The 20 Days of Holiday Treats: Day 5 Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
On the 9th Day of December, Peanut got a new toy… the Abominable Snowman!!!
Today’s cookie is a super easy Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie from my go-to cookbook: Martha Stewart Cookies.
Just to forewarn the baking soda is dissolved in water and added to the dough after half of the flour mixture is added. A little bit different than most drop cookies. Other than that, it’s very straight forward.
Mix together the spices and flour in a small bowl to start.
Beat together the fresh ginger and butter than add the brown sugar and molasses.
Dissolve the baking soda in bowling water. Add half the flour mixture, then the baking soda, then the rest of the flour and chocolate chips.
Turn out dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press to about an inch thick. Wrap and set in the fridge or freezer to chill.
When ready to bake, unwrap dough onto a cutting board and cut into 1 inch cubes.
Roll into balls and in granulated sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes until the cookies start to crack.
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
From Martha Stewart Cookies.
1 1/2 plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 tablespoon freshly grated, peeled ginger
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon boiling water
7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. In an electric mixer, beat together the butter and fresh ginger until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar, beat until combined and then the molasses.
In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Beat half the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Add the baking soda mixture and then the remaining flour. Mix in chocolate then turn out onto plastic wrap.
Pat into a 1 inch thickness, cover with wrap and refrigerate until firm (overnight or a couple hours).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Stick in the fridge for about 15 minutes and then straight into the oven until the surface begins to crack about 10 to 12 minutes.
Happy Holidays!
The 20 Days of Holiday Treats: Day 4 Hanukkah Marshmallow Dreidels
Happy 1st day of Hanukkah and Day 4 of the 20 Days of Holiday Treats! I wish I could play you the song I heard on Prairie Home Companion this evening: Hanukkah in Santa Monica! tehe wait- YouTube! Enjoy…
Get ready for the cutest driedel recipe! It’s easy too, you just have to wait in between steps while the chocolate cools.
Line a baking sheet, cutting board, or something flat that you can easily transport to the fridge with waxed or parchment paper.
Melt the white chocolate and use it to attach a Hershey kiss to the bottom of a marshmallow that have a pretzel stuck in the top.
I actually broke my pretzel sticks because they were a little long.
Put in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to make sure they stick together!
Reheat the chocolate until melted again and dip the marshmallows to coat.
Decorate with blue sprinkles or blue icing. You can also add Hebrew letters or the Star of David to the side.
Stick in the fridge for another 15-30 minutes to set before serving.
Tips:
- White chocolate can be dyed blue with powder or oil based food coloring. Water based will cause it to seize.
- It’s easiest to use melting chocolate. Bakers has a cool cup that has chocolate disks that you stick in the microwave.
- If using white chocolate, consider buying Hershey kisses that are either coated in white chocolate or are a white chocolate variation. This helps prevent the color from being seen.
- Chocolate kisses will start to melt if left in the chocolate too long when dipping.
- Dip pretzel sticks in leftover melted chocolate for a fun snack!
Hanukkah Marshmallow Driedels
From Serious Eats.
1 1/4 cup chocolate chips (dark or milk) or 1 1/4 cup blue-toned candy melts or melting white chocolate
12 jumbo marshmallows
12 thin pretzel sticks
12 chocolate kisses
Line a baking sheet or something that can easily be transported to the fridge with waxed or parchment paper.
Stick pretzels in the marshmallows (breaking to the size you want!).
Heat chocolate until melted then dip chocolate kisses and attach to the bottom of the marshmallows.
Allow to adhere by cooling in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.
Gently reheat the chocolate to re-melt then dip marshmallows until coated.
Decorate with blue sprinkles or icing.
You can use left over white chocolate to pipe Hebrew letters to the sides of the marshmallows.
The 20 Days of Holiday Treats: Day 3 Mint-Chocolate Cookies
ok- it might be my second chocolate-mint treat combo and it’s only day three. yowza but what can I say. The combination is so festive and delicious.
Also fun about this cookie… multiple mint options to mix in. You can add Andes mints, Junior Mints, mint chips OR crushed peppermint! The recipe writer recommended the Andes mints as his favorite. I used crushed peppermint because I had it on hand from the Espresso White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies.
The 20 Days of Holiday Treats: Day 2 Stained Glass Sugar Cookie Christmas Trees
It’s the sixth day of December and Christmas decorations are in full swing at home and at the office. I personally cut out about 30 snowflakes to exchange for the swarm of bats still hanging from Halloween above our desks.
Hey- no judging. They were REALLY cool. So cool you leave them up for a month after Halloween. and having just put them up one day before Halloween we decided to leave them up past the date. obviously. It’s not that we were lazy or anything.
Today’s treat is a super easy one that generates a pretty neat result- Stained Glass Sugar Cookie Trees. I bet it would be perfect to do with kids too!
I got the idea from Martha Stewart’s Cookie Cookbook. I actually didn’t use her sugar cookie recipe. Instead I recommend using The Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe. It’s made for cookies like this.
Here’s what you do!
Stained Glass Sugar Cookie Trees
Idea from Martha Stewart Cookies.
The Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe
Crushed Jolly Ranchers
Make your favorite sugar cookie recipe, roll out and stick it in the fridge to chill.
Meanwhile, crush some Jolly Ranchers making sure to keep the colors separated. A quick smack from a hammer was all these needed! Holiday stress reducer- yes!
Cut Christmas tree shapes or other fun holiday shapes out of the dough (ornaments would be cute). Transfer to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Then cut out large areas to fill with the crushed Jolly Ranchers to melt for a stained glass effect.
Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges start to brown. Let cool then transfer to a rack.
Stained Glass Sugar Cookie Christmas Tree Cookie Tips:
- I found that it works best with large areas. When the filled area is smaller, a lot of the candy will just stick to the inside of the cut area.
- Fill the area with a large amount of crushed candy.
- If when removing from the oven there are holes in the stained glass, quickly fill with more crushed candy. It will melt on the hot pan as the cookies cool.
- These taste great! and are so festive!
Happy Holidays!
To check out other recipes head here: The 20 Days of Holiday Treats. Let me know if you have any ideas for Holiday treats that should be featured too!
The Best Rolled Out Sugar Cookie Recipe
There are two things I look for in a sugar cookie recipe: 1. tastes good! 2. Holds its shape! I found this one on one of my favorite blogs Sweetapolita and it clearly checks off both. I’ve tried it twice and I’m already sold!
Couple of tips for Rolled Out or Shaped Sugar Cookies:
- Roll out dough before chilling it- it’s SOO much easier! Once it’s to the desired thickness, slide a cookie sheet underneath and stick that sucker in the fridge.
- You can make the full batch or half it without any problems.
- Left over dough can hang out in the fridge for a couple days (I usually go with no more than 3). You can also freeze it.
The Perfect Sugar Cookie
From Sweetapolita.
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, cold
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract
- In large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Set aside.
- In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs.
- Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Add vanilla and lemon extract and blend.
- Roll dough to desired thickness. You can use two dowel sticks as indicators.
- Slide a cookie sheet under the rolled out dough and let chill in the refrigerator or freezer for about 15 minutes.
- Cut out desired shapes and transfer to a parchment lined cookie sheet. You can stick them in the fridge one last time to better hold their shape.
- Preheat your oven to 325° F.
- Bake 12-14 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
- Cool sheets on wire racks for 10 minutes, then gently remove cookies and place on wire racks to finish cooling.
Enjoy!
