From Icebox Pinwheel Cookies to Red-and-White Meringue Kisses to Apple Cider Caramels, find new inspiration for the best of seasonal baking with Holiday Cookies. This instant holiday classic is packed with 50 recipes, each gorgeously photographed and meticulously tested, along with dozens of decorating and packaging ideas. Filled with reimagined favorites like Giant Molasses Spice Cookies and Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies; confections like Peppermint Bark, Smoked Almond and Cacao Nib Brittle, and Dark Chocolate–Hazelnut Fudge; and detailed instructions for gorgeous gingerbread houses, cookie place cards, and edible ornaments, this is a cookie book like no other. Because the recipes are easy to scale up or down, Holiday Cookies is perfect for cookie exchanges, gift-giving, and just enjoying throughout the season. From a veteran baker and recipe developer, each cookie in this collection is guaranteed to be a stand-out, and destined to become your new Christmas classic.
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9780399580253
Media Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication Date: 09-05-2017
Pages: 168
Product Dimensions: 7.50(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
About the Author
ELISABET DER NEDERLANDEN is a passionate professional baker and a graduate of the California Culinary Academy. She has worked as a food stylist and professional recipe developer/tester for commercial, advertising, and packaging projects. In addition, she has managed recipe testing and food styling for more than 30 cookbooks.
Read an Excerpt
Read an Excerpt
INTRODUCTION
The aroma of baking that fills my home in December is unlike that of any other time of year and heightens my excitement for the approaching holidays. Thinking about what lies ahead conjures up memories of being a child, when early every moment of the holiday season seemed warm and festive.
I was born and brought up in Sweden, where my parents built a house next door to my grandmother’s home. The nearest town was six miles away, so my childhood was spent in the countryside. I learned to bake from a young age, and as a teenager I worked in a konditori (bakery) in that nearby small town. From the age of thirteen, children in Sweden can take two weeks every semester to do practical training at a local workplace, which is how I came to be at the Holgers Konditori. Opened in 1903, the bakery is located in the main square and is where everyone in town goes for special-occasion cakes, cookies, and buns. When I finished my training, Holgers offered me a summer job, and I worked there every summer. I loved every minute.
That love of baking extended into my home life, particularly around the holidays. Once autumn arrived, which brought fewer daylight hours, inside activities like baking became the norm. Come winter, nighttime fell early, and any opportunity to celebrate and decorate—especially with lights—helped brighten the darkest time of year. In Sweden, holiday celebrations start early and include many festivities, such as the Advent season, which begins on the fourth Sunday preceding Christmas. One of my favorite celebrations is St. Lucia Day, in which girls dressed in white lead a candlelight procession, and everyone in the group sings and pepparkakor, a gingery cookie with plenty of snap (you’ll find the recipe on page 88), is served. A lot of baking is done early in December, when breads, cakes, cookies, and confections are made and then stored for the upcoming celebrations. I remember eating many of these treats only during the holidays, so just making them would put you in the spirit of the season.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
1 Introduction 2 About This Book 5 Cookie Tips and Tricks 7 Decorating Cookies 13 Royal Icing 14 Packaging Tips and Tricks 17 Storing Cookies
CHAPTER 1 19 VERY MERRY CLASSICS 20 Gingerbread Cookies 24 Chocolate-Dipped Macaroons 27 Minty Spritz Cookies 28 Icebox Pinwheel Cookies 32 Black and Whites 35 Chocolate–Peanut Butter Brownie Sandwich Cookies 36 Red Velvet Crackle Cookies 39 Triple-Chocolate Chunk Cookies 40 Chocolate-Stenciled
CHAPTER 2 43 COOKIE EXCHANGE PARTY 44 Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies 48 Red-and-White Meringue Kisses 51 Bejeweled Chocolate Cookies 52 Oatmeal Crisps with Chocolate 55 Almond Ricciarelli Cookies 56 Fruitcake Shortbread 59 Dark Chocolate Cookies with Caramel 60 Espresso Thins 63 Malted Milk Chocolate Cookies
CHAPTER 3 65 WARM HOLIDAY SPICE 66 Molasses Spice Cookies 69 Thumbprints with Spicy Plum Jam 70 Pain d’Épices Shortbread Swirls 73 Glazed Eggnog Madeleines 74 Saffron Pistachio Biscotti 78 Hot Chocolate Cookies with Aleppo Pepper 81 Cinnamon-Sugar Palmiers 82 Fig and Cardamom Rugelach
CHAPTER 4 87 AROUND THE WORLD 88 Swedish Pepparkakor 91 Italian Pignoli Cookies 92 Austrian Linzer Augen 95 South American Alfajores 99 Danish Butter Wreaths 101 Hungarian Kiffles 105 Dutch Speculaas 106 Mexican Wedding Cookies
CHAPTER 5 109 HOLIDAY CONFECTIONS 110 Peppermint Bark 113 Apple Cider Caramels 114 Peanut Butter–Chocolate Crunch Squares 117 Smoked Almond and Cacao Nib Brittle 118 Matcha Chocolate Bark with Berries and Coconut 121 Dark Chocolate–Hazelnut Fudge 122 Bourbon and Maple Chocolate Truffles 125 Chocolate Caramels with Bourbon and Vanilla
CHAPTER 6 127 DECORATED DELIGHTS 128 Christmas Tree Sugar Cookie Cutouts 132 Citrus Sugar Cookie Ornaments 135 Candy Cane Cookies 136 Doily-Rolled Gingersnaps 139 Gingerbread Place-Card Cookies 141 3-D Christmas Trees 144 Stained-Glass Snowflakes 147 Gingerbread House