Week 17: Holiday Cookies!

Hi all,

With Xmas being next week, and all of my presents are bought and apartment decorated, there is only one thing left to do... BAKE!  I made 3 different recipes from Pinterest earlier in the week for my work's Bake Off and I actually got first place for one of my cookies :)  I thought I'd pin a couple of the recipes I made.  In this post, I'm including the Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies and the Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze.

Pins that inspired:

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies
http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650390441/

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze
http://pinterest.com/pin/191191946650392297/

First up, the red velvets.  Okay, let me start this post by saying this cookie got first place at my work.  Some people thought the lemon ricottas should have won.  The red velvets are sweet and kind of a pain to make, but incredibly worth it and I'd make them again (and most likely will later in the week).

Because this is a cookie that does need to be refrigerated for at least two hours, I would suggest prepping these first, making some other cookies, and coming back to these.  Or you can do what I did and prep in the morning, and then bake at night (worked out really well).

The recipe is from Two Peas and Their Pod and thank goodness for them.  Seriously so good.  I did slightly modify the amounts because their recipe calls for 10 giant cookies and I ended up making 20 (still giant) cookies.

Here is the recipe and instructions from their site, and I will add in my notes and pictures along the way.

ingredients:

For the cookies:
1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cheesecake filling:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the white chocolate drizzle:
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted (I ended up using an entire bag of white chocolate chips from Nestle's.  You  could actually just use half the bag and you'll be fine)

directions:

1. To make cookies, in a large bowl combine cake mix and flour. Whisk until clumps disappear. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and vanilla extract (I used a paddle attachment on my KitchenAid). Mix until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

2. To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Using a teaspoon, scoop out cheesecake filling and place on a plate (you could also use a cookie sheet). Continue scooping out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls until you have 10 (since I was going to make 20 cookies, I made 20 of these). Place plate in the freezer and freeze for at least two hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (I ended up using 3 large cookie sheets) or a silicone baking mat. To assemble the cookies, take about 1/4 cup of red velvet cookie dough (if you're going for 20 cookies, use 1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons) and flatten in your hands (I actually formed the dough into small balls and then flattened.  And make these real flat). Place a teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the center and wrap the cookie dough around the filling (Okay, THIS is the part that is a pain in the ass.  Here these may not fully wrap around the cheesecake filling because in reality, these cheesecake filling is more than just a teaspoon, even with 20 cheesecake balls.  The red velvet dough is going to crack some as you try to wrap it, and that's fine.  Don't spaz out as I did when this happens.).

Gently roll into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet (Ok, I was gentle, but I really rolled that dough because I wanted to try to keep the cracks sealed.  Also, if you have some of the cheesecake sneaking through, that's fine; I did with all of my cookies.  I just placed that side up on my cookie sheets). Only bake 3 cookies at a time (I did 6-7 cookies per sheet). The cookies are large and will spread (yep that is an understatement). Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle (maybe it's because I'm in CO and at high altitude, but mine took closer to 14-15 minutes). Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

4. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies (let's talk about how I have never drizzled any kind of toppings before.  For those of you who haven't done this either, here is my helpful tip.  I used a large spatula and dipped it in the white chocolate.  Then I went in a sweeping motion, going left to right, over all of the cookies at the same time.  Of course, I didn't think of this method until about halfway through, so some of my cookies got more white chocolate than others, but that's ok.  I also did this on parchment paper so I wouldn't have a royal mess to try to clean later). Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens. Serve and enjoy!

Next up, the Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze.  This recipe came from Redbook Magazine, but it's from Giada De Laurentiis.  So I'm sure you can find this on Food Network's website too.  Like the last recipe, I'll just interject my opinions in parenthesis.

Cookies

• 2 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/2 cup(s) (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cup(s) sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 container(s) (15-ounce) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoon(s) fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)
•  Grated zest from one lemon
  

Glaze

• 1 1/2 cup(s) powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoon(s) fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)
•  Grated zest from one lemon
• To thin out my glaze a little bit a added a touch of water, probably less than 1/2 teaspoon.  I think I may have used a little over 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice too.

---

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cookies: In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest and beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
4. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie onto prepared baking sheets (these will be huge and you'll still get about 40 cookies from this recipe.  If you want more than 40, you could do 1 tablespoon and get 80ish cookies). Bake 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges (I think mine took closer to 16 minutes). Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheets 20 minutes.

1. Glaze: In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest; stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon onto each cookie, and use back of the spoon to gently spread (I thought I wouldn't have a enough glaze, but I actually had left over.  I could have used more glaze.  The glaze will run a little. I would also suggest glazing these on a wire rack and having wax paper or something underneath the wire rack so the glaze drips onto that and not your table.  This is also a good time to add sprinkles if you want these to have a pop of color). Let the glaze harden about 2 hours. Pack the cookies in a decorative container.