Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Star Cookies) Recipe

 I took German in high school, then the summer after my senior year was fortunate enough to visit Germany via a class trip. Ever since then, I have had a special place in my heart for German culture and cuisine. So it seemed appropriate to end this series with a traditional German Christmas cookie. 

originally found here

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar, plus more for rolling
15 ounces sliced almonds, with skin (about 4 1/2 cups)
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Directions:

1. Sift the powdered sugar. Put 1/2 cup of the sifted powdered sugar, 10 ounces (3 heaping cups) of the almonds and all the cinnamon in a food processor. Process until the nuts are finely ground, with just a few larger pieces.

2. Whip the egg whites in the bowl of an electric stand mixer on high speed (about speed 6) until they hold soft peaks, about 1 minute. Gradually add the remaining powdered sugar while whipping, until the whites are thick, creamy and somewhat stiff, about 2 minutes more. Set aside 2/3 cup of this meringue for topping the cookies.

3. Fold the ground almond mixture and the lemon zest into the remaining meringue to make a stiff dough.

4. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

5. Lay a sheet of parchment or waxed paper on the work surface and lightly dust with powdered sugar. Turn the dough out onto the dusted paper, flatten and dust with more sugar as needed, and then lay another sheet of parchment or waxed paper on top. Roll the dough between the papers until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Flip the dough over and gently peel off the top sheet of the paper. For ease when cutting, lay the paper back on the dough, flip again and gently pull off the other side of the paper so that the dough is fully released from it.

6. Cut cookies with a 3-inch star cutter and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Reroll excess dough using process from step 5 until you have used all of it. 

7. Use a small spoon to spread the reserved meringue (about 1 tsp per cookies) over the top of each cookie, taking care not to let the meringue drip over the sides. 

8. Press or sprinkle remaining sliced almonds in a decorative pattern into the meringue. 

9. Bake cookies until bottoms are light golden brown and meringue is set and crisp, about 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the oven door to release heat and dry cookies out in the oven for 10 more minutes.

Normally, I take care to get pictures of the entire process. I am a visual learner, and I appreciate when recipes show in-process photos so that I know what I'm doing looks right. This time, I did the recipe in two parts: I made the meringue and the dough, then went to pick E up from school, then finished the recipe. So I completely spaced on taking photos of the making of the meringue and the dough. I hope you can forgive me. ;) 

On the plus side, making this recipe in two parts is totally an option. You can make the meringue, then set aside what you'll need for the topping in an airtight container in the fridge. Then you make the dough, roll it out between the parchment paper, and store it in the fridge. It can stay that way for about 12 hours if need be. 

On the other plus side, these cookies are delicious-- sweet, but not too much, and very nutty and spicy. They are very different from anything I've ever made before, but remind me a bit of macaroons. Bonus: they're gluten-free!

I've had a lot of fun with this series, and I hope you have, too! My house is just the way I like it: completely overrun with delicious cookies. 

As always, don't forget to check I do deClaire for Laura's recipe, too! How amazing do these sound?

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Candy Cane Cookies

Happy Friday, and welcome to another weekly installment of Christmas Cookies with myself and Laura! This week, E helped me tackle candy cane cookies. It's sort of like playing with Play-Doh, but with cookie dough instead. Also more delicious.

originally found here

Ingredients

1 box (or bag) sugar cookie mix
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 egg
1/3 cup softened cream cheese (which is 2 and 1/3 oz of a stick)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for surface
Red food coloring
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. In a bowl (I, as always, used my stand mixer), combine sugar cookie mix, melted butter, egg, cream cheese, and flour; mix together to form dough. 

 

 

 

 

2. Separate dough into 2 equal portions and place in 2 different bowls. I divided the dough then put one of the halves back in the stand mixer bowl.

 

3. Add red food coloring gradually to one bowl of dough, kneading together until desired shade of red is created. I kneaded the red dough in my stand mixer (with the dough hook attachment) to keep the red food coloring from getting all over the place.

 

 

 

4. Add peppermint extract to uncolored dough and knead together. (This was E's job.) 

 

 

5. On a floured work surface, takes small chunks of each dough, and roll into 1/4-inch-wide ropes (or "worms," as E so charmingly called them), each about 6 inches long. For each cookie, carefully twist  the red and white ropes of dough together and shape into a candy cane. 

 

 

 

 

6. Spread candy canes out on cookie sheets and bake on the top shelf of the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool before serving.

 

 

can you guess which ones E made? :)

 

 

E had a lot of fun with this recipe, but it is NOT for the perfectionist. I had a hard time letting go of my need to make the candy canes look like candy canes and just having fun with it, but once I did, we had a blast. :) And then things got weird...

Once we got tired of making candy canes, we decided to use cookie cutters on the rest of the dough. The only cookie cutters I own are Star Wars (Yoda, R2D2, and Vader), however, so it looks like Santa is getting a candy cane, some nerd-dom, and a peppermint candy (or planet?) -shaped cookie for his snack this year. ;) It's okay, they're delicious no matter what form they take. 

Don't forget to check out I do deClaire for another Christmas cookie recipe! Looks like this week is mint themed! 

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

Have you ever had Mexican hot chocolate before? That stuff is amazing. So when I stumbled across this recipe for Mexican hot chocolate cookies, I just knew they were the perfect option for this week's Christmas cookie recipe. It's like hot chocolate, with a kick, in cookie form. What's not to love?

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325. In a heatproof mixing bowl set over simmering water (or a double boiler, if you're fancy like that), melt the butter and baking chocolate together, whisking constantly until smooth. Set chocolate aside to cool.

2. While chocolate cools, mix together brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla and eggs in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on low speed. Beat until well combined. 

3. Add cooled chocolate to bowl and continue beating until well combined.

 4. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili powder, baking soda, salt, and cayenne pepper (if using-- I opted to leave it out for the sake of my husband and daughter who are both afraid not big fans of spicy things). 

 5. Add dry ingredients to chocolate batter in stand mixer bowl and mix on low until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

6. Scoop 1" balls of dough onto cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper. Bake for 14 minutes. Cookies will be puffy and still slightly soft when done. 

 

5. Remove cookies from oven and immediately move parchment paper and cookies from baking sheet to cooling rack. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve warm. 

I had enough dough to make 2 dozen cookies, plus extra dough (enough for another 1-2 dozen) that I put into an airtight container to freeze and save for another day. Mine look a bit more like little poops than the original recipe's, but I promise they taste delicious. Super chocolatey, but with a little extra kick from the cinnamon and chili powder. They are amazing dunked in milk, or even better-- hot chocolate! The perfect cookie for curling up by a fire and snuggling up on a cold winter's night. 

Don't forget to head over to Laura's blog for her recipe, too! How cute do these look?

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Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

Today, Laura of I do deClaire and I are bringing you something special... a Christmas cookie swap! Every Friday until Christmas we'll each share a Christmas cookie recipe. It's the perfect way to really get into the holiday season! Today I'm sharing a Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint cookie recipe.

adapted from here

Ingredients

for the cookies:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup raspberry preserves
almond slices (optional)

for the glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar

3/4 tsp almond extract

2 tsp milk
green food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in almond extract, then add flour and mix until dough comes together. 

2. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on cookie sheets fitted with parchment paper. Make a small crater in the center of each ball with your thumb, and fill each crater with preserves. Optional: add a slice or two of almonds on top of the preserves for a little something extra.

3. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until lightly brown. While cookies are baking, mix together the glaze ingredients.

4. When cookies are done, let cool for a minute on cookie sheet, then move parchment paper and cookies to a baking rack. Drizzle glaze over warm cookies.

5. Optional: for more festive cookies, add a drop or two of green food coloring to the glaze for red and green cookies!

J and I ate most of these last night as our Thanksgiving meal dessert, and they were a hit! I hope you and your family enjoy these this holiday season. 

Don't forget to check out Laura's lemon cookies, too!

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Pumpkin Spice M&M Cookies

Hey guys, guess what? This is my 100th post! To celebrate, I'm sharing a recipe that I came up with yesterday after buying these bad boys at Target:

I took one bite and decided they would be delicious in some pumpkin spice cookies. This recipe is a slight modification of my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, and halved for the sake of making a manageable amount.

Ingredients (makes about 16)

1 cup + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1  cup Pumpkin Spice M&Ms (I picked out all the green ones, and the orange and brown ones in the package ended up being exactly 1 cup. Green is not a pumpkin spice color.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice and cinnamon in small bowl. Combine melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large bowl and beat until creamy. Add egg and beat well. Beat in flour mixture. 

 2. Stir in M&Ms.

3. Spoon dough onto cookie sheets fitted with parchment paper. Try to keep little hands from swiping the dough off the sheet.

4. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

E said they "weren't too bad" (gee thanks), but J said they were delicious, and I'm with him. We let E have one, then set one more aside for her for the next day, and then sat down with the rest of the batch and gobbled them up with glasses of milk and some Castle after she went to bed. No regrets. I'm probably going to make these again this weekend for when we get back from the pumpkin patch, to snack on as we carve our pumpkins.

Here's to pumpkins, pumpkin spice, cookies, and another 100 posts! 

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Pumpkin No-Bake Cookies

My husband's favorite cookies are no-bakes. Which, I'm not even sure how to process that, as I consider myself to be a bake-er (not to be confused with a professional baker--one day!), and he's like "hey, can you not-bake me some cookies?" Sure, baby, whatever you want.

So when I came across this recipe for pumpkin no-bakes, I knew I wanted to make them for him (and for me, let's be honest here). And they ended up being a delicious treat and a nice surprise for him to come home to. Serious wife points here. :)

Ingredients (makes 1 dozen small cookies)

3/4 cup quick oats
1/2 cup oat flour (make your own by blending oats in a food processor until they become powder. I needed about 3/4 cup oats to make 1/2 cup oat flour.)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons milk, as needed
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir.

2. In a small bowl, combine all liquid ingredients (including pumpkin). Whisk to combine.

3. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated.

4. Let the mixture set up in the fridge for about half an hour (this makes them easier to work with), then form into balls and allow to set on a cookie sheet fixed with parchment paper.

Easy peasy, delicious, and fall-y? Yes please!

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Today is J's birthday (happy birthday, baby!), so I wanted to have E help me make something special for him. Since she's a pro at making cookies, I decided on pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I found this recipe, and halved it. And it wasn't until I'd already started throwing ingredients together that I discovered that I was out of eggs, so I used the old banana substitute (1 banana = 1 egg). This ended up working out in my favor, since it's easier to halve a banana than it is an egg. 

I'm writing this up exactly as I made it, but if you want to make more, you can use the original recipe's measurements, and if you actually have eggs and you want to use them, well you just go right on ahead. I will say, however, that it was kind of nice not having to worry about there being raw eggs in the dough, because E and I are both bowl-lickers. ;)

Ingredients (I ended up with 20 cookies)

 1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 banana, smashed

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp milk

1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, and banana in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. 

2. Dissolve baking soda in milk, and stir into flour mixture. Then add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until well combined.

3. Add vanilla and chocolate chips, stir until incorporated.

4. Spoon dough out onto baking sheet fixed with parchment paper (or sprayed with baking spray). Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm. 

I'm not even mad about the banana being in there, because while you can taste it a little bit, the flavor goes really well with the pumpkin and cinnamon and chocolate. It fits right in. And it didn't seem to affect the texture of the finished product at all, either. These are just as gooey and soft as you'd expect a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie to be. And J gives them a big thumbs up, which is really the important part because they're his birthday treat. :) 

To further celebrate his birthday (and mine, since it's next week), we are going on a date tonight-- for the first time in months. I'm super excited, and I'll be back Monday with pictures! In the meantime, I hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

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