Spring Shortbread Cookies

My favorite cookie at Christmas is the Raspberry Jam Shortbread recipe you can find here on my blog. Since I love them so much, I decided I wanted to come up with a seasonal version for Spring, Summer and Fall. First up, Spring! Enjoy xo RCN

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ teaspoon (1 gram) vanilla extract

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg white

Edible Flowers, I used 2 packs of That’s Tasty from WholeFoods which gave me enough to pick apart and create unique designs with different petals and stems.

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla at medium speed until creamy about 2-3 minutes. Stop every so many seconds to scrape mixture off sides of mixing bowl.

In another medium size bowl, sift together flour, lemon juice, and salt. Reduce mixer speed to low. Slowly and gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Beat until combined. Divide dough in half, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until dough is hardened, about 45 minutes. Leave 1/2 of dough in fridge while you work on first batch of cookies.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add flour to rolling pin and surface. Begin rolling 1/2 of dough. Gently roll back and forth until dough is about 1/4” thick. I used a 2” round cookie cutter that gave me about 2 dozen cookies.

HINT: Add flour to surface as you continue rolling out dough. If dough continues to flake apart or stick to rolling pin, don’t be afraid to gather dough back together and pound out flat with hands rather than with pin. I used a combination of my hands and the rolling pin to get all the cookies rolled out and cut.

Brush a thin layer of egg white onto the tops of cookies to help the flowers stick. Separate out flowers any which way you would like and place onto cookie. Gently push flowers into the cookie to help it lay flat.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies become the slightest bit golden on edges. Cookies should just be set, still appear light in color and edges barely colored. The flower petals do shrink in size quite a bit, especially the pansy petals, but I was still happy with the rustic appearance. Let cookies cool completely on pans. Then, Enjoy!

 

Raspberry Jam Shortbread Cookies

I discovered this recipe on Instagram and so glad I did. The original can be found on thefeedfeed.com. I made a few additions to the recipe like adding powdered sugar on top and I swapped out the cherry preserves for raspberry. These cookies are truly incredible and my new absolute favorite Christmas cookie. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ teaspoon (1 gram) vanilla extract

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup or more of raspberry preserves

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla at medium speed until creamy about 3 minutes. Stop every minute or so to scrape mixture off sides of mixing bowl.

In another medium size bowl, sift together flour, lemon juice, and salt. Reduce mixer speed to low. Slowly and gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Beat until combined. Divide dough in half, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough to ⅛-inch to ¼-inch thickness. Use a 2-3” cookie cutter of choice cut dough into 14 cookies. Reroll dough scraps as few times as possible.

HINT: Add flour to surface as you continue rolling out dough. If dough continues to flake apart or stick to rolling pin, don’t be afraid to gather dough back together and pound out flat with hands rather than with pin. I used a combination of my hands and the rolling pin to get all the cookies rolled out and cut.

With remainder of dough cut another 14 cookies out. Then, using a smaller cookie cutter, cut centers from 14 of the cookies. Place 1 inch apart on prepared pans. Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Cookies should just be set, still appear light in color and edges barely browned. Let cool completely on pans. Spread about 1 teaspoon raspberry preserves on flat side of all solid cookies. Place cookies with cutouts, onto flat surface and sift powdered sugar ontop. Gently place powdered cut out cookies on top of flat cookies with jam. Place back into oven for 2-3 minutes. Let cool and package in airtight container. Enjoy, these are delish!

 

Confetti Cookies

I spent the last few nights in NOLA celebrating my girlfriend Roxie's bachelorette. We had a wonderful time. I won't mention too many details about the trip, but we thoroughly enjoyed the food and drinks in New Orleans. We ate dinner at Seaworthy and Sylvain, brunched at Wilma Jean and Commander's Palace, munched on beignets from Cafe du Monde, and of course tried pork belly, shrimp, and roast beef Po'boys from a few different places.

I brought along some colorful celebratory cookies to have back at the house for when we weren't eating a million other snacks. These were simple to make, as I didn't use a homemade recipe. Sometimes, you just don't need homemade, especially in a time crunch! 

Instructions:

I divided pre-made Pillsbury sugar cookie dough and rolled into small balls and flattened with my hands. I varied the cookie sizes, the smallest being the size of a dime. Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I prepped the cookie icing. When following the directions to heat the icing, I only zapped in microwave for 10 seconds on 50% heat. I also let the icing sit for a minute before beginning to spread onto the cookies. Most importantly, I used a tooth pick to evenly divide and spread the onto the cookies. The alphabet cookie cutters and icing came from Michael's Craft Store. The icing portion part of this project took the longest, so give yourself a little time to work on this if you are making a lot of the confetti cookies. In the end, they are fun and worth it! 

This weekend was full of champagne, sweets, and lots of other food and drinks. I think I am in need of a little detox these next few weeks! xo RCN 

 

Snowball Cookies All Winter Long

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. It is a sweet time of year, so what better to do, than make some sweets? One of my favorite Christmas cookies that my Mom makes is a Snowball Cookie. Wow, this year they tasted better than ever. Snowball Cookies really apply to all winter long, so I figured I would turn them into Valentine cookies since I L-OV-E them so much. With a little extra help from the sprinkle and dessert cabinet, I made these cookies look fab and fit for any Valentine's Day affair. They are very powdery, you may need some extra napkins! xo RCN

You will find a few versions of the recipe if you search online. This batch was made from the cookingclassy.com recipe. Ingredients and instructions below, or link to direct source HERE. Also...the super cute mini cupcake liners (Meri Meri, $2.99) and napkins ( Lady Jayne Ltd, $3.99) came from Homegoods.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp cornstarch

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely chopped Pecans (I used a little less than half a cup)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, for coating

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, mix butter on medium speed until creamy, (about 20 seconds). Blend in 1/2 cup powdered sugar and salt. Mix in vanilla. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down edges of bowl before continuing to mix if dough is spread up towards the side of your bowl. Sprinkle cornstarch evenly around mixer bowl then with mixer set on low speed slowly add in flour and mix just until combined. Stir in Pecans. Scoop dough out 1 Tbsp at a time and roll into a ball. I shaped half of my dough into small hearts by splitting the 1 Tbsp into two pieces, rolling into cylinder shapes and then molding back together into a heart shape. Keep one end of each cylinder separate from one another and then press the other end of each cylinder together to form the point of the heart. They look cuter when they aren't perfect!

Place cookies onto ungreased baking sheets and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until bottom edges are lightly golden. Do not under bake, this recipe is meant to be more dry and cookies are not meant to be moist in the middle. The cookies will literally dissolve in your mouth, just like snow. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. While cookies are still warm, pour 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar into a bowl and roll cookies in powdered sugar. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then once cookies are cool, roll in powdered sugar once more. Coat until cookies are completely covered. Just after coating for second time, top with pink, red, white, and rainbow sprinkles. Cookies look great served inside mini Valentine themed cupcake liners .

 
Source: http://www.cookingclassy.com/snowball-cook...

Eye Love Halloween

There are countless great things about Halloween.  Creating original costumes, replicating favorite super heroes, carving pumpkins, eating lots' of junk food.  I love it all.  Here is a quick treat and template to make and decorate some very creepy Halloween Eyeball Cookies.  They are perfect to share with the kids and adults for any Halloween celebration.

My eyeball cookies partly belong to Pillsbury.  After all, the dough did come from a box, Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Mix.  But, who am I kidding acting as if it's a bad thing.  Pillsbury dough and mixes are wonderful and when I am in a pinch for time it is my go to baking brand. 

Step 1:  Bake cookies and let cool

Step 2:  Create foil template for red dye veins, template below

Step 3:  Use stencil for veins on all cookies 

Step 4:  Use green icing to pipe circles in center of each cookie

Step 5:  Place candy eyeball in center of each green icing circle

Step 6:  EAT!

Here is what you need...oh, and aluminum foil and a pencil too!