Posts Tagged ‘Vanilla Extract’

• Carousel Cookies

  Date: 12.09.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Heather Pringle

  As a kid, I never liked carousel cookies. When presented with a brightly colored sugar cookie that looked like a reindeer and a small cookie with nuts and jam, the decision was easy. When I grew up, I realized just how wonderful these slightly unusual cookies are—the combination of the crunchy nuts and the not-too-sweet preserves are a perfect afternoon snack on a lazy winter’s afternoon.

  2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  ½ cup sugar
  1 egg, separated
  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  ½ teaspoon salt
  2 cups flour
  1 cup chopped pecans
  ¼ cup strawberry jam
  ¼ cup apricot preserves

  Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

  Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg yolk, vanilla and salt. Stir in the flour and mix well. In a small bowl, beat the egg white until frothy.

  Shape level tablespoons of the dough into balls. Dip each ball into the egg white then roll in the nuts. Arrange the balls on ungreased baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Flatten slightly then indent the centers. Fill with preserves (about ½ teaspoon each), alternating with the strawberry and apricot preserves.

  Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

  Makes about 3 dozen cookies

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• Christmas Cutouts

  Date: 12.09.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Emily Morgan

  This recipe is so simple, but I’ve never had these cookies come out tasting quite as good as when my Gram makes them. Growing up, it was a tradition for me to help her make a batch every year. I recommend eating the dough—it’s delicious! If you have enough dough left to bake, the cookies are best served with a glass of milk for dunking!

  Double-strength vanilla extract from Penzeys Spices is perfect here.

  2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
  ½ cup sugar
  1 egg
  ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  2½ cups flour

  Cream the butter. Gradually beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the flour. Chill the dough for at least an hour or overnight.

  Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

  Roll out the dough ¼ inch thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and arrange on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely then frost festively!

  Makes about 4 dozen cookies

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• Chewy Sugar Cookies

  Date: 12.09.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Sarah McClain

  I absolutely love good ’ol sugar cookies. For the last three years, my almost 5-year-old niece, Iris, and I have been making sugar cookies on Christmas Eve for Santa. We tie our aprons and get to work. My poor sister—by the end of each cookie session, her kitchen is covered with a fine layer of flour. I bounce around with which recipe to use each year, but my most recent favorite is this one, courtesy of Linda McClure, from the Food Network’s Sweet Dreams episode “Cookie Jar.”

  King Arthur Flour’s Baker’s Catalogue has a wide selection of colored sugars and holiday sprinkles to decorate cookies.

  2¾ cups flour
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  ½ teaspoon baking powder
  1 cup butter, at room temperature
  1½ cups sugar
  1 egg
  1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  3 to 4 tablespoons buttermilk
  Colored sugar or sprinkles for decorating

  Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

  In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Add enough of the buttermilk to moisten the dough and make it soft but not wet.

  Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. With a brush or your fingers, moisten the top of each cookie with the remaining buttermilk and slightly flatten the tops. Sprinkle with the colored sugar or sprinkles. Bake until slightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes before removing to a rack to let cool completely.

  Makes about 4 dozen cookies

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• Pecan Puffs

  Date: 12.09.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Kim Werner

  This recipe—passed down from my grandmother Muriel—is now a Werner family tradition. They are a cinch to make, which is lucky since these bite-sized morsels are much too easy to pop into your mouth, so they disappear quickly!

  2 cups pecans
  2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
  ¼ cup sugar
  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  2 cups cake flour
  ½ cup confectioners’ sugar

  Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Grease 2 baking sheets.

  Pulse the pecans in a blender or food processor until coarsely ground. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Stir in the flour and ground pecans.

  Roll the dough into small balls and arrange on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 45 minutes. Roll in the confectioners’ sugar while hot. Transfer to a rack to cool completely then roll again in the sugar.

  Makes about 3 dozen cookies

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• Cranberry-Walnut Quick Bread

  Date: 11.27.2009 | Category: Recipes | Response: 0

  from Mary’s Restaurant in Bristol, Vermont

  Chef Doug prepared this for the 2008 Feast of the Farms Harvest Celebration, held each September at the Inn at Baldwin Creek. He served it with slices of Vermont Butter & Cheese’s Coupole — a dense, aged goat cheese — but any creamy goat cheese would be delicious. Pair this with “Howl,” Magic Hat’s Black-as-Night Winter Lager, for a perfect start to a blustery evening.

  2 cups all-purpose flour
  1½ teaspoons baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  ½ teaspoon baking soda
  2 large eggs
  1 cup buttermilk
  2/3 cup brown sugar
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
  2 cups chopped cranberries
  ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, plus more for topping

  Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a large loaf pan.

  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, butter, oil and vanilla.

  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the orange zest, cranberries and walnuts; do not overmix. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Top with additional walnuts, if desired.

  Bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

  Makes one loaf

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