Chewy Almond Thumbprint Cookies

These cookies are so tasty, you won't even miss the regular wheat flour in them. Perfect for Passover coming up in just a few short weeks, but honestly love them all year round! The toasted almond flour gives great depth of flavor and the fruit jam options change the cookie flavor profile up!

What you will need:
4 cups blanched almond flour
2/3 cup coconut sugar 
¼ cup honey,
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest (from 1 lemon) 
¼ tsp kosher salt 
1 large egg, at room temperature 
3 tablespoons fruit jam 

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spread the almond flour on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring halfway through, until golden brown and toasted, about 10 to 15 minutes. Immediately add it to a medium bowl to cool for 5 minutes. Line the baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and set aside.

Add the coconut sugar, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and egg to the toasted flour. Using a rubber spatula, stir until well combined and evenly moistened. 

Scoop heaping 1-tablespoon scoops of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between each. 

Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand, then make a small indent in the center of each cookie using your thumb. 

Fill each indent with 1/2 tsp jam. Bake until golden brown and just set, 15 to 17 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. 

Witch Finger Cookies

I made these little severed fingers last year for my company's Halloween bake-off and won! They were a great hit, and everyone loved the taste of them in additional to their gruesome look!

What you will need
2 cups all-purpose flour 
½ teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon fine salt 
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 
1 cup sugar 
1 large egg, at room temperature 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
28 large sliced almonds 

½ cup raspberry jam 

Preheat the oven to 325°F. 

Spray a rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray or line with a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in the flour mixture until a dough forms.

Using about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms into 5-inch-long fingers about ½-inch thick. Firmly press a sliced almond into the end of each finger to make fingernails. Make several horizontal cuts, about 1/4 inch deep and ½ inch long, in the center of each finger to make knuckles. Press the dough on either side of the cuts to shape the knuckles. Arrange the fingers on the prepared baking sheet and bake until light golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer the fingers to a wire rack and cool completely.


In a small saucepan, heat the jam over low heat until warm, about 2 minutes. Dip the blunt ends of the fingers in the warm jam and arrange on a platter.

Enjoy!

Mini Apple Pie Cookies

These mini apple pie cookies are made of real pie crust layered with gooey caramel, and a layer of apple pie filling, topped with a flaky and adorable cinnamon sugar lattice crust.

Each and every bite offers the very best part of an actual apple pie, with all of the convenience of a cookie! No utensils or plate required! Seriously the best cookie I’ve ever had! I can't help but want to eat the entire batch~

What you will need:
1 batch of my pie dough, recipe here, or buy the ready made kind 
1 can of apple pie filling {just enough for a thin layer} 
1 cup of caramel sauce {just enough for a light coating} 
1 egg 
2 tbsp. cinnamon sugar 
A round cookie cutter, any size you like 

 

Lay out half of the pie dough {or 1 sheet if using store bought dough}, sprinkle it with some flour and slightly roll it out.

Pour some of the caramel sauce onto the crust and evenly spread it around, creating a thin layer of caramel.

Coarsely chop the apple pie filling into small pieces, you don't want giant chunks in your delicate cookies.

Top the caramel layer with a thin layer of the chopped up apple pie filling, making sure not to add too much pie filling.

Roll out the other half of pie dough, the same size as the first sheet, and cut it into thin strips.

Create a lattice crust {just like on a pie} for the top of the pie filling. You can create the lattice,{just like a real pie!} right on top of the filling. Or, you can do what I did, I created the lattice on a floured board and then flipped on top of the filling.

Now it's time to cut out your pie cookies!

Once the cookies are all cut, brush the tops of them with some egg wash and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.

Place them onto a baking sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until they’re golden and firm.

Let them cool just a little..

Now, get ready to bite into the juiciest, chewiest apple pie cookie ever!

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Men Cookies

These gingerbread men cookies are full of ginger and spice, and maybe not everything nice! They are so easy to make too.

What you will need:
3 cups flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) softened butter
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup honey (or molasses)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1-2 tbsp. hot water

Makes 2 dozen

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add honey, egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets covered in parchment paper. 

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies with icing or leave them undressed.

Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days. 

Enjoy!

 

Hamantaschen Cookies

Today I have a delicious recipe for Hamantaschen that can be filled with whatever filling you desire! {Just think a cookie version of a burrito or taco}
Hamantaschen are a pocket filled cookie and are recognizable for their 3 cornered triangular shape. They are the traditional food eating during the Jewish holiday of Purim. They are usually filled with poppy seeds, prunes, apricot, apple, or any variety of fruit preserved.  I have even filled them with chocolate or marshmallows.
Why are they called Hamantaschen? The word itself is Yiddish for "Hamans pockets." Haman is the villain in the Purim story. We eat Hamantashen till today on Purim as part of the celebration of the holiday, which commemorates how the Jews escaped Haman's plans to massacre the entire Jewish population.
Why are the cookies triangularly shaped? Haman wore a 3 cornered hat.

What you will need:
4 eggs
½ cup oil (or 1 cup margarine)
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. orange juice
¾ cup sugar
4 cups flour
2 tsps. baking powder
Filling:
Strawberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 350°.
Lay parchment paper down on cookie sheets.
Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat together. You may need to add a drop more juice or flour, depending on the consistency of the dough.

Roll dough into a ball and then divide into 4 equal parts. Each ball will make 1 dozen Hamantaschen.
Divide the large ball into 12 equally sized small balls.
On a floured surface, flatten one of the balls into a flat 3” diameter circle.

Place ½ to 2/3 teaspoon of your desired filling in the middle of each circle.

To shape into a triangle, lift up right and left sides, leaving the bottom down, and bring both sides to meet at the center above the filling.

Bring the top flap down to the center to meet the 2 sides. Pinch edges together.

Place each Hamantaschen on the cookie sheets 1 inch apart and bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Conversational Heart Cookies

While I was shopping the other week I spotted this great heart-shaped cookie cutter and knew I had to use it for Valentine's cookies.

For the cookie, I used the same recipe as my Touchdown Football Cookies {which were a hit at our Superbowl party, 3 dozen gone in a flash.}
Once the cookies cooled, I mixed the confectioner's sugar with hot water and added a drop of red food coloring to give the glaze a pink color.  Then I either added lovey dovey saying or tiny sprinkles. 

Enjoy!

Classic Oatmeal Cookies

I absolutely love oatmeal cookies!  I have been using this recipe for years making them!  I got the recipe from my mother's recipe box, but not sure exactly where it had originated.  You can also add chocolate chips, raisins, nuts or whatever else inside them too! I personally love chocolate in anything, but I skipped it this time to hopefully be a little healthier.

What you will need:
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cup instant rolled oats

Yield: 2 dozen

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line baking sheet with parchment paper, or grease the sheet.

Beat butter and sugars until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla, mix well.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add to the butter mixture, mix well.

Stir in oats.

Using tablespoons, roll into balls.  Place the round cookie balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Flatten the cookie balls with a fork.

Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Let the cookies stand for 1 minute, then transfer to racks to cool.

Touchdown Football Cookies

My husband and I were invited to our friend's Superbowl party today. I want to just put it out there, neither one of us are the biggest sports fans. But, we decided to go to be good sports and sociable. It's a potluck dinner too! {that could also be one of the reasons why we agreed to it, good food good company!} I agreed to bring a dessert. What better for a Superbowl party than football shaped cookies! {I hope there's nothing better} I left out any team colors or logos as to not offend anyone's team! I hope they're a touchdown tonight!

What you will need:

For the cookies:
1 cup margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder

For the glaze:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
3-4 tsps baking cocoa
4-5 TBSP hot water
Cake Mate white icing

In a large bowl, cream margarine and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla.

Combine in the flour and baking powder, gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours, or until easy to handle. I refrigerated my dough overnight.

Once the dough has set up, preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly flour the surface to roll the cookies out onto. Roll the dough to roughly 1/8" in thickness. Cut with a football-shaped cookie cutter, or free hand cut with a knife. Place the cookies 2" apart on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.

For the glaze, combine the confectioner's sugar, cocoa, and enough hot water to get a good spreading consistency. Beat the glaze until smooth.

Spread the chocolate glaze over the top of the cookies using the back of a spoon. Let the glaze set up on the cookies before adding the white lace detailing.

For the white lacing, I used a tube of Cake Mate white icing, and piped the lace detailing onto the cookies.

{You can also make your own the same way you made the chocolate glaze- mix the confectioner's sugar and hot water until smooth, set aside 3 TBSPs of the white glaze for the laces then add the cocoa to the remaining glaze. Add the white glaze to a bag, cut the tip off and pipe onto the cookies}

Enjoy!