Pfeffernusse

A month from today is Christmas Eve! Every year, it seems to sneak up on me. The past couple weeks have been very busy and I hadn't had a chance to test out a new Christmas cookie recipe. Early in the afternoon on Wednesday,  I mixed up the batter, covered it up and put it in the fridge with the intention of baking them about 10:30 p.m. Well, Lauren, the hubby and I ended up getting into a very lengthy game of Monopoly. We had set a time limit of 11 p.m. and by the time we added up our money and properties it was past 11:15 p.m. I'm a "night owl," but even to me that seemed late to start baking cookies! On Thanksgiving, after the turkey, rolls and pumpkin pie were done, the oven was finally free! I pulled the batter out and started rolling the cookies. They were in the oven about 20 minutes and then I let them cool a bit. Next, they were covered generously in powdered sugar. The "kids," were both interested in a "taste test."  These were so yummy and were a hit with my family!! Awesome!!! P.S. these cookies are delish for breakfast with a hot cup of coffee😀.

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon anise seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup molasses, unsulfured

1 large egg

1 cup powdered sugar, reserved

In a medium bowl, put the flour, salt, black pepper, anise seeds, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg. Set aside. In a large bowl, put the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Beat by hand or with electric mixer for about two minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well with large spoon. Pour the mixture from the medium bowl into the large bowl and mix well with a large spoon. Cover with plastic and put in the fridge for a minimum of eight hours. When ready to bake, remove from fridge and roll into 30 equal-sized balls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Put 15 balls at a time on the cookie sheet and bake for  20 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are turning slightly brown. Remove from oven and place the cookies on a baking rack for five minutes. In a small bowl, put the one cup of powdered sugar and while the cookies are still warm, roll them completely in the powdered sugar. Return them back to the baking rack to finish cooling. Store covered at room temperature.

Madeleines

About a week or so, I went looking for a new cookie recipe because the holidays are right around the corner. I dug deep into my pile of cookbooks and pulled one out called, "Tante Marie's French Kitchen," from 1949. The gal that translated and adapted it was Charlotte Turgeon, who just so happens to have been a lifelong pal of Julia Child! The two women met in college. I absolutely loved watching Julia Child's show, "The French Chef," that was on PBS. Yep, my love of watching cooking shows goes back a LONG way!! Anyways, after I blew the dust off the top of the cookbook, I found a recipe for madeleines. The only thing about making madeleines is that you need a special kind of pan to bake them in! I went to my local Bed, Bath and Beyond (I love the store, plus I always have a bunch of coupons) and purchased a 12-cavity madeleine pan for about $10.00. I have never heard of a pan with 12 cavities. Maybe the pan needs to go to the dentist. LOL.  Okay, bad joke, I know.  Ladies (and men) who bake, if you don't have one, ask for it for a holiday present!!! The recipe was so simple to make and they turned out pretty well if I do say so myself!!!

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/3 cups white flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray the madeleine pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Get one small bowl and one large bowl. Separate the yolks from the whites of the four eggs. Put the whites in the small bowl and the yolks in the large bowl. Beat the yolks slightly with a fork and add the white sugar and butter. Mix by hand with a large spoon or use an electric mixer until well combined. Add the lemon juice and white flour and combine well again. Gently "fold," in the whites of the eggs and mix until smooth. Pour into each "cavity," making sure it's not filled too full. This recipe makes three dozen cookies. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool five minutes before removing to wire rack to continue cooling. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Vanilla Kipferl (Crescents)

 

Ah, now that Halloween is over and we are heading towards Thanksgiving, the holiday cookie baking season has begun!! My goal this holiday season, is to go out of my comfort "zone," and try and make cookies I've never made before. My mother-in-law who passed away in 2011, was a fabulous baker. I loved how when my family would visit my in-law's in Cleveland, after every meal (even breakfast), a tin of "bakery" would appear on the table. There would be potica, kolache and chocolate chip cookies. I don't remember these vanilla crescents ever making an appearance though. I found a recipe for vanilla "kipferlin" or "crescents" in an American Slovene Club cookbook that is falling apart and looks like it was used frequently. It is part of the treasure "trove" of recipes and cookbooks that we found in my in-law's house.  After a lot of researching on the Internet, I think they really should be called "kipferl." Anyways, I made a dozen or so of these crescents last night and the hubby had a "sample."  He said, "oh, I remember my mom making these!" When he said that, I thought that was pretty cool. Well, this afternoon, when he saw me making up the rest of the dough, he said, "your cookies are just as good as the ones my mom used to make!" Yahoo, now that made me smile :)  

 

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 3/4 cups white flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup powdered sugar (reserved)

In a large bowl, put the butter, flour, white sugar, vanilla extract and pecans. Mix well with spoon or with your hands until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a minimum of one hour. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl, put the reserved powdered sugar and set aside. Roll batter into 3 1/2 dozen equal sized balls with the palms of your hands. With your fingertips, press each ball into a "crescent" shape. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for approximately 15 minutes or until the cookies are just starting to turn brown. Remove to wire rack and let them cool just a bit. While still slightly warm, roll each cookie into the reserved powdered sugar. Keep covered at room temperature.