Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:
2 C. granulated sugar
1 C. light corn syrup
1/2 C. water
10 ounces raw Spanish peanuts
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. unsalted butter

Directions:
1. Combine sugar, syrup and water in heavy pan. Stir over medium heat, cooking until the sugar dissolves. Cook to soft ball stage (234° F).

2. Add the peanuts and stir. Cook until brittle reaches hard crack stage (300° F), stirring frequently but not constantly. The sugar mixture should develop a golden brown color from the sugars caramelizing, and it needs the right balance of sitting and stirring to accomplish that. Do not allow the temperature to go over 300 as this can break down the sugar structure and leave it weak and spongy.

3. Remove from heat and add the salt, baking soda, vanilla, and butter. Stir until well blended. Your peanut brittle will change to a lighter butterscotch color. Spread onto a well buttered cookie sheet, working fast. Parchment paper sprayed with Pam works, but waxed paper does not work. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Polish Tea Cakes

Ingredients:
1/2 C. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 C. granulated white sugar
1 large egg, separated
1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1 C. all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup almonds, pecans or walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup jam

Preheat oven to 350* and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat just until combined. If the batter is too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate for about 30 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Place the chopped nuts on a plate. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Taking one ball of dough at a time, dip first into the egg white and then lightly roll in the nuts. Place on the prepared baking sheet spacing about 1 inch apart. Using your thumb or end of a wooden spoon, make a indentation into the center of each cookie and fill with about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of jam.

Bake for about 13-15 minutes, or until cookies are set and the nuts have nicely browned. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.

Note: If you are planning to store these cookies, I like to bake them without the jam. Just reduce the baking time by a few minutes. These cookies can be stored for about a week. Fill the cookies will jam the same day as serving.

Makes about 20 cookies.

Kolaczki

More polish cookies!!

Ingredients:
1 brick cream cheese
3 sticks butter
3 C. flour
2 jars filling (apricot, poppy seed, raspberry, etc..)
some sugar and powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add flour 1 cup at a time and mix well. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll out dough 1/4-inch on a surface that has been dusted with equal parts confectioners' and granulated sugars (not flour). Cut into 2-inch squares. Place 1/2 to 1 teaspoon filling on center of each square. Overlap opposite corners of dough to the center over filling. Bake for 15 minutes or when corners start to brown. Cool and dust with confectioners sugar. To preserve your cookies for later freeze cookies before baking or they get soggy when they thaw.

Persain Coconut Cookie

Nan Nargili

Ingredients:
1 C. butter
1 1/4 C. powdered sugar
4 C. flour
2 C. shredded coconut

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour, then coconut. I had a pile of crumbles that held together when you squeezed it, but not good enough for a dough, so I added 1/4 C. water. Seemed to do the trick. Roll out dough 1/2" thick. Cut into shapes. Bake at 300* for about 15 minutes.

Kiss Cookies

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 egg
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Combine ingredients. Roll into balls, flatten balls slightly to resemble fat pancakes. Bake on cookie sheet at 350* for about 10 minutes. Top with chocolate Kiss immediately upon removal from oven. The kisses have problems sticking, so place cookies back in oven for 45 seconds or so until they look shiny, then remove and let them cool. If you try to press the kiss into the cookie too hard the cookie will crack around the edges and they begin to look amature.

Sugar Cookie

Ingredients:
3 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 C granulated sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for about a minute or so. Add the flour and beat until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out cookies. When they bake, these cookies will not really spread, so you can place them pretty close to each other on a baking sheet. Bake for eight minutes or until the cookies begin to take on a golden color. Don’t let them get too brown before removing from the oven. Cool completely. I preferred the parchment paper over the silpat because they were easier to remove from the cookie sheets so they could cool faster.

Yield 146 tiny cookies.

Gingerbread Men

I am making cookies ahead of time and freezing them. Katie and I will have a frosting party next weekend.

Ingredients:
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup molasses
* 3/4 cup lard or oil
* 1/2 cup hot water
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 heaping teaspoon ground ginger
* 6 or 7 cups all purpose flour, use more flour if needed

Directions:
Combine first four ingredients, then rinse molasses out of cup with the hot water. Add the eggs and mix to blend well.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. If you do not refrigerate it is sticky.

Roll out dough and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes.
Yield 120 tiny gingerbread men.