Almond Cranberry Biscotti

2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 T grated orange peel (or lemon juice)
4 large eggs
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 cup dried cranberries
Melting chocolate

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat sugar, butter, orange peel, & eggs together in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Shape half of dough into a rectangle on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat with second half of dough.

Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices (approx. 4 inches long.) Bake 15 minutes or until crisp and light brown. Cool. Drizzle melted chocolate over biscotti pieces and let dry.

Double Chocolate Heath Cookies

1 dark chocolate fudge cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c oil
2 T milk
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 (8oz) bag Heath English toffee pieces

Mix first four ingredients until it creates a smooth, paste-like batter. Mix in chocolate pieces and Heath pieces. Place in 2-T rounds on a greased cookie sheet. (Works best if you cover the cookie sheet with tin foil first.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Optional: Sprinkle with sugar as soon as they come out of the oven.

Fruit Bars

1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c quick oats
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c butter or margarine
3/4 c jam (any kind of fruit)

Stir all together except jam. Pat 2/3 of crumb mixture on bottom of a 9 x 13" pan. Spread jam over (soften in microwave, if necessary). Cover with remaining crumbs. Bake at 325 Degrees about 20 min.

(Alternate method: Spread all of crumb mixture in bottom of the pan and spread the jam on top. Bake as directed.)

Joe Froggers

4⅓ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1½ tsps dried, ground ginger
¾ tsp ground cloves
¾ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp allspice

¾ cup shortening (yellow, butter-flavored, optional)
¾ cup sugar
1 cup light molasses
1 tbsp rum extract
⅓ cup water (or use all rum for the water and tbsp of extract)
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Mix and sift first seven dry ingredients.
Cream shortening and sugar. Add molasses and rum extract.
Add flour mixture and water (or rum) alternately beating until well blended after each addition.
Wrap dough in foil; chill overnight.

Roll dough one-half at a time about ¼-inch thick. Cut with floured 4-inch round cookie cutter. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheets at 375° for 8-9 minutes or until just done but not browned around edges. Cool on racks. Store in airtight can or jar. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

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This recipe was found in a Sunday newspaper magazine (PARADE’s Test Kitchen) many years ago, probably the 1970s. This in the information about the original recipe:

“Next time you are planning a summer-time treat─serve “Joe Froggers”─big, delicious molasses cookies. They’re made from a recipe that is over 100 years old─the pride of one man, “Uncle Joe,” as he was know to the people of Marglehead, Mass. Since he lived on the edge of a frog pond, the cookies soon became know as “Joe Froggers.”

“After Uncle Joe died, his daughter gave the recipe to a fisherman’s wife, and soon most of the women in town were making the cookies. Children bought them for a penny apiece in a local bake shop and today they are served in the Publick House in the colonial village in Sturbridge, Mass.”

Coconut Cookies

1 Betty Crocker French vanilla cake mix (It's important to use Betty Crocker, b/c the other brands don't have the right consistency)

2 eggs

1/2 small bottle coconut flavoring

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 c. coconut or more

12 bag white vanilla chips

extra sugar to sprinkle on top

Mix ingredients together, drizzling in oil. Just add enough oil to get it all to stick together. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle on some sugar on each one as soon as they come out of the oven.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

For the cookies:

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg white
1½ teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3½ cups sweetened flaked coconut

For the chocolate dipping:
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, egg white, vanilla and salt until combined. Stir in the coconut until well blended.

3. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Form the cookies into loose haystacks with your fingertips, moistening your hands with water as necessary to prevent sticking.

4. Bake, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are light golden brown, 15 to 2o minutes.

5. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets until slightly set, about 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack with a wide metal spatula.

6. Once the cookies are cooled to room temperature (about 30 minutes), line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

7. Melt 8 ounces of the semi-sweet chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth. Remove from the heat; stir in the remaining 2 ounces chocolate until smooth.

8. Holding a macaroon by its pointed top, dip the bottom and ½ inch up the sides in the chocolate; scrape off the excess chocolate and place the macaroon on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining macaroons.

9. Refrigerate the macaroons until the chocolate sets, about 15 minutes.

Stained-Glass Cookies & Frosting

Betty Crocker presents Stained-Glass Cookies
{This recipe came from a little pamphlet I pulled from some magazine, probably in the 70s. See my note following this first recipe to get tips that have been perfected through many years of making these cookies. The amount here are the ones in the original recipe, but I doubled them after the first year. Same work for double the amount. If you have leftover cookie dough, roll it in a log, wrap in clear wrap, freeze it and use it for slice and bake cookies later.--clb}

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup soft butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
{1/2 tsp nutmeg -- nutmeg was my addition to the original recipe. --clb}

Mix sugar and butter. Add egg and flavorings; mix thoroughly. Stir dry ingredients together and blend into sugar mixture. Divide dough in half. color portions of 1/2 of the dough with about 5 food colors. (Refrigerate if necessary to roll.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. roll plain dough 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured cloth-covered board. Cut with decorative Christmas cookie cutters. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Roll out colored doughts; cut out different shapes to fit on top of each plain cookie. Bake 7-8 minutes or until delicately golden.

(If using self-rising flour, omit soda and cream of tartar.)


OK. THIS IS HOW YOU REALLY MAKE THESE THINGS:

For 1/8 inch cookies, cut in half a regular yard stick. Place these halves on either side of the dough and keep your rolling pin on the two halves. This will insure an even 1/8 inch. If your rolling pin is too short, purchase a 1-inch or larger dowel rod and cut it as long as you need to work with cookie or pie dough. Sand the dowel rod slightly to smooth it out and it will work as well as the most expensive rolling pin.

KEEP YOUR DOUGH COLD ALL THE TIME. Between rolling, put the dough back into the fridge, better yet, the freezer if you are going to make all the cookies at once.

If the cut cookies warm up in the process of cutting and handling, put the unbaked cookies on the sheet into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes until they get cold and firm again.

KEEP YOUR COOKIE SHEETS COLD. When a sheet of cookies comes out of the oven, put the sheet into the fridge or freezer to get it cold.

Keeping dough and utensils cold insures that the cookies will maintain their shape during baking. This process MAY add about a minute to the baking time, but do not OVER BAKE. Because cookies are so small, they continue baking from their own heat even after they are removed from the oven. Give them time to finish and cool slightly before removing them from the cookie sheet... about 1-2 minutes.

I have never made the colored dough for the stained glass effect. I make a lot of colors of decorator icing and fill as many pastry bags as are needed for all the helpers. -clb

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COOKIE FROSTING

{CAROL'S NOTE: For the frosting for these cookies I always used this Wilton recipe. I used regular vanilla instead of the clear. The color is not affected by the brown color or regular vanilla.}


WILTON HOME RECIPES: BUTTERCREAM ICING
Our Buttercream Icing recipe is perfect for spreading or decorating. Follow our instructions to make it the ideal consistency you need.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
* 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
* 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
* 2 tablespoons milk

Makes: About 3 cups of icing.
Buttercream Icing

Instructions:
(Medium Consistency)

In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

For Pure White Icing (stiff consistency), omit butter; substitute an additional 1/2 cup shortening for butter and add 1/2 teaspoon No-Color Butter Flavor. Add up to 4 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk to thin for icing cakes.


http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing