Hi everyone,

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The Christmas cookie-baking marathon continues and here is part B. This year I have included some of the traditional favorites along with adding some new cookies to the roster.

The majority of my Christmas Cookie recipes are in the files, so I will provide the link to the old cookies and supply the recipe for the new cookies for 2022. Stand by for additional posts, I am not done yet.

So far I prepared the following…..

Saltine Chocolate Brittle or Christmas Crack

Always a favorite addition of salty and sweet for a quick bite and is very easy to prepare.

Here is the link to the recipe: https://dishingwithdiane.com/2020/12/13/saltine-chocolate-brittle-aka-christmas-crack/

Cranberry Orange Swirl Cookies

The combination of oranges and cranberries has always been a favorite of mine in muffins, loaf cakes, and scones. When I found this cookie recipe with these flavors, I was thrilled. This is a basic sugar cookie recipe filled with fresh cranberries and orange peel.

Recipe courtesy of “Beyond the Chicken Coop”

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 tablespoon orange peel, fresh and zested
• 3 cups of AP flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder

Filling:

• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange peel fresh, zested

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, add butter and sugar and mix until fluffy.

Mix in vanilla, eggs, and orange peel

Add flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix

When the dough is mixed well, remove it from the bowl and form it into two rounds

Wrap each round in plastic wrap and refrigerate for ONE HOUR

For the Filling…

In a food processor add cranberries, sugar, and orange peel. Process until finely chopped

Prepare the cranberry filling just before using it. If you make the filling too early, the mixture will become too juicy. If this happens strain off the liquid before adding it to the dough.

Rolling the dough…

Working with one disc of dough at a time, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 10 X 14 rectangle

Add half the filling mixture on top of the dough leaving a ½ inch border

Carefully roll the dough into a log – no need to pinch the seam. The dough will hold its shape once chilled.

Place the log on a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it tightly. Place the log on a baking sheet

Repeat with the remaining dough and filling

Refrigerate for 2 hours

Slicing and Baking

Remove logs from the refrigerator and remove plastic wrap

Slice the dough into ¼ – ½ inch slices and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet

Bake at 375 degrees preheated oven for 10-12 minutes

Remove from baking sheet and cook on a baking rack

Nut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter cookies have always been a favorite of my husband and this year, I decided to try making his favorite cookie with a new ingredient that he has become a fan of – mixed nut butter. The results were fantastic. The nut butter consists of almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, chia, and flax seeds.

This recipe was given to me by my dear beloved cousin Jeanette Geyer many years ago and I have adapted it with nut butter this year. Her memory will live on in my house this Christmas.

You can use this recipe for peanut butter cookies.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (soft)…

1/2 C Peanut butter…

1/2 C sugar…

1/2 C brown sugar…

1 egg…

1 ¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

Directions:

Mix these ingredients together…then add…1 1/4 C flour…1/2 tsp. baking powder…3/4 tsp. baking soda…1/4 tsp. salt…mix well & chill dough…roll to the size of walnuts or use an ice cream scoop.

place 3″ apart on a greased cookie sheet…flatten with a potato masher dipped in flour or use a fork crisscross.

bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. makes about 2 to 3 dozen cookies depending on the size. I usually double the recipe…

ENJOY…it’s like a blast from the past!!!

Pignoli Cookies

Always been a favorite on any Christmas Cookie tray, and this year I am trying a new recipe. My older recipe is still in the files for your review.

Recipe courtesy of DanPelosi.com

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lb. almond paste
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 1 lb. pine nuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Add 1 ½ lb. of almond paste, 1 ½ cups sugar, 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, and 4 egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer or just your favorite bowl if you are mixing by hand. Mix until combined
• Scoop enough dough to form an approximately 1-inch ball of dough. Add the ball to the bowl of pine nuts and use your hands to crush/push pine nuts into the balls of dough. Be careful not to overwork the dough or the pine nuts won’t stick.
• Continue this process until you’ve used up all your dough and each ball is perfectly covered in pignoli!
• Place your pignoli-encrusted dough balls on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
• Let your cookies cool and enjoy

Cannoli Cookies

This is one of my favorite cookies every year. A combination of ricotta, pistachios, and chocolate. I usually make them bite size but this year I tried a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop and made it the size of a soft chocolate chip cookie. I’ll see which way my family prefers them.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 10-ounce bag of mini chocolate chips divided
• 1 cup chopped pistachios

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs then ricotta cheese until well combined then mix in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, and fresh orange zest.
2. Next, mix in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Mix in the flour. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips and the pistachios. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease.
4. Using a medium cookie scoop or spoon, drop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough for each cookie leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
5. Bake cookies at 375 degrees F for about 8-11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool slightly then move to wire racks to cool completely.
6. Microwave the remaining chocolate chips on high in a small microwave-safe bowl in 20-second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Spoon melted chocolate into a small resealable bag, clip one corner slightly, then drizzle melted chocolate over cookies. Let cool for the chocolate to set.

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

This is definitely my favorite cookie to bake and the most requested every year. Absolutely delicious.

Recipe source: adapted from both Land O Lakes and MarcieJ’s review on allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups + 2 Tbsp. (300g) all-purpose flour * see cooks note

• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, cold and diced into 1 Tbsp. pieces
• 2/3 cup (140g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract *
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam, seedless if preferred
• I substituted amaretto for the almond extract and it was 2 tbsp. of amaretto for every ½ tsp of extract.

Glaze (optional)

• 1 cup (124g) powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp almond extract
• 2 – 4 tsp water

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour and salt, and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together butter and sugar until combined (it will take a minute or two since the butter is cold. If you don’t have a paddle attachment that constantly scrapes the bowl, then occasionally stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl). Mix in almond extract then add in flour and blend until the mixture comes together (it will take a bit of mixing since the butter is cold, so be patient, it will seem really dry at first).
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, about 1 Tbsp each, and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Make a small indentation with your thumb or forefinger in each cookie (large enough to fit 1/4 – 1/2 tsp of jam). Fill each with 1/4 – 1/2 tsp jam. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes (or freezer for 10 minutes). Bake in preheated oven for 14 – 18 minutes.
4. Cool for several minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool (at this point you can add a little more jam if you’d like to, it just won’t be set like the other is). Drizzle cookies with glaze when cool. Store cookies in an airtight container.
5. For the glaze:
6. Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl, adding enough water to reach desired consistency. Pour or spoon the mixture into a sandwich-size resealable bag, cut a small tip from one corner, and drizzle over cookies or use a fork in a quick back-and-forth motion to spread the glaze.
7. * Cooks Note: –Measure flour scoop with a measuring cup and level with a butter knife. Don’t whisk or sift first and don’t spoon into the measuring cup.

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I hope you enjoyed these recipes today and stayed tuned for Part C coming up later in the week for more cookie recipes.

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Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Stay well,

Diane