Yes, you are right...that is a tin full of Christmas Cheer!!!
And what better way to spread some cheer than some baked delights.
Well that is what a handful of ladies from DC, Philly and NYC did.
We baked (and no-baked). And we ate. And we laughed.
And it was awesome!!!
I encourage everyone to take a little stress away from the holidays and host a cookie exchange.
Bake one kind of your favorite holiday treat and swap with friends.
Make sure you have lots of music, drinks, and smiles!!! Because to me that is what the holidays are all about. And about cookies. I mean that goes without saying. But I said it.
You might be wondering Amanda, what are those little delights?
Well my dear friends, those are "Clustersums" made by my dearest friend Summer.
She claims she can't bake so she whips up these delights. No baking involved. But as we all know that doesn't mean it isn't good. These were damn good. I mean DAAAAAAM good.
And now for my guest blogger....
Ladies and gentle Ms. Trista Hurrelbrink....and her cookies...
Instead of completely giving in to consumerism this year, try baking for your loved ones instead! Nothing says Happy Birthday Jesus like a delicious cookie! The cookies below are a favorite amongst my friends, so I hope you enjoy too!
As a side note: Amanda says I'd make a pretty good hand model - not as good as George Costanza of course, but I hope she adds some action shots to this guest blog entry! [and she did]
Chocolate Raspberry Coconut Cookies (Vegan)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coca powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp soy milk
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
(Note: Finding vegan white chocolate chips is nearly impossible unless you have a special store you shop in or you order them from some crazy website on the west coast - so if you'd like to make them vegan but cant find white chocolate I suggest using the vegan dark chocolate chunks from Whole Foods instead!)
First thing's first - pour yourself a pint of Troegs Mad Elf and put on your favorite holiday record.
Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl mix together the sugar and preserves. After combined add extract and oil. Note that the oil will not complete mix in.
In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. While mixing try dry ingredients in it may be hard to stir at first. If needed add a small amount of soy milk (no more than 2 Tbsp) to help combine. Fold in chocolate chips and coconut.
Roll dough into Tablespoon balls - place on parchment paper covered baking sheets - flatten the cookies, either with the palm of your hand or with the bottom of the pint glass you're drinking beer out of while baking.
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let stand for 3-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!
Love, Trista
When I think of Christmas cookie baking a few cookies come to mind from my childhood and thumbprints are one of them. My mother would make hers with walnuts and she would put maraschino cherries in the middle. They always just looked like Christmas to me. So for this cookie exchange I decided to make some thumbprints but make them with some of my favorite ingredients. I love pistachios and I love lemon.
So here you are...
Lemon Pistachio Thumbprints w/ Black Raspberry Jam
Ingredients:
2 cups of shelled, roasted pistachios (1 cup finely ground, 1 cup course)
2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (omit if your pistachios are salted)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Tbs lemon zest
2/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
confectioners sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Finely grind 1 cup of your pistachios with about 1/2 cup of flour in a food processor. It should look like corn meal when it is just right. There are two ways you can do this next step...
You can remove from processor and place in a mixing bowl with the remaining flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt (if using) and then combine the dry ingredients with the butter with your hands. This takes a little more work but can be fun.
You can also just add all the dry ingredients to the food processor and pulse in the butter until it comes together.
Once butter is incorporated. Add the cinnamon, egg yolks, vanilla, and lemon zest. Mix until the dough comes together and then cover and refrigerate for about an hour (or until firm).
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl beat the egg whites until frothy. Roll scant tablespoons of dough in the egg whites and then in the coarsely chopped pistachios. Arrange cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
With your thumb (or your favorite finger) make an indentation in the center of the cookies. Fill each cookie with about 1/2-1 tsp of jam. Bake cookies for about 20 minutes.
Once removed from oven sprinkle with powdered sugar over the cookies. Once cooled you can take a finger and swirl the center of the jam so now only the outside of the cookies are dusted with the powered sugar. Look at what you have done and smile and then immediately try one.
Happy Holidays everyone!!!!
-Amanda
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