Fill up your cookie jars as holidays get under way

By: Associated Press | Wednesday, December 10, 2003 8:30 PM PST ∞

It's a delectable dilemma, trying to decide which cookies to make from the variety of recipes at hand.

Most of us will want to bake the favorites that everyone knows and expects. But consider trying some variations, too. Here are a few that may tempt an excursion, or two or three, beyond the usual baking repertoire.

Sherry Yard, executive pastry chef of Spago, Los Angeles, and winner of the 2002 James Beard award for outstanding pastry chef, offers a couple of new recipes she has created. Each has flair, and a distinctive taste -- but neither will tax the cook's skills too severely.

Her cookies are a sugar-plum ginger cookie and a butter cardamom cookie. "The exotic spices harmonize well with the rich taste of butter," Yard says, "adding a whole new flavor dimension to the traditional holiday cookie."

Sugar-Plum Ginger Cookies

(Preparation 20 minutes, baking time 20 to 22 minutes)

3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups confectioners' sugar

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups dried plums (finely chopped)

Ginger Glaze:

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons ginger juice (see note)

Stir together in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and confectioners' sugar for 3 minutes using a paddle attachment. Slowly add the eggs, scraping down after each addition. Add the flour and salt. Fold in the chopped plums.

Remove the dough from the mixer. Pipe or spoon into quarter-size drops on a parchment-lined or nonstick cookie sheet. Space 1/2-inch apart. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, turn sheet pan around, and continue to bake for 10 to 11 more minutes. Cookies should have a golden color around the edge and a chewy center. While the cookies are still hot, brush with ginger glaze.

Makes 32 cookies.

Cook's tips: The cookies can be baked in advance or same day. If made in advance, reheat for 1 minute and glaze. For ginger juice: Grate fresh ginger and squeeze out juice; you can press chopped ginger in a garlic press to extract juice.

(Recipe by Sherry Yard, for the American Butter Institute)

Butter Cardamom Cookies

(Preparation 15 minutes, baking time 20 to 22 minutes)

3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons cardamom

4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, confectioners' sugar and cardamom for 3 minutes using a paddle attachment. Slowly add the eggs, scraping down after each addition. Add flour and salt. Remove the dough, and pipe or spoon into quarter-size drops onto a parchment-lined or nonstick cookie sheet. Space .5 inch apart. Bake 10 to 11 minutes, turn sheet pan around and continue to bake 10 to 11 more minutes. Cookies should have a golden color.

Makes 32 cookies.

(Recipe by Sherry Yard, for the American Butter Institute)

Bar-type cookies are handy to make and pass around, and carry well without breaking. These moist, chewy, gingerbread-flavored cookies are topped with almonds and an icing drizzle.

Spiced Almond Bars

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) 70 percent vegetable-oil spread, softened

2 tablespoons orange marmalade (spreadable fruit)

1 egg white

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup wheat germ, any flavor

2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 to 2 teaspoons fat-free milk

1/3 to 1/2 cup sliced almonds

For the icing:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

3 to 4 teaspoons fat-free milk

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray.

To make bars: In large bowl of electric mixer, beat until well blended brown sugar, vegetable-oil spread and marmalade. Add egg white and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract; beat well. In medium bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda; mix well. Add to mixture in mixer bowl in three portions; mix well.

Gather dough into a ball; divide into four equal parts. Shape each part into a 12-inch log. Place two logs 5 inches apart on each cookie sheet. With hands, flatten each log into a strip about 2 1/2 inches wide. Brush with 1 to 2 teaspoons milk; sprinkle with almonds.

Bake 11 to 13 minutes or just until set. (Cookies should be soft. Do not overbake.) Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet. Cut diagonally into 1.5-inch-wide strips. Cool completely on wire rack.

To make icing: Combine powdered sugar, milk and almond extract in small bowl, adding enough milk for desired consistency; mix until smooth. Drizzle icing over cooled bars. Let stand until set. Store tightly covered.

Makes 3 dozen bars.

Nutrition information per 1 bar: 80 cal., total fat 2 g (0 g saturated fat), 0 mg chol., 85 mg sodium, 15 g carbo., 0 g dietary fiber, 1 g pro.

(Recipe for AP from Kretschmer Wheat Germ)

Spritz cookies are shaped with a cookie press. Here's a simple recipe for orange spritz cookies that have a pleasingly different light orange tang and nutty crunch.

Orange Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon orange peel, finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolk and orange juice. Mix in flour, orange peel, and pecans, if used. Mix until combined. Dough should be soft, but not sticky. Place dough into cookie press, and using desired shapes, press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on cooling grid and remove from cookie sheet.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

(Recipe courtesy of Wilton Enterprises)

Olive oil is an ingredient of choice cooks are using nowadays, as here in a recipe for chocolate peanut-butter fudge cookies. The tester used crunchy peanut butter, but says any kind will be fine; the olive oil used was a California oil with a buttery taste.

Chocolate Peanut-Butter Fudge Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup regular granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream peanut butter, oil and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir together. Add to the creamed mixture, kneading with back of spoon to moisten the dry ingredients. Dough will be soft and somewhat crumbly. Form the dough into balls and place onto cookie sheet. Flatten into discs. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set on the sheet.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

(Recipe from Lodestar Farms-Olive Oil)