You make my heart flutter!

    When I decided to make these cut-out cookies, I was planning on making valentine's day EKG cookies... I was going to use 2 different patterns- atrial flutter (you make my heart flutter) and PVCs or 2nd degree heart block (you make my heart skip a beat). If you frost the cookies with royal icing, you can make a smooth surface that you can write directly on with food-safe markers. However, I don't have any of these markers and I didn't have time to search for them this week. I'll post a picture if I end up finding some before the end of the week! I have to say, though, the ones I decorated with just icing are probably prettier than the EKG patterns would have been.
    I found this cutout recipe on epicurious.com (it's from Bon Appetit magazine), and I have to say, it was delicious. I'm usually not a cut-out fan but they are so buttery and dense, they almost taste like shortbread cookies (I never said they were healthy!) and the orange and cardamom add a subtle spice. The recipe recommended decorating them with raw sugar before baking, but I chose to ice them with royal icing instead. They don't really need anything added to them, so icing isn't that important, but it does make them look prettier. I also baked them for about 5 minutes less than the recipe called for- I like my cookies more lightly baked (not brown).

Orange-Cardamom Cutouts

-1 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
-1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
-1 medium egg
-1 3/4 tsps finely grated orange peel
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 1/2 c flour
-1 1/4 tsps ground cardamom
-1/2 tsp salt
-parchment paper

Royal Icing

-2 Tb meringue powder
-1/4 c water
-2 c sifted powdered sugar (use less if you don't have a sifter)
-1/2 tsp vanilla

For the cookies:
-Cream butter by hand or with a mixer until fluffy, add sugar and continue to mix until it is encorporated.
-Add egg, vanilla and orange zest and continue to beat until it is well mixed.
-Mix the cardamom, flour and salt together. Add the flour to the butter mixture about 1/2 c at a time and stop mixing as soon as all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Finished cookie dough

-Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a round disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. The dough needs to be chilled for at least 1 hour before rolling out, but you can leave it in the fridge overnight (as I did) and then set it out about 15 minutes before you want to use it.

 -Preheat the oven to 350 before you start rolling out the cookie dough.
-Roll the first disk of dough out to about 1/8 of an inch on a lightly floured surface. If it is very difficult to roll out, give it another minute or two to warm up.
-Flour your cookie cutters so they don't stick to the dough, and cut out the cookies. Place them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. If your oven isn't preheated yet when you finish your first sheet, just put the whole thing in the fridge until it's ready.
-Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies you're making. Let the cookies cool slightly on the cookie sheet before transferring to the cooling rack.
-When you're done with the first disk of dough, you can reshape the extra into a disk and pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before rolling it out again. Repeat with the second disk.
-Allow cookies to cool completely before icing.

For the icing:
-Mix the meringue powder and water and whisk by hand or with a mixer until it forms soft peaks (as egg whites do- to check this, lift the whisk or mixer attachment out of the bowl and see if the mixture stands up on it's own in a "peak").
-Mix in the powdered sugar until it is well mixed and the icing has the right consistency (should be a little more watery than typical buttercream icing).
-Add in vanilla, and food coloring (if you want multiple colors, divide it into small bowls and and color each individually).
-put the icing into ziploc bags and cut a small hole in the corner to pipe.
-To ice the cookies, outline the cookie first, then fill in the center and spread lightly with a butterknife or spatula. Then, shake the cookie lightly from side to side to evenly distribute it. If this work easily, the icing is probably too stiff and you need to add a little more water.
-To create patterns, you can draw lines or dots with contrasting colors and drag a toothpick or spatula through the layers to create a marbling effect.

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

    Christmas is only a few days away, and our family is in full holiday preparation mode, which means baking several batches of cookies a day. We have already made peanut butter blossoms, lime- macadamia nut shortbread, caramels, chocolates with caramel and nuts (peanuts, cashews and pecans), and these cut-out cookies. Needless to say, it's a fun time of year, but good luck fitting into your pants after it's over. I'm posting this recipe because I think it's overall, the most popular type of cookie at the holidays (if there are others you want to see, let me know and I'll try to post it in the next couple of days). And, it's also a lot of fun to decorate them with family and friends. Most people don't have piping kits at home to decorate with, but we just use a ziploc bag with a small hole in it to pipe the icing.

The arm broke off this poor cookie while we were transferring it, but Cory found a way to make it look like we'd done it on purpose. I suggested dressing him in a hospital gown...

     This cut-out recipe is from my grandma, and we've been making them for Christmas for years. Using powdered sugar instead of conventional granulated sugar makes these cookies very soft and delicate. We usually get together to decorate the cookies together. My mom, my sister and I try to make them look pretty, while my dad's technique is to put lopsided smiley faces on most of the cookies. The last couple years, Cory has also joined us for cookie decorating and has made some entertaining additions, including a gingerbread man with a broken arm and a Christmas pirate (see below).

 Cut-Out Cookies

-1 cup butter at room temperature
-1 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 1/2 cup flour
-1 tsp soda
-1 tsp cream of tartar
-1/4 tsp salt

Buttercream icing
-1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
-1 lb powdered sugar
-3 Tb of milk
-1 tsp vanilla or almond flavoring

for cookies:
-Cream butter in a mixer and sift in sugar until fluffy.
-Add egg and vanilla, and beat well.
-Sift in flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt.
-Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
-Roll out the dough on a floured surface (to 1/8 of an inch). Cut out the cookies and place on a cookie sheet prepared with parchment paper. Parchment paper isn't required, especially if you have non-stick cookie sheets, but it makes it easier to remove the cookies from the sheet without breaking them.
-Bake at 400 F for 6 min.
-Place the baked cookies on a cooling sheet. They will be very delicate, so you may want to allow them to cool a little before removing them from the tray.
-Allow cookies to cool completely before icing.

How to hold a piping bag

for icing:
-cream butter, sugar and milk together, Add vanilla and add a small amount of food coloring to color the icing. Pipe icing onto cookies by placing icing into ziploc bags and cutting out a small piece of the corner of the bag. You can also use piping bags, but this method requires no equipment.
-Get creative and have some fun! 

My dad did quite a few on this tray- can you figure out which ones? :-)

A Family Tradition

    As long as I can remember, my family has made cookies and homemade caramels the Friday after Thanksgiving. This cookie recipe has been passed down in the family for several generations (my grandma, who is now in her 80's, used to make them with her mother as a child). It is based on the traditional German cookie, Lebkuchen, but it has evolved over the years to become it's own entity. We make them as Christmas cutout cookies, but they can also be made in other shapes or rounds. They are similar to gingerbread cookies or molasses cookies. You can decorate them with icing, but they are pretty and delicious without any decoration at all! Every year, there's a discussion about what shapes to make- my uncles prefer the "wise men," but one looks like a conehead and another looks like Bart Simpson.

     These cookies are best when they are rolled out thicker than typical cut-out cookie, making them too thin will make them crisper and more cracker-like. We use hickory nuts in the cookies, but these can be hard to find and expensive because they aren't grown commercially. Pecans would work well, too, but the flavor will be a little different. This makes a large batch, so you may want to start with 1/2 or 1/4 batch to see if you like them first.

"Lap" Cookies

-4 c molasses
-2 c sour cream
-2 Tb soda
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 lb brown sugar
-1/2 c shortening, softened
-1/2 tsp cloves
-4 cups hickory nuts or pecans
-flour

-Mix molasses, sour cream, shortening, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, cloves until well blended.
-Add in nuts.
-start adding flour, stirring in as much as you can.

Cookie dough before kneading in the last bit of flour.

-scoop out the dough in workable batches (about 2-3 large scoops). Knead in just enough flour that the dough can be rolled out and becomes easier to work with. Adding too much flour will make the cookies tough.
-Roll out the dough so that it is a little less than 1/4 of an inch thick. It will be thicker than traditional cut-out cookies.
-Cut out rounds or any shape you like. It's best to put shapes of about the same size on each cookie sheet, so that they bake evenly.
-Bake at 375 F for about 10 minutes. Make sure you take them out of the oven before they start to brown- bake them just enough to set. Transfer them from the cookie sheet to the cooling rack before they cool completely to prevent them from sticking.
-Make sure you try some right out of the oven and stay tuned for other holiday recipes :-).

One Smart Cookie

      Cookies have to be one of my favorite deserts to make and eat. They are generally pretty simple to throw together, and I've met very few that I didn't like. It's also very easy to change the recipes without totally screwing it up- you can add chocolate chips or other add ins, or change the flavoring from vanilla to almond and give an old favorite a totally different personality. Also, they bring back a lot of memories of baking with my family, particularly my mom and sister. Baking cookies was a favorite rainy day activity, although they didn't always turn out perfect- once I added twice the flour to a batch because I used the wrong measuring cup and ended up with chocolate rock cookies!

     This recipe for Anzac biscuits is a personal favorite of mine, both because it is simple and absolutely delicious. I inherited this recipe from my mom,but I'm not sure where she got the original recipe from. They are names after Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), which was established during the first world war. It is claimed that they were a commonly made cookie during this era because they had a long shelf life and could be sent to soldiers overseas during the war. Although the traditional version are thicker, I like to flatten them till they are very thin prior to baking- it makes the edges caramelize, making them taste even better. I also typically use corn syrup instead of Lyle's can syrup because it's easier to find and less expensive.

They may have a long shelf life, but they won't last long!

Anzac Biscuits

-2 c all-purpose flour

-2 c rolled oats

-1 c unsweetened coconut 

-1 c sugar

-1 c brown sugar

-1/2 tsp salt

-1 c butter

-2 Tbs corn syrup (or Lyle's Golden Syrup)

-3/4 tsp baking soda

-1/3 c hot water

-1 tsp vanilla

-1 c toasted pecans, walnuts or almonds (I typically use pecans,  but used walnuts this time)

-mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, oats, coconut and salt in a large bowl.

-melt butter, mix with corn syrup, baking soda, hot water and vanilla in a separate bowl. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix.

-scoop dough a tablespoon at a time onto cookie sheets and flatten with the palm of your hand.

-bake for 8-9 minutes at 350 F. Allow them to cool a little before removing from the tray- they are thin and fragile when warm.