Tag: Cookies

Starbucks Copycat

Sadie1 Comment

Biscotti are a must have during the holiday season.  I love them with my holiday flavored tea or lattes.  Plus they typically aren’t overwhelmingly sweet, which is a nice break from the typical Christmas cookie.

If I’m at Starbucks and I need a treat, I often turn to the biscotti to enjoy with my mocha latte (grande with skim milk please).  I love their vanilla almond flavor so when I saw a copycat recipe for it on a blog, I pinned it right away.

I got the chance to try the recipe when I was home visiting my parents.  I know my mom enjoys a good biscotti.  Plus I packaged some in a mason jar as a last minute bridal shower gift for my friend because her gift didn’t arrive in time!wrapped up

I was very satisfied with the results. I always enjoy a traditional almond biscotti, but this version has a great neutral vanilla taste rather than the overt almond extract flavor; and you still get the almonds throughout.  These would be great to have on hand this season for a party or when a friend stops by for some tea!

Copycat Vanilla Almond Biscotti

Yeilds about 10-15 depending how you slice them, from Cannella Vita

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used half a.p and half whole wheat)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
  • 3 Tbs butter, cut into small cubes
  • 1 egg plus 1 egg white
  • 3 Tbs buttermilk
  • 1 Tbs vanilla extract

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 350.
  2. Combine the sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and about 3/4’s of the chopped almonds.
  3. Cut the butter in with a pastry cutter, like you would with a biscuit or pie dough recipe.
  4. In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, egg, egg white, and
  5. Combine the wet and the dry and mix to combine.  You might need to kneed it a little to get it to come together.  It will seem too dry at first, but the liquid should be enough.log
  6. Form a log about a foot long on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  The log will expand so you can make it pretty narrow at about 3 inches wide.  Sprinkle the left over almonds on top and pat them into the log slightly.
  7. Bake log for 30-35 minutes until light golden brown.sliced up
  8. Remove from oven and after it was cooled for a few minutes, slice on an angle, place slices on their side and put them back in the oven for 10 minutes at 325.  Then turn them over and bake 10 more minutes until lightly toasted.toasted
  9. You can let them dry out over night if you would like.  The nice thing about biscotti is that they will stay at room temp for quite a few days.

Santa’s Whiskers: the Official Start of Holiday Cookie Baking

Carrie1 Comment

IMG_0761

This cookbook might be vintage but the recipes never get old. One of my favorite Christmas cookies is found in this book. They are called Santa’s Whiskers because the coconut on the outside of the cookie is symbolic of Santa’s beard. They are also speckled with candied cherries for that extra Christmas cheer. You can make the dough ahead and slice and bake them right before the party.

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Ingredients

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. finely chopped red and green cherries
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
3/4 c. flaked coconut

Directions
In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Blend in milk and vanilla. Stir in flour, chopped cherries, and pecans. Form dough into two 8-inch rolls. To do this, roll the dough in flaked coconut on a sheet of wax paper. Pull the waxed paper as if the dough roll was a sushi roll. The dough will even out inside the wax paper tube. Place in fridge and chill thoroughly.

Cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 until the edges are browned, about 12 minutes. Makes about 60 cookies.

Gingersnaps

Sadie2 Comments

The reason I love gingersnaps and gingerbread, is the unique taste and personality of the flavor.  It’s a nice compliment to any holiday cookie assortment because they add a different taste.  Gingersnaps are one of those cookies that I always associated with buying in the grocery store. Why would you make these when the packaged version is so great already?  Well I do believe there is a time and a place for the packaged gingersnap cookies, but these are so easy to whip up, and what is better than a fresh, home made cookie?

These are actually somewhat of pantry cookie for me.  The other day I had some leftover butter and eggs from another baking project and I wanted to use them up.  And who doesn’t have molasses at the ready in their cupboard?  Mine must have been left over from making gingerbread last year.  So anyway, I decided to make these gingersnaps, and I was thoroughly satisfied with the results.  In addition to enjoying a couple cookies with my tea, I saved a bunch for my mom and her famous molasses with gingersnap ice cream.  It sounds a little weird, but it’s a hit in our family!

Gingersnaps

Yields about 30 cookies, from The Sweets Life

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Combine dry ingredients: flour, spices, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add molasses and egg.
  4. Gradually add dry to wet and try not to overmix.
  5. Drop on lined cookie sheets in 1 inch balls, bake 8-10 minutes.  These cookies will spread so give them space!

PS- Happy Chanukah!Second Night