Showing posts with label Christmas treats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas treats. Show all posts

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Ina Garten's Jam Thumbprint Cookies.

 

My mom and I used to make a jam thumbprint cookie like this when I very young. I believe ours were rolled in crushed walnuts before placing jam in the center. In truth, I think I like that version the best, both for nostalgia and also for taste, however these are lighter and sweeter and definitely delicious in their own right!

Ina's thumbprint cookies have a shortbread base, which goes over real well with my husband who loves all things shortbread! As mentioned above, Ina also rolls her cookies in coconut flakes before inserting the jam in the center, which really lightens things up from the typical nutty version, and I think creates an altogether different background.

Ina wrote the recipe for both raspberry and apricot jam, but I have a huge variety of jams, jellies, and preserves and with the coconut flavor in mind I wanted to create somewhat of a more tropical version so I chose some mango preserves. That combination was not for my husband, so he wanted to have just plain strawberry for his. I went with some strawberry-rhubarb perserves, but shh....don't tell him and he won't even know.

The dough has to chill and it is somewhat finicky to roll into balls, cracking and what not, but it is not that bad as the warmth of your hands makes the dough balls nice and smooth. They take a quick dip in an egg wash, then a roll in the coconut flakes, then you make an indentation with your finger and insert the jam before baking.

These cookies are light and sweet with just a hint of coconut flavor. I like both the mango and the strawberry-rhubarb flavors, but in my opinion, the mango goes so much better with the coconut. The funny thing is, my husband agreed! He said I could've made them all mango.

I think these would make for a great addition to your holiday cookie collection! So many of  holiday cookies are rich and decadent and these feel like and fruity and refreshing in comparison. These are a wonderful and welcome change.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all who are celebrating!

 


 Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Adapted from Food Network

by Ina Garten

Makes 32

3/4 pound (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1 cup suagr

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut

Raspberry and/or apricot jam (or any jam you like)*

Preheat the oven to 350F. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddles attachment (or with an electric mixer because you don't have a paddle attachment), cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together (mine didn't, probably because I didn't have the right paddle attachment, but I just used my hands and that worked too). Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1-1/4 inch balls (if you have a scale they should each weight 1 ounce). Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut flakes. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is golden brown. Cool and serve.


 Land Of Sweets Theme @ IHCC

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Ina Garten's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies


Every Christmas my daughter and I make Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms, a classic peanut butter cookie with a Hershey kiss placed on top. My mom would make Buckeyes, a sugary peanut butter ball dipped in chocolate. We would always laugh because these are by no means traditional Christmas cookies, but for us, it was all about the peanut butter and chocolate. Always.

This year things are so different. My daughter and I muddled our way through putting the Christmas tree up, something we always used to do with my mom. I was so proud of my daughter the way she strung all the extra lights and fussed over the branches, studying for openings and fixing them, like my mom always did. She even remembered the special way my mom hung the angel, using a ruler to anchor the angel to the tree, and I watched as she stepped back several times to make sure she was straight. We took special care to hang all the ornaments that we had made over the years, the same ones my mom had painstakingly saved, in all the places my mom liked them to be, right at the top of the tree. Front and center.

When we were finished we each went to our rooms and I cried. I was so very thankful for my daughter. She did all the things my mom used to do. All the things I'm not any good at. The things I didn't think I could do on my own. My extremely sassy 16-year-old, who constantly has headphones in her ear, saved Christmas; and, there wasn't a sassy bone in her body while she did it. I was so proud of her and I wanted to tell my mom how Olivia saved Christmas. I wanted to see that smile on my mom's face, the one she reserved for times like these when she was bursting with pride.

I don't know if we have it in us to make the Hershey's Peanut Butter Blossoms or the Buckeyes like my mom always did. If not this year, I know we will next year. But for now, we made something completely different. We made Ina's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and they were delicious. Who doesn't love a peanut butter cookie with lots and lots of chocolate chips running throughout? Fluffy and chewy and full of chocolate, these were a hit at my house, and they definitely satisfy our peanut butter and chocolate craving. I know my mom would approve!



Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Parties!
Makes about 4 dozen

1/2 pound butter, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature*
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter*
2-1/2 cups all-purpose
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt*
1 pound semi-sweet chocolate chips*

Notes: My grocery didn't have extra large eggs so I used two regular large sized eggs with perfect results. You could easily use crunchy peanut butter, but I prefer creamy. These cookies needed a bit more salt and were bordering on needing a touch more granulated sugar. I'd taste your dough and add accordingly. One classic-sized bag of chocolate chips isn't enough. You'll need about one and a half bags.

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer (this is some hefty dough), cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time. Add the peanut butter and the vanilla and mix. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the batter, mixing only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough on a baking sheet, using either a 1-3/4" ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands, flatten dough lightly. Bake for exactly 10 minutes (your time may be different). The key is to remove the cookies when they still look slightly wet on top and a little underdone. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Copycat Williams-Sonoma Peppermint Bark

Williams-Sonoma's Peppermint Bark.  If you've tasted it, then you know it's magical.  If you haven't tasted it, then you really need to.  This bark screams the holidays and it is so darn delicious and addictive.  For years Williams-Sonoma has been selling their peppermint bark for upwards of $30-40 per pound and people have been willing to pay good money for it because it is so darn delicious.  No need to pay big bucks any longer.  You can totally make this stuff at home.

This copycat recipe is spot on.  The real deal.  Worth it's weight in gold.  I'm not kidding.  Peppermint and chocolate are all the rage this season and I think you should seriously make this.  Ditch the cookies.  Give your oven a break.  Make this for yourself.  Eat the whole batch.  Then again, it's the season of giving.  Make another batch.  Wrap it up.  Gift it.  It definitely looks pretty all wrapped up with a bow.  People will love it.

Just please promise to use good chocolate.

Copycat Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark
Adapted from Food Network 
Makes about 2 pounds
Active Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

12 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces*
1 pound good-quality white chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces*
1-1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
3 candy canes or 12 round hard peppermint candies, crushed

*Note: To do this recipe right you really need to buy good chocolate.  Don't buy chocolate chips because they will not yield the same results.  Buy good quality chocolate in bar form.  I used 3 (4 oz.) bars of Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate and 4 (4 oz.) bars of Ghirardelli white chocolate. 

Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with aluminum foil, shiny-side up; smooth out any wrinkles.  Heat 1 inch of water in a saucepan over low heat until steaming.

Put all but 3/4 cup of the semisweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Set the bowl over the saucepan of steaming water (do not let the bowl touch the water) and stir until one-third of the chocolate is melted.  Remove the bowl from the saucepan; keep the steaming water over low heat.  Gradually stir the reserved 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate into the bowl, a few pieces at a time, until all of the chocolate is melted.  Return the bowl to the saucepan, 5 to 10 seconds at a time, to help melt the chocolate, if needed.  Do not rush this step:  it should take about 10 minutes to melt the chocolate.

Wipe off any moisture from the bottom of the bowl.  Stir in 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract into the chocolate, then quickly pour into the prepared baking dish and spread in an even layer.  Firmly tap the dish against the counter to remove any air  bubbles.  Set aside at room temperature until almost set, about 10 minutes.  (Mine took a little longer to set.  I ended up putting it in the fridge for just a few minutes).

Meanwhile, put all but 1 cup of the white chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and repeat the melting process over the steaming water; dry the bottom of the bowl.  Stir in the remaining 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract; pour over the semisweet chocolate and spread in an even layer.  Sprinkle immediately with the crushed candy canes, gently pressing them into the white chocolate.   Set aside at room temperature until firm, about 1 hour.  Lift the bark out of the pan using the foil and break into pieces, or simply lift the bark out and cut into squares (this is what Williams-Sonoma does).  Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.