Belgian Tuile Cookies

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 large egg white*
1 t vanilla
¼ t salt
½ c all purpose flour
4 oz bittersweet chocolate candy bar chopped or semis sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F Grease cookie sheets; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down side of bowl once. Beat in egg white, vanilla and salt. Gradually add flour. Beat at low speed until well blended, scraping down side of bowl once.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter 4" apart onto prepared cookie sheets. (Bake only 4 cookies per sheet.) Flatten slightly with spatula.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until cookies are deep golden brown. Let cookies stand on cookie sheet 1 minute.


Working quickly, while cookies are still hot, drape cookies over a rolling pin or bottle so both sides hand down and form a saddle shape; cool completely.

Melt chocolate in small, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.

Tilt saucepan to pool chocolate at one end; dip edge of each cookie into chocolate coating, turning cookie slowly so entire edge is tinged with chocolate.


Transfer cookies to waxed paper; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until set.


Store tightly covered at room temperature. Do NOT Freeze.


Makes about 2½ dozen cookies.

Mint Chocolate Snow Top Cookies

1½ c all-purpose flour

1½ t baking powder

¼ t salt

1 (10 oz) package mint flavored semisweet chocolate morsels

6 T butter, softened

1 c granulated sugar

2 eggs

1½ t vanilla extract

confectioners' sugar

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of the chocolate morsels over low heat until melted, stirring constantly.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in melted chocolate, eggs and vanilla.

Add flour mixture and remaining ½ cup chocolate morsels. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° Shape dough into 1" balls; coat with confectioners' sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on wire rack. 

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Back Bay Cookies

2/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
2/3 cup chopped raisins or currants
½ cup chopped walnuts
2 cups sifted flour
2/3 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add raisins and nuts. Sift remaining ingredients together and add to the first mixture. Mix thoroughly. Drop by teaspoonfuls, 1" apart, on greased cookie sheets. Bake about 12 minutes. cool on wire racks. Makes about 2½ dozen cookies.

Swedish Spice Cookies

1 t ground mace
½ t ground ginger
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
2 t vanilla extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. Blend until fluffy. Gradually stir in flour. Put dough through cookie press, using the brad plate, onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 minutes or until cookies have browned slightly around the edges. Cool on wire rack. Roll in powdered sugar. 

Makes 3½ dozen cookies.

Apricot Linzer Cookies

2 c all-purpose flour

½ c confectioners' sugar

¼ t baking soda

¼ c ground almonds

¼ c granulated sugar

½ cup butter, chilled and cut in 1" pieces

2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

½ t vanilla extract

¼ t cinnamon

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ c apricot jam

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine flour, confectioners' sugar and baking soda. Stir in almonds and granulated sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolks, vanilla and cinnamon; blend well.

Gather dough into a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly; shaped into a smooth ball. Roll out dough to ¼" thickness. Cut out cookies with a floured 2" round cookie cutter. With a floured thimble, cut holes in centers of half of the cookies. Brush all the cookies with beaten egg. Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake 18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to a wire rack to cool. When cool, spread jam on whole cookies. Top each with a cutout cookie.

Makes about 1½ dozen.

Pinwheel Cookies

½ cup butter, softened

1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, sofened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup cocoa

In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together 1½ cups flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; blend into creamed mixture.

Divide dough in half. Add cocoa to ½ of the dough; blend well. Add ¾ cup flour to remaining dough; blend well.

On a lightly floured board, roll out each half into a 9" square. (if dough is too soft, chill about 15 minutes) Place chocolate dough on top of vanilla. Roll up jelly-roll style. Wrap tightly in waxed paper; chill several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°. Slice dough ¼" thick. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet; cool on wire rack. Makes about 3 dozen.

Peanut Butter Kisses

1 (8 oz) bag Chocolate Kisses
½ c Shortening
¾ c Peanut Butter
1/3 c granulated Sugar
1/3 cup packed light Brown Sugar
1 Egg
2 T Milk
1 t Vanilla extract
1½ c all-purpose Flour
1 t Baking Soda
1/3 cup packed light Brown Sugar
½ t Salt
additional sugar


Preheat oven to 375°. Remove chocolate kisses candy wrappers. In a large bowl, beat shortening and peanut butter until well blended. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to peanut butter mixture. Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll in the additional granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.


Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately place 1 kiss on top of each cookie, pressing down so cookie cracks around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Cooler Weather Memories & Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I have always loved the fall. There was a lot of work to be done in preparation for winter's coming. I didn't mind it much as it meant that soon baking season would begin. 

As the weather cooled, the warmth of the oven would not only be tolerated it would be welcomed. That's when the fun would really begin for me. We'd begin baking yummy treats that could only be done in the cooler weather. It wasn't that we couldn't do it at other times of the year. It was just practical to use the fire that was needed to keep us warm to also create heavenly treats. Since otherwise it was usually to hot and it was seen as a frivolous waste of wood and coal. 

No cooler weather was always a signal to me of yummy things to follow. Fresh seasonal ingredients also added to the enjoyment of baking and creating dishes to eat. There's nothing like fresh apple pie or pumpkin cake or bread. I'd often get through the hard work of tending the crops and hauling, cutting, stacking the wood into cords just thinking of what would be created when the weather turned. I would often dream of the soon to be allowed baking and making of cookies, candies, cakes and other delicious seasonal delicacies.

With this in mind I am going to post a recipe a day to honor the festivities of the season. Some will be tried and true favorites, some will be recipes from the family recipe box that have been long forgotten in time, some will be new recipes that are up for consideration to be made, or have been passed on to us for consideration.

Which ever I hope that you will join me in this walk down memory lane and in some cases blazing a new path of memories.


To get us started Here is a recipe for Iced Pumpkin Cookies.

 

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter, softened

1½ cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Glaze

2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

I made these this weekend and they were very yummy. the Iced ones disappeared before I could get a picture. The plain ones looked like this.

Harvest Cream Cake

2 1/2 c sifted cake flour
3 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
3/4 c shortening
3/4 or 1 c milk (with butter or lard use 3/4 c milk with vegetable or other use, 1 c milk)
1 2/3 c brown sugar firmly packed
3 eggs, unbeaten Add one at a time
1 t vanilla
Mix in usual manner for cake. Use 9x9x2 pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.

Butter Cream Frosting:
Cream ½ c butter, add 1/8 t salt, 3½ c sifted confectioner's sugar. Add 2 egg yolks, 1 t grated lemon rind and enough milk to give a spreading consistency.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

¾ cup cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
2½ t lemon extract
1 t yellow food coloring
3 eggs
3 pkgs 9 oz each single layer yellow cake mix without pudding in the mix
4 T all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
½ cup cold water

Easy Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 T apricot jam
1 t lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10 inch tube pan or bundt pan. Cover bottom of pan with parchment or waxed paper trimmed to fit; grease paper. Set aside

Combine cream cheese, butter, lemon extract and food coloring in large bowl. Beat 2 minutes with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cake mixes, flour, baking powder and water; beat just until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 1 to 1½ hours or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Combine Easy Glaze ingredients and whisk until slightly thickened. Drizzle cake with glaze before serving.

Makes 16 servings