frozen to avoid eating all before Christmas - but unfortunately they defrost quickly and taste really good even when still frozen ...

Rainbow Cookies

These look hard, but they aren't, and they taste just like the ones we used to get in NYC bakeries!

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 7 or 8-oz almond paste
• 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 25 drops red food coloring
• 25 drops green food coloring
• Jar apricot, raspberry or strawberry jam
• 7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

 (This sounds impressive, but I really just use Nestle's chocolate chips ..)


Butter a 13- by 9-inch baking pan and line bottom with wax paper, then butter paper.

Heat oven to 350F.

Grate the almond paste.

Beat together almond paste and sugar until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add butter and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add eggs and almond extract and beat until combined well, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to low, then add flour and mix until just combined.

Divide batter among 3 bowls. Stir red food coloring into one and green food coloring into another, leaving the third batch plain. (about 1.5 cups each)

Bake red batter for 8 minutes, better to under bake it!

Spread jam on red layer - a Very thin layer - bake white layer the same way

Place white layer on red layer, spread with jam, bake green layer

Place green layer on white layer, let cool

Weight with baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 3 hours

Melt chocolate and spread over top, let set at room temperature.

Cut into bars - freezes well! ( so as not to eat them all before Christmas). These are hard to cut up because if when the chocolate hardens it has a tendency to crack - I use a serrated blade and kind of saw through the chocolate first and then press to cut.

Chocolate Ganache

This is one of those terribly useful recipes that is also extremely simple. It is merely a mixture of hot cream and chocolate. You can pour it over cake for a nice chocolate frosting, cool it and roll into truffles, or spread it between cookies to make Chocolate Filled Cookies That Don't Suck! - which is what I am going to use it for this year. (Actually, ganache is French for idiot. The story is that a chef called an assistant a ganache when he dumped hot cream into a bowl of chocolate. NYT Dec 2007 ... although I think the idiot reference is more likely because it is just so simple to make).

7/8 cup heavy cream

8 ounces semi sweet chocolate (or any other kind of chocolate, but then use about 3/4 cup cream)

Heat cream until it steams, pour over chocolate and stir until it melts. Or add the chocolate to the cream, either way is ok.

If making truffles or as a filling, refrigerate for a couple of hours until it hardens.

Plum Pudding

Why go to the trouble of making Plum Pudding? It calls for innumerable ingredients - takes about 5 days from start to finish ... Tradition!!! And besides that, it's good ...

I haven't made it in a very long time and couldn't remember the recipe your great great grandmother used - but this is as close as to the original as I can remember. I'll make some adjustments as I go along with testing this recipe ...

So .... on the last Sunday before Advent  -


“Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of Thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

10 eggs (5 eggs)

1 (1/2) cup white flour

4 (2) teaspoon cinnamon

1(1/2) teaspoons allspice

0.5 (0.25) teaspoons nutmeg

1 (1/2) teaspoon cloves

1 grated apple

1 (1/2) pound brown sugar (I used Dark)

1 pear, peeled and grated (left out for 1 pudding)

Rind and juice of an orange and a lemon

3 (1.5) pounds raisins,(4 12 oz boxes) use some currants, some yellow, some sultanas. The more variety in fruits, the better the pudding. In this version, I used some dried blueberries, apricots, and dates as well

8 (4) ounces candied cherries or natural dried cherries (or a mixture of both)

24 (12) ounces bread crumbs - fresh bread crumbs - grate 1.5 pounds bread!

12 (6) ounces whatever - dried cherries, blueberries, apricots, dates ....

Christian Brothers Brandy

Guinness

1 (1/2) pound lard or finely minced suet if preferred (I used lard rather than suet - because I couldn't find any suet and it seemed lard was the fat with the highest melting point)

2014 Update - I am now using half unsalted butter and half lard - a bit richer taste)

I don't have any measure for the Guinness because some fresh breadcrumbs and even some of the fruit can be drier than others - make sure to have at least 24 oz on hand so you don't have to run out for more ,,,

Steaming for 12 hours is just a kind of estimate - it could take from 6 - 12 hours. When you have it all mixed up and ready to go, it will be a brownish color - when it is done the pudding will be almost black. So when it changes color and bounces back when you poke it - it's done!!

Why does it get blackish? Leprechauns .... or caramelization of the sugars ....

*** 68 oz of dried fruit/4.25 lbs.

Mix all the fruits with 1/3 cup brandy and let it all sit overnight. Add another 1/3 cup brandy the next day, and another 1/3 on the next morning.

Freeze the lard and grate into the breadcrumbs and flour, add sugar and spices and mix. In a separate bowl mix the eggs. When the eggs have been well stirred, add them to the bowl with the dry ingredients - then add the fruits. Mix all together very well. Add 1 cup Guiness. The batter should be a bit loose, thicker than a cake mix, thinner than bread dough. If it’s dry like bread dough, add more Guinness. Your great great grandmother would grease a big square of unbleached muslin and pour the pudding into this, tying off the top with string. Heat-proof bowls are a good substitute for the cloth bag method...and much easier. Grease the bowl with butter, and fill to within an inch or so of the bowl rim and use a lid for steaming. Sealing the top of the bowl with foil will work if there is no lid for the bowl. Fill the pot in which you are steaming the pudding to about an inch below the top of the pudding bowl and gently boil for at least 12 hours. Depending on the size of the bowls used, you should get 2 puddings.

When the pudding has cooled, remove it from the bowl ( According to Grandma - her grandmother always said a Hail Mary before attempting this  - so it wouldn't crack when she was getting the pudding out, So far it's worked for me - but I also ask for a bit of help from your great great grandmother as well), dribble brandy (or any other whiskey-type stuff) over the top of it, letting as much sink in as possible. Seal the pudding in plastic wrap or in muslin or cheesecloth and then plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. (Don’t let the aluminum touch the pudding as there is a reaction that dulls the foil and I suspect this is not good for the pudding or the people eating it.)

Let it sit for as long as possible before serving. Three or four months is not too long. Occasionally dribble the pudding with a shot of the spirit of your choice: brandy, whiskey, bourbon, etc.

The pudding should be steamed again for an hour before serving. Remove the wrapping, return the pudding to the original bowl, and steam again for an hour. Turn it out on a heat-proof serving plate and proceed to the lighting process that follows the brandy butter recipe.

Brandy Butter (Hard Sauce)

1 stick butter, unsalted
1.5 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tsps brandy (or whiskey, Irish or otherwise)

Soften butter. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until it’s fluffy. Slowly add an equal amount or more of confectioner’s sugar. You will see that the mixture changes texture. Slowly add the brandy after this textural change in the sugar/butter blend. Beat further until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Spoon the brandy butter into serving dishes and chill until firm.
I added a little bit of grated orange peel and a dash of nutmeg (2013).
Garnish everything with Holly if you have it.

To light the plum pudding, sprinkle a little sugar over the pudding and pour a generous cup of warm Christian Brothers Brandy on top. It should light pretty easily and the blue flames will creep up the sides.

Douse the lights in the dining room to bring in the pudding to the acclaim of all at the table. Don’t be disappointed if the flame is out quickly. That’s how it goes - there were some years we could't get it to light at all - but it still tastes the same ...

Stollen

Stollen is another Christmas tradition - it is what I eat when half awake on Christmas morning with butter and lots of coffee - it keeps me awake while everyone opens presents at some ungodly hour ...



2 envelope yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water (105°F)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 cup milk, scalded

5 to 6 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup raisins or 2 cups raisins, apricots, whatever ..

1/2 cup walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water with sugar.

Let it proof for about 5 minutes

Stir butter into scalded milk; cool to lukewarm

Add milk mixture, 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and eggs to dissolved yeast

Stir until dough is smooth

Add flour to make a soft dough

Knead until dough is elastic

Place in a greased bowl and let rise until double

Divide dough in two and knead in raisins and nuts

Divide each half into three parts and braid

Cover and let rise again

Brush with beaten egg wash

Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes

Brush with melted butter and sift powdered sugar all over

12/19/07 I never make anything the same way twice ...

This time I added the fruits with the milk and eggs - and I used 2 cups of fruit instead of one

Plain Old Christmas Cookies

These are what I like in those "generic" Christmas cookies - the ones rolled and cut out with cookie cutters and decorated with all kinds of gaudy stuff - I think they should be sandy ( what the French call "sable") in texture, with lots of buttery taste. I suppose some people like cookies that are pale and soft - soft is good for chocolate chip cookies, not these - but hard is not the aim either - they should be, well - sandy ...

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 cup (packed) brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Various Decorations - Cinnamon and sugar, colored sugars, ground nuts ...


Beat butter and sugar together

Add egg and vanilla ( the vanilla can be left out if you want to save money and use some other spice) and mix well.

Add flour, salt ( if you are using salted butter, you need only a pinch of salt), baking powder, and nutmeg (you could substitute cinnamon or allspice - actually, I only used about 1/8 tsp nutmeg - I don't think here more is better - a little spice goes a long way) in two batches. It will be a bit crumbly - kinda like pie dough.

Divide dough into 2 and knead about 5 or 6 times - shaping into a flat disk - place in plastic bag and refrigerate for about 3 hours - repeat with second half. Actually, wax paper is what I usually use to wrap the dough, it's rather under rated these days - but it's good for lots of things, including being microwaveable and cheap.

Take the dough out while the oven heats to 350F. Roll about 1/8 inch thick - this is not Rocket Science - no rulers are necessary!

Cut with small cookie cutters - I don't think these are as good as big cookies - but if you do make various sizes, do them in separate batches so the cooking time will be the same for all the cookies on one sheet.

Place cookies on parchment lined sheet - theses don't spread, so they can be close together. With a pastry brush (or your fingers), glaze the cookies with beaten egg ( this is an extra egg - for glue and to make them shiny- I know it's not listed above in the ingredients, but I often forget to add this glazing egg to recipes ...). The decorate with whatever you like, and then place cookie sheet in the freezer for about 5 minutes.

Bake for about 10 minutes and then remove and let cool.

Raspberry Filled Cookies That Suck (AKA Linzer Cookies)

They don't suck!

This are my favorite Christmas cookies - they were renamed too many years ago to count by Chris - who was more enamored of peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies than my latest triumph - but I persisted. Even after all these years, none of my children like them - but this fact deters me not in the least! Every Christmas I make them without fail ...
After all, the true meaning of Christmas is Hope.

8 ounces almonds

1/2 cup cornstarch

1.5 cups ( 3 sticks) butter

1.5 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

0.25 teaspoons salt

1 egg

2.75 cups flour

0.75 cups seedless raspberry jam

Extra powdered sugar for dusting cookies



Grind nuts in coffee grinder or food processor with the cornstarch

In another bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy

Beat in vanilla, egg, and salt

Gradually mix in nuts and flour

Mix until just blended

Divide the sticky dough into four equal disks ( you can use a bit more flour as you shape these)

Wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours

Preheat oven to 325F

Let dough warm while the oven heats if it is too stiff

Roll out on flour covered counter and cut into rounds - use something small - like a decorative sugar top - to cut out the centers of half the cookies. It's actually much easier to roll them out between two sheets of wax paper, less mess!

Place on a parchment covered sheet and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Bake for about 15 minutes (always check a few minutes early) about one inch apart.

When cookies are cool, spread jam on bottom half of cookies and place a cutout top on each one. With a small strainer, sift powdered sugar over the cookies.

These can be frozen, but it's probably best to freeze them plain and defrost assemble them just before serving - because they might get soggy and you'll have to resift more sugar over the top ...

This year (2012) I used almond meal instead of grinding up the almonds myself - it saved time and they turned out just as good!

Oatmeal Cookies

It's almost Christmas and that means lots of cookies and stollen. Oatmeal cookies are a good "cookie filler" - they are easy to make and make lots - so you don't have to make multiple batches of more difficult, intricate cookies and it still looks as if you've done more work than you actually did ... well, they taste good too! This recipe was lifted from the lid of a Quaker Oats box, with modifications - I like it because it actually has lots of oats - some oatmeal cookies really have very little oats in them ( I suppose this was a marketing ploy by Quaker, but they are really the best I've had as well).

1 cup(2 sticks) butter - softened - have used half lard/half butter - nice texture!

1.5 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1.5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

0.5 teaspoons salt

3 cups oatmeal

2.5 cup raisins - or a 1.5 cup mix of raisins, dried apricots, 1 cup nuts and chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F

Beat sugar and butter together

Add eggs, beat well

Add flour, cinnamon and salt, mix

Add oats and raisins and what ever else you like; mix well

Drop by rounded tablespoons on greased cookie sheet

As with most cookies, put in freezer for a bit before baking

Bake 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown - don't overcook!

Let rest 1 minute and then remove from cookie sheet to cool