Moravian Spice Cookies

My husband's favorite holiday cookie!

He actually made them this year because I think they are more trouble than they are worth. But they are so delicious when someone else makes them.

MORAVIAN SPICE COOKIES

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon finely ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 large egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper and mustard together in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until just combined and lightly fluffy. Beat in the molasses and egg yolk. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix together on low speed until dough is just combined and still crumbly, about 3 minutes. Give dough a few turns with a spatula to bring together.

Lay out wax paper on a clean work surface and put about 1/3 of the batter on top. Lightly press down and top with another sheet of wax paper. Using your hands or a rolling pin, gently pat into a rectangle. Roll out with a rolling pin until dough is as thin as possible without breaking, no thicker than 1/16 inch thick. This is the key to these cookies: they really can't be too thin. Gently peel back the layer of waxed paper and then replace it loosely.

Transfer rolled batter to a flat baking sheet and freeze until firm and can easily be peeled away from the waxed paper, about 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cut dough using a small (2- to 3-inch) fluted round cookie cutter and return to the freezer for 15 minutes to set.

Transfer frozen cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake until crisp and lightly, evenly colored (but not brown), about 8 minutes (watch them very closely).

Butter Toffee Cookies

Last Friday, was my last day of clinicals at the VA Medical Center. I made these cookies for all the technologists and my clinical instructor. That hospital was an amazing place for my first rotation. So busy all the time, so many great opportunities for learning and awesome patients (all Veterans, of course!!).

I'm moving on to Northside Forsyth Hospital for the next five weeks.


BUTTER TOFFEE COOKIES

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup English or almond toffee bits
sugar

Combine sugar, butter, egg and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda; reduce speed to low. Beat until well mixed. Stir in toffee bits by hand.

Shape rounded tablespoons of dough into balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten with the bottom of a glass. If the glass sticks, dip glass in sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Let cool for 2 minutes and remove from cookie sheet.

Yield: 3 dozen

That's my VA Clinical Instructor "Miss Lena" in the middle. She's the greatest!! We all loved her so much. Can't wait to get back there for another rotation.

Peach Crumb Bars

This is like a portable little peach cobbler.

PEACH CRUMB BARS

11/2 cups sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of half a lemon
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 egg
5 cups peeled, chopped peaches (about 5 peaches)
5 teaspoons cornstarch
juice of 1 lemon
pinch of nutmeg

Grease a 9 x 13 pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and flour. Mix in the salt and the lemon zest, and stir together with a fork. Cut in the butter and egg with a pastry blender until the largest chunks are about pea-sized. The mixture should be crumbly without much loose flour. Spread about half of the dough mixture in an even layer over the bottom of the prepared pan and press down firmly to form the bottom crust.

In another bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and nutmeg. Gently mix in the peaches with a rubber spatula until combined. Sprinkle the fruit mixture evenly over the crust. (Note: If peaches are really juicy, you may want to transfer them with a slotted spoon so you don’t have too much liquid making the bottom crust soggy.) Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the peaches.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving. Store in refrigerator.

I actually like them cold, but feel free to heat up in microwave and top with some vanilla ice cream.

Lemon Cookies

Today, it is dreary, cold, wet and snowing. Just a little over a week ago we had a taste of spring with a beautiful sunny weekend. That is when I made these cookies. They were like a taste of spring, too.



LEMON COOKIES

1 (18.25 oz) package lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
grated zest from 1 lemon
powdered sugar for decoration

Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, lemon juice & lemon zest until well blended. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes, and up to overnight to make the dough easier to handle. Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and then drop into a small bowl of powdered sugar. Roll around until lightly or heavily covered, depending on how much you want. Once sugared, place on an ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy.

Yield: 5 dozen

Note: I plan to use more lemon juice next time to increase the lemonyness (that's a word, isn't it?).

Eggnog Cookies

Yummy eggnog flavored cookies are soft and chewy. Ingredients can be mixed and prepared ahead of time, frozen and then baked at a later date.



EGGNOG COOKIES

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup low-fat commercial eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks

Mix the first 4 ingredients and set aside. Cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks. Beat until smooth. Add flour at low speed until mixed.

Chill the dough for about half an hour. Scoop tablespoon size portions and roll into balls. Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with extra nutmeg if desired.

Bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Center will still be somewhat soft.

Yield: about 4 dozen

Note: Be sure to use low-fat eggnog for this recipe, otherwise the cookies will flatten out too much when baking. Trust me, I've done it.

If you want to freeze for later baking: Roll the dough into balls and place on waxed paper lined tray or baking sheet. Freeze for a couple of hours and then just wrap the dough balls up in the wax paper and put into a ziploc bag. Freeze.

When you are ready to bake: Place frozen dough balls on a baking sheet. Allow to sit at room temperature for half an hour and then bake as directed. Don't forget to sprinkle extra nutmeg!

Cherry and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Look what Eddie gave me!

It's my birthday/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's gift...




So, I had to make something for him...




CHERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups uncooked regular oats
2 (6 ounce) packages white chocolate baking bars, coarsely chopped (Baker’s)
1 cup sweetened dried cherries (Welch’s)

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats, white chocolate and cherries.

Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on pans; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: 5 dozen

This is a good recipe for variations... Next time, Craisins instead of dried cherries, maybe macadamia nuts, how 'bout butterscotch chips and pecans?

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies

About a week ago, I was looking through all of my Christmas with Southern Living books (I have been getting them for over 20 years). I was just starting to think about new recipes I might want to try for the holidays this year. Eddie picked up one of the books to take a look. Right away, he found this recipe and said "Can we make this tomorrow? I don't want to wait until December!" Apparently, this is one of his all-time favorites.

He actually made these, I get no credit (just photo credit). They are still warm in this picture, they need to cool until sheen becomes dull.

NO-BAKE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
3 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to medium; bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; quickly stir in peanut butter until smooth. Stir in oats. Quickly drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool completely. Carefully remove from wax paper. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 4 dozen