Double Chocolate Crackle Cookies

It's Christmas Eve, still plenty of time to still make cookies for family and friends and these snowy white Double Chocolate Crackle Cookies are a perfect choice.

The dough is easily mixed by hand and the resulting cookie is crunchy, chewy and very chocolaty.

What makes them double chocolate is that there is dark cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate in them and also some sea salt and instant coffee which makes chocolate goodness really pop. My husband has changed the name of these to "Addictive".

Here's the recipe:

Double Chocolate Crackle Cookies
(makes 4 dozen)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon instant coffee
4 ounces dark chocolate chips
1/2 stick (4oz) unsalted butter
About 2/3 cup each of granulated sugar and powdered sugar for coating the cookies before baking

Preheat oven to 325-degrees and line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized bowl mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and instant coffee and set aside.

In a small microwavable bowl combine the dark chocolate chips and butter. Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring well in between until the chips are melted.

Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and then stir in the dry ingredients, mixing just until well combined. The result will be a fairly loose batter. Let the mixture set at room temperature for about 15 minutes and it becomes firmer and more scoopable.

Put some granulated sugar and powdered sugar in separate small bowls. With a 1-inch scoop or two teaspoons, form an inch-sized ball of dough and drop it into the granulated sugar and coat it well. Then transfer it into the powdered sugar and using your hands, gently roll the dough into a nicely shaped ball. Place the ball on a parchment lined cookie sheet and repeat until all the dough is used and the sheets are filled, spacing the cookies about 1.5 inches apart.

Coat the cookies with granulated sugar and then powdered sugar before rolling into a ball with your hands and placing them on your baking sheets. I like to drop two or three cookies at a time into the granulated sugar and then work from there.

Bake one sheetpan at a time in the center rack for 8 minutes or until the cookie is cracked and the edges have just set. The centers should still be soft since they will set during cooling. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets before removing and enjoying them.

Let the cookies cool completely on the sheetpans before removing them.

These cookies look so pretty piled on a platter.

They also make a great gift. I like to stack three or four in a cupcake paper and then seal them in small cellophane bag.

Orange Cranberry Shortbread

When I make shortbread, I usually prefer to use the method of rolling the dough into logs, chilling them, and then slicing off the cookies. It's a quick and easy way to get uniform rounds.

These flavorful Orange Cranberry Shortbread cookies though called for a different method. You see, I knew the addition of lots of delicious and chewy cranberries would make the dough tough to slice through neatly. So for these, I used a 1-inch scoop and rolled the dough into balls that I gently flattened and chilled for a full hour before baking.

The size of them turned out to be a perfect fit for my macaron boxes. I was able to get six standard sized cupcake papers, each filled with three cookies, tightly packed into a single box. These are so good and the addition of orange zest makes them extra special. These are great to share with friends this holiday season.

Macaron boxes are just the right size for packaging these cookies.

Add a ribbon and tag and you've got a sweet holiday gift.

Here is the recipe:

Orange Scented Shortbread
(makes about 5 dozen)
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 teaspoons dehydrated orange peel (Note: If you can't find this, you can use 5 teaspoons of finely grated orange zest.)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1/3 cup sugar, for coating the tops of the cookies before baking

In a small container, combine the orange peel with the vanilla and let this set for about 10 minutes.

Cream together the butter, vanilla/orange mixture, sea salt and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add the flour and mix just until it starts to combine and the mixture looks crumbly. Add the dried cranberries and continue mixing until the dough comes together.

With a 1-inch scoop, scoop a portion of the dough and then roll it in your hands to form a ball. Use your hands to gently flatten the ball and place it on a parchment or plastic lined baking pan that will fit into your fridge. Repeat until all the dough is used and place the cookies in the fridge to cool for at least 1 hour.

These are ready to go into the fridge to chill.

When you are ready to bake them, preheat your oven to 350-degrees, dip the top of each cookie in the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and place them on baking sheets, spaced about 2-inches apart.

Bake for about 12 minutes or until the cookies just begin to brown around the edges. The cookies will firm up quite a bit as they cool. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Peppermint Candy Cookies

These peppermint candy cookies are festive and quick to decorate which makes them a great decorated cookie choice for holiday celebrations.

 I found the cutter that I used at a local baking shop but it is also easy to find online. Another option is to just decorate small round cookies with the peppermint design.

I really love that only two colors of royal icing are needed to make these cuties.

Here's how:

The cutout cookies before baking. Click here for my favorite tried and true cookie recipe.

After baking the cookies, get your royal icing ready. You need flood consistency white and small amount of red icing. Place each of the icings in pastry bags fitted with #2 tips.

Outline and fill the circle center of the cookie.

Immediately pipe eight short red lines around the circle. This is wet on wet cookie decorating so it's important to work fast and work on just one cookie at a time.

With a scribe tool, toothpick or skewer draw through the lines going in a spiral and working towards the center of the circle.

It will look like this.

Decorate all of the centers of the cookies.

Outline and fill the wrapper sections of the cookie. Use your scribe tool to move the icing to fill in the gaps and evenly distribute it.

One down and more to go!

Russian Teacakes

Russian Teacakes were one of the cookies we put in our holiday treat boxes to benefit the Wednesday Community Meal.

Okay, Christmas is just a few days away but you still have time to bake some holiday cookies.

Especially if you make these Russian Teacakes - they are festive and nothing could be easier.  No wonder they are universally loved and known by other names like Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes and Swedish Teacakes.

These are my daughter Eleanor's all-time favorite cookie and believe me, she's tried a lot of cookies.

When I asked her why she likes them so much, this is what she had to say: "I just like the way they melt in my mouth and I like the powdered sugar."

I also like that the dough can be used to create other cookies. We wanted to get two cookies out of the dough for our holiday treat boxes so we created Walnut and Chocolate Logs by rolling the Russian Teacake dough into 2-inch logs, baking them and dipping the ends into melted dark chocolate and crushed walnuts.

My friend Anne bought a box of the cookies and told me that the Walnut and Chocolate Logs were her favorite. You could also substitute other nuts for the walnuts - don't be afraid to experiment. This is a tried and true recipe that is very forgiving.

The Walnut and Chocolate Logs.

Russian Teacakes are easy to make and a good choice if you want to make a big batch of holiday cookies.

 


Russian Teacakes
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
Extra powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whip the butter until smooth and creamy, add the vanilla, salt and powdered sugar and whip again. Stir in the flour and the nuts until mixed thoroughly and the dough holds together.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. I like to use a cookie scoop to get even sizes and then roll it with my hands to form a nice ball. Place the cookies 1-inch apart on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Let the cookies cool until they are still slightly warm and roll in powdered sugar.

Cherry Shortbread Cookies

A recipe suggestion from my friend Jennifer and a lack of refrigerator space led me to create these cherry shortbread cookies.

A while back, Jennifer, who also happens to be a chef, mentioned that she made some wonderful sour cherry shortbread from Leslie Mackie's "Macrina Bakery and Cafe" cookbook.

I found the recipe and liked it but knew I couldn't follow it precisely since it called for rolling the dough into two large rectangles and then chilling them on two sheetpans in the refrigerator. I don't have that much refrigerator space! I wish I did.

My solution was to change the recipe's ingredients and method a bit. Instead of chilling the sheets of dough, I rolled the dough into logs that I could fit into my fridge and then sliced them into cookies.

Before cutting, I brushed the logs with egg white and rolled them in granulated sugar for a sweet and pretty coating around the edges.

I also increased the amount of dried cherries by 1/4 cup, substituted dark brown for the light brown sugar and added 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract. In my baking, I've discovered that the flavor of almond and cherry are kissing cousins and a bit of almond extract in cherry desserts really enhances them.

These cookies come together fast and you'll get five dozen with just one batch.


Cherry Shortbread
(makes 5 dozen)

1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup cornstarch
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup tart dried cherries, chopped (I like Tart Montmorency Cherries from Trader Joe's)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg white
granulated sugar

In a stand mixer, combine the sugar, cornstarch, flour, salt. Mix until combined and add the butter, a bit at a time. The mixture will look dry at first but then magically come together as you add the last bit of butter. Add the cherries, vanilla and almond extract and mix just until well combined.

The mixture will look like this before you add the cherries and flavorings.

Divide the dough into three parts. Roll each part into a 12 to 15 inch log that is about 1 1/2 -inches in diameter. Wrap each log with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until the logs are very firm.

Roll each third of the dough into a log. I find that it is easiest to roughly shape the dough, wrap it in the plastic wrap and then roll some more.

Place the logs in the refrigerator to cool for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

Brush one log at a time with egg white and coat with granulated sugar. Slice the log into 1/4 thick cookies and place on sheetpans leaving at least 1-inch space between them.

Brush each log with egg white and roll in granulated sugar.

Leave space between the cookies because they will spread a bit.

 Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until just golden brown around the edges. Let cool before removing from the sheet pan.

Let the cookies cool before packaging.

A package of cookies ready to give. I made three stacks of three cookies in cupcake papers and then placed them in a food safe cellophane bag. A pretty bow is a nice touch.