SWEDISH ALMOND SLICES

SWEDISH ALMOND SLICES

4 1/2 c. flour

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. butter, melted and slightly cooled

3/4 c. shortening (butter flavored is great!)

2 c. firmly packed brown sugar

1 c. sugar

3 eggs, well beaten

1/4 c. slivered almonds

Place the flour, cinnamon and baking soda in a medium bowl. Stir to mix, set aside.

Place the shortening, brown sugar, sugar and melted butter into the large bowl of an electric mixer. Blend well.

Add the beaten eggs, mix well.

Add flour mixture to mixing bowl, a little at a time, incorporating well. Then add almonds, mixing well. Dough will be stiff.

Form dough into rolls. (There's a lot of dough with this recipe!!) HINT: You can also put into waxed paper-lined bread pans.

Wrap in waxed paper and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove rolls from refrigerator. Remove wrappings and place on cutting board.

Slice rolls thin. HINT: If the slices fall apart a bit, just take the crumbs and form them back together. Dough works well for that!

Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2" apart. HINT: Use parchment paper sheet to line the cookie sheets!

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until they are firm and lightly browned. Let cool for a few minutes on cookie sheet before removing to wire rack. Cool completely. They will be VERY crispy! 

Store in an airtight tin.

BUTTER MELTAWAY COOKIES

BUTTER MELTAWAY COOKIES
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
3/4 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 c. all purpose flour
Beat together, make quarter sized balls or choose small cookie shooter disk
Ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper.
350 for 12 minutes. They will not be browned at all.

These cookies are super delicate and fragile. I prepare a sheet of parchment paper with a thick layer of powdered sugar sprinkled on it (I shake it from a large food strainer), then transfer the hot cookies onto the sugar bed, followed by a good sprinkling of more powdered sugar on top.  Once cooled, sprinkle again and place on plastic wrap in a cookie tin, with a sheet of plastic wrap between each layer of cookies.  Better double this recipe, they'll ask for more!
Makes about 3-4 dozen little cookies.

Gingerbread Men

MAKES ABOUT 2 DOZEN BIG GUYS.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups flour 2 teaspoons McCormick® Ginger, Ground 1 teaspoon McCormick® Cinnamon, Ground 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Nutmeg, Ground

1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup molasses 1 egg 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla;mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. I use parchment paper. Decorate with red hots or nonpariels before baking.
3.	Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to5 days.

Roll and Cut Sugar Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. I use parchment paper.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.               MAKES ABOUT FIVE DOZEN COOKIES
4. 

Chewy Molasses Cookies

Sparkling Chewy Molasses Cookies

2 c. plain flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. butter (1-1/2 sticks)

1 egg

 1/4 c.molasses, I use blackstrap

 1/2 c. chunky sanding sugar

Add butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer

Add remaining dry ingredients (whisk first)

Beat in the egg, and then the molasses until just combined. 

Put mixer on low and slowly add the flour mixture just until dough forms.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into a ball, then roll in sanding sugar to cover all sides.

Place on cookie sheets spaced three inches apart.

Bake at 350 for around 11 minutes.

Makes 3 dozen.

Spritz Cookies

I have an electric cookie gun, love it.  Spritz work well in it.

1 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
2-1/4 c. plain flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
dash salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Shoot onto ungreashed cookie sheet, add colored sprinkles.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes

Wedding Cookies

Cathy Kersten's mom's recipe:

1 c. butter
1/4 c. confectioner's sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 c. plain flour
1 c. chopped pecans
Form small balls
Ungreased cookie sheet
Bake 300 for 20 minutes.
Roll in confectioner's sugar while still hot, then again after they've cooled.
Makes 3 doz.

M & M Cookies

I found this very worn recipe in my mother-in-law's recipe file.  She died when Mark was 17, but he remembered how wonderful this recipe was and encouraged me to make them.  These are a Christmas staple for David.

Cream:
1/2 c. Crisco shortening
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar

Mix, then add:
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. water
1 egg

Sift, then add:
1 c. & 2 T. plain flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Stir in 3/4 cup M&M candies by hand (or they'll break)

Drop overflowing tablespoon portions on ungreased cookie sheet for palm-sized cookies.
Bake 375  for 10-12 minutes.

Butter Melt Away Cookies

These very delicate cookies are terrific either rolled in powdered sugar or iced.

Cookie
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks)
3/4 c. cornstarch
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 c. plain flour
Beat together, drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.  I shoot for quarter sized dollops.
Bake 350 for 12 minutes.

Gently roll balls in powdered sugar while hot, then again after they've cooled.
If you are planning to icing them, press the cookies flat with a fork (like you would for peanut butter cookies).

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 - 3 oz. pkg cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Beat together until smooth and frost cooled cookies.

These are my son Robert's Christmas cookie requirement.  They are very delicate and will crumble into a puff all over your shirt if you try to bite into one, so be sure to make them in small bite sized portions.  I've made them both ways, but for unknown reasons, I always roll them in powdered sugar.  Maybe I'll do both this year for comparison's sake.  I think these would taste wonderful with lime zest/juice added.

Oatmeal Cookies!

We left on Christmas Day for NC and when we got home ten days later, well, there were no cookies left.  David got hungry and won't cook...  So to satisfy Mark's (and my) cookie sweet tooth, I passed up an oatmeal breakfast and instead made oatmeal cookies!  Follow directions?  Nevah!!

Recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, but I only had one, so I added one stick butter and the remainder in Crisco. 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed), uh-oh, only light brown - so I used the light brown and added a bloop (2-3 tablespoons?) of dark molasses. 1/2 cup white sugar. 2 eggs. 1 T vanilla. ... I am mixing as I add.

The dry ingredients in a separate (larger) bowl: 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 cups oats (uncooked).  Because they were left over from Christmas baking and the baggie was handy, I threw in probably 1/2-2/3 cup of chopped pecans too.

Hmmm, the recipe asks for a cup of raisins, but I only have a larger lunch size box of pitiful dried up raisins, so I followed my friend's suggestion and plumped them in rum for about five minutes.  That worked!  I scooped the moistened raisins out, drank that darkened shot of rum, then stirred the raisins into the wet mix.  Mixed the wet to the dry and started baking in a 350F preheated oven. I could have tossed the rum in too, as the mix was a little dry.

I made balls a little smaller than my palm and squished them before putting them on the ungreased cookie sheet.  As the first batch of 12 cookies were baking (about 14-16 minutes), I got a genius idea and stirred in about 2/3 cup peanut butter because David likes pb cookies.  The cookies came out nice sized and soft/chewy in the middle, crisp on the edges (Crisco makes a crisp cookie), just how I like em!  This recipe made 3 dozen medium/large cookies, delicious with a cup of coffee for breakfast!