2 cups unflavored nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons thawed frozen orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon orange flower waterIn a blender or food processor, whirl until smooth the peach, yogurt, orange juice concentrate, vanilla, and flower water. Pour into 3 or 4 tall or stemmed glasses. Makes about 5 cups, 4 servings.
Elizabeth Falkner in The Essence of Chocolate
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup plus 2 Tbs cacao nibs, crushed with a rolling pin
1 tsp fine or coarse sea salt
12 Tbs (6 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Makes about 3 dozen 1 by 2 ½ -inch shortbread
Position the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325F. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
Combine the flour and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Combine the nibs and sea salt in another small bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy, stopping as necessary to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the vanilla. Add about half the flour mixture and mix on low speed. Add the remaining four-cocoa mixture, stopping as necessary to scrape the bowl. Once incorporated, mix on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Mix in the nibs and salt. (The dough can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months.)
On a lightly floured board, or between two pieces of parchment paper, roll the dough into a square ¼ inch thick. Cut into 1 by 2 ½ inch rectangles or other desired shape, by hand or with a cookie cutter, and place on the prepared pans about 1 inch apart.
Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the pans once halfway through baking. It is sometimes difficult to know when the chocolate cookies are done. One of the best indications is the scent of baked cookies in the air. And when these shortbread cookies are gently nudged, they shouldn’t feel soft but the bottoms should seem crisp.
Remove the pans from the oven and transfer the shortbread to a cooling rack to cool completely.
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Alice Medrich's recipe, made by Pamela Hamilton for our Cookie Exchange Dec 2007
Makes 40 to 45 cookies.
1 cup all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
½ cup plus 1 Tbs unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
½ cup plus 1 Tbs light brown sugar
½ cup plus 1 Tbs granulated sugar
3 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 Tbs stick margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white
1. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pepper and cayenne in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Set aside. Combine the sugars in a small bowl and mix well with your fingers, pressing out any lumps. (If lumps are stubborn, process in a food processor for a few seconds.) Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter and margarine until creamy. Add the sugar mixture an vanilla. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute. Beat in the egg white. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Gather the dough together with your hands and form into a neat 9- to 10-inch log. Wrap in wax paper and chill for at least 45 minutes, or until needed. Cookies may be prepared to this point and refrigerated for up to 3 days or rewrapped in foil or plastic and frozen for up to 3 months.
3. Place racks in the upper and lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
4. Use a sharp knife to slice rounds of chilled dough a scant ¼ inch thick. Place 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Rotate baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back about half way through. Cookies will puff and crackle on top, then begin to settle down slightly when done. Use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to a rack. Cool cookies completely before storing or stacking. Cookies may be stored, airtight, for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 2 months.
Hollyberry Cookies from the kitchen of Alisa Lim
Ingredients:
2 cups of Jet-puff mini marshmallows
1/4 cup butter
1/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. green food coloring
2 1/2 cups cornflakes
Red hots candies
1.) Melt butter
2.) Add in marshmallows and melt on low heat
3.) Add vanilla and food coloring
4.) Turn off heat and add in cornflakes. Stir
until coated.
5.) Drop mixture into "mounds' and add red hots
-Can also be formed into Christmas Wreath
shapes
| PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOM COOKIES | |
1 3/4 c. flour 1 tsp. soda 1/2 c. butter 1/2 c. peanut butter 1/2 c. white sugar 1/2 c. packed brown sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1 egg Chocolate kisses Sift together the flour and soda. Cream together the butter and peanut butter. Gradually add the sugars to the creamed mixture. Cream well. Add 1 egg and the vanilla. Combine with the flour mixture and beat well. Roll into small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 275 degrees for 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and push a chocolate kiss into the middle of each cookie. | |
