Sugar Twists

I am on a Christmas cookie baking binge. I can't seem to stop myself. Last year was a different story. I had two miserable bouts of strep throat between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Needless to say, I didn't do much baking, or anything else for that matter. I guess I am just trying to redeem myself this year.

I spent the better part of my morning slaving over one of my favorite Holiday cookies... Sugar Twists. These crisp, sweet treats are my Grandma's recipe. Funny, I have no memories of eating them at my Grandma's house. That job was always let to my Mom. After I got married, began baking them myself.

Sugar Twists are made with a sugarless dough that is then rolled out in vanilla sugar. They are quite time consuming to make, but certainly worth it. These cookies are as pretty as they are tasty.

I think I will send these over to Susan at Food Blogga to enter in her Christmas cookie contest. The entries keep pouring in. Make sure you stop by and check them out.


SUGAR TWISTS

For the dough:

3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 c. shortening
1 egg
1 c. sour cream or buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine the flour, salt and yeast. Cut in the shortening until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg, sour cream or buttermilk and vanilla. Stir until the ingredients are combined and the dough is smooth.

Shape the dough into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

For the vanilla sugar:

3 c. sugar
3 tsp. vanilla

Mix the vanilla and sugar together until well blended. Set aside.

To make the cookies:

Divide the dough in quarters. Lightly sprinkle your surface with vanilla sugar. Take 1/4 of the dough and form it into a smooth disk. Place on the sugared surface and lightly sprinkle the top with additional sugar.


Roll out the dough until it is approximately 1/8 in thick, adding additional sugar if necessary to keep it from sticking. Fold the dough in half, sprinkle with additional sugar and roll again. Repeat 2 more times.


Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/2 inch by 3 inch strips. Twist the strips and lay them on a greased cookie sheet.


Bake the cookies at 375 degrees F. for 8-10 minutes. Place them on a rack to cool.

Repeat the entire process with the remaining dough.

As a side note, it is beneficial to scrape and/or wash the cookie sheets between batches. The vanilla sugar tends to caramelize and make the cookies sheets sticky.

Jam Thumbprints

One of my son's favorite things to do during the Holiday season is to bake Christmas cookies. As soon as the tree is decorated, he begins asking when we can make cookies. This conversation usually goes on for weeks.

Today we kicked off our Christmas cookie extravaganza with one of our favorites... Jam Thumbprints. These cookies are sweet and buttery. The coconut is golden and delicious. The jam is sweet yet slightly tart. I can honestly say that they might be my all time favorite cookie.

I believe this recipe originally came from The Barefoot Contessa, although I couldn't tell you which one of her books. When making the cookies, you can use any kind of jam that you like. My personal favorite is MaraNatha Mixed Berry Jam.

By the way, Susan over at Food Blogga is having a Christmas cookie contest. Go check out all the delicious entries.


Jam Thumbprints

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg beaten with 1 Tbs. water
7 oz. sweetened coconut
jam (raspberry, apricot, mixed berry...)

Using your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter. Mix until the dough starts to come together.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface and form into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.


Roll the dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in the coconut. Place the balls on a cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each one with your finger. Fill each indentation with 1/4 tsp. of jam.


Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes. The coconut should be golden brown.

Here We Go!

It is the middle of the night. Since I don't have a piping hot plate of food to write about, I will kick off this blog by posting a picture of the cookies I made for my son's Halloween Party at school.

The cookies are nothing fancy. I made some good old-fashioned sugar cookies using my favorite pumpkin cookie cutter. Once they were cool, I frosted them with a nice layer of orange frosting and immediately sprinkled them with orange-tinted sugar. I decided that the cookies still looked a little blah, so I piped on a few creepy bats and spiders.

If you've never tinted sugars, you should give it a try. Sugar tints come in a variety of colors and are incredibly easy to use. It is an easy way to dress up cookies, cupcakes, or other sweet treats.