November 2019 – Christmas Cookies & Holiday Treats

Toffee Pecan Sandies

Pat Brendle, Stevens

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 4½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chopped pecans or almonds
• 1 package Heath toffee bits (plain or with milk chocolate)
• additional sugar to roll balls in

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add oil, eggs and extract; mix well. Combine flours, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Add in nuts and toffee bits.

Shape into 1” balls; roll in sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets and flatten with a fork.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 8½ to 9 dozen.

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Angel Sugar Cookies

Pat Brendle, Stevens

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, soft
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup 10X sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour

Blend butter, sugar and 10X sugar till smooth. Add oil, vanilla, eggs, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. Blend well. Add flour and mix till smooth. Batter is very soft.

Refrigerate no less than 3 hours.

Drop cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets and flatten. Butter bottom of a glass and dip in sugar to flatten if needed. Top with colored sugar if you like.

Bake at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes, till starting to brown.

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Chewy Scotches with Brown Butter Icing

Pat Brendle, Stevens

Bars:

• 1¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter
• 1¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped cashews
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs

Icing:

• ²/₃ cup butter (do not use margarine)
• 3 cups 10X sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9”x13” pan.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.

Melt ½ cup butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Add flour mixture, brown sugar, cashews, 1 teaspoon vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Spread batter in greased pan.

Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until bars begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Completely cool.

Melt ²/₃ cup butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook 13 to 15 minutes or until butter is light golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in 10X sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla and enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Spread over cooled bars.

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Crisp Cherry Topped Cookies

Pat Roth, Ephrata

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 packages (3 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups crisp rice cereal, crushed
• red & green candied cherries, halved

In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar. Beat in the extract.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add this to the creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, shape the dough into 1” balls, then roll in the cereal. Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheets. Place a cherry half in the center of each cookie.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Yield: about 5 dozen

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Maraschino Cherry Mini Loaves

Pat Roth, Ephrata

“These are delicious Christmas loaves for gifts.”

• 10 oz. jar maraschino cherries
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup chopped dates

Drain cherries, reserving ¼ cup of the juice; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs and reserved juice. Stir this into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the walnuts, chocolate chips, dates and cherries.

Spoon into three greased 5¾”x3”x2” loaf pans. Bake at 325°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap and store for 24 hours before serving.

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Thin Sand Tarts (Cut Out Cookies)

Maryann Good, Terre Hill

• 1/2 lb. butter, softened (no substitutes)
• 1 lb. light brown sugar
• 4 cups flour
• 3 eggs

Mix ingredients together. Chill for a few hours.

Roll very thin and cut out with cookie cutters. Bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes.

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Almond Cookies

Maryann Good, Terre Hill

• 2 cups raisins
• ½ cup water
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup butter or shortening
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water

Combine raisins and water in saucepan. Boil for a few minutes. Take off heat and let cool.

Add sugar, eggs, butter, extract and baking soda. Mix together and drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes.

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Yum Yum Bread

Maryann Good, Terre Hill

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups raisins
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 3 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

Combine sugar, water, raisins, cinnamon and shortening. Bring to a boil.

Cool and add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Place dough into small greased loaf pans.

Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes. Check for doneness.

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3 Musketeers Brownie Gems

Gloria Dougherty, Akron

• 1 box brownie mix
• ingredients to prepare brownie mix according to box instructions
• 3 Musketeers brand miniatures

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions.

Spray mini muffin pans with cooking spray. Spoon a little of the brownie mix into each cup, then place half of an unwrapped 3 Musketeers miniature on top of mixture. Spoon additional brownie mix into each cup to cover miniatures.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes.

Note: You can use regular muffin cups, if desired. Increase baking time to around 20 minutes.

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Chocolate Pretzel Cookies

Gloria Dougherty, Akron

• 2½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspooon salt
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 30 small milk chocolate-covered pretzels, such as Flipz, coarsely chopped, 1¼ cups
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt; reserve.

At medium-high speed, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, two minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour mixture.

Combine pretzels, pecans and chocolate chips. Reserve ½ cup. Stir remaining mixture into dough.

Drop dough using small scoop onto cookie sheet, 3” apart. Sprinkle tops with reserved chip mixture. Bake about 9 minutes or until golden. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.

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Oreo Balls

Lauren Zimmerman, Akron

“Delicious!”

• 16 oz. package Oreos
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• semisweet chocolate chips, approximately 1½ packages

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Crush Oreos to fine crumbs. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well-blended. Roll mixture into small balls, about 1” in diameter. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Melt chocolate in a small kettle over low heat. Dip the balls into the chocolate to coat. Place on wax paper-covered cookie sheets and freeze until firm.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lauren Zimmerman, Akron

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1 package chocolate chips

Mix ingredients in order listed, adding chocolate chips last.

Bake at 350°F.

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Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Deborah Bucher, Ephrata

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup shortening
• 1¾ cups sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon rum extract
• 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening and 1½ cups sugar. Beat in eggs and extract. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.

In a shallow bowl, combine the nutmeg and remaining sugar. Roll dough into 1” balls; roll in sugar mixture. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 400°F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Yield: 6½ dozen cookies

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Cranberry Lemon Sandwiches

Deborah Bucher, Ephrata

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup dried cranberries

Filling:

• ²/₃ cup butter, softened
• 2¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ cup milk
• 1¼ teaspoons grated lemon peel

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, peel and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in cranberries. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

Roll into 1” balls. Place 2” apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Combine filling ingredients in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Spread on the bottoms of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies.

Yield: about 4½ dozen cookies

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Peppermint Snowballs

Deborah Bucher, Ephrata

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup ground nuts, optional

Filling:

• 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 3 tablespoons crushed peppermint candy
• 1 drop red food coloring, optional

Topping:

• ½ cup crushed peppermint candy
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour. Stir in nuts if desired. Knead dough until pliable. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, milk, candy and food coloring if desired.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make a deep indentation in the center of each. Fill with ¼ teaspoon filling. Cover with ¼ teaspoonful of dough; seal and reshape into balls.

Combine topping ingredients; roll balls in topping. Place 1” apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until firm. Roll warm cookies in topping again; cool on wire racks.

Yield: 4 dozen

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Mocha Chip Cookies

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons Nestlé^® Toll House^® Baking Cocoa
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 tablespoons Taster’s Choice^® 100% Pure Instant Coffee
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1 cup Nestlé^® Toll House^® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

Combine Taster’s Choice and water in small bowl; stir until coffee is dissolved. Add to sugar mixture; mix well. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are crisp. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

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Giant S’mores Cookies

Sheri Wolf, Ephrata

• 2¹/₈ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted real butter, melted and cooled until warm
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg + 1 yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips
• 8 graham cracker squares broken into half
• 4 marshmallows cut into half
• 1 full sized chocolate bar divided between each cookie

Mix together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl mix together melted butter and sugars until thoroughly mixed. Beat in egg yolk and then egg and vanilla until mixed. Add dry ingredients at low speed until just combined. Batter should look a little lumpy. Fold in chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put 2 large spoonfuls of cookie dough on the baking sheet. Lay half a graham cracker on top of the cookie dough. Top with 3 to 4 pieces of chocolate. Top with 2 marshmallow halves on top of the chocolate pieces. Top with graham cracker half.

Take two large spoonfuls of cookie dough and wrap around the s’mores sandwich. The result should look like a small cookie brick.

Space the cookies 4 inches apart on two baking sheets. If the dough is soft, put the baking sheets in the fridge to chill the bricks for 15 minutes. This will prevent massive spreading in the oven.

Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until the top and edges are lightly browned and the edges just lift off the pan with a spatula. (While baking, the s’mores will press down under the weight of the cookie dough and will sink further while cooling. Don’t worry if the cookies don’t end up completely covering the s’mores – it only adds to the charm.)

Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and cool the cookies for at least 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool for another 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Serve warm or at room temperature.