Another recipe for my Christmas cookie tray…I really love the flavor of the toasted hazelnuts combined with the dark chocolate. I made a couple of different shapes, logs, squares and circles, just for variation…the squares were the easiest, just spread the dough onto the cookie sheet, bake and slice after removing from the oven.
Ingredients:
1 cup husked hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate (I used Lindtt 59%)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC)
Toast hazelnuts on cookie sheet about 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Lower heat to 325ºF (160ºC).
Place hazelnuts in blender or food processor and pulse to coarse bits; set aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt to blend; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar until smooth.
Beat in egg.
Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
Add the chopped hazelnuts and mix.
Chill dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Form into finger sized logs, about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons dough each, and place on parchment lined cookie sheets. (Or, roll into smaller sized balls, and press with the back of a glass, or spread dough onto a cookie sheet evenly.)
Bake until firm, about 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on racks.
Melt chocolate over a double boiler and dip half of each cookie into the chocolate.
Place on parchment to dry.
Store in refrigerator.
This is a recipe my grandma used to make every Christmas…They are SO good. The whole while I was making them, I was reliving Christmases past…we always used to spend Christmas Eve at her house, lots of food, and tons of homemade cookies, candies and treats….us kids were always so excited to open our gifts, and after the frenzy of flying wrapping paper, bows and ribbons, “thank you!’s” being yelled across the room (we were a LOT of people, and it got noisy!), and the cleanup of the aftermath of the gifts…we’d go into the kitchen, sit around the table and play board games. We’d have the best time ever…it is one of my favorite memories of growing up. I miss my grandma, especially at this time of the year. I honor her memory every Christmas with her recipes.
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
10 ounces pitted dates, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
4 ounces coconut, plus more for rolling
Preparation:
Melt butter over medium low heat in a larger sauce pan.
Add sugar and dates, stirring constantly until well combined, and sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and add cereal and coconut, and stir to thoroughly combine.
Allow to cool just enough so that the mixture doesn’t burn your fingers when forming balls.
The mixture is very sticky, so I like to butter my hands first, then roll each ball, immediately rolling in coconut, and place on plate.
This recipe makes about 2-3 dozen balls, depending on the size you roll them.
It’s the holiday season already! Can you believe it? I put up the tree, and some decorations….Of course we had to have something baking in the oven to go along with the Christmas vibe. Lovely orange and cinnamon flavors together….it reminded me of Christmas potpourri. Along with the tree, an apple cinnamon candle burning and the cookies in the oven….it really felt festive. Except that we have no snow. And it’s not freezing outside. (hehehe *insert evil cackle here*) Though even *I* will admit that I miss the snow on Christmas. But just the 2 days…the rest of the time, I am perfectly content without the cold, ice, snow and slush. Anyway, back on topic: Cookies! I’m hoping to put up a new cookie recipe every day for the next few days. I want to share my cookie tray with all of you, and hopefully give you some ideas for your own holiday sweets this year. Tried and true, I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! 
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening (I used plain, but I think butter flavored would be good too)
1 egg (size large)
2 teaspoons vanilla
zest from one orange
1/4 cup orange juice (from the orange we zested)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
cinnamon sugar (about 1/3 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons cinnamon)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350º F (160º C).
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat 1 cup sugar with the shortening, egg, vanilla and orange zest.
Add the orange juice, flour, soda and salt and stir until well combined.
Shape dough into walnut sized balls.
Roll in cinnamon sugar and press onto prepared cookie sheets with a glass dipped in cinnamon sugar.
Bake 10-15 minutes–until lightly golden.
*This recipe makes about 4-5 dozen cookies
