Holiday and Christmas Recipes:
Cookie Exchange

Seem to work best when you have a dozen people involved... Have some coffee or tea, enjoy a piece of cake, and then swap and share cookies and recipes!

Lemon Crunch Cake
Chocolate Chip Coffeecake
Coffee and Tea
Cherry-Coconut Bars
Cranberry Rugelach
Spumoni Biscotti
Egg Nog Thumbprints

Lemon Crunch Cake

1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
1 1/2 c. self-rising flour, sifted
1/4 c. milk

TOPPING:
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9" X 7" or an 8-inch square baking pan and line with waxed paper. In a bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs. Stir in lemon rind. Fold in sifted flour alternately with milk. Pour batter into prepared pan and level surface with a metal spatula. Bake about 50 minutes, until well risen andpale golden.

While cake is baking, make topping. In a bowl, mix together lemon juice and sugar. Spoon topping over hot cake. Leave cake in pan until completely cold, then turn out cake and cut into squares or diamonds.

Makes 12 squares or diamonds.

Chocolate Chip Coffeecake

1/4 lb. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. cold milk
1 c. chocolate chips

Pecan Topping: (mix together) 1/4 c. sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 3" springform pan; set aside. Prepare Pecan Topping; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in cold milk and chocolate chips. Mixture will be very thick. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with topping. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. let cool 15 minutes. Remove outside ring from pan and cool completely. May be frozen. Makes 12 servings.

Cherry-Coconut Bars

1 c. flour
1/2 c. butter
3 T. confectioner's sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. chopped nuts
1/2 c. coconut
1/2 c. maraschino cherries, quartered

Preheat oven to 350F. With hands, mix flour, butter and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Spread thin, using fingers in an 8" pan. bake about 25 minutes. Stir rest of ingredients into eggs. Spread over top of baked pastry (does not need to cool). Bake about 25 minutes. Cool, cut into bars.

Cranberry Rugelach

1 c. butter
Two 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. plus 2 T. honey, divided
2 c. flour
1 c. finely chopped walnuts
1 c. finely chopped cranberries
3 T. sugar, divided
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
Nonstick spray coating
Milk

Cream butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl with mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in the 2 T. honey until combined. Beat or stir flour in to just combined. Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Cover and chill for 1-2 hr. or until easy to handle.

Stir together nuts, cranberries,  1/4 c. honey, 1 T. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in medium bowl. Set aside.
Line cookie sheets with foil. Spray with coating generously. Set aside.

Roll one portion of dough on lightly floured surface into a 9" circle. Spread 1/4 of the filling over circle to within 1/2 " of edge. Lightly press filling into dough. Cut pastry into 12 wedges. Beginning at wide end, roll up each wedge. Place rolls, point side down, on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Combine the remaining 2 T. sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Brush rolls with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake at 350F for 15-18 min. or until golden.  Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.
Makes 4 doz.

Spumoni Biscotti

2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c.  sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
1 c. drained maraschino cherries, patted dry
Melted chocolate

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time; add extracts. Beat in flour mixture. Stir in cherries and nuts. Shape dough into 2 logs and place on baking sheets, 3" apart. Bake for 40 minutes or until edges start to brown.

Remove from oven and reduce heat to 250F. Allow logs to cool slightly.  Using a serrated knife, cut logs into 1/2 inch thick, diagonal slices. Transfer slices to baking sheets, standing upright.  Return to oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden and cookies are almost completely dry. Cool on rack.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate; set on wax paper to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Eggnog Thumbprints

1/3 c. sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 egg yolks
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Filling:
1 T. sugar
1 T. flour
1/4 tsp. almond flavoring
1/2 c. commercial eggnog
1 egg yolk

In a medium bowl, cream sugar, butter, vanilla and egg yolks until light and fluffy. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level off. Gradually add the flour and baking powder to creamed mixture, mix well. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Filling: In small saucepan, mix sugar, flour and almond flavoring. Gradually add eggnog and cook over low heat until smooth and thickened, stirring constantly. In small bowl, blend 2 T. hot mixture into slightly beaten egg yolk. Return to saucepan, blend well. Cook just until mixture bubbles, stirring constantly. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350F. Shape dough into 1" balls. Place 2" apart on ungreased baking sheet. With thumb, make imprint in center of each cookie, and fill with 1/2 tsp. filling. Bake for 11-14 minutes, or until light golden brown around edges. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 40 cookies.