Cream Cheese Ice Box Cookies - Joy of Cooking

These are truly the perfect Christmas Cookies.


I'm going to go make some, roll them out and let the decorating begin! Join me?


About forty-two 21⁄4-inch cookies
Whisk together:
   2 cups all-purpose flour
   ½ teaspoon baking powder
   1/8 teaspoon baking soda
   ½ teaspoon salt
Beat in a large bowl until fluffy:
   11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
   3 ounces cream cheese, softened
   1 cup sugar
Beat in:
   1 large egg
   1 teaspoon vanilla
   (¼ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest)
   (Decorative sugar, cinnamon sugar, or nonpareils)
Stir in the flour mixture until blended. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 1 hour. Shape the dough into a 12-inch log. Refrigerate or freeze until very firm. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease or line 2 cookie sheets. Cut the log into 3/16-inch-thick slices and arrange about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Before baking, sprinkle the tops with:
   (Decorative sugar, cinnamon sugar, or nonpareils)
Bake, 1 sheet at time, until the cookies are browned at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand briefly. Then remove to a rack to cool.

Oh, we thank you Irma Rombauer and Joy of Cooking.

Christmas Cookies!

Let's go!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 large egg beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cookies

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. (No mention of a sifter here.)

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add the beaten egg and vanilla mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour (or overnight) or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter. Cur out shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shapes while baking.

Note: if you are not going to frost the baked cookies, you may want to sprinkle the unbaked cookies with colored crystal or sparkling sugar.

Bake cookies for about 8-10 (depending on size) or until they are just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing and sparkling sugar, if desired. Be sure to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours.)

Frosted cookies will keep several days in an airtight container. Store between layers of parchment paper or wax paper.

Makes about 20 - 3 inch cookies.

For Royal Icing with Egg Whites:

1 large egg white

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg white with the lemon juice. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

Thanks to Joy of Baking

Picture courtesy: sodahead.com 

A way to their hearts is through these fabulous chocolate chip cookies

Colonial American Chocolate Chip Cookies.

( discovered Women's Day Magazine over a decade ago and credited as being created first in Colonial America in the New England area)

This recipe was given to me by a dear friend who's husband is a chocoholic. She said they made a batch at least once a week.

What I like is this tasty dough's simplicity, making a weekly dose doable if need be. I rarely buy cookies anymore, preferring the warmth and love that goes into a nice warm batch of cookies like these.

This Valentine's day bake up a batch of these delightful chocolate wonders and you will be sure to win the hearts of the ones you love.

3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg, beaten

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I add another 1/8-1/4 cup to make them puffier)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 12oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans (walnuts work well too)

In a mixer beat together sugars, butter, egg and vanilla. Add in flour, baking soda, and salt. Fold in pecans.

Drop by rounded teaspoon, 2" apart.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10 minutes in a 375 pre-heated oven.

Remove and enjoy while warm.