Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

Archive for the ‘Cookies’ Category

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Blackberries are another of my favorite summer berries!  Right now they’re pretty plentiful in the grocery store, farmer’s market or maybe even in your own garden!  Below is a wonderfully moist bar recipe that will melt in your mouth!

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour (4.5 oz)
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 oz unsalted butter, cold butter, cut up (6 tablespoons)

Filling:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 very small pinch salt
2 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar (or try 1/4 granulated and 2 T. brown)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 oz unsalted butter, cut up, cold (4 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 inch square metal pan with non-stick foil or line with foil and spray with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, powdered sugar and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse until mixture is coarse. Alternatively, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry cutter.
3. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake until the surface is dry and the edges are browned, about 20-22 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before adding filling.
4. Combine the 1/4 cup sugar (+ 2 T extra if needed), cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the berries and zest until combined. Set aside.
5. Prepare topping. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in food processor bowl. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until mixture is coarse.
6. Spread the filling on the cooled crust. Sprinkle the topping over the filling. The whole thing will look pretty lumpy. Bake until the topping has browned lightly and the berry filling is bubbling, about 40 minutes.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into bars. Makes about 12-16 depending on how you cut them.

Here’s a quick and easy recipe to impress your friends and family!  Take the hassle out of preparing cookies by using refrigerated sugar cookie dough.

To created the wonderfully colored “nests”, color your flake coconut by adding about 4 drops of liquid food coloring to 1 cups of coconut in a plastic ziplock bag. Shake until all flakes are covered.  (You may need to add 1 teaspoon of water to help disperse the color evenly.)

Ingredients:

• 1 package (16 oz) ready to bake sugar cookies
• 1 container (12 oz) fluffy white frosting
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• Food coloring
• Jelly Beans

Directions:

• Bake cookies as directed on package. Cool completely.
• Frost cookies, top with about 1 tsp. of colored coconut and a few jelly beans.
• Sit back and enjoy!

All those beautifully iced cookies you see online that make up cookie bouquets are created using Royal Icing. It works especially well when making cookie bouquets or decorating cookies that you are going to mail somewhere because it dries hard and holds up well.  Royal icing decorated cookies will arrive looking as good as they did when you decorated them.

Standard royal icing recipes call for powdered sugar, meringue powder and water. Basically, the water is added until you achieve the desired consistency.  You can find meringue powder in upscale grocery stores and craft stores such as Michael’s (in the cake decorating section).

Here is a great Royal Icing Recipe to get you started on your delicious creations!
—————————————
Standard Royal Icing Recipe
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar – sifted
3 Tbsp. meringue powder
6 to 8 Tbsp. water (depending on consistency desired)

In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar and meringue powder. Then add water a little bit at a time (until the desired consistency) beating with an electric mixer on medium speed. NOTE – a thicker consistency (6 Tbsp water) is used for outlining the cookie while a thinner ‘flow’ consistency is used to flood thecookies inside the outline. If you’d like almond flavored icing, consider substituting 2 Tbsp. almond extract for the first 2 Tbsp. of water.

After the icing is fully mixed and the desired consistency, just divide it up and add color.  Keep the icing containers covered until you are ready to use the icing as it will turn hard quickly.

Here’s another fun and delicious cookie to make for Valentine’s Day!  The center each heart shaped cookie is a sparkling red heart-shaped “window”.   This amazing cookie is easy to make and the results are breath-taking.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/3 cup crushed clear red hard candy (Life Savers or Jolly Ranchers)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a 4-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter dipped in flour. Cut out centers with a 1-1/4-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter; set aside to re-roll. Place cookies 1 in. apart on lightly greased foil-lined baking sheets. Fill centers with crushed candy.

Bake at 375  for 7-9 minutes or until candy is melted and edges of cookies begin to brown. Cool completely on baking sheets. Carefully peel cookies off foil.

Here’s another great recipe to whip up this Valentine’s Day!  Heart cut-outs show the raspberry filling for a fun and sweet Valentine Treat!

I like raspberry best for my filling, but you can try other preserves like strawberry, cherry, etc.

INGREDIENTS:
* 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 3/4 cup butter softened
* 1 cup seedless raspberry preserves
* 1/3 cup powdered sugar

*3 or 4 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter & 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter

DIRECTIONS:
1.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt. Next with a pastry blender or two knives used scissor-fashion, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water ( 1 tablespoon at time) into the flour mixture, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Shape dough into a ball then wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll one-third of the dough at a time 1/8 inch thick, keeping the remaining dough refrigerated. With a floured 3 or 4 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut dough into as many hearts as possible. Place the hearts 1/2 inches apart  on an ungreased large cookie sheet. Keep the trimmings. With a floured 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out centers from half of hearts. Remove cutout centers, and bake along with larger cookies, checking after 7 minutes for doneness.

3. Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned. Move cookies to wire racks to cool. Combine remaining dough and trimmings together to make more cookies.

4. When cookies are cool, sprinkle cookies with cutout centers with powdered sugar. Spread each cookie without cutout center with 1 rounded teaspoon raspberry preserves; top each with a center cut-out cookie, gently pressing cookies together to form a sandwich. Store in tightly covered container.

My Dad can eat a whole batch of this Christmas candy in one sitting, but that might be why he has a jolly tummy just like Santa.  Seriously, this peanut brittle is quite tasty and oh so easy to make.

1 1/2 cups raw peanuts
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

In a glass bowl, stir together the salt, corn syrup and sugar.  Place the bowl in the microwave and heat on 100% Power for 9 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir in the butter and vanilla.  Then microwave on 100% power for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove from microwave and stir in the baking soda stirring really well…note the mixture should be foamy.  Stir in the peanuts. Then pour the mixture onto a well-greased cookie sheet (or on a cookie sheet lined with Sil-pat).  Cool the mixture completely and then break into edible-sized pieces.

I know what you are thinking – date balls for Christmas – yuck.  Well maybe that is just what I thought.  At any rate, these classic Christmas cookies are now one of my favorites.  The melted dates are blended with butter to create a scrumptious almost caramel like texture that is infused with rice krispies for a bit of crunch.  My mouth is watering just thinking about them!

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 lb. pitted dates, cut fine
1 beaten egg
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups Rice Krispies®
extra fine flake coconut

In a medium-size heavy saucepan, melt the dates, sugar and butter together over medium heat (stirring constantly) until it is smooth (almost like caramel).  Remove from the heat. Then add the eggs, milk, vanilla and salt stirring well.  Be sure to cool the date mixture slightly before adding the eggs so they don’t get scrambled.  Put the mixture back on the stove over low heat stirring until thickened.  Again remove from heat and mix in the nuts and the rice krispies until well distributed.  Cool completely.  Place the coconut in a small bowl. Butter your hands to keep the mixture from sticking and form the mixture into 1″ diameter size balls and then roll the balls of cookies in coconut.  Place on wax paper until the cookie balls are set.  Store in an airtight container.

Milk chocolate & peanut butter cookies are one of my favorites because I just love the smooth melty texture and taste of this sweet combination.  These cookies are a childhood favorite and my kids love them too! In my house we usually end up doubling or tripling this recipe because they disappear so fast.

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
½ cup peanut butter
1 ¼ cups flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
1 bag of miniature peanut butter cups (unwrapped)
Christmas themed miniature paper baking cups

To make the cookie batter, cream together the sugars and the butter until fluffy.  Then mix in the egg and peanut butter stirring well.  Finally add the baking so and then the flour mixing until you get a well-blended dough.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough in the refrigerator for an hour.  Meanwhile, line a mini-muffin pan with the mini paper baking cups. Remove and form into about 24 – 3/4″ round dough balls.  Place each dough ball in a mini baking cup. Bake dough balls in the oven at 375 degF for about 9 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie pressing down until the top of the peanut butter cup lines up with the top of the cookie. Leave the cookies sit in the muffin tins for 10 minutes and then remove them cooling the rest of the way on a cooling rack. 

In my family, we pop these little bite size morsels in the microwave for maybe 10 seconds so the chocolate gets a little melty when we want to have a real Christmas cookie treat!

Spritz cookies have been a Christmas staple in our family for at least 30 years.  My Mom has a really old-fashioned cookie press that you have to twist to extract the cookies….personally I like the trigger version, but mine has been replaced several times (because the plastic broke) while her old one just keeps going and going.  On the plate below, you can see some snowflake design cookies that we made and then just added green and red sugar.  You can also color the dough with food coloring (this is what we do to make green Christmas tree shaped cookies).

1 ½ cups butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp almond extract
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

In a large mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer with the white paddle), cream butter and sugar together. Then add the egg, milk, vanilla, almond extract beating well. Stir together flour and baking powder in a separate bowl or on a piece of wax paper (to make it easy to add to wet ingredients). Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture, mixing to a smooth dough. If you are going to add food coloring to the dough, I recommend doing it when you have about half of the flour mixture added so that it is easier to mix in.  Do NOT chill the dough! Shape dough in small logs and place in a cookie press (see the video below for great tips). Choose the press die to create the cookie shape that you want.  Then press cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degF for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around edges. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on a rack. Makes 7 to 8 dozen Spritz cookies.

My Tips – If you are making Christmas trees or wreaths, you will likely want to color the dough green. I recommend using the paste type food coloring so that it doesn’t change the consistency of the dough. No matter what the cookie shape, you can decorate them with colored sugars prior to baking in the oven.

Here is a great video that I found at YouTube.  It shows how to load and use a cookie press to make Christmas designs.  It also details how you can take those shapes and arrange them to create a Christmas cookie wreath.