Tag Archives: hazelnuts

7 Days of Christmas Cookies: White Chocolate, Hazelnut and Cherry Coins

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Psst- this post is in a series where I share my family’s tradition of baking seven different cookies every Christmastime. To save time and money, each cookie in this series is based on this basic vanilla cookie dough recipe.

Talking with my friends about the food that we were nostalgic for when we were young inspired this Christmas recipe. I don’t really maraschino cherries, but the idea of making a slightly-less sweet (but no less delicious) cookie version of a cherry blossom was the closest I could get to making my friends the real thing. (In fact, it was so much fun that I might end up making real cherry blossoms next time!) For those of you who don’t have a sweet tooth, not to fear- the nuttiness takes a little bit of the edge off.

White Chocolate, Hazelnut and Cherry Coins (yields 10 dozen)

1/3 c. finely crushed hazelnuts

1/3 c. finely chopped white chocolate

1/3 c. whole maraschino cherries

one batch of this vanilla cookie dough (include the baking powder this time!)

Prepare the vanilla cookie dough by following the instructions here. In a separate bowl, mix together nuts and white chocolate. Incorporate into cookie dough until fully mixed. Divide  dough into four logs, about 5 inches each. Set two aside. With the remaining two, make a trench down the middle of the log using your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon. Carefully line with whole maraschino cherries, taking care not to leave too many gaps, but not cramming them so close together that they’ll squish. Cover each cherry log with the other plain cookie dough log and carefully mold the two together, taking care to make sure the dough fully conceals the cherries. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate on a flat surface (like a cookie sheet) until very firm, approximately two hours.

Once dough is set, remove from fridge and unwrap plastic wrap. (Reshape the log if it’s looking a little sad.) Using a clean, sharp knife, slice your log into diagonal pieces, approximately 1/8-inch thick. If you go slowly and carefully enough, each of your cookies should have a slice of cherry in the middle! Place on a cookie sheet approximately 1/2-inch apart. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F on a parchment-lined cookie sheet until firm, approximately 12-14 minutes.

I’m counting down Christmas by sharing some of my favourite holiday cookie recipes with you! I’ll be posting a different Christmas cookie recipe every day for the next seven days so you can follow along in my family’s baking tradition, and have more cookies to add to your Christmas baking arsenal! For more inspiration, you can check out more of my baking here. For even more recipe inspiration check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

7 Days of Christmas Cookies: Yule Nut Log

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Psst- this post is in a series where I share my family’s tradition of baking seven different cookies every Christmastime. To save time and money, each cookie in this series is based on this basic vanilla cookie dough recipe.

Let’s face it: Christmas is overloaded with sweet stuff. Between holiday parties and gifts and caroling with hot cocoa, we’ll probably consume enough sugar to last us for the whole year. (Or at least for a couple of weeks.)

That’s why I always think it’s nice to include a not-so-sweet cookie with a subtle flavor. Buttery vanilla pairs beautifully with any kind of salty, nutty flavor and it’s perfect with the hot drink of your choice.

Yule Nut Log (yields 10 dozen)

1/3 c. finely crushed peanuts

1/3 c. finely crushed pistachios

1/3 c. finely crushed hazelnuts

1/3 c. finely crushed almonds

one batch of this vanilla cookie dough (include the baking powder this time!)

Prepare the vanilla cookie dough by following the instructions here. In a separate bowl, mix together nuts. Pour in 1/3 of the bowl and incorporate with the cookie dough. (I wanted my cookies to have a really nutty flavor, but if you’re not into it then just keep all the nuts for the next part). Once incorporated, divide the dough in two pieces. Shape each into a log approximately 10 inches long. Spread out the rest of the nut mixture onto a flat surface and roll each log in it until fully coated, patting down as you go along to prevent too many crumbly bits falling off. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate on a flat surface (like a cookie sheet) until very firm, approximately two hours.

Once dough is set, remove from fridge and unwrap plastic wrap. (Reshape the log if it’s looking a little sad.) Using a clean, sharp knife, slice your log into diagonal pieces, approximately 1/8-inch thick. Place on a cookie sheet approximately 1/2-inch apart. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F on a parchment-lined cookie sheet until firm, approximately 12-14 minutes.

I’m counting down Christmas by sharing some of my favourite holiday cookie recipes with you! I’ll be posting a different Christmas cookie recipe every day for the next seven days so you can follow along in my family’s baking tradition, and have more cookies to add to your Christmas baking arsenal! For more inspiration, you can check out more of my baking here. For even more recipe inspiration check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

7 Days of Christmas Cookies: One-Dough Wonders

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A few years back I started sharing my family’s Swedish tradition of making seven different types of cookies at Christmastime and since then it’s kind of taken off- in my personal life, at least. I guess there were a lot of people IRL that didn’t realize that I baked, or that I baked that much around this time of year.

I started off by sharing some traditional Swedish favourites (with a few thrown in for variety). They were: traditional Swedish gingersnaps, maple butter cookies, jam slices, rugulahs, orange crunch cookies, vanilla horns and chocolate crinkle cookies.

The next year I found myself strapped for baking time and decided to do a “no-baking” theme for my cookie selection. (Okay, so maybe one of them you had to bake in the oven- but it still cuts down on the work!) Those recipes included Butterscotch Bars, Midnight Mints, Chocolate Roll, Date Pecan Bars, Marshmallow Roll, Pineapple Log, and Butterscotch Confetti.

So you’re probably wondering what on earth it is I’m going to do with all this:

Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do: this year I’m using the same vanilla dough base (with a couple of add-ins) and all of the ingredients you see above to make seven unique kinds of cookies that you can serve at any time of year, really. Once you got the dough down pat (recipe to follow), you can build yourself a collection of cookies that are surprisingly diverse in flavor (considering they’re all made from the same dough!).

One-Dough Wonder Vanilla Cookie Dough

(yields 5-10 dozen cookies depending on recipe)

3 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder (omit if making thumbprint cookies)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. unsalted butter

1 c. sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Beat butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat until combined. Dough can be covered in plastic wrap and chilled up to 2 days.

I can’t wait to show you some of the tasty treats I’ve come up with just by using this simple cookie dough. Stay tuned!

Happy baking!

B

I’m counting down Christmas by sharing some of my favourite holiday cookie recipes with you! I’ll be posting a different Christmas cookie recipe every day for the next seven days so you can follow along in my family’s baking tradition, and have more cookies to add to your Christmas baking arsenal! For more inspiration, you can check out more of my baking here. For even more recipe inspiration check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.