Italian Rainbow Cookies

 

This is a very impressive Christmas cookie. It looks impressive on the plate, and you will be impressed with yourself when you can complete this task. Ha! In all seriousness, these are a little more complicated than your average drop cookie, but I still think they are easier than cut out cookies. (I just think cut out cookies are SO MUCH WORK.)

Ok, really, this is not that hard. The dough is divided into three parts, and you tint two of them to be red and green. Then you bake it all. After the "cakes" have cooled, you spread jam on the red layer, stack the white layer on top and spread jam on that, then top with the green layer.   

The final step is to make the chocolate glaze and then spread that over the green layer. After it sets, you flip the whole thing over and spread chocolate on the red side. 

My cakes were not particularly even, as you can tell. (No Great British Bake Off winning for me.) But the easy way to deal with that is just to trim the edges, and then you can sample your hard work as well. 

Now, cut the rectangle into fourths lengthwise and then cut each strip into 1/4" slices. Then you'll get these darling little bite sized morsels.

These cookies are absolutely delicious, especially if you love almond flavor.  I'm feeling badly for scaring you away from making these. Really, if I can do it, they can't be that hard. And they DO look super impressive, and they taste amazing. So get your bravery on, and make these Italian Rainbow cookies!

Italian Rainbow Cookies 

• 1 cup sugar
• 3-1/2 ounces almond paste, cut into small pieces

• 4 large eggs

• 1 cup flour

• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

• 6 to 8 drops red food coloring

• 6 to 8 drops green food coloring

• 1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

• GLAZE:

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

• 1 tsp. shortening

1. Place sugar and almond paste in a food processor; process until combined. Transfer to a large bowl; beat eggs and sugar mixture 2-3 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add flour, butter, salt and extract.

1. Divide batter into thirds. Tint 1 portion red and 1 portion green; leave remaining portion plain. Spread 1 portion into each of 3 well-greased 11x7-in. baking dishes.

1. Bake at 375 for 7-11 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and edges begins to brown. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

1. Place red layer on waxed paper; spread with 2 tablespoons jam. Top with plain layer and remaining jam. Add green layer; press down gently.

1. For glaze, in a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Spread half over green layer. Refrigerate 20 minutes or until set. Turn over; spread remaining glaze over red layer. Refrigerate 20 minutes or until set.

1. With a sharp knife, trim edges. Cut rectangle lengthwise into fourths. Cut each portion into 1/4-in. slices.

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Ricciarelli (Italian Almond Cookies)

I rarely make the same cookies two years in a row, but for these little delights, I made an exception. We enjoyed these so much last year that they made the list this year again. And these cookies are gluten AND dairy free, and can be made vegan by using aquafaba instead of an egg. (Aquafaba is the liquid in the chickpea can, and it "acts" like an egg!) So they're perfect if you have relatives or friends with special dietary needs. 

I know some of you read gluten and dairy free and think - oh taste free, too! NOT AT ALL. These are really good, especially if you love almonds. They have a triple whammy - almond flour, almond extract, and sliced almonds. 

I also love that these are two-bite cookies. I like smaller cookies because that means you can try more varieties at your party or gathering! HA!

Try these - I know you won't be disappointed!

Ricciarelli (Italian Almond Cookies) 

2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. orange zest
pinch salt
1 egg or 1/4 cup aquafaba
2 Tbsp. apricot jam (or peach jam or orange marmalade)
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds

In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, sugar, salt, and orange zest. In a separate bowl,  whisk the egg until frothy (just by hand is fine) and then add the jam and extract and stir until combined and the jam is incorporated. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well until all the ingredients are incorporated. Place in the refrigerator for about half an hour to chill.

Once the dough is chilled, scoop out tablespoonfuls and roll each into a ball.  
Place the sliced almonds into a small bowl then roll each dough ball in them until covered. Use your hands to help press them into the dough. (The shape might become more football-ish which is totally fine.) 

Place the cookies on a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes or until golden. Let cool for a few minutes on the sheet then cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Muddy Buddy Cookies

 

Do you know what muddy buddies are? I guess it's another name for puppy chow, that addicting  party snack made with Chex cereal coated in chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar. I'm glad no one is delivering that to my office in a big popcorn tin. Uff da.

So then, it's obvious why these cookies are called Muddy Buddy cookies - it's a peanut butter cookie filled with a milk chocolate center, then dusted with powdered sugar. These are SO GOOD!!!! 

What I especially like about these are that you get all the good peanut butter and chocolate flavor, but they're a little different than your standard peanut blossom. (Standard peanut blossoms are delicious - I am not throwing any shade here, I'm just saying I like unique cookies.) Also, look at me, using all the slang.

What's really fun about these cookies is that you make dough balls, bake them, and then when they come out of the oven, you make that fun indent. I used the bottom of a 1/4 cup measuring cup to make the indentation. When you do that, it makes the crinkly edges too. (Why don't I have a picture of this? Sorry! Make them yourself and you will see what I mean.)

Then you fill the cookies with the chocolate, let it harden (room temp or fridge - or garage!) and then dust with powdered sugar.

These are rich, delicious, festive and beautiful - and go great with a cup of coffee or large glass of milk. So leave some for Santa (hee hee) but enjoy plenty yourself! 

Muddy Buddies Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 tsp. vegetable or avocado oil

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add in the egg and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir, then add to the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl, beating on low speed until combined.

Scoop about a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Repeat to place 12 balls on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes. Cookies will not flatten.

Immediately after removing the baking sheet from the oven, use a small measuring cup to gently press down on each cookie to make an indent. Then let the cookies cool completely on the sheet, for about an hour.

When cookies are almost cool, place the chocolate chips and oil in a glass measuring cup and cook in the microwave until melted. I usually use 50% power and stir after every minute. This usually takes 2-3 minutes. 

Place a small amount of chocolate into the center of each cookie and spread it gently. Let the chocolate set completely then dust with powdered sugar. (The chocolate will harden in about 2 hours at room temperature, or 15 minutes in the fridge - or the cold garage!)

You can store the cookies at room temperature. 

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• 1/2 cu1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
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Lace Cookies {gluten free!}

I have long admired lace cookies and how delicate and beautiful they look. What I didn't realize is how easy they are to make!

I also didn't realize how amazingly delicious they are, and that they use 6 simple ingredients that you probably have on hand right now!  (I guess I had a lot to learn about lace cookies.) 

Another great thing to love about these cookies? They are gluten free! I'm not gluten free, and you may not be either, but I always think it's great to have a few recipes up your sleeve for your friends and relatives that may need to stay away from gluten. 

The most "difficult" part of this recipe is realizing how little batter you need to put on the pan. Just a TEASPOON per cookie! You want to space them out nicely, too, because they spread a lot. I just love how they turn out in such perfect circles!

If you're an overachiever, you can also use these cookies to make sandwich cookies, by filling them with nutella or melted chocolate. I did that with a few, but to be honest, I really loved the lace cookies best on their own. 

Lace Cookies

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. corn syrup or milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Then add the brown sugar, almond flour, salt, and corn syrup (or milk). Whisk, while continuing to cook on low, until the sugar has dissolved and the ingredients are completely combined. (If the butter separates, just take the pan off the heat, and whisk vigorously until it comes back together.)

Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. The mixture should look grainy and shiny. Let the cookie dough sit for 10-15 minutes to thicken.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 and line three baking sheets with parchment or silpat.

Drop teaspoonfuls of batter 3 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. (Be sure you're using a teaspoon, not a tablespoon!) Bake 6-8 minutes until golden brown around the edges.

Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully transfer to a wire rack. Cookies will dry and crisp as they cool.

If you like you can make sandwich cookies with nutella or melted chocolate. Store cookies in the fridge or freezer.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Thumbprints

The next few weeks here are going to all cookies, all the time. So if you're looking for a nourishing main dish, salad, soup, or appetizer - please consult the index. Ha! All the new recipes will be cookies. C is for cookie, that's good enough for me. 

I've made these delicious thumbprints for a couple years now, so decided it was high time to post them. They're different than your run of the mill thumbprint - the middle is cheesecake instead of jam! And the cookie is red velvet. They are delicious!

They are also beautiful, which you know by now is also important to me! I also love that this recipe lets you be a little creative in choosing which kind of sprinkles to roll the dough in - and it's a great way to use up some sprinkles if you have some odds and ends languishing in the cupboard!

These thumbprints are pretty typical - make the dough, then let it chill. Roll it into balls, coat with sprinkles, then use the back of a teaspoon to make an indent.

Bake for a few minutes, then fill with the cheesecake filling, and then continue baking. 

These are just as delicious cold as at room temperature. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did! (and do...)

Red Velvet Cheesecake Thumbprints

Cookie:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk (room temperature)
1 tsp. vanilla 
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. red food coloring
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar sprinkles

Filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. vanilla 

Combine the salt, flour, and cocoa powder in a bowl and stir until evenly mixed. Set aside.

Beat together the butter, brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add in the dry ingredients that you set aside, and the food coloring, and mix until soft dough forms and ingredients are just combined. Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours) to chill.

Scoop out the dough by heaping tablespoons and rolling them in the sugar or sprinkles before placing on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet (about 2 inches apart). Use the back of a round teaspoon to make a small indentation in the cookie dough.

Bake at 300 for 10 minutes, or until the edges are set.

For the filling, using an electric mixer or small food processor, beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth.

After the first 10 minutes of baking, bring the cookies out of the oven. Use the back of a round teaspoon to deepen the indentation in the cookies, if they have flattened out. Spoon a teaspoon of the filling into each indentation. Bake for an additional 12 minutes, or until filling is set.

Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Makes 2-3 dozen

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

It's Christmas week! There's still time to make some goodies, and if you live in the Upper Midwest, you may find yourself housebound this week due to the frigid temps coming in. Brrr!!!! Perfect for turning on the oven and doing some baking.

Or maybe soup is more your go-to for frigid days. If it is, I can recommend Red Curry Ramen with Pork, Lasagna Soup, Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Shrimp, Hearty Sausage and Potato Soup, Double Corn and Potato Chowder, and Beef and Barley Soup.

Back to cookies. These little shortbread cookies are SO easy. And so good. 

Just 6 ingredients come together (and quickly) and then you refrigerate the dough for a few hours or overnight. Then they're read to slice and bake!

They aren't too sweet, so they are a nice contrast to other cookies that may be in your arsenal... and they're so pretty with the orange and red. 

Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one orange or tangerine 
1 heaping cup fresh cranberries
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla 

Finely chop the cranberries and set aside. In a food processor, cream the butter, sugar, and zest together until well combined. Add the flour and extract, and pulse about 10 times, then run the machine briefly, just until the dough comes together into a lump or lumps. Add the cranberries and pulse just until they are distributed, but don't over process - you don't want pink dough! (or maybe you do, but you do want cranberry chunks - not sauce!) If you don't have a food processor, you can still do the above with a mixer. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and bring together with your hands until it is no longer crumbly. Form the dough into a 10-12 inch log. The longer your log the smaller your cookies will be. Wrap the log in plastic, using the plastic to smooth out the dough and help form your log. Twist the ends tight to seal.

Chill the dough for at least 3 hours, or overnight. 

Slice the dough into 1/3 inch slices and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, two inches apart. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or slightly longer if you like your cookies crisper. They will be pale on top and just turning golden on the bottom. Cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. 

Eggnog Brownies

I think my love of bars is well known around here. While cookies are fun, I really prefer bars, mostly for the simplicity of making them. One pan, done. Not endless scooping out and baking on different trays. Boy I sound like scrooge. There's nothing wrong with cookies, but I like making bars, and it's nice to have something different on a tray to give away or serve. 

As a bonus, with these delicious "brownies," you can have an excuse to finally use the nutmeg pods you have in the cupboard! I got a kick out of grating those pods for a fun garnish on the eggnog brownies, but if you don't have any, you can simply sprinkle with some nutmeg.

I do love nutmeg, and I love baking with it, so these eggnog brownies were perfection in my book. A fudgy base with an eggnog laced icing - they are so good. 

Eggnog Brownies

3/4 cup butter
8 oz. white chocolate
1/2 cup eggnog
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. rum extract
2 1/4 cups flour

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. eggnog
grated nutmeg for garnish

In a glass bowl, microwave the white chocolate, butter, and eggnog about 90 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Mix in the sugar, eggs, salt, and rum extract. Stir in the flour just until incorporated then spread evenly into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with fudgy crumbs. Do not overbake. Let cool completely.

For the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and eggnog until smooth. You want a thick, glue like consistency. Add more eggnog if too thick. Spread over cooled brownies, and sprinkle a bit of nutmeg on top, or grate from nutmeg pods. Store in the refrigerator.

Turtle Thumbprints

Oh boy. If you need an impressive treat for your cookie plate this month, look no further than these Turtle Thumbprints -- a chocolate cookie dough, studded with pecans and then filled with a caramel center. Yum!

Thumbprint cookies always have a slightly higher "putz factor" (technical term) than regular drop cookies but they are worth it. (And way less putz than cut out cookies in my opinion. Don't bother searching for cut out cookies on this blog, ahem.) 

You'll dip chocolate balls in egg white, then in chopped pecans 

and then place them on a baking sheet before making the indents with the back of a teaspoon.

After baking you'll fill those indents with caramel,

and then marvel at their beauty

before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

These are complete stunners, not only to look at but also to eat. Anyone who loves chocolate, pecans and/or caramel, will go crazy over these cookies! In fact, you probably want to double this recipe - the recipe as written will make about 12-16 cookies but they will go fast!

Turtle Thumbprints

1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg, separated, plus 1 egg white
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
14 soft caramels
3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl. 

With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined.

Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 1 hour.

Whisk egg whites in a small bowl until frothy. Place pecans in another bowl. One at a time, roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip in egg whites, then roll in pecans. Place balls 2 inches apart on parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets. Using a teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation in center of each ball.

Bake at 350 until set, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave caramels and cream in bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Once cookies are removed from oven, gently press existing indentations with teaspoon measure. Fill each with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon caramel mixture. Cool 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.