Holiday Cookies: Showstopping Recipes to Sweeten the Season [A Baking Book]

Description

From Icebox Pinwheel Cookies to Red-and-White Meringue Kisses to Apple Cider Caramels, find new inspiration for the best of seasonal baking with Holiday Cookies.
 
This instant holiday classic is packed with 50 recipes, each gorgeously photographed and meticulously tested, along with dozens of decorating and packaging ideas. Filled with reimagined favorites like Giant Molasses Spice Cookies and Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies; confections like Peppermint Bark, Smoked Almond and Cacao Nib Brittle, and Dark Chocolate–Hazelnut Fudge; and detailed instructions for gorgeous gingerbread houses, cookie place cards, and edible ornaments, this is a cookie book like no other. Because the recipes are easy to scale up or down, Holiday Cookies is perfect for cookie exchanges, gift-giving, and just enjoying throughout the season. From a veteran baker and recipe developer, each cookie in this collection is guaranteed to be a stand-out, and destined to become your new Christmas classic.

From the Publisher

Chocolate-Stenciled Shortbread Rounds

You need only a tiny amount of cocoa for dusting over the stencil on these small, pretty cookies, which makes dressing them up a delicate job. These shortbread rounds are so lovely, however, that your time and effort will be well spent. The stencil I used is of a small, intricate snowflake, but nearly any holiday-inspired shape will work just as long as it’s made from a firm material. For the sides, I use clear coarse decorating sugar, but you can use a colored sugar if you prefer.

Recipe – Makes about 36 cookies

Sift the flour into a bowl, then whisk in the salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar and beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated and the dough starts to come together. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide in half. Shape each half into a disk 3⁄4 to 1 inch thick, then wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Position two oven racks, evenly spaced, in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one dough disk about 1⁄4 inch thick. Using the cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible and carefully transfer them to a prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly. Gather up the dough scraps, reroll them, cut out more cookies, and add them to the sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough disk.

Pour the decorating sugar onto a small flat plate. One at a time, gently roll the edge of each cookie in the sugar and return to the baking sheet.

One at a time, lay the stencil over a cookie and sift a light dusting of cocoa powder over the stencil. Lift the stencil straight up and move it to the next cookie. Repeat until all of the cookies are decorated.

Bake the cookies for 16 to 18 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden, switching the baking sheets between the racks about halfway through the baking time. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to the racks and cool completely before serving.

Special Equipment

1 3⁄4-inch round cookie cutter; 1 1⁄2-inch (or smaller) stencil in design of choice.

Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1⁄2 cup confectioners’ sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1⁄4 cup coarse decorating sugar 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder (see page 153)

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ten Speed Press (September 5, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 168 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399580255
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399580253
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.77 x 0.71 x 9.3 inches