FReeper Canteen - Christmas Cookie Exchange - 15 Dec 2011

A respite place for our troops, vets & military families | The Canteen Elves

[AZamericonnie]

Welcome to the

~ Freeper Canteen ~

Christmas Cookie Exchange

To all you wonderful bakers out there......do you have a favorite cookie recipe?

We've made a few to share....

Pumpkin Roll

Ingredients
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack. BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
I know this is not a cookie recipe but a staple in our house every year.

Gingerbread & Lemon Curd Trifle W/ Blackberry Sauce

Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup molasses
1 cup boiling water
2 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
Lemon Curd Filling, recipe follows
Blackberry Sauce, recipe follows

Directions
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Spray 1 half-sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; spray paper. Sift flour and next 6 ingredients into medium bowl. Mix in crystallized ginger. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in brown sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Gradually beat in molasses, followed by 1 cup boiling water. Mix in grated lemon peel. Gradually mix in dry ingredients. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the pan sides. Turn out onto a rack and peel off paper. Cool and cut into 1-inch cubes.

To assemble:
Using a trifle bowl, start with an even layer of gingerbread cubes, top with 1/3 of the lemon curd mixture, and 1/3 of the blackberry sauce. Repeat 2 more times. Top with remaining whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Lemon Curd Filling:
2 (11-ounce) jars prepared lemon curd
2 cups heavy cream, sweetened with sugar and vanilla, beaten to soft peaks
Place lemon curd in a large bowl. Fold in half of the whipped cream until combined. Refrigerate if not using immediately. Reserve remaining whipped cream for the top of the trifle.

Blackberry Sauce:
2 pints fresh blackberries, or 1 bag frozen blackberries, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons framboise (raspberry liqueur)Optional
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
Place blackberries, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and cook until the berries are soft and the sugar has melted. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour through a strainer into a bowl. Stir in the framboise and lemon juice. Set aside until ready to use.
Again....not a cookie recipe but sooo very good! If you are in a pinch you can use a box mix for the gingerbread.

Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread

Ingredients
1 cup husked hazelnuts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place hazelnuts on baking sheet. Bake until they're a shade darker and fragrant, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Lower oven to 325 degrees F.

Place hazelnuts in blender or food processor and pulse to coarse bits; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt to blend; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until smooth. Beat in egg. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Add the chopped hazelnuts and mix until distributed evenly throughout.

Form into long cookies and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake until firm, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on racks.

In a saucepan over lowest heat or in a double boiler, melt chocolate. Dip 1 end of cooled cookies into melted chocolate. Place back on cookie sheet to harden.

Please share your favorite recipes & maybe you'll find some new ones to try.....and don't forget to leave some out for Santa!

[AZamericonnie]

You have had some great recipes handed down to you.

[AZamericonnie]

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you Conor.

[BIGLOOK]

Honoring Our Fallen

[HiJinx]

Crescent Cookies – Nana Palumbo

½ lb. butter
8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Cups flour
1 Tbs Cinnamon
½ Cup Chopped Pecans
1/3 Cup Sugar

1. Cream together butter and cream cheese, add flour, and form a soft sticky dough.
2. Divide dough into 3 balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
3. Mix together cinnamon, sugar, and nuts and set aside.
4. Take out a chilled dough-ball and roll it out about 1/8” thick like a pizza crust. Spread a third of the sugar mixture on top of the dough. 5. Cut the dough into 16 equal segments. Roll each piece of dough, from wide end to point, into a crescent.
6. Slightly bend each crescent and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
8. Cookies may be dusted with powdered sugar.

[Kathy in Alaska]

God Bless you good, Mac. Good night and rest well. Thanks for helping honor our troops, past and present. Thank you for your service to our country.

[HiJinx]

Snow Balls – Nana Palumbo

1 Cup butter
1 Tsp Water
½ Cup sugar
2 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups flour
1 Cup finely chopped Pecans

1. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in remaining ingredients.
2. Chill 2 hours.
3. Pinch off some dough and roll it into ¾-inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
4. Bake for 30 minutes at 300^o F. Cool on rack.
5. Roll the balls in powdered sugar twice.

[little jeremiah]

Placemark for some yummy cookie recipes - I am a bad cookie baker and some of these look as though even I could make them.

Any hermit recipes out there?

[Liz]

Rachel Ray’s Fabulous Five-Minute Fudge Wreath is great for serving or packed in cellophane bags as gifts. Slice the fudge very thin to serve – a little goes a long way!

INGREDIENTS
1 bag semisweet chocolate morsels (12 ounces)

9 ounces butterscotch morsels (3/4 of a 12 ounce bag)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can or package of walnut halves (8 ounces)
1/2 cup currants (a couple handfuls)
8-inch cake pan, lightly greased with softened butter
Candied red and green cherries, for garnish (optional)

METHOD Place a heavy pot on the stove and pre-heat it over low heat. Add chocolate and butterscotch morsels and milk and stir until morsels are melted and milk is combined. Save the empty condensed milk can. Stir in the vanilla and remove the fudge from heat. Add the nuts and currants and stir in immediately.

Cover the empty condensed milk can with plastic wrap and center it in the greased cake pan. Spoon fudge into pan around can, making sure to center the can if it drifts.

The fudge will set up almost immediately. Garnish can only be added in the first minute or two that the fudge is in the pan, so work quickly. Decorate your wreath with “holly” made from cut candied red and green cherries. A wreath left plain can be garnished with a pretty fabric bow when serving.

Chill covered in the refrigerator.

[STARWISE]

Delish, Joe. I’ll take a bucketful ... ;)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Yum! Hanukkah starts in one week? Are you ready?

Have another cookie.

[txradioguy]

Good morning everyone!!

Merry Christmas!! 10 days left!!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning to you! ((HUGS)) Christmas is close for sure.

Do you have snow? Still in Germany?

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good morning to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

((HUGS))Good morning, Starwise. How's it going?

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, LUV W. How’s it going?

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good morning, Kathy. How’s it going?

[Kathy in Alaska]

[E.G.C.]

Thursday morning coffee bump.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night Troops, wherever you are.

Thank you for doing your part to help keep all of us free and safe.

Thanks, unique, for the pastries.

Coffee is always on........

How about a donut?

Cookies?

Veggies?

Snacks?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, E...((HUGS))...you and Bo have a terrific Thursday.

[MEG33]

Oh well!