Tips for top-notch cutout cookies

Twelve Days of Cookie Baking — Day 4

Create memories your families and friends will savor for years to come

Cutout cookies are also called rolled cookies because they are made from stiff dough that is rolled into a thin sheet and cut with cookie cutters. To make cookies that are especially crisp and tender, follow these guidelines.

• Many times the dough is chilled before rolling. Keep the dough refrigerated while other cookies are baking. Don’t cut the next batch until a baking sheet is cool enough to be loaded again.

• A minimum amount of flour should be used on the board and rolling pin when rolling them out — too much flour at this point will modify the flavor and create a hard cookie.

• Roll lightly, checking under the dough occasionally to make sure it is not sticking to the board.

• Rolling small amounts of dough at one time will cut down on handling and re-rolling. Cookies made from re-rolled dough are less crisp and tasty than those cut from the first rolling, therefore scraps of dough from each rolling should be collected and re-rolled together at the end of the baking project.

• Dip the cookie cutters in flour before cutting the dough.

• After cutting into shapes, gently transfer cookies to a greased baking sheet (unless recipe directions call for ungreased sheets) with a flexible spatula wide enough to support the entire cookie.

• Because they do not spread very much, only a small amount of space needs to be left between cutout cookies. CJK

P.S. Stop back later today to discover a white cutout cookie recipe that has stood the test of time.

Peppermint Kisses

Twelve Days of Cookie Baking — Day 3

Create memories your families and friends will savor for years to come

These melt-in-your-mouth peppermint kisses are light as air — fluffy, slightly crispy and definitely low fat. “We made these a lot when we were younger because my sister had a wheat and gluten allergy,” Kristi Anderson said. “My mom was continually searching for recipes that she could enjoy. These became a family favorite for Christmas and year-round!” CJK

Peppermint Kisses

(Kristi Anderson)

4 egg whites

1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Pinch of salt

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites until fluffy. Mix in the cream of tartar and salt. Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time; beating until the egg whites form stiff peaks and the mixture is glossy. With a rubber scraper, gently fold the peppermint extract and chocolate chips into the egg white mixture.

Drop by teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Place it in the oven and turn the oven off. (Yes, turn it off!) Leave the cookies in the oven for several hours or overnight. (During this time, do not open the oven door!)

Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 36 kisses

A note from Kristi: We’ve often substituted finely crushed candy canes for the peppermint extract in this recipe. You could also add a few drops of food coloring to the egg white mixture or lightly sprinkle the tops of the kisses with colored sugar before placing in the oven.

For another variation on these cookies, spoon the meringue into a pastry bag (or resealable bag with a one-inch hole cut in the corner), add a metal or plastic tip and pipe the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Instead of parchment paper, my mother always lined the cookie sheet with a paper cut from a brown paper bag. That works well, too, and is cheaper than parchment paper.

A note from Carol: Kristi is the secretary for The Catholic Foundation and Vocation Offices for St. Cloud Diocese. She is a regular columnist for “Central Minnesota Women Magazine” and “The Bright Side of Fifty” and an occasional writer for “The Visitor.” Check out other recipes she has shared with FFF readers: Chocolate Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast, Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake Pops and Avocado Salsa.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Twelve Days of Cookie Baking — Day 2

Create memories your families and friends will savor for years to come

Carol Titus remembers her three young daughters helping to make these easy no-bake cookies over the years. The recipe yields 160 marble-size peanut butter balls but Carol’s little kitchen assistants didn’t often adhere to that tiny dimension. “Whatever size of balls the girls made worked out fine,” Carol recalls. “That happened to be a good thing as it didn’t take as long to make them nor did we eat as many.” CJK

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

 (Carol Titus)

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/8 lb. paraffin wax

Mix the butter, powdered sugar, peanut butter and vanilla together in large bowl. Cover the bowl and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour or in the freezer for 15 or 20 minutes.

Roll the dough into small balls, place on cookie sheet and chill again — in the refrigerator for at least an hour or in the freezer for 15 or 20 minutes.

In preparation for dipping the balls, melt the chocolate chips and paraffin wax together in a double boiler over low heat and continue to keep warm over very low heat.

Using a toothpick, dip the balls into the chocolate/wax mixture. Place on waxed paper until cool.

Yield: 160 balls the size of marbles

A note from Carol Titus: Keep the chocolate thin for easy dipping — add more wax as needed. The more cookies you dip, the thicker the chocolate mixture gets. The amount of chocolate and wax that you’ll need also depends upon the size of the balls — the bigger they are, the more you are going to use.

A note from Carol JK: Carol’s been making these tempting creations for more than 25 years. She noted that they appeal equally to adults and children and tend to disappear quickly!

Toys for Tots

This time of year the hustle and bustle at Carol and Steve Titus’ house could rival the accelerated scrambling at the North Pole. Santa and his elves are not the only ones working “around the clock” to ensure that thousands of children will receive toys and other gifts this year — Toys for Tots is in full force as well.

In the St. Cloud area, Toys for Tots is sponsored by Catholic Charities Emergency Services in cooperation with the U.S. Marine Corps League, Valhalla Detachment, to provide toys for children of families in need. New toys are collected or purchased for distribution to more than 3,000 children, ages 16 and younger.

Steve and Carol Titus started volunteering with the program — organizing the collection boxes and working with clients in 1992. Steve became the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation local coordinator in 2000.

Since then, Steve and around other 30 volunteers pick up donated toys throughout the holiday season from participating organizations and businesses and from the more than 235 drop boxes in our area. Carol sets up about 40 to 45 volunteers through the local Marine Corps League for nine shifts during the toy distribution. About 10 years ago Carol asked me to work at one of those shifts. I’ve done it every year since then — it’s always a heartwarming experience for me.

“The St. Cloud community has been wonderful,” Carol said. “Steve and I and the League want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts.”

Members of St. Mary, Help of Christians in St. Augusta, the couple has three daughters and seven grandchildren — many of whom who have started their Christmas celebration for years by volunteering together on the last Toys for Tots distribution shift. It’s become a holiday tradition that their family members truly treasure.

New toys are still being collected at Toys R Us and numerous other locations around the St. Cloud area. Donations of toys, winter hats and mittens, stuffed animals and stocking stuffers may also be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and Wednesdays until 8 p.m. at Catholic Charities Emergency Services. Donations of cash may be mailed to Catholic Charities 2011 Holiday Programs, P.O. Box 2390, St. Cloud, MN 56302-2390. Toy distribution begins Dec. 15. For more information about the program in this area, call 320-229-4560.

If you are living outside the St. Cloud area, visit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation to search for a campaign site near you.

P.S. Stop back a little later today to see Carol’s recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls. CJK

Twelve Days of Cookie Baking

Twelve Days of Cookie Baking — Day 1

Create memories your families and friends will savor for years to come

It’s hard for me to believe that the popular song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” doesn’t mention any holiday treats. I’d rather have 12 Russian teacakes than 12 drummers drumming — that would simply be way too noisy! Just think of 11 decorated sugar cookies, 10 peanut butter blossoms, nine peppermint meltaways… Well, not all in one sitting, but perhaps throughout the season.

At this time of year it seems almost everyone recalls at least one favorite holiday treat that stirs a memory as warm as the cookies themselves emerging from a loved one’s oven. Food, Faith and Fellowship shares a number of recipes for time-honored and well-loved sweets in the upcoming “Twelve Days of Cookie Baking” collection.

Before you get started, here are a few suggestions:

• Always preheat the oven to the temperature indicated in the recipe. Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes — the first blast of heat as the cookies enter the oven helps them set so they don’t spread too much and then burn around the edges because they have thinned out.

• If using a convection oven and following a recipe designed for a conventional oven, heat the convection oven to a temperature 25°F lower than the recipe suggests. Expect the food to be done in less time (as much as 25 percent less) than it would be in a conventional oven, even with the 25°F reduction.

• Because most cookies spread during baking, it is necessary to allow enough space between them on the baking sheet. Otherwise, they tend to run together. Drop cookies and refrigerator cookies spread the most and usually require about two inches of space all the way around each cookie. Rolled cookies don’t spread as much so the spaces between them can be smaller.

• When arranging cookies on baking sheets, space them evenly and try to get as many as possible on each sheet. Don’t put them too close to the edge as they may “spread” right off the sheet onto the oven. Place cookie dough on cool baking sheets — the heat from warm pans causes excessive spreading.

• The very best results occur when only one sheet of cookies is baked at a time. The baking sheet should be placed in the center of the middle rack of the oven. But in this busy world of ours, baking cookies one tray at a time may take a little too long. So, when baking two sheets of cookies at once, place the oven racks so that the oven is divided into thirds. To ensure that the cookies on each sheet will bake evenly, switch the trays mid-way through the baking process.

• Always check to see if the cookies are done when the minimum amount of baking time has passed.

• Take the cookies out of the oven as soon as they are baked. Unless the recipe directs otherwise, immediately remove to them to a cooling rack.

• It’s important not to pile the cookies on the cooling rack. Each one should remain flat as it cools. Warm cookies are soft and will bend out of shape or break if not treated properly as they cool.

• Don’t forget to add a full measure of your love to each and every batch! CJK

P.S. Looking for candy-making recipes and tips? You’re in luck! In 2010 FFF presented “Twelve Days of Candy-Making” starting with the post ‘Sweet’ dreams can come true.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year — and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God.

— Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)

Pumpkin Custard Bars

“I’ve met people that don’t like pumpkin pie but I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like this dessert,” said Barb Simon-Johnson. “I think it’s the cream cheese in the frosting and the pecans in the custard that make it especially delicious  — it’s a wonderful alternative to pumpkin pie.”

Barb’s sister, Paula Simon Lee, introduced her to the recipe about six years ago at a Thanksgiving gathering and Barb has been baking it every year since then for her family and extended family. Even though she does occasionally make it at other times of the year she tries to save it for holidays so it remains a special treat. CJK

Pumpkin Custard Bars

(Barb Simon-Johnson)

Bars

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin

1 (12-oz.) can evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 eggs, beaten

1 box yellow cake mix

1 1/4 cup chopped pecans

2 sticks butter, melted

Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup whipped topping

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Mix pumpkin, milk, sugar, cinnamon and eggs. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle cake mix over the top and then sprinkle the chopped pecans. Drizzle melted butter over mixture.

Bake one hour. Cool completely, then flip onto a platter. Mix frosting ingredients and spread over cooled bars.

Yield: 24 to 30 servings

A note from Barb: If the custard breaks a little bit you can easily repair it with a knife. Once it’s frosted no one will know that anything happened.

  

A note from Carol: Barb and her husband Christopher Johnson are members of the Holdingford Five Parish Faith Community. They are the parents of two children and brand-new grandparents of Arabella Faith. Barb is the graphic designer/web designer for the St. Cloud Diocese. She has worked for the diocese for over 13 years.