Black and White Cookies

Enough frosting for 12 cookies

2T whipping cream plus extra to adjust consistancy
1T butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/ 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3T semi-sweet chocolate chips 
1T whipping cream

For the cookie: 

Follow the recipe for Frosted Sugar Cookies http://eastwoodseatery.blogspot.com/2012/06/frosted-sugar-cookies.html

I normally have these cookies already made up and frozen. I make decorate some with the pink frosting, and then use the same cookie to make Black and Whites.

• In small microwavable measuring cup (I use my glass 8 oz. measuring cup) , microwave 2T cream and 1T butter on High about 30 seconds; stir until butter is melted. Add butter mixture and vanilla to powdered sugar (I use my glass 16 oz. measuring cup) ; stir until mixture is smooth.
• In the now-empty measuring cup, microwave 3T chocolate chips and  1T cream on High 30 seconds; or until melted. Stir half of vanilla icing into melted chocolate mixture until smooth and well blended. If necessary, add additional cream to thin both vanilla and chocolate icing.
• Spread half with chocolate frosting, then the other half with white icing. Store covered at room temperature.

Makes 2 dozen cookies (3 inch)

Tres Leches Smaller Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt

• 3 medium eggs, separated 

• 1/2 cup Sugar, Divided  2T and 4T and 2T
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
•  2T plus  2 t  Milk

• 1 can Evaporated Milk
• 1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
• 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
• _____
• FOR THE ICING:
• 1 cup Heavy Cream, For Whipping
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 9  inch pan with baking glaze.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. 

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in 2T sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry. Set aside.

Beat egg yolks with 4T sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or so,  until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave cake in the pan.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can.

Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 cup heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable.
Spread over the surface of the cake. Decorate cake with whole or chopped maraschino cherries. 

Chill.

Cut into 9 squares and serve.

Adapted from Pioneer Woman's recipe. The recipe is the same, but cut in half.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/tres-leches-cake/

Lemon Meltaways

Makes 12 small cookies

I will double this recipe for next time. They are just too good to make only a dozen. These are so lemony. 

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• For rolling: 3-4 tablespoons powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar. Once well combined, add the lemon zest, juice and vanilla. Beat well. Next, sprinkle the flour, cornstarch and salt over the top. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet mixture carefully on low speed. The dough will be slightly crumbly. Very crumbly, but thats okay  as long as everything is slightly damp, the next step takes care of it.
2. Next, dump the dough out onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper. Shape it into a uniform log about 6″ long. Then, put the dough closest to the long end of the paper, then begin rolling it up in the paper, shaping the dough as you go. Your dough log will be roughly 8″ long. Twist the ends of the paper closed and refrigerate the dough log for 1 hour.
3. After one hour has elapsed, preheat the oven to the 350.
4. Unroll the dough, slice it into 12 even slices then place the cookies on a baking sheet.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies barely begin to turn golden. You won’t see much color change, so look closely.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, have ready a shallow bowl with the extra powdered sugar for rolling. Roll each cookie in powdered sugar while still warm, and let the cookies cool before serving.

Spiral Sugar Cookies

Servings: 24
Uses a food processor
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cubed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
 food coloring, any color
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup multi-colored nonpareil decors

Directions:
1. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugars in a food processor and process to mix.
Add butter and process until the mixture has a cornmeal consistency. Add the vanilla and
process until mixture just forms a ball.
2. Divide the dough in half and return one of the halves to the food processor. Add the almond
extract, food coloring and 2 tablespoons of flour to the processor and process until just
incorporated.
3. Roll out each portion of dough between sheets of waxed paper into an 8x11-inch rectangle,
with ¼-inch thickness. Stack the dough, leaving in the wax paper, onto a baking sheet and
refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
4. Pour the decors into a shallow rectangular dish. Remove the dough from refrigerator and
peel off the top pieces of wax paper from each dough half. Lift one and flip it over onto the
other half so that the doughs are touching. Remove the top sheet of wax paper and trim the
long edges with a sharp knife so that the sides are straight.
5. When the dough becomes just pliable, roll the dough beginning with a long end into a log.
Gently curl the edge with fingertips and try to avoid creating pockets of air. Carefully lift log
into the dish with the decors and roll until outside is completely coated. Wrap the log in
plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to slice, at least 4 hours.
Make sure you roll with the white side on the outside so the sprinkles show.
6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Slice log into ¼-inch-thick discs and bake on silpat baking sheets for 15-17 minutes, or until the cookies are no longer shiny.


http://www.pipandebby.com/pip-ebby/2011/12/26/spiral-sugar-cookies.html

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Recipe courtesy Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2002

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

1 hr 30 min

Cook Time:

25 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

32 cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• 7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
• Raspberry and/or apricot jam

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (If you have a scale they should each weigh 1 ounce.) Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.

Kelly halved this recipe and it made 16 cookies, all eaten within 24 hours.