Kristen's Recipes

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

 

Chocolate Dough:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

1/3 cup natural cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Cocoa Powder)

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

 

Decorations:

½ cup white chocolate chips

½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips

 

To prepare vanilla dough: Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until fluffy and smooth, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.  In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, using a spoon or an electric mixer with a paddle attachment to form stiff dough. Set aside. To prepare the chocolate dough: In a second large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar using an electric mixer to beat until fluffy and smooth, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, using a spoon or an electric mixer with a paddle attachment to form stiff dough. Preparation for baking: Cover both batches of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours or until firm enough to shape. Divide each batch of dough in half. Shape each half of the vanilla dough in a log with a 1 ½ inch diameter and 8 to 9 inches long. Roll it in a piece of wax paper on the counter will help make it smooth. Using your thumbs, make an indention along one long side of the long to create an apostrophe shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Repeat the process with the chocolate dough. Remove vanilla dough from refrigerator and unwrap one piece. Invert vanilla dough into one of the chocolate ones to create a round, interlocking yin-yang log. Roll a few times to ensure they adhere. Repeat the process with the remaining logs. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to overnight. The dough can also be frozen. Baking: When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a serrated knife, cut the cookie dough into 1/4 –inch thick disks and arrange them about 1 ½ inches apart on the pan. Invert one white chocolate chip in the chocolate half of each cookie and a chocolate chip in the vanilla half. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cookies have spread, puffed, and begun to brown around the edges. Let them cool on the pans 5 to 10 minutes Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in airtight container at room temp for up to a week or freeze up to one month.

 

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1 C. packed light brown sugar

1/4 C. honey

1/4 C. unsulfured molasses

1 large egg

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

1/2 C. dark raisins

2 T. coarsely chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

1 3/4 C. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

Confectioners’ sugar, for glaze

 

Toast the almonds in a medium-size nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 6 minutes and set them aside.  With an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together the brown sugar, honey, molasses, egg, and orange zest in a mixing bowl until smooth.  Combine the almonds, raisins, and crystallized ginger, if you’re using it (for extra zip), in a food processor. Pulse repeatedly to finely chop the mixture. (You can also finely chop the ingredients by hand.) Stir the nut mixture into the sugar mixture.  Sift the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt into a separate medium-size bowl. Then stir the dry mixture into the liquid a third at a time, stirring well after each addition. The dough will be quite dense and sticky.  Scrape the dough onto a well-floured 3-foot-long sheet of plastic wrap. Generously flour the dough. Then, using floured hands, knead the dough several times to smooth it. Flatten the dough into a 1-inch-thick square and wrap it in the plastic. Slide the dough into a plastic bag or wrap it in aluminum foil and chill it until firm, several hours or overnight.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet (preferably not a dark one) with parchment or lightly greased aluminum foil. Set the sheet aside. Transfer the dough to a generously floured sheet of waxed paper and roll it into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle or square. Cut the dough into cookies that measure about 2 inches square.  Transfer the squares to the baking sheet, spacing them about an inch apart. Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for 12 to 13 minutes, 1 sheet at a time. When done, the cookies will have formed a crust, but they should still feel soft to the touch. (Tip: The cookies stay chewier if you bake them less and put them in an airtight container while they’re still slightly warm. If your family prefers a crisper cookie, just bake them a little longer and let them cool completely before you store them.) Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and, while they are still quite warm, dredge them in confectioners’ sugar. When they’ve cooled completely, dredge them once more. Makes about 18 to 24 cookies.

 

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1 C. butter

1/2 C. sugar

1 egg

12 drops red food coloring

3/4 tsp. peppermint extract

2 C. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 T. chocolate syrup

 

Cream 3/4 C. butter and sugar together. Beat in egg with food coloring and peppermint extract. Combine 1 3/4 C. flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Stir into creamed mixture.  Chill 2 hours. Meanwhile, combine remaining butter, flour and syrup. Spoon into pastry bag with small round tip. Shape pink dough into 3/4″ balls; place on baking sheets; flatten to 1-1/2″ dia.; pipe chocolate mixture on cookies in simple holiday designs like stars, snowflakes or trees. Bake at 375º for 5-7 minutes. For variety, garnish some of the cookies with crushed peppermint candy.

 

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1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

5 ounces sugar

1 pinch salt

1 pinch nutmeg

Sugar, for dusting

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, Rub the butter into the flour. In a small bowl, beat the egg with half of the sugar, add the egg mixture and the remaining sugar to the butter and flour mixture. Add the salt and nutmeg and mix well. Roll the dough between the palms of your hands to form 18 pieces the size of a walnut; moisten your hands or flour them for rolling the dough. Sprinkle dough pieces lightly with sugar and place 2-3 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with buttered craft paper.  Bake until very lightly browned around the edges and on the bottoms, about 8 minutes. (The tops should be done but not browned.)  Remove from oven; transfer to wire rack. Cool completely, then store in airtight container.

 

 

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2 eggs

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. canola oil

1 t. almond extract

1 1/4 t. baking powder

1 t. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

2 c. flour

1 c. toasted blanched almonds, coarsely chopped

Combine all ingredients except almonds and stir until a dough forms.  Add almonds to combine.  Divide into 2 logs, 2 inches in diameter on baking sheet.  Bake at 350 until firm to the touch, approx. 30 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes and then slice into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake an additional 10 minutes.  Turn them over to brown the other cut side and bake a final 10 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.  Optional:  Melt chocolate chips over a double boiler and add 1 t. oil to chocolate.  Spread melted chocolate on bottom of biscotti and return to wire rack to dry.

2oz caster sugar

6oz plain flour

Pinch of salt

a few drops of vanilla essence

 

For the icing:

6oz icing sugar sifted

½ T. lemon juice or water

 

For the decoration:

Small tubes red, yellow, green and black writing icing (available in most supermarkets)

Mini colored sugar balls used for cake decoration for the eyes

 

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Beat the butter and sugar together either by hand with a wooden spoon or in an electric mixer at low speed until thoroughly mixed. Sift together the flour and salt and mix this into the butter mixture together with a few drops of vanilla essence to form a fairly stiff dough. If the dough is too dry add a little water. The beauty of this dough is that you don t need to leave it in the fridge to firm up but can use it straight away.  Form the dough into a ball using your hands, then roll out thinly on a floured work surface using a rolling pin dusted with flour. Cut into heart shapes using biscuit cutters. Collect all the trimmings together and roll these out again to make more biscuits. Arrange on greased or lined baking sheets and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits are lightly golden.  To make the icing, put the icing sugar in a bowl with enough lemon juice or water to make a good spreading consistency. Spread the icing onto the cooled biscuits with a small palette knife. When set decorate each cookie to look like a face using the tubes of writing icing and sugar balls for eyes.

 

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4 C. all-purpose flour
1 C. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 C. vegetable shortening
1/2 C. flaked coconut
1 C. granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla or rum extract

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium sixed bowl, combine flour, salt, soda and powder. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, pineapple and vanilla; beat thoroughly. Gradually add the flour mixture by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of coconut. Bake 12 to 15 minutes.