Spectacularly fun! :-)

I made French Christmas cookies, as I do every year, both because they are a
tradition, and because everyone around here began clamoring for them the morning
after Thanksgiving!

This year, as I have in the past few years, I made the commitment to finding a new
cookie recipe to love. I did it! They are called cappuccino love bites (my daughter
said "they're called love bites because you fall in love with them!). They are
similar in texture to a good sugar cookie...you know the kind with the crisp edges
and chewy interior? The dough is formed into balls and rolled in a combination of raw
sugar and instant espresso. I'll include the recipe below. Try them, they are soooo
good.

We also made snickerdoodles, and something my daughter decided should be named
snickeldoodles. I don't know if ya'll have seen them but they have caramels in little
bits now (about the size of chocolate chips) so you don't have to unwrap them. Well,
we thought they looked like chocolate chips, so we should have them in a cookie...and
snickerdoodles just seemed like a good fit :-) They were! We put a few into the
center of each ball before rolling in the cinnamon sugar.

The last little treat we made was peppermint meringues, which we sprinkled with
crushed candy canes and dipped the bottoms in melted bittersweet chocolate. My niece
graciously informed me as they were leaving that she left me 3! lol

Other contributions of the evening: 7 layer bars, decorated sugar cookie trees (green
tinted lemon glaze, yum!), peanut butter white chocolate cookies, bittersweet
chocolate truffle cookies, Russian tea cakes, and almond-oatmeal crescents.

All in all, I declare this year's cookie party a complete success :-) If you've never
had one, I really encourage you to give it a try.

kimberly

Cappuccino Love Bites
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/2 cup shortening (I used Smart Balance)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp espresso (or use 1 tsp instant espresso with 1 1/2 tbsp hot water or use
coffee liqueur)
2 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup raw or demarera sugar
2 tbsp instant espresso or coffee

Preheat oven to 350* f
Cream butter and shortening. Add 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. Add
egg, vanilla, and espresso. Mix well, then add flour.
Chill one hour, or until dough is firm enough to handle.
Combine raw/demarera sugar with instant espresso/coffee. Roll dough into balls (about
1 inch) then roll in the coffee/sugar mixture. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet
(I used parchment instead).
Bake 10 minutes, or until tops are crackled and sides are set. Immediately after
removing from the oven, press a chocolate kiss into center of cookie if desired. (We
used Hershey's hugs-white and milk chocolate swirled- in about 1/2 and bittersweet
chocolate chips in the other half..both were good. We also used a small offset
spatula to swirl the kisses when they melted).

Enjoy!

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:45:32 -0800, "Nexis" > wrote:

>bittersweet chocolate truffle cookies
Sounds good! Is the recipe similar to this?
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocola...es/Detail.aspx

Russian Tea Cakes
Found a simple recipe (thanks for the reminder)... I don't know why I
don't make them other than my family mainly eats chocolate, so I end
up on garbage detail - unless they are snickerdoodles.

Almond-Oatmeal Crescents
I didn't find a recipe for this. Would you mind finding a link or
posting the recipe?

TIA


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"Nexis" > wrote

> I made French Christmas cookies, as I do every year, both because they are
> a tradition, and because everyone around here began clamoring for them the
> morning after Thanksgiving!

I don't know what they are, but I like the way they sound!

Your cookie exchange sounds like it was outstanding. A nice
tradition.

nancy

Oh pshaw, on Sun 16 Dec 2007 09:32:58a, meant to say...

> On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:45:32 -0800, "Nexis" > wrote:
>
>>bittersweet chocolate truffle cookies
> Sounds good! Is the recipe similar to this?
> http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocola...es/Detail.aspx
>
> Russian Tea Cakes
> Found a simple recipe (thanks for the reminder)... I don't know why I
> don't make them other than my family mainly eats chocolate, so I end
> up on garbage detail - unless they are snickerdoodles.
>
> Almond-Oatmeal Crescents
> I didn't find a recipe for this. Would you mind finding a link or
> posting the recipe?
>
> TIA
>
>

Will this do?

Title: Almond Crescents (oatmeal)
Serves: 48

1.00 c Margarine
0.50 ts Almond extract
0.75 c Sifted powdered sugar
2.00 c All-purpose flour
0.50 ts Salt (optional)
1.00 c Quaker Oats, uncooked
0.50 c Finely chopped almonds

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Beat margarine and almond extract until fluffy.
Gradually beat in sugar.
Add combined flour and salt, mix well.
Stir in oats and almonds.
Shape to form crescents.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 15-18 minutes or until light golden brown.
Sift powdered sugar over warm crescents.


--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Dec 13,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
1wks 2dys 5hrs 45mins 41secs
*******************************************
Did you really expect mere proof to
sway my opinion? HA!
*******************************************

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:45:54 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> wrote:

>Oh pshaw, on Sun 16 Dec 2007 09:32:58a, meant to say...
>
>>
>> Almond-Oatmeal Crescents
>> I didn't find a recipe for this. Would you mind finding a link or
>> posting the recipe?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>>
>
>Will this do?
>
>Title: Almond Crescents (oatmeal)
>Serves: 48
>

Thanks Wayne! Saved and filed. I found Almond-Oatmeal Bars, I found
Almond Crescents - but I didn't find Almond-Oatmeal Crescents.



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<sf> wrote in message ...
> On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:45:32 -0800, "Nexis" > wrote:
>
>>bittersweet chocolate truffle cookies
> Sounds good! Is the recipe similar to this?
> http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocola...es/Detail.aspx

Actually, my mom made those, so I'm not sure..but those look good!

>
> Russian Tea Cakes
> Found a simple recipe (thanks for the reminder)... I don't know why I
> don't make them other than my family mainly eats chocolate, so I end
> up on garbage detail - unless they are snickerdoodles.

For me, it wouldn't be Christmas without them. They're my favorites.
>
> Almond-Oatmeal Crescents
> I didn't find a recipe for this. Would you mind finding a link or
> posting the recipe?
>
> TIA
>

I'll ask my mom for it (those ones were hers too!)
I'll post when she sends it

kimberly

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Nexis" > wrote
>
>> I made French Christmas cookies, as I do every year, both because they are a
>> tradition, and because everyone around here began clamoring for them the morning
>> after Thanksgiving!
>
> I don't know what they are, but I like the way they sound!
>
> Your cookie exchange sounds like it was outstanding. A nice
> tradition.
>
> nancy

Thanks Nancy :-) It really was great, and we had so much fun.
I've posted the French Christmas Cookies before, but here it is again:

FRENCH CHRISTMAS COOKIES
----------------------------------------------------
40 graham cracker singles (2 packs)
2 - 6oz pkgs mini chocolate chips
2 cups finely chopped nuts (walnuts or almonds)
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter, softened to room temp
1 cup 1/2&1/2 (or use 1/2 cup each milk and cream)
*frosting* (see below)
------------------------------------------------
1. Put the grahams in a plastic bag (about half at a time), squeeze the air
out and seal. Roll over with a rolling pin until the grahams are crushed.
2. Cream butter and sugar.
3. Add crumbs and mix
4. Add cream, nuts and chips and mix
5. Fill baking mini-cups 2/3 full
6. Bake on a cookie sheet at 375* for 10-12 minutes...just until set--do
NOT overbake.
Frosting:
Melt 1 pkg each chocolate and butterscotch chips with 1-2 Tbsp peanut
butter. Use to *frost* cookies

kimberly

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 16:14:07 -0800, "Nexis" > wrote:

>I'll ask my mom for it (those ones were hers too!)
>I'll post when she sends it

<slobber>
Thanks


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"Nexis" > wrote in message
...
> Spectacularly fun! :-)
>
> I made French Christmas cookies, as I do every year, both because they are
> a tradition, and because everyone around here began clamoring for them the
> morning after Thanksgiving!
>
> This year, as I have in the past few years, I made the commitment to
> finding a new cookie recipe to love. I did it! They are called cappuccino
> love bites (my daughter said "they're called love bites because you fall
> in love with them!). They are similar in texture to a good sugar
> cookie...you know the kind with the crisp edges and chewy interior? The
> dough is formed into balls and rolled in a combination of raw sugar and
> instant espresso. I'll include the recipe below. Try them, they are soooo
> good.
>
> We also made snickerdoodles, and something my daughter decided should be
> named snickeldoodles. I don't know if ya'll have seen them but they have
> caramels in little bits now (about the size of chocolate chips) so you
> don't have to unwrap them. Well, we thought they looked like chocolate
> chips, so we should have them in a cookie...and snickerdoodles just seemed
> like a good fit :-) They were! We put a few into the center of each ball
> before rolling in the cinnamon sugar.
>
> The last little treat we made was peppermint meringues, which we sprinkled
> with crushed candy canes and dipped the bottoms in melted bittersweet
> chocolate. My niece graciously informed me as they were leaving that she
> left me 3! lol
>
> Other contributions of the evening: 7 layer bars, decorated sugar cookie
> trees (green tinted lemon glaze, yum!), peanut butter white chocolate
> cookies, bittersweet chocolate truffle cookies, Russian tea cakes, and
> almond-oatmeal crescents.
>
> All in all, I declare this year's cookie party a complete success :-) If
> you've never had one, I really encourage you to give it a try.
>
snip...

that's cool...we do the same thing here with family and friends...started
off as a "make something for Christmas" day, kids included; began with xmas
decorations, then one year it was xmas earrings, now for past few years it's
been a cooking day, where we'll make a variety of biscuits (cookies) and
truffle balls

this year it was...

traditional shortbread
lemon coconut biscuits
tollhouse cookies (choc-chip cookies)
white Christmas
apricot and almond balls
choc button biscuits

the kids got to make bead angels, paint xmas door hangers and generally run
my dog ragged <bg>