White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha Cookies

Just like every tweens' order during the holidays at Starbucks, this cookie has a little bit of everything.  Couple pumps of peppermint mocha in the espresso, a bit of white chocolate, and a pretty garnish - this cookie is all those things and more! Aaron is saying these are his new favorite Christmas cookie - they are a little sweet, but not too much, soft but with a sugary crust, pretty but not too time-consuming to decorate.  These cookies come together easily and make a festive impression!

White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

For the Cookies:

• 12 tbs. butter, softened
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tbs. molasses
• 1 tbs. instant espresso (or coffee) powder/granules
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling
• 1/2 dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (this stuff is strong, so a little goes a long way, but if you really love peppermint, go for it - do not use Mint extract or it will taste like toothpaste, make sure its Peppermint)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt

For the drizzle:

• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 2-3 tbs. vegetable shortening
• 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract (optional)
• Crushed peppermint candies/candy canes, for garnish (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375° and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. Set aside.

Melt 4 tbs. of the butter in a small bowl.  Whisk in the cocoa, molasses, and espresso.  Mix until smooth and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the other 8 tbs (1 stick) of butter with the sugars. Beat until light and fluffy.  One at a time, beating after each addition, add the chocolate mixture, egg, and extracts.  Mix well and scrape the bowl.

Slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined.

Roll one tablespoon of dough into a ball and then roll in granulated sugar.  Place it on the cookie sheet and pat the top just slightly to flatten it.  Repeat with remaining dough, placing each cookie an inch and a half apart on the cookie sheets.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the tops crack and the middles are set.  Do not over bake! If you like a soft cookie make sure you take them out just as they are cooked, the long they are in the crunchier they will be.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack, placed over paper towels.

While the cookies are baking, prepare the drizzle.  In 5 - 10 second increments, in a microwave safe bowl, melt the white chocolate chips and shortening. It will burn VERY easily so seriously, go ten seconds or less at a time and stir it super well between heating. Once it is melted, stir in the peppermint extract. Using a spoon, lift some of the chocolate out of the bowl and drizzle it back in.  If it is too think, melt more shortening into it, in five second intervals, until it is thin enough to drizzle well.

Once the cookies are cooled to the touch, drizzle the white chocolate over the cookies and then sprinkle the crushed candy canes on top. Let the drizzle set at room temperature until no longer soft.  Store cookies at room temp, in a sealed container.

Grinch Cookies

There are a few things that just scream "Christmas" to me from my childhood - and without a doubt How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on that list.  I read the book as a kid, I watched the movie laying on my Noni's floor in her den at Christmastime, and I could probably recite the whole thing to you now if I tried.  I love to pass on these memories I have a kid, to my own kids, so Townes and I have watched The Grinch more than a couple of times already since Thanksgiving and the book is in our bedtime rotation.  So when he asked me to bake something today - these seemed like the perfect idea.

Aside from being festive, fun and creative, they are also really, really easy to make and don't require much skill or many ingredients!  They are a version of my shortbread cookies (a recipe from my Noni) that I used on Valentine's Day last year - these are almond flavored instead and obviously these are green!

Grinch Cookies

Makes 2 dozen (depending on cookie size)

For the Cookies:

• 1 cup butter, softened to room temp (very important)
• 3/4 cup sugar (I used granulated, but powdered is okay too)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• Green food dye (or yellow and blue)
• 1-3 tbs. shortening
• Powdered sugar, for rolling
• Red decorators icing

Preheat your oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar.  Really beat it until its super smooth and creamy - its basically the whole cookie.  Beat in the vanilla and almond.  Add the flour a half cup at a time and beat until combined after each addition.  If the dough is too crumbly (it will need to hold together like playdough when squeezed in your hands, but should NOT be sticky) add 1 tbs. of shortening at a time.  After each addition make sure you have given it a solid few minutes to beat in and see if its come together enough.

Once the dough is the right consistency, beat in the food dye.  Once the dough is your desired shade of green, scoop out a small tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball with your hands.  Roll in powdered sugar, then place the ball on your cookie sheet and flatten with your hand to about 1/2 inch or thinner. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 12-18 minutes, until the edges are JUST starting to brown (the time will vary depending on the thickness of your dough and the size of your cookie so just watch carefully).  Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet.

Once the cookies are completely cooled, apply the hearts. I used a "leaf" tip on my tube of red frosting and made the heart in two halves.  You can also just use a small round piping tip and draw a heart with the icing.

Date-Nut Scones

Every year around Thanksgiving, my mom makes loaf after loaf of her Date-Nut bread.  Its a wonderfully unique bread that seems to perfectly span Thanksgiving and Christmas flavors - its full of autumn's cinnamon and chewy dates, paired with Christmasey ginger and walnuts.  She wraps these loaves in simple white paper and delivers them to everyone - family, friends, neighbors, coworkers...everyone.  Just her way of saying, thanks.  No matter where I was living, she always made sure I got one too.

I finally asked her for the recipe because I wanted to bake something with Townes and start getting in the Thanksgiving spirit.  With planning the school fundraiser the last few months, I'm a little behind on my seasonal spirit.  I was just going to ask my mom for the Date Nut Bread recipe and make that with Townes, but then I felt like shaking things up a little.  I knew we would be getting our own loaves, so why not borrow the flavors, but make them in scone form. 

It took a decent amount of tweaking, and was perfected with a Maple Glaze that just compliments the flavors perfectly.  I'm trying to convince my mom to start adding the Maple Glaze to the loaves too, that would send them over the edge!

Date-Nut Scones

for the scones:

• 8 oz pitted dates
• 1/2 cup boiling (not just hot) water
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

for the maple glaze:

• 4 tbs. butter
• 4 tbs. maple syrup (the real stuff)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-2 cups of powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 400° and position a rack in the middle of the oven.  Put your butter in the freezer.

Prepare your dates by chopping them into small pieces.  My mom and I have both found it is easiest to use a pair of kitchen shears, cut them in quarters lengthwise and then cut the resulting strips into small pieces.  The scissors will get sticky but they will wash easily.  Once they are all cut, put them in a small bowl and sprinkle the 1/2 tsp. baking SODA over them.  Bring your water to a boil and pour over the dates, stir to coat them all in water and mix the baking soda in.  Let them sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt and baking POWDER. Set aside.

Prepare two baking sheets with either a silicon baking mat or parchment paper, sprinkle with flour. Set aside.

Using a plane grater or box grater (on the finest side) grate your frozen stick of butter over the dry ingredients and then mix it together with a rubber spatula. Do NOT use your hands - the warmth from your hands will soften the butter and you want it to be as cold as possible. Mix together just enough that it looks like gravel - it doesn't need to blend.

In a small bowl, whisk together your egg and cream.  Pour in the cooled dates and stir together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and work together with a spatula. Stir until just holding together.

Flour your work surface and your hands, turn out the dough and work into a large ball with your hands.  The dough will be sticky and won't always blend well together, don't force it too much, remember your hands will soften the butter.

Using a sharp knife, divide the dough in two and place each half on its own baking sheet.  Place one of the baking sheets and dough in the fridge while you work with the other.  Form the piece of dough into a ball and then flatten into a disk no more than an inch thick.  Using a sharp knife, cut your disk into 8 equal wedges. Separate the wedges so there is at least an inch in between each one, they will puff up when they bake.

Bake the prepared scones for 5 minutes, then rotate the tray and bake for another 5 minutes.  Keep an eye on them while they bake, they go from done to burnt quickly.

While the first tray is baking, prepare the second set of scones, repeating the whole process. Let the scones cool on their trays while you prepare the glaze.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat, whisking in the syrup and vanilla until well blended and completely melted. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, whisking all the lumps out after each addition. Add sugar to desired thickness.  If it becomes too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time to thin it out.

Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones and allow to set before serving.  Scones are best fresh, but will keep in an airtight container for 3 days.  They also freeze well (but before they are glazed).

Raspberry Shortbread Cookies

I know it's still January, but I started thinking about what little treats I could make that would be appropriate for Hondo's baby class Valentine's day party.  The older kids you can be so much more creative with - rice crispie treats, fudge, all kinds of things.  But babies and one year olds? You don't want it to be too messy, you don't want it to be too full of sugar, you don't want it to have anything kids might be allergic too, it has to be soft and not a choking hazard.  Really, most of this stuff is just trying to look out for the teachers and make their life easier.

I have a couple of ideas, but this was my first go to, but I needed to give it a dry run to make sure it would end up and delicious in actuality as it was in my head.  And you know what, they totally were.

These are a gussied up version on the gold standard of cookies.  The shortbread cookie.  If there was a cookie evolution, this cookie was the big bang.  Its as basic as they come and delivers a lot of taste. Nothing but butter, sugar and four - the foundation upon which all cookie recipes are built.

The base of this recipe is what my Noni has been making forever - so probably out of an original Betty Crocker or home magazine from the 40's. I added raspberry flavoring, a hint of vanilla, some spinkles for color, cut them into hearts and then decorated with a dark chocolate and white chocolate zebra stripe. 

These are seriously so good and so soft and not too sweet.  They feel like the perfect Valentine treat for the little ones - but don't worry, I still have a few more ideas to flush out before then!

Raspberry Shortbread Cookies

Makes 2-4 dozen (depending on cookie cutter size)

For the Cookies:

• 1 cup butter, softened to room temp (very important)
• 3/4 cup sugar (I used granulated, but powdered is okay too)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 tsp. raspberry flavor
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tbs each of pink and red sprinkles
• 1-3 tbs. shortening
• 2 tbs. butter, melted

For the Drizzle:

• 1 cup each of dark chocolate morsels and white chocolate morsels
• 2 tbs. shortening, divided

Preheat your oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar.  Really beat it until its super smooth and creamy - its basically the whole cookie.  Beat in the vanilla and raspberry.  Add the flour and beat until combined.  If the dough is too crumbly (it will need to hold together to roll out) add 1 tbs. of shortening at a time.  After each addition make sure you have given it a solid few minutes to beat in and see if its come together enough.

Once the dough is the right consistency, stir in the sprinkles.  Roll the dough into a ball on a lightly floured surface.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick, and cut out your cookies with your desired shape.  Place each cookie on the prepared cookie sheets.

Brush the tops of each cookie with the melted butter.  Bake for 12-18 minutes, until the edges are JUST starting to brown (the time will vary depending on the thickness of your dough and the size of your cookie so just watch carefully).  Let the cookies cool completely on the cookie sheet.

While they are cooling, prepare the drizzle.  In two bowls combine the morsels with 1 tbs. each of shortening.  One at time, microwave each bowl in 10-15 second increments, stirring in between, until the morsels are melted.  When the cookies are cool, using a spoon, drizzle the chocolates over the cookies.  Let the chocolate set over night before stacking.

Overnight Cranberry-Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Yeah, I just gained five pounds just looking at this picture too - blame Chanel.  This is yet another realization of one of her cravings.  When brainstorming over dinner one day, she said "oh my god, I really want a cinnamon roll so bad....with like cranberry...and orange" and I said, "yeah sure, let me pull out the left over cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving and throw that together for you...weirdo.  Oh, and I can't feed that to my kids for dinner...so, maybe another time."

I based the dough for the rolls on an overnight cinnamon roll recipe from Williams Sonoma that I used years ago, but I felt that it was a little too dense so I made some adjustments - well and then reworked it for the cranberry-orange thing too.

On that note, this recipe would work with any kind of preserves or jam that you like.  I was picking up food for dinner and came across this "too perfect for the moment" organic Superfruit spread (it has cranberries, blueberries, and cherries), so I used that.  However, you could use any jam or preserve you like including jellied-cranberry sauce. I still added a layer of cinnamon sugar, of course, and then topped these with a decadent whipped cream, orange and cream cheese glaze. 

These are as pretty as they are insanely tasty - you will not be sorry.  Well, your diet might, but your taste buds sure won't.  I think I am gonna make these a holiday staple, they may make it to the Christmas morning table next year.

Overnight Cranberry-Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 12 Rolls

For the Dough:

• 1 (1/4 oz) packet active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (100°+)
• 1 tsp. + 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 tsp. salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk

For the Filling:

• 5 oz. of jam of choice (I used a Cranberry, Blueberry, Cherry mix)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbs. ground cinnamon
• 1 stick butter, melted

For the Icing:

• 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Zest of 1 orange, for garnish (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the yeast and 1 tsp. of sugar.  Add the 1/2 cup of water and let stand for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom.  Once it is foamy, whisk it until smooth and then whisk in 1/2 cup of the flour.  Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes (it will be the consistency of a pancake batter, so it will pouf more than rise).

In the mean time, in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter until creamy. Add the salt and the eggs, beat until combined.  Add 1 cup of the flour and beat well.  Switch the paddle for the dough hook.  After the yeast mixture has risen, pour that into the stand mixer and mix well.  1 cup at a time, add the remaining 3 cups of flour.  Knead on low speed until smooth (about 8-10 minutes), adding a little of the milk at a time if the dough is too dry. You want it to be smooth and slightly elastic but not sticky.

When the dough is done, remove it from the bowl and knead by hand for a few minutes more.  Roll it into a ball and return to the mixing bowl.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours, in a warm place.

Butter a 9 x 12 rectangluar or large oval baking dish, set aside.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out on a floured work surface into a 16 x 12 inch rectangle.  I like the dough to be a perfect rectangle, so I use a knife or pizza cutter to cut it into a rectangle and then place the trimmings back on top of the rectangle and then roll it smooth just a bit more, I think it adds extra flaky layers, or you can just toss the trimmed dough.

Using half of the melted butter, brush the rectangle, leaving a 2-inch wide strip on a long side bare.  Then, using a small rubber spatula, spread the jam or preserves on top of the buttered dough. It should be just a thin layer, if you put too much it will squeeze out everywhere, just a little.  Then sprinkle the preserves with the cinnamon sugar, pretty liberally, but to your taste.

Starting at the long side covered with sugar, roll up the dough towards the bare side snugly, pinching the seam together gently.  Seam-side down, slice the dough into 1-inch thick slices, placing the slices, cut-side down in the baking dish.  Brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining melted butter.

Cover the dish lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise until the rolls have doubled in size, about an hour. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Once the rolls have risen, bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, make the glaze. With a hand mixer, beat together the sugar and cream cheese until smooth.  Add the cream, juice, vanilla and salt.  Beat until smooth.  If you prefer a thicker or thinner glaze adjust accordingly - add more sugar and cream cheese for thicker paste, add more cream or milk for a thinner glaze.

While the rolls are still hot, ice the rolls in the pan, sprinkle with orange zest - serve immediately.