Holiday Baking

     Last weekend, Mom, Julie and I gave my new kitchen a work out baking Christmas cookies. Even though most of the dough was made the night before, we were on our feet for five hours straight! It was a really fun day with good conversation and lots of delicious treats. My mom and little sis, who are both much more domestic divas than I am, taught me about the amazing qualities of parchment paper, among other things, no more scrubbing cookie pans in between batches! 

     My mom also gave me one of her spritz machines -- she had acquired three over the years. It appears to be from the 1960s based on the packaging and has lots of great recipe ideas inside. I'm hoping to test it out for my favorite holiday, Valentine's Day. At the end of the day, we split the cookies three ways...thank goodness because our batch was gone by Tuesday night! There's a reason I didn't label this post with a health moniker. 

Clockwise L to R: Hershey peanut butter blossoms, chocolate crinkles, spritz, and Swedish heirlooms

 

     Even after our baking extravaganza, I still had the desire to bake more and I decided on candy cane cookies.  They are extremely easy to make once you have sugar cookie dough prepared.  All you have to do is split the dough in half and stir two or three drops of food coloring into one half.  For each candy cane, you shape 1 tsp of dough from each half and form it into a four inch rope.  Press the two ropes together lightly and twist, remembering to gently curve the top of the cookie down to form the handle of the cane.  Bake 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees to set. Let cool for a few minutes before lightly brushing with egg white wash and adding sprinkles of your choice. (I used crystallized red sugar.) Next time, I might add a couple drops of peppermint extract to the mix to make them taste more authentic!

     The recipe for the Hershey's peanut butter blossoms can be found here.  To cut down on calories, I used baking Splenda instead of granulated sugar, brown sugar Splenda in lieu of light brown sugar, light butter instead of shortening and 1% milk.  

     My mom also gave me the recipe for her amazing Swedish Heirloom Cookies. They are so tasty and only have a subtle almond flavor. They've been one of my favorites since I was a kid and, for that reason, I feel the need to share it with my readers!

Ingredients

• 1 c butter
• 1 c unsifted confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 c finely ground almonds
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 c unsifted flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream butter, confectioner's sugar and salt.
3. Add almonds and vanilla to the mixture. 
4. Gradually blend in flour.
5. Shape dough into balls or crescents using a rounded teaspoon for each. (Save crescents for last batch as they require less baking time than balls.)
6. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes. (The cookies will not be brown when done.) 
8. Decorate with nonpareils, colored sugars or frosting.

Yield: 4 1/2 dozen