Classic Butter Cookies. Simple, Easy, and Delicious Cookie For Holiday Season

My favorite cookies to have on all occasion, especially for the holiday season. The cookie is so easy to make and the best part is, you can easily cut it into different sizes and for the festive reason, I like to add sparkle by sprinkle some sugar on top. This cookie, is delicious, buttery, and crumbly, just the way butter cookie should be. 

Classic Butter Cookies

Recipe adapted from Carole Walter's book, Great Cookies

makes 3 dozens 2  1/2-inch cookies

1  3/4 cups all-purposed flour

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup (1  1/3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into large chunks

3 egg yolks

vanilla bean, scrape the seeds

sprinkling sugar, optional

1 egg yolk + 1 tsp milk for egg wash

In a small bowl, mix egg yolk and vanilla bean. Set aside.

Place flour, sugar, and cold butter in a food processor. Pulse a few time until the mixture resemble a coarse meal. With machine running add egg yolk and vanilla bean mixture. Continue to pulse until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half, shape each into a disc, wrap with plastic, then refrigerate for 15 minutes to half and hour.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment papers.

Working with one dough at a time, roll it out onto lightly floured counter top to about 3/16 inch thick. Cut into any shape (I used 2  1/2 inch flower shape cutter). Transfer onto prepared cookie sheet, brush with egg wash, then sprinkle with sugar if desire. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden. If necessary rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom, and back to front. Remove from the oven, and cool on wire rack. Store in an airtight container, layer between wax paper for up to 3 weeks.

SPRINGERLE

December is my favorite time of the year. The year where I can bake a lot of different kind of cookies. I found my self baking the same traditional cookies each holiday, and I really like that a lot.

SPRINGERLE

Recipe adapted from House on The Hills

Depending on the size, it can yield 3 to 12 dozens

1/2 tsp baker's amonia (Hartshorn) or baking powder

2 tbs milk

6 large eggs, room temperature

6 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp anise

2 pounds sifted cake flour

zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

In a small bowl mix hartshorn and milk. Set aside.

Using electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat on a medium high speed egg until very thick and ribbony, about 10 to 20 minutes. Using a low speed, slowly add confectioner's sugar. Add butter, hartshorn-milk mixture, salt, anise, and citrus zests. Mix just to combine. Gradually add flour, just as much as your mixer can handle it. Using wooden spoon, stir reminding flour until the dough comes together, and feel stiff.

Turn the dough onto lightly floured counter top, knead gently. Then divide the dough in 2 portions. Take  1 portion of dough (covering the other with clean towel to prevent drying). Follow this direction for general imprinting and drying the cookies.

Bake on a parchment paper-lined cookies sheets at 255 degrees F to 325 degrees F, until barely golden on the bottom. About 10 - 15 minutes, or more depending on the size of your cookies.

Cool completely before stroring. The cookies can be kept for months, the flavor will improve with age.

SPECULAAS (Classic Dutch Cookie) For Christmas and Holiday Season

This is a pretty cookies to enjoy, although most kids don't like spices in their cookies, I think they might enjoy this Speculaas, because the spices here are surprisingly mild, just the way I like it. Actually the original recipe in Carole Walter book has 1/4 tsp more of cloves and ginger, since I don't like my cookie to spicy, I reduced the amount a little bit. 

SPECULAAS

Recipe adapted from Carole Walter's Book, Great Cookies.

1/3 cup almond meal

2  1/4 cups all-purposed flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 large egg

1  1/3 sticks unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

Sift together  flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger directly on your clean kitchen counter top. Make a well in the center.

In a smal bowl, break the egg and lightly whisk with a fork. Pour this egg inside the well. Slowly incorporate the egg into flour the best you can can, then take a handful of this mixture and gently rub it between your palm until the the egg is incorporate thoroughly. At this point the dough will look dry, so don't worry about it. Using both hand, form this mixture to make a mount, then make a large well in the center of the mount.

In a medium size bowl, rub together almond and the softened butter using your finger tips, until they fully incorporated and form a mass.

Dump the almond butter mixture into the center of the flour mount, start kneading gently using the fraisage method to form a dough.

Divide the dough in 2 portions, shape each into a disc, and refrigerate at least an hour. At this point the dough can be freeze up to 3 months.

When you are ready to bake, roll the dough according to your molds thickness ( this video might help ). Bake at 350 degrees F, the time of baking  is depend on the shapes and thickness of your cookies. You might also want to rotate the cookie sheets top to bottom and front to back to ensure even doneness.

When cookies are done, remove from the oven, and transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Yuzu Lime Melt Away Spritz Cookies For Christmas

So easy to make, and so delicious!!!!. It is one of those perfect cookies to enjoy during holiday seasons with family, friends and your love one. 

This recipe is my adaptation of Martha's Lime Melt Away cookie. I was not really sure how it would come out as I wanted to try to use cookie press instead of just regular round shape. I wanted something more festive for the holiday. So, I played around with a few shapes, and quite happy with the result. It is not only delicious, but also very pretty. The aroma of Yuzu lime, immediately present when I baked the cookie, it was hard to resist to not tasting it. I even wonder if I could keep it until Christmas time. As I type this post, family been eating what they called "tasting". Believe me, I don't have the heart to stop them. Yes, it is understandable, because this cookie literally melt in your mouth. 

If you don't own cookie press, please follow the direction on Martha's website. It's pretty easy, you just need to slice and bake. That's it!

Yuzu Lime Melt Away Spritz Cookies

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's

Makes 3 dozens

3/4 cup Unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar + more for sprinkling or coating

finely grated 3 Yuzu limes

2 tbs fresh Yuzu lime juice

1 tbs vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups + 2 tbs all-purpose flour

2 tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter and 1/3 cup confectioner's suar until pale. Add lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla extract. Continue to beat until light and fluffy.

In separate bowl, mix  flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add this to butter mixture, and mix just to combine.

Divide the dough in half, place each in a piece of parchment paper, then roll into a log shape. Refrigerate  until slightly firm, but not too firm if you are planning to use cookie press. 15 to 30 minutes should be good enough. 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Cut a portion of dough to fit in to your spritz cookie press. Choose any design you like, then press directly on top baking sheets (do not grease your baking sheets). Bake 10 to 12 minutes,  make sure to not let the cookies turn into golden color. You want to keep the cookies somewhat whitish color (as you can see from my last picture, my second batch is a bit brownish, because I left it a bit longer in the oven). Transfer cookies onto wire rack to cool completely, then sift in (or completely coat the cookies) with confectioner's sugar, if desire. 

Pfeffernüsse. German X'Mas Cookie

I almost skipped this recipe, but reading through the list of intriguing  ingredients, I though I gave it a try. Glad I did, because it tasted delicious, the aroma of spices were really bring joy in the kitchen. Don't be discourage by the use of peppercorn on this recipe. Despite its name, this classic German Christmas cookies is not too peppery. And that is a good thing, because like (probably) most of you, I'm not that fond of mixing peppercorns for sweet treat, and very  much prefer to reserve it for savory treat.  

I use two different kinds of peppercorns in this recipe, black and red. The red peppercorn is really mild and fruity, almost unnoticeable. The other thing I like about this recipe is, the aroma of both  citrus zest and citrus candy, this two additional ingredients add balance and make this cookie exceptionally delicious.  Last but not least,  sugar coating really add a perfect finishing touch and make the cookie more festive. 

Pfeffernüsse
Recipe adapted from Carol Walter's Great Cookies Book

Makes 9 dozens 1  1/2-inch cookies

1/2 cup almond meal
3 cup all-purposed flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp ground all spice
1/4 tsp ground red peppercorn
1/4 tsp ground black peppercorn
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter
zest of 1 Navel orange
zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mollasses
1 egg
3/4 cup honey
2 tbs finely chopped candied orange peel
2 tbs finely chopped candied lemon peel
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment papers. Set aside.

Sift together almond meal, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, ginger, all spice, red and black ground peppercorns. Set aside.

Using paddle attachment on your electric mixer, beat butter, orange and lemon zest on medium speed until soft. Add brown sugar and molasses, beat just until blended. Add egg and honey, mix just to combine.

Using a low speed, add flour mixture in three addition. Mixing just enough to wet the dry ingredients. Do not overmix!

Take a pinch of dough, and roll into 3/4- inch ball, and place it in a baking sheet about 1  1/2 to 2 inch apart. Repeat.

Bake cookies for about 15 minutes, until just slightly firm and start to crack a little. If necessary rotate the cookie sheets to ensure even cooking. The tops should be slightly soft, but they will firm up as the cookies stand.

Let rest on cookie sheets for 5 to 10 minutes, then roll in the confectioner's sugar. Arrange on a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container, layer between strip of wax paper, for up to 3 weeks.

X'Mas Meringue Cookies

'Tis The Season To Be Jolly ... Tra ... la .. la ... la .......

If you have been following me for a while, you know that I'm not that good with piping, but that doesn't mean I will stop making anything that require piping. This meringue cookies for instance, they should and could look prettier, but again, that is need practice on my side. Put aside the shape, this meringue is delicious, easy to make, and quite festive, especially if you don't omit the red food coloring. Although I like my meringue pure white like cloud, sometimes, I like to play with color a little. I hope you do as well.

X'mas Meringues
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's 
makes about 5 dozens

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
red food coloring gel, optional

Preheat oven to 175 degrees F.

Line baking sheets with parchment papers. Set aside.

Fill a medium size pot, pan, or skillet with water. Set the pan over medium to medium low heat and let the water to barely simmer.

Fit a pastry bag with an open small star tip (Ateco #22). Set Aside

Place egg whites and sugar in a mixer bowl, set the bowl on top of barely simmering water and stir gently until the sugar is dissolve, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the heat. Using a whisk attachment, beat the white-sugar mixture until stiff peak form.

If desire, using a small pastry brush, paint  2 - 3 stripes of red food gel coloring  inside the pastry bag. Fill the bag with meringue. Pipe  small star shapes onto prepared baking sheets about 2 to 2 and 1/2 inch apart. Bake the meringues until crisp but do not let the meringue to become brown, about  1 hour and 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool on sheet pans on top of wire racks.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Vanilla Bean, is the key ingredient. Duh? Otherwise it wouldn't be called Vanilla Bean ice cream, wouldn't it? 

As  I mentioned before, I am not an ice cream person, but  all change after I got a  book from a friend as a present. Since then, I found myself eating and making different kind of ice cream. Yesterday, I made another ice cream that remind me of my two nephews. They love anything vanilla, let it be  cookie, or cake, or anything that you tell them it has vanilla, they get excited to eat it, especially ice cream. I just wish that I made this ice cream when they were here last sumer. They would have love it!

Anyway, the book is called : Jenis Splendid Ice Creams At Home. The recipe in her book is really easy to follow. Some ingredients you might have to order online, but most are available at your local grocery store. For this particular ice cream,  she uses Ugandan Vanilla bean, I don't have this type, but I do have the one from Madagascar. Use what ever vanilla bean you can afford.

You will need: 

2 cups whole milk

1 tbs + 1 tsp cornstarch

3 tbs (1  1/2 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/8 fine sea salt

1  1/4 cups heavy cream

2/3 sugar

2 tbs light corn syrup

1 vanilla bean, split and scarpe the seeds

Then follow this steps on how to make it. Good luck and hope you'll enjoy as much as I do.

At least  24 hours prior to make the  ice cream, put your ice cream canister in a freezer (refer to  your manufacture ice cream maker to be sure).



Put  (lots)  of ice  blocks in a large bowl, add cold water. More ice then water.



Make cornstarch slurry. In a small bowl, mix 2 tbs milk and 1 tbs + 1 tsp cornstarch. Set aside.



In a large bowl, whisk 3 tbs (1  1/2 oz) cream cheese and 1/8 tsp salt until smooth. Set aside.


Bring the remaining (2 cups minus 2 tbs) milk, heavy cream,  sugar, vanilla seed (including the bean), and  corn syrup to rolling boil. Boil for 4 minutes.



Remove from the heat. Add cornstarch slurry, stir using rubber spatula. Return to the heat. Bring back to a boil, until slightly thickened for 1 minute.



Remove from heat. Don't forget to remove the bean. Slowly pour ( a little at a time) this mixture  into cream cheese, whisking constantly while pouring it  to prevent any lumps.



Pour the mixture into ziplock bag. Close tightly.


Submerge into ice water bath. Let it become cool at least 30 minutes.

Have fun churning! Jeni said,  it is done when the ice cream start to pull away from the bowl. If you see a thin layer of dense ice cream on the side of the bowl, that mean you stop it too soon. It took me 30 minutes to churn.

Spoon the ice cream into freezer proof container.



Lay a piece of parchment paper directly ontop of ice cream. Cover with its own lid. Freeze in a coldest part of your freezer at least 4 hours.



Feel free to lick any ice cream that left in the canister. Just don't lick the canister, or tounge might stick in it.