Jamaican Rock Buns

A traditional Jamaican treat. The trick is to make them look like rocks.

Ingredients

• 4 cups all purpose flour, packed
• all of the zest of an orange
• 2 sticks unsalted butter diced as small as possible
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup toasted coconut flakes
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, grated orange, and nutmeg

• Work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it's OK for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

• Stir in the raisins and coconut flakes

• Whisk together eggs and vanilla

• Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and knead until all is moistened and holds together. Add the juice from the orange to moisten.

• Shape tablespoon size chunks of the dough into rocks and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet.

• Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned

• Remove, let it cool and serve

looks like my cookies all the time ... lol

I make a biscotti version (less the orange) of this at Christmas to mail, but these are the same flavors in a more shortbread type cookie. I love the combo:
Cranberry Orange Pistachio Cookies
And when you mentioned pumpkin, I remembered this recipe that I've been meaning to try: Pumpkin Pecan Polvorones

And a classic favorite around here are Snickerdoodles.

For anyone who hasn't tried them yet, these 'cheese cookies' are the bomb. :) I am asked to bring them every time --- they're savory, despite the jam/jelly... eaten as a snack or appetizer.

Savory Cheddar and Jalapeno Jelly Cookies from Rick Rodgers

8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup jalapeno jelly, or sub apple butter or chutney

Place cheese and butter in a food processor (could be creamed by hand or mixer); add flour and process until the mixture forms a soft dough. Gather up the dough and divide into two flat disks. Wrap in wax paper and freeze until chilled, about 45 minutes.

Position two racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 400°. Line to baking sheets with parchment or use nonstick sheets.

Using 1 teaspoon dough for each, roll the dough into small balls and place 1 inch apart on the sheets. Bake 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or 1/2-inch-thick dowel, poke an indentation in each cookie. Place the jelly in a small plastic bag and force it down into one corner. Snip off the corner of the bag to make a small hole. Pipe the jelly into the indentations.

Return to the oven and bake, switching the positions of the sheets from top to bottom halfway through baking, until the tops are very lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Every Christmas I make

Date Nut Torte- chopped dates and pecans in a kind of light batter, baked as a bar cookie and rolled in powdered sugar

Vanilla Strips- this is the one I sent you the recipe for

Raspberry Chews- thin shortbready base topped with raspberry jam, coconut and meringue with chopped pecans folded through it, baked as a bar cookie

Chocolate Crinkles- there are a ton of names for these, it's a chocolate dough rolled into balls which are then rolled in powdered sugar and baked, the top goes all crackly as the cookie spreads out

Swedish Wedding Cookies- this is another one with many names, like a shortbread with chopped nuts rolled into a ball that keeps its shape when baked, then it is rolled in powdered sugar

Spritz- Mine have almond flavour and are piped in a sort of whirly daisy shape and have a half red or green candied cherry in the centre

Vienna Whirls- this is a lemon shortbread piped into a tight "S" shape, After baking, one end is dipped in dark chocolate

Speculaas- a Dutch version of gingerbread, with aniseed and brandy as well as the usual spices. I cut mine into heart shapes and gild it with brushed on egg yolk before baking

Almond Bread- this is a kind of super thin biscotti, with whole almonds and different kinds of candied fruit baked into a meringue and flour loaf, then sliced about 2mm thick and slowly dried in the oven until crisp

All up I make about 150 dozen and give them all away :-) The new girls in my department at work are in for a big surprise :-D

I haven't made these in years, but since we have the mixins, I'll be fixin'.

Orange Ricotta Cheese Cookies with Raspberry filling

Leftovers lead to experimentation that leads to... cookies! I had a half a container of ricotta cheese and just over a half cup of whole milk in the refrigerator that were reaching their expiration dates. Why not substitute them for the butter I always use?

These are nice light, almost fluffy cookies, that MUST sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before you try to cut the dough!

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• all the zest from a large orange
• all the juice of that orange
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 small jar of raspberry jam

Construction:

1. Cream the ricotta cheese, milk, both sugars, and the orange zest
2. Add the vanilla and orange juice
3. Mix in the flour and baking soda
4. Split the dough into two equal sections and roll into logs around around 2" thick. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper
6. Cut the dough logs into segments around 1/2" thick and place with lots of room on the baking sheets. These cookies will spread.
7. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until the cookies start to brown on the edges.
8. When the cookies have fully cooled, spread some raspberry jam on one and use a second one to make a sandwich. Store these in the refrigerator.

My new favourite cookie is Alison Roman's Salted Butter Chocolate Chunk Shortbread. I like that they are slice and bake, so I can bake them off as needed. Plus, they are decadent and delicious.

I make A LOT of my shortbread for Christmas. I also make these Molasses Cookies from a favorite Silver Palate recipe. These are more chewy, but baking a little longer would be crispier.

Molasses Cookies
(Makes 24 large, flat cookies)

12 T. butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt butter, add sugar and molasses, and mix thoroughly. Lightly beat egg and add to butter mixture; blend well.

Sift flour with spices, salt and baking soda, and add to first mixture; mix. Batter will be wet.

Line cookie sheets with nonstick foil. Drop tablespoons of cookie batter on foil, leaving 3 inches between the cookies. These will spread during baking.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven while still soft. Let cool on foil.

This pic is from an old Photbucket account I had. I like to jazz them up for Christmas with dots of royal icing but plain is fine, too.

ETA - I like to chill the dough to form into balls for baking. Easier for me than the wet batter.

These are very simple and easy to make:

Lars’ Danish Butter Cookies

• 1-1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 1 to 1-1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2-1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Amaretto

Cream butter and sugar. Beat egg yolks in, one at a time. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Chill dough. Roll dough into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press dough with any press or glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 325 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove immediately from cookie sheet and cool. Yield: about 30 cookies
Variations: You can substitute other flavorings for the Amaretto, such as a bit of grated lemon rind or vanilla or coconut.

plllog, you mentioned Linzers that are one of my favorites. They’re so good and so pretty...like little jewels!

I so agree! But I kind of hate assembling them because I always want to put too much jam in them....and then I saw these press cutters on a promotional sale (not clearance!) and ordered a set. They should be here soon. So much easier than making Linzers. :) I hope. :) Not only do you not have to sandwich the cookies, but there's a well that should be easier to determine just how much jam to put, and the fluting is so pretty!

I have been experimenting with old hermit-style cookie recipes. It's a nice break from the way-too-sweet modern cookie.

Also been tinkering with TnT cookie recipes to create different texture - fat, thin, soft and crispy - weighing the ingredients and using different flours etc. Been working on a mayo cookie too, decreasing butter and egg adding homemade mayo.

plllog, those are adorable! Such a great idea. Let me know how they work out.

Here’s the cookies we loved 10 years ago

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2489446/cookalong-extra-holiday-cookies-2

Thanks for reminding me I need to start making cookie dough soon. I usually freeze some to bake closer to the holiday. I always make my uncle's butter spritz, old fashioned gingerbread cookies, and chocolate crinkles. This year I'm thinking about molasses cutouts from the WI Electric Co.'s cookie books. Did everybody catch that post not too long ago, with the link to all their cookie books in .pdf, going back to the 1930s? I bookmarked it and downloaded copies of a few - including the ones my mom had from 1950 and 1960. She grew up in WI, and we still have family there.

When I was a kid, we never had gingerbread cookies for the holidays, but always had molasses cutouts - they're more like a molasses sugar cookie, with zero spice. Those, and Ella's sugar cookies from the same books, have been a holiday staple in our family forever.

https://www.we-energies.com/recipes/archive

Yes, to the Wisconsin booklets. I was looking at the 1936 one, and other than a few different ingredients, like chopped suet, and specialty flours rather than AP—and practically everything floating in cinnamon—they're remarkably similar to today's recipes. I guess a cooky is a cookie. ;) Does anyone know when ”cooky” went out of use? certainly following the Betty Crocker Cooky Book. My mother started baking her way through that, but too many of the recipes were stinkers, or a bother like those sliced bell cookies that have the bell shaped colored log wrapped in the blond dough and sliced. I think the babysitter finished those. :)

BTW, Carol's uncle’s butter spritz are excellent!

Plllog, I’ve been thinking about linzer cookies since you mentioned them… they’re so good! but they’re also a pain to make. Do let us know how those specialty cookie cutters work! :)

The Christmas cookie trays of yore were so delicious and I ate many! I don't do them anymore but when I was I also liked to include baklava and fudge, caramels.

Also, I don't like highly decorated cookies, too fiddly for me although they are pretty. My favorite cookie to eat is probably a classic Christmas cookie cut out into trees and stars and angels with a sprinkling of red or green sugar, Thin, with slightly brown edges.....maybe some dragees.

When I used to take my young nieces for the day, I would often have them decorate cookies. I used a simple old drop sugar cookie recipe, then I divided the dough into 3rds and used food coloring to create the dough colors of their choice. I'd drop the cookies and then they would load them up with sprinkles, colored sugars, etc. etc. They were so easy to make, the girls had a blast, and the baked cookies looked and tasted fantastic. They loved going home with plates of those cookies. :)

This was in my inbox this morning. Can’t vouch for any of the recipes…just sharing.

https://inspiredbycharm.com/best-christmas-cookies/

I know iwill be baking Spritz butter cookies with half a candied cherry on top for my younger son, and i will make a batch of Springerle cookies too. We like Springerle cookies when they are still fresh and a little soft, though you are supposed to bake them weeks before serving so that they will be hard, and good for dunking.

When the family was growing up I used to do a lot of holiday cookie baking to make up boxes or trays for gifting to neighbors, the kids' friends' parents, coworkers, etc. Now on my own, kids long gone and me retired, I rarely do much holiday baking anymore. Too many diet restrictions/allergies with the family and they are too transient at this time of year as well for perishable food items.

I still bake a couple of different cookies at this time of year. If family IS in town at all, I am required to make lemon bars :-) Although not particularly holiday-ish and I make them year round anyway, they are hands down the family favorite and I'd be in trouble if they were not included!

Others I seem to make only at this time of year:

• chocolate crinkles
• peanut butter blossoms
• sweet dream (coconut) bars
• thumbprint cookies with apricot or raspberry
• mincemeat tarts
• chocolate truffles

My mom always made spritz cookies at Christmas. And my sister always makes something called melting moments. If I am not making to give away, I would pick the mincemeat tarts, oatmeal cranberry or molasses for myself.

Came by here today for the first time in ages.... taking a break from cookie baking/snacking. My neighbour's 100th birthday was yesterday, and his birthday present was 100 cookies! He was thrilled. My usual Christmas cookies include ice box cookies (a cherry almond cookie that is refrigerated overnight before baking), Scottish shortbread, peanut butter date balls, Nanaimo bars and butter tarts (not cookies, but I'm Canadian). This year I tried a new cookie recipe called Best Ever Fruitcake cookies. So far, it seems to be a hit with everyone that's tried it, and way better than fruitcake!

Through the years the one cookie that always receives the most raves is crispy salted oatmeal from Cooks Illustrated. It's the only one I'm baking this year.

Smitten Kitchen adds white chocolate to hers.

https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/05/crispy-salted-oatmeal-white-chocolate-cookies/

https://bakingbites.com/2013/01/thin-crispy-salted-oatmeal-cookies/

All this talk of cookies made me try an experimental gluten-free version of that old drop sugar cookie recipe. The decorations are minimal but the recipient loved them. I think the recipe still needs tweaking….

colleenoz, would you please post the recipe for Date Nut Torte?

I will PM it to you if you enable your messages. I don’t post my mother’s recipes online.

Date Nuggets for those asking for date cookies:

Little pop-in-your-mouth date cookies. You can add chopped nuts to these if you desire.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 sticks of butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup chopped dates

Construction:

Cream the butter and sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl and then add to the mix. Add the chopped dates.

Chill the dough at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough into 1" balls and bake for 12-15 minutes until set and lightly golden.

Transfer to cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.

Mine are pretty well all dates and nuts, minimal flour. If @Suzieque enables her messages, I'll send her the recipe.

I have probably mentioned this before, maybe every year...a dozen years ago, for a big family holiday reunion, i made my grandmothers favorite cookie recipes. Classics. From my childhood. Not well received. Dad, "oh my, not those awful things". A shame.

Chocolate crinkles, the dat/nut like above, etc.

Since then, only shortbreads. I have a file of 15+ recipes and make a few every year. I can make 2-3 recipes at a time, roll and freeze. 3-4 rolls per recipe. Slice and bake. From lemon to chocolate swirl...matcha, miso,...i like the prep ahead and bake fresh.

Here is one....Miso butter cookies and one of my favorite recipe sites.

Another favorite, salted butter chocolate chunk shortbread

NYTimes today. Six cookies, one dough...to add to my list.

one dough, six shortbreads