Chocolate Gingerbread Men

Inside Joke Alert: These cookies were inspired by a stag party in which we took the groom out for a round of paintball... the yellow & orange cookies represents the groom having fun, the blue & purple cookies represent the aftermath of bruises. The bride wasn't too pleased with us... so these cookies commemorate the day we took our friend out in the woods and shot him. Repeatedly. That's how he knows we all care :)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 pound butter
1 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp boiling water
7 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup sugar

In a bowl mix together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa. In a mixer blend butter, grated ginger, brown sugar, almond extract, and molasses. Dissolve in boiling water the baking soda, then add to the butter mixture. Combine the flour and butter mixtures slowly (half at a time). What makes this recipe a little different here is that instead of chopping the semi-sweet chocolate into the batter, I melt it then mix it in. This produces a more consistent chocolate flavor. Once combined chill dough in a fridge for several hours or over night.

Once the dough has set, roll it into balls, and flatten with a roller pin. Use a cutter to produce the Gingerbread Men.

Preheat the oven to 325F, and bake for 10 minutes. Decorate the Gingerbread Men with melted chocolate.

I hope you all enjoyed this recipe as much as we enjoyed paintball :)

Cranberry-Flaxseed-Pecan-Coconut-Oatmeal-Grand-Marnier-Brandy Cookies

I decided to make a more health conscious cookie so I spent time modifying one of my basic Oatmeal cookie recipes into something more beneficial... the result is a Cranberry Flaxseed Pecan Coconut Oatmeal Grand-Marnier Brandy cookie.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (half the regular amount)
1 cup brown sugar (half cup less sugar than regular)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup flour (1/3 cup less flour ~ replaced with flaxseed)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (half the salt)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2  cup coconut
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup cranberries
1/2 cup pecans (crushed)
1/2 cup flaxseed (crushed)
1 tbsp Grand-Marnier
1 tbsp Brandy

Cream together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Next add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, coconut, pecans, oats, cranberries, flaxseed, Grand-Marnier, and Brandy. Mix until well combined.

Use a table spoon to collect a portion of dough, then roll into a ball. Place these onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, with about 5cm (~2 inch) spacing from other cookies. Use a fork to press the dough flat. Then preheat the oven to 325F, and bake for 15 minutes.

The cookies will not turn a golden brown, so you'll have to keep an eye on them to ensure they do not burn.

Brandy-Apple and Scotch-Strawberry Rugelach

10 year old Brandy and 30 year old Scotch in your cookies? Yes my dear reader, these cookies are for real :)

It was my turn this week to provide cookies for cookie night, I think I've topped my previous efforts...

Ingredients (pastry):

1 cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 cup bread crumbs

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 large egg

Ingredients (filling):

1 cup sliced dehydrated apples

1 cup sliced dehydrated strawberries

1 cup brandy

1 cup scotch

1/2 sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Re-hydrate the fruit with liquid of choice for 48 hours, then puree to spreadable consistency.

 The first step in this cookie was to re-hydrate the fruit. I chose to use brandy for the apples and scotch for the strawberries. To do this just pour the sliced dehydrated fruit into a bowl, add liquor, a quarter cup of sugar, and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and nutmeg. Then stir, wrap in plastic, and let sit for 48 hours. The fruit will plump. Once sufficiently soaked, blend the fruit until its a spreadable consistency.

Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. 

Roll out dough to about 5 to 8 mm thickness.

 The dough is very simple to make, just blend butter, cream cheese, and salt together. Let this mixture chill for an hour before attempting to roll out into a disc.

Apply egg wash, then sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. Spoon on heaps of filling.

 The rolled out dough needs some preparations. First we'll need to apply an egg wash, then dust the dough with cinnamon and nutmeg. We'll also need to put together a sweet filler. In a bowl mix together bread crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. With the dough prepared, spread out a generous helping of fruit filling, then coat that with the bread crumb mixture.

Use a pizza wheel to slice into 8 wedges.

 The next step is to slice the dough into wedges using a pizza cutter.

Roll from outside edge to inside tip.

 Each wedge is rolled from the wide end towards the tip. This produces a cookie that is shaped like a croissant.

These strawberries were de-hydrated, the 30 year old Scotch appears to have re-invigorated them.

 Repeat the above steps for each type of fruit filling you'd like to try out.

Apples vs Strawberries: Everyone Wins! 

Once you've processed all of your cookies, it's time to start baking. Preheat your oven to 325F, then bake the cookies for 30 minutes until golden brown.

After 30 minutes at 325F.  

Sweet, puffy, crumbly, and oh yes, they burn going down :)

These cookies went over very well with my friends. I'd suggest adding some powdered sugar to the tops for presentation. I hope you enjoyed this recipe :)