Christmas Cookie Lineup & WINNER!

I'm excited to announce, the WINNER of the Bosch Tassimo T20 Coffee Brewer is:

 Comment 150, AKA High Plains Drifters! (Generated by Random.org)

Congratulations HPD! Email me right away with you shipping information.

This last Saturday was my final baking day before Christmas. I spent eleven hours baking and baking, until I had enough cookies to fill a plate for many of our close friends--and then some! It was very tiring, but I always enjoy the process of creating homemade gifts. It feels like you're offering your loved ones a little piece of yourself!

Here are the cookies we gave out this season. I always like to include a few personal favorites, a couple new recipes I've collected from friends and/or magazines, and some NEW experimental recipes--just to mix things up! Due to the length of the cookie list, I opted not to follow my usual step-by-step photo method. Please forgive--this would have been a never-ending post!

Hopefully one of these will become YOUR new favorite!

Peace on Earth and Goodwill to ALL!
Sommer

*If the recipe was already on my blog or another site, I simply provided a link! 

Dulce de Leche and Nutella Thumbprints with Sea Salt
(my all-time favorite)

Rosemary Walnut Shortbread from Angie's Recipes

Cranberry Orange Shortbread

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies from Bon Appetite Magazine

Chai Latte Sandwich Cookies (a new creation and new FAVORITE!)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar + extra for rolling
1/2 cup instant chai latte powder
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla

Recipe for Spiced Frosting
Powdered Sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Baking your baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, sugar, and instant chai together until fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg, mix well. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly add it to the sugar mixture until beaten smooth.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar to a small bowl. Roll tiny 1/2 inch balls of dough and place them in the sugar. Roll them around to coat and move them to a baking sheet, about an inch apart.

Using the bottom of a glass, press the dough balls until they are slightly flattened out, but not thin.

Bake for approximately 8 minutes.

Once cooled, pipe a small mound of spiced frosting onto half of the cookies (bottom-side-up). Top each cookie with another cookie. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 30-40 sandwiches.

Coconut Ginger Macaroons with Chocolate Drizzle

28 oz. sweetened shredded coconut
2 -14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
1 Tb. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. salt
2 egg whites

1 cup chopped chocolate
1/2 crystalized ginger, chopped

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the coconut, condensed milk, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Whip the egg white with an electric mixer until firm peeks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Scoop small 1-2 teaspoon scoops onto the parchment paper. You can put them close together--they don't spread.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly golden.

Cool, then melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments. Stir after each. Once smooth, drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies with a spoon. The sprinkle with crystalized ginger.

Makes around 90-100 cookies

Iced Lemon Cut-out Cookies

1/2 lb. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg +1 yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + extra for rolling

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 a lemon, juiced
water
food coloring

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the lemon zest, salt, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Slowly add the flour.

Once combined, separate the dough into 3-4 disks. Wrap them in plastic and place them in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Once chilled, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one piece of dough at a time. Place it on a floured board and roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out the cookies as closely together as possible. Gather the remaining dough and re-roll. Repeat with the rest of the chilled dough.

Bake for 6-8 minutes until JUST done. Cool on the parchment paper. Then whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add one teaspoon of water at a time until the icing is the consistency of school glue. Add the food coloring of choice and mix well.

Carefully dip the face of each cookie into the icing. Let the excess drip off, turn over and decorate or allow to dry.

Makes about 90 2-3 inch cookies.

Kickin' Caramel Corn

3/4 lb. unsalted butter
3 cups light brown sugar, packed
3/4 corn syrup (or a mix of corn syrup and maple syrup)
2 tsps. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

8 quarts (32 cups) of POPPED corn

Note~Using maple syrup adds flavor, but makes the coating less glossy and a little crumbly. I recommend using mostly corn syrup.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Place the popped corn in a large roasting pan and put it in the oven to keep it dry.

Add all the ingredients, minus the popped corn, to a large pot. Heat the pot over high and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and allow it to boil another 15-25 minutes--STIRRING CONSTANTLY, until it changes from a foamy mixture to a deeper-colored syrupy mixture.

Pour the mixture over the popped corn. Mix well, leaving NO puddles in the bottom of the roasting pan. Return the pan to the oven and allow it to dry for about 45 minutes. Stir 2-3 times in the drying process. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool and dry the rest of the way. Break apart and serve!

Molasses Spice Cookies with Toasted Marshmallows