Category: Dessert

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Lauren’s Latest

Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

* We forgot to take a picture of Dana’s cookies….so this is the pic from the blog!

recipe from Sage Recipes

Yield:  About 35

Ingredients:

For the Macarons

• 6 ounces blanched almonds
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 3 egg whites, room temperature
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Red food coloring
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• Red sanding sugar

For the Filling

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 2sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Pulse the almonds with 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar in food processor until finely ground. Add in the remaining confectioner’s sugar, pulse to combine, and set aside.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites on high speed until they form a dense foam, about 1 minute. While continuously whisking, add in the salt and gradually add in the granulated sugar. Whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Add in a few drops of food coloring and the extract, fold in with a rubber spatula until incorporated. Fold in the almond mixture in 3 equal batches. Be careful not to over mix the batter. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip. Pipe the batter into 1 1/2 inch circles spacing them 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with the sanding sugar and let stand at room temperature, uncovered for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 325 °F. Bake macarons for about 12-15 minutes, until firm to the touch, but not browned or golden. Let cool completely on baking sheet.
4. For the filling, beat the confectioner’s sugar and butter in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla and salt and beat until just combined. Using a small spatula, spread about 1 teaspoon of filling on the bottom of half the macarons. Place the other half of the macarons, bottom side down, on top of the filling. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.

Glazed Toffee Bonbons
recipe from Taste and Tell

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 14 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Toffee filled cookies are topped with caramel icing, white and milk chocolate, and more toffee pieces!

Ingredients:

Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 bars (1.4 oz. each) chocolate covered English toffee candy, finely chopped

Glaze
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
Heat the oven to 325F. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, the vanilla and the egg with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in the flour, baking soda and salt. Reserve 1/3 of the toffee pieces for garnish. Stir remaining chopped candy into the dough. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 1 inch apart.

Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until edges start to brown and tops of cookies feel set when tapped. Place cooling racks on waxed paper. Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Meanwhile, in a 1-quart saucepan, heat 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of the milk over medium-low heat , stirring frequently, until mixture just comes to a boil and sugar is dissolved. Stir in powdered sugar; beat with a wire whisk if necessary to remove lumps. Immediately dip tops of cookies into glaze or spread on top of cookies. (Cookies don’t need to be completely cooled, just firm and set.) Place on rack; let stand about 10 minutes until glaze is set. If glaze starts to set in saucepan, reheat over medium-low heat and beat with a wire whisk.

Place chocolate chips and vanilla chips in separate small microwaveable bowls. Microwave each on high for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Using the tip of a spoon, drizzle each flavor generously over cookies. Alternately, place the chips in a zip top bag, microwave until melted, and then cut off the corner and drizzle over cookies. Sprinkle with remaining candy. Refrigerate 20 minutes to set quickly.