Christmas in July is here! And one of the things that we love about Christmas that gives us those holly jolly feels are warm, fresh cookies right out of the oven! Why not enjoy baking some delicious cookies with family and friends while you binge-watch your favorite Christmas movies all month long on Hallmark Channel?
In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl cream butter and sugars together using an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
Add the flour mixture and beat until mixed well. Stir in rolled oats, chips, almonds and currants. Drop by teaspoonfuls on parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake for 12 minutes or until firm around the edges. Let cool on wire racks.
8 tablespoons (115 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon (15 ml) freshly brewed espresso or strong coffee
¾ cup (144 g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (55 g) light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 teaspoons (15 ml) real vanilla extract
1½ cups (204 g) bread flour
½ cup (43 g) unsweetened dark (Dutch process) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons (7 g) sea salt
Cookie Coating
¾ cup (144 g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (98 g) powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS:
In a medium, heat-safe bowl, add the chocolate, butter and espresso and set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water or let.
The water come to a boil. Stir frequently until melted and smooth. Take off of the heat, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix until smooth. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the bread flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Add this to the chocolate mixture and blend in as few strokes as possible.
Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, or until the dough has firmed up.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.
To make the cookie coating, put the granulated sugar and powdered sugar in separate, shallow bowls to roll the cookie dough in. Roll 1½ tablespoons (21 g) of dough into a ball, plop it into the granulated sugar and cover completely. Don’t shake any off as you want it well coated. Then roll the balls in the powdered sugar.
Again, don’t shake off the excess.
Place the covered dough balls on the baking sheet, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart from each other. Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 11 minutes.
Don’t overbake - they will be soft and appear underdone when you pull them out of the oven.
Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 15 minutes. Then remove the cookies and place on a cooling rack.
Using a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Cream on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the eggs and beat on low speed for 15 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
On low speed, add the flour. Beat until all the flour is incorporated. Scrape down, mix for 15 seconds, or until you have an even dough.
Place the dough between two sheets of parchment, roll it out ¼ inch thick and freeze it at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
When the dough has chilled, carefully peel off the parchment and place the dough on a work surface dusted lightly with flour. Because it holds its shape in the oven, sugar cookies make a great cookie-cutter cookie. Dip the cookie-cutter in flour as needed. Once on the baking sheet, the cookies can be decorated with colored sugars or candy sprinkles or dusted with granulated sugar.
Set pressure valve to seal and lower sealing lever.
Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time for 7 to 9 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. When time is up, carefully turn the pressure valve to vent and wait for steam to escape. Slowly raise the sealing lever and press the door release button. Remove from the oven and carefully slide the parchment onto a work surface. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving. Cut-out cookies can be iced after baking.
140 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes and at room temperature
DIRECTIONS:
Macarons:
Preheat oven to 350℉. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together using a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl.
In a clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, gently whisk the 90 grams of egg white until foamy. Add a third of the sugar and whisk for about 1 minute until dissolved. Add another third of the remaining sugar and continue whisking for another minute. Add the rest of the sugar and a few drops (3 to 6 depending on your desired color) of gel food coloring. Whisk until firm, glossy peaks form. You should be able to turn the bowl full of whisked egg white’s upside down without any movement.
Remove whisk attachment from the stand mixer and replace with the paddle attachment. Add the ground almond/powdered sugar mixture to the whisked egg whites. Turn mixer to medium speed and mix to combine. Then turn the mixer off and on in rapid succession, checking consistency of your batter after each time. You want the batter to look like thick lava and to flow off the paddle in a thick ribbon. Be very careful not to over- or under- mix the batter as this will affect the texture of the final macaron shell. Add the remaining 8 grams of egg whites and mix quickly.
Spoon the batter in a piping bag fitted with an ATECO 804 piping tip and pipe small rounds of batter onto it. You should be able to fit 12 to 16 shells on each baking sheet. Lightly tap baking sheet on the counter to spread the rounds and remove any large air bubbles. Set trays aside, uncovered for approximately 10 to 15 minutes and the top of the shells are dry to the touch. Bake the shells for 12 to 14 minutes, opening the oven half-way through the baking to release steam from the oven. When the shells are baked, they will be dry and firm on the top and will have the characteristic macaron “foot”. Allow to cool completely before removing from parchment paper.
Pair up two, equally sized macaron shells. Pipe 1 teaspoon of filling on one shell and sandwich with the second shell. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. This step is critical in creating the perfect macaron as it allows the flavors to meld and the texture of the shell to soften slightly.
Filling :
Place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl.
Bring the orange zest and heavy cream to just below a boil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan.
Pour the infused heavy cream over the chocolate and allow to sit for 2 - 3 minutes.
Whisk into a smooth ganache. Add butter and whisk into ganache until smooth and well incorporated.
Pour ganache into a flat casserole dish and refrigerate until cooled and ganache thickens, best made 12 to 24 hours ahead of using.
* Added Note: Macarons can be a bit finicky, but by weighing the ingredients with a little scale in grams, anyone can get perfect results every time! When you convert the recipes, it can come out differently every time.
1 egg (if making vegan, add 1–2 tablespoons of water)
1 1⁄2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
1 tablespoon Matcha powder
1 cup organic rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat lightly with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, vanilla, and sugar (or stevia) to combine. Add the egg (or water) and whisk well to incorporate.
Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Mix in the mashed banana and stir until well incorporated.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the oats and chocolate chips. Sprinkle in the sifted matcha powder and fold in gently.
Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Using a tablespoon, scoop out 1½-inch balls and place them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden on top, 10 to 13 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Finely grated zest of 2 tangerines or clementines, 1 orange or 1 lemon
¾ stick (6 tablespoons; 3 ounces; 85 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup (60 grams) finely chopped pecans (toasted if desired)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting, if you’re not glazing the cookies
Glaze (optional):
3 ounces (85 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon ground espresso beans or ¼ teaspoon instant espresso
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
DIRECTIONS:
Cookies:
Whisk the flour, all the spices, the baking powder and the baking soda together.
Put the sugar and zest in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer.
Reach in and use your fingertips to rub and mix the ingredients together until the sugar is moist and aromatic.
If using a stand mixer, fit it with the paddle attachment.
Add the butter to the bowl and beat on medium speed until well blended, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each one goes in. The mixture might look curdled — if so, ignore it.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a flexible spatula, turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once and pulse a few times to start the blending. Then mix on low speed until most of the flour is incorporated.
Add the chopped nuts and mix only until the dry ingredients have disappeared into the dough.
Give the dough a few good turns with the spatula to make certain that everything is blended.
Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out level portions of dough or use a teaspoon to get rounded spoonfuls. Shape each mound of dough into a ball between your palms and place onto the baking sheets about 1½ inches apart (these puff but don’t spread much).
Bake the cookies for 20 to 22 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back after 10 minutes, or until the cookies are firm to a gentle squeeze, puffed, cracked, light beige on top and golden brown on the bottom.
Transfer the sheets to racks.
If you’re going to dust the cookies with sugar, allow them to rest for 10 minutes, dust them and transfer them to the racks to cool completely.
If you’re going to glaze the cookies, let them cool completely on the sheets.
Glaze:
To make the glaze and finish the cookies (optional): Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (the water shouldn’t touch the bottom of the bowl), toss in the chocolate and espresso and heat, stirring, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Or do this in a microwave oven.
Remove the bowl from the pan, add the butter and stir to blend.
One by one, dip the tops of the cookies into the chocolate and then, if you’d like, give each a grind of pepper while the chocolate is still wet.
Return the cookies to the racks and let the glaze set. Unless your room is very warm, the glaze will set in about 20 minutes. If you’re impatient, you can hasten the setting by refrigerating the cookies.
Storing:
The dough can be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Dry and firm by nature, the cookies will keep in a covered container for weeks and become even drier and firmer. If they become too dry for you to find them enjoyable, add a wedge of apple to the container, and the cookies will soften overnight. With or without glaze, the cookies can be packed airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; if you want to dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar, wait until they’ve defrosted to give them the dusting.
If using optional toasted almonds, be sure you have pre-toasted them by spreading them on a baking sheet and putting in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes. Let cool.
Mix softened butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, eggs, and almond flavoring together.
Add flour, salt, and baking powder.
Shape dough into a log and chill for several hours or overnight.
Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into about 1/8-inch slices.
Place slices on parchment paper on baking sheet.
Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until bottoms are just turning brown.
If desired, lightly push toasted almond slices into the tops of the cookies or omit almonds and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cookies are also delicious as pictured here, with no additional topping.
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange extract
6 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Assorted food coloring (various shades of green)
4 piping bags fitted with an assortment of tips
Assorted sizes white pearl nonpareils
White sparkling
Sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
To prepare sugar cookies: cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until completely incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl; add vanilla and orange extracts and mix until blended.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl; slowly add to mixing bowl on low speed until fully blended and dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Divide dough into 2 pieces.
On a 12-inch x 16½-inch non-stick silicone baking mat or parchment paper, roll out half of dough to ¼-inch thickness. Place baking mat or parchment on a cookie sheet and chill dough in freezer for 5 minutes. (Freezing dough slightly makes it easier to cut out shapes and transfer to cookie sheets.)
Remove dough from freezer. Cut out shapes with a variety of Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutters. Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
To prepare buttercream frosting: cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar and beat on low speed until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl after partially blended. Add cream and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
Divide buttercream frosting into 4 portions. Tint each portion to desired shade with food coloring and transfer to a pastry bag.
Using a variety of tips, pipe buttercream frosting on cooled sugar cookies to resemble tree branches. Decorate frosted cookies with sparkling sugar and pearls. If making ahead, refrigerate cookies to hold.