Tag: Mariah Carey

Bam! Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints

Bam! Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints

The kids are home!  These cookies disappeared crazy fast (which makes me happy).  Here is Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas to launch this post!

 

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I love jam.  I have a weakness for toast with butter and jam, PBJs and day after Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches with stuffing and cranberry jam.  Ok, so I’m cheating, it’s really cranberry sauce but if its between slices of bread its jam to me.  My first holiday cookie post highlighted Dorie Greenspan’s Jammers.  While they are totally worth the effort, there are times when you just need to bust out a batch of yummy cookies.  These thumbprint cookies fit the bill.  The recipe comes from Food Network, Emeril’s Holiday cookies.  Yes, THAT Emeril, BAM! Delicious cookie.  The original recipe calls for raspberry jam surrounded by a tender buttery cookie kicked up with lemon zest and juice.  Like many recipes, this one lends itself well to “alterations”.  I used orange zest and juice.   I’m sure just about any citrus juice and zest will work.   Dancing in my head?  Not sugarplums but visions of thumbprints made with lime + strawberry jam and lemon + blueberry jam .  Let me know if you come up with a winning combination.  Just use your”jamagination”.

The original recipe mixes liqueur with the jam, I skipped this step.  If you would like to include it, a Chambord or Framboise would work.  Just stir the liquor, 1 tablespoon into the jam before filling the cookies.  Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour before forming cookies.  Form the cookies, place on cookie sheets and chill again for approximately 10 minutes so that the sheets are cold and the dough is firm.  This helps the cookie from spreading too much.  I used a 1 ounce ice cream scoop to measure out the dough.  I might make them a little smaller for holiday gift giving.  The cookies did not need the full 20 minutes baking time.  Start checking at 13-15 minutes.  They will brown quickly.

Bam! Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints

Ingredients

  • Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse
  • 1/2 cup raspberry jam
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Line baking sheet with parchment or silpat sheets
  • In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients, whisk to blend.
  • Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until well combined.
  • Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form.
  • Gather the dough together into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
  • Chill for 30 min-1 hour until dough firms up.
  • Pinch off the dough to form 1-inch balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Use your floured index finger or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon press center of each ball making a depression. I use the end of a wooden spoon.
  • Fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture.
  • Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
  • Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

 

 

A Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Cookie

A Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Cookie

Are you ready to start baking for the holidays?  I tried two new cookie recipes yesterday to take to our annual holiday cookie swap and both are winners.  We started our swap way back when the kids were in pre-school and through the years we have managed to keep the tradition alive.  Our early gatherings were during the day with kids and babies in tow but have now morphed into a mom’s happy hour. We eat, drink, catch up on what we are doing as well as the kids and of course trade cookies.  Amazing how quickly 17 years have flown by.

The first thing you should know is that both recipes are STUPID EASY.  My favorite cooking category.  If you are looking for cookies that are delicious and will illicit oohs and aahs, look no further. Oh, did I mention they are both GLUTEN FREE?  BAM! The trifecta.  I did not choose them because of that, they just happen to be gluten free. Here is the first one, Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.

FlourlessPeanutButter

To go along with these crazy good cookies here is a Peanuts favorite The Charlie Brown Christmas Song sung by Mariah Carey.

 

As the song is playing, pullout the peanut butter (smooth or chunky), brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, vanilla and 1 egg.  That’s all you need for this recipe!  I found multiple versions of this recipe online and adapted the one from Our Best Bites.  These cookies are soft, chewy and scream peanut butter flavor.  You can add chocolate to take it to another level, its entirely up to you.  Enjoy!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup peanut butter smooth or chunky
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I use 1/2 cup white sugar & 1/4 cup golden brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • Sugar for rolling
  • Chocolate chunks I use the chunks from TJs, you can use chips if you like
  • optional: heaping 1/2 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips I recommend dark or semi-sweet

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Combine peanut butter and sugars and until smooth (1-2 minutes on medium speed).
  • Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix for about a minute.
  • If adding chocolate, fold into dough now. Chocolate is optional, really.
  • Using a tablespoon ice cream scoop, scoop and shape dough into balls, roll in sugar.
  • Place balls on parchment lined cookie sheet, approximately 11/2 inches apart.
  • Using a fork, flatten with a criss cross pattern, or simply flatten with the bottom of a glass.
  • Press one chocolate chunk or chip into the center of cookie after flattening the dough.
  • Bake for 8-9 minutes, don’t overbake!
  • Let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies. Recipe can be doubled easily.