I make this for my daughters Christmas party every year. For her friends, I need to make them gluten free. I don’t use this exact recipe, this is just from googling.
Has anyone ever made “stained glass” cookies? I’ve seen them and they look so pretty but I’m wondering how difficult they are to make and how they taste (which is our house is the most important part).
You inspired me to try a recipe I found recently and was considering. Cranberry Pistachio Sables. Big win! They’re easy, and pretty, and tasty!
Yes they have nuts but could be made without them if needed. I don’t usually like nuts in cookies and definitely never raisins, but the pistachios and cranberries have won me over. Next time I make these I’m going to add orange zest to the dough and I bet they’ll be even better.
This only makes a dozen candy canes but they are so tasty.
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, peppermint, salt and flour. Divide in half, stir red coloring into half. I form the dough into 1 inch thick discs and wrap in saran, then retrigerate several hours.
Preheat oven to 350, line sheets with parchment. When I’m forming the candy canes, I pinch about a teaspoon of each color and roll it into a 4 inch cylinder, then twist together to form the canes. The dough can’t be so cold it’s hard to roll but if it’s too warm it spreads while baking, so after I form the canes I refrigerate them for about 15 minutes before baking 8 to 10 minutes.
I usually make a batch where I substitute almond extract for peppermint.
I make ricotta cookies every year too. They are a favorite in our house. My kids also grew up loving the “cracker bark”, which is essentially just saltine crackers with caramel and chocolate melted on top. Very easy (it is pretty addicting!)
I’m not a dedicated (or very talented) baker but I do have my go-to recipes in pretty much every baking category.
I’ve also thrown shade on the store-bought bakers (especially since I’m not a great baker myself and manage to do it - even when working fulltime) - there are tons of easy cookie/cupcake/brownie/bar recipes that don’t require cookie cutters and hours of decorating. Our school actually stopped doing bake sales because so many people were just bringing in the pre-packaged stuff.
I may have to try these! I do think dried cherries would work as well. Pistachios are my latest “new item used often” and I also love the presentation of “red and green” in these for the holidays.
The stained glass cookies always look difficult to me. And time consuming. And more for show than taste???
I did use Wilton “white sparkling sugar” sprinkles to coat the edges. It does make them more festive. The red and green for Christmas is really pretty. My husband came home from work last night and sampled and he also gave them two thumbs up.
The thing I like about dried cherries over dried cranberries is that the cranberries seem too dry, the cherries are more “juicy” - more substance to them even if you halve them. Maybe I’ll do a mix…
My husband makes baklava and it really doesn’t take that much time - certainly much less time than cookies that need to be decorated.
I started making this cookie a few years ago and it gets raves. They are much more buttery than most thumbprint cookies. Good with blackberry or blueberry jam also.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, the sugar, and the salt, add the butter, and blend the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in the egg yolks, blend the mixture until it forms a dough, and chill the dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Let the dough soften slightly, roll level teaspoons of it into balls, and arrange the balls about 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each ball, being careful not to crack the dough around the edges. (If the dough cracks, reroll it and try again.) Fill each indentation with about 1/4 teaspoon of the jam and bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are pale golden. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, transfer them to racks, and let them cool completely. The cookies may be made 1 month in advance and kept frozen in airtight containers.
The recipe is from The Gourmet Cookie Book: The Single Best Recipe from Each Year 1941-2009 by Gourmet Magazine Editors
Yum.
I can totally see myself making them with dried unsweetened cherries.