This year, increase your baking and giving power with festive but practical packaging that can be put to use long after the crumbs have been licked up. Put your cookies in containers that anyone will use throughout the year: tool boxes, divided organizers or a new pan. Cookies baked in unconventional shapes or packaged in semi-custom containers bring new life to these old favorites, all tested at Denver’s altitude.
Gingerbread People
Adapted for high altitude from the “Joy of Cooking.” Makes about 24 people.
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon lemon zest
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Packaged royal icing
Candies and colored sugar
Directions
In medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add sugar and molasses and stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in lemon zest. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk 4 1/2 cups flour with all other dry ingredients. Make a well in the center, pour in the lukewarm butter mixture, and beat until all ingredients are blended. (Use a medium speed on your blender, or use your muscles.) Beat in remaining 1/2 cup of flour until dough forms a ball.
Divide dough into two parts. Knead 3 or 4 times on the counter, until smooth and pliable. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Dust counter with flour. Roll out 1 ball of the dough at a time to 1/4 inch, dusting with flour as you go to keep dough from sticking. Cut out cookies using a 4-inch cookie cutter and arrange on cookie sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake 1 sheet at a time until the edges of the cookies have just barely darkened, 7-10 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.
Decorate with sugar, candies and royal icing made from meringue powder and powdered sugar (sold with cake-decorating supplies at grocery and craft stores) . Royal icing is quick (and salmonella-safe for youngsters). It’s easy to apply to cookies – pour the prepared icing into a re-sealable plastic bag, press out the air, seal the bag, snip off the corner with scissors and pipe icing onto the cookies. Apply decorations while icing is wet – dried royal icing is hard and candy won’t stick.
Coconut-Orange Macaroons
Adapted for high altitude from the Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut package. Makes about 24 cookies.
Ingredients
1 14-ounce package sweetened flaked coconut
2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites, lightly beaten but not whipped
1 teaspoon orange zest
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites and orange zest until well-blended. Press through cookie cutters for desired shapes, or drop by teaspoonful onto greased and floured cookie sheets.
Bake until edges of cookies are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to wire racks. Cool and let sit several hours before serving.
Ginger Drops
This recipe was adapted for high altitude from one in Woman’s Day. Makes approximately 4 dozen.
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup each: packed dark brown
sugar and granulated sugar
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon each: baking powder and baking soda
1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 2/3 cups flour
1/3 cup minced crystallized ginger
ICING:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Dash salt
2 tablespoons evaporated milk
Red and/or green decorating sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat butter, sugars, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, pepper, salt and vanilla in a large bowl with mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy.
Add egg, beat until blended. Beat in molasses. On low speed, beat in flour and minced ginger (which has been tossed with the flour). Drop by heaping teaspoons, one dozen per baking sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes until light brown around edges. Cool on sheet 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing: Stir all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. After frosting cookies, sprinkle with colored sugars. Let icing dry at least 30 minutes.
Crunchy Date Slices
This Browning family recipe makes about 2 dozen crunchy cookies. Tested at high altitude.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup cut-up dates
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup water
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, blend butter, brown sugar and flour until a dough forms. Stir in peanuts.
Crumble onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool.
In a medium saucepan, combine dates, chocolate chips and water, and cook over medium heat until thick. Cool.
Stir in 2 1/4 cups peanut crunch mixture, broken into small pieces. Crush remainder of peanut mixture.
Shape chocolate mixture into two 8-inch rolls. Roll in crushed peanut mixture. Wrap in plastic and store in fridge.
Cut into 1/4-inch slices and serve.
Candy Cane Cookies
It takes some time to roll the candy canes, but kids enjoy it (for a while). Makes about 24. Tested at high altitude.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt, scant
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon red food coloring
Sugar for decorating
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Add salt and flour, 1 cup at a time. Dough will be very stiff. Divide it in half and add food coloring to one half. Roll 1 teaspoon of each color dough into 4-inch ropes, about 1/4-inch in diameter. Twist the two ropes together and bend into the shape of a candy cane. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet and bake 10-11 minutes. (The darker the sheet, the faster they cook.) Let sit 1-2 minutes, then dip in sugar.
Holiday Biscotti
This recipe from Sue Henderson of Westminster makes about 2 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup pistachios
2/3 cup dried cherries or dried cranberries
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
White chocolate for melting
Sugar sprinkles
Ingredients
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream first four ingredients. Add nuts and cherries/cranberries.
Mix dry ingredients together. Then add to other ingredients.
Shape dough into two 14-by-1 1/2-
inch logs. (You might need to chill the dough for 15 minutes to make it less sticky.) Flatten them slightly, placing them at least 2 inches apart (dough will spread) on greased cookie sheet. Bake 25 minutes or until light brown.
Cool at least five minutes before cutting. Using serrated knife, cut diagonal slices about 3/4-inch thick.
Place upright on cookie sheet 1/2-inch apart. Bake again at 325 degrees about 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Melt white chocolate. Dip cookies in chocolate, then sprinkle with sugar. Allow to dry before packaging.
Scottish Shortbread Cookies
From “Rose’s Christmas Cookies,” by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Adapted for high altitude by Daniel H. Tseng, makes 4 dozen 1 1/2-inch cookies or 16 3 1/2-inch long wedges.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter (cold)
1/4 cup powdered sugar (lightly spooned into the cup)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
Directions
Food processor method: Cut butter into 1-inch cubes, wrap it and refrigerate.
In a food processor with the metal blade, process sugars for 1 minute or so until sugar is very fine. Add butter and pulse until sugar disappears. Add flour and pulse until there are a lot of moist, crumbly little pieces and no dry flour particles remain.
Dump mixture into a plastic bag and press it together. Remove dough from plastic bag and knead it lightly until it holds together.
Electric mixer or by hand: In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars. In a large bowl, cream butter with sugars until light and fluffy. With your fingers or with the electric mixer, mix in flour until mixture holds together. If using the mixer, add flour in two parts.
For both methods: Place two oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 275.
Measure 2 level teaspoons or 1 scant tablespoon of dough and knead each pieces by flattening it between your palms and then rolling it into a 1-inch ball. (This keeps it from cracking around the edges when pressed flat.)
Place each ball on cookie sheet, flattening it with a cookie press, fork or bottom of a tumbler, lightly moistened with water. Leave about 1 inch between flattened cookies. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until pale golden (do not brown). For even baking, rotate cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking period.
Use a small, angled metal spatula or pancake turner to transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Wedge-shaped shortbread: Divide dough into two equal parts. Pat each half into an ungreased 8-inch round cake pan. Use tines of a fork to press 3/4-inch lines radiating like rays of sun all around perimeter of dough. Prick the rest of the dough all over with tines of the fork. This keeps shortbread even and creates a traditional design.
Bake for 60-70 minutes or until pale golden (do not brown). For even baking, rotate pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking period.
Cool in pans, on a wire rack, for 10 minutes. Invert shortbread onto a flat cookie sheet and slide it onto a cutting board. While still warm, use a long sharp knife to cut each 8-inch round of shortbread into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Transfer wedges to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer. Keeps for 2-3 months.
Chewy Coconut-Chocolate Pinwheels
Adapted for high altitude by Daniel H. Tseng, this recipe from Martha Stewart makes about 3 dozen.
Ingredients
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups cake floor (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream 8 tablespoons butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Add coconut and beat until combined. Roll out dough between two 12-by-17 inch pieces of parchment paper into a 10-by-15 inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer dough to a baking sheet and chill at least 1 hour.
Place chocolate and remaining tablespoon butter in the top of a double-boiler or a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Melt completely, about 2 minutes, and remove from heat. Stir in condensed milk. Let sit until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Remove dough from refrigerator. Peel off the top piece of parchment. Using an offset spatula, spread melted chocolate mixture over the dough. Using the bottom piece of parchment for support, roll dough into a log. Wrap the log in parchment and chill overnight.
Heat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the plastic from the log and cut log into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Place the rounds on the baking sheets, spaced 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until pale golden on edges, 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store cookies in airtight container up to two weeks.
