Sugar Cookies dipped in Chocolate, squished with Jam

I have been really excited all week to make these! I dream cookies. They come in all shapes and sizes inside my head. Today is Saturday and I finally got my chance. It seems as though for the past few months I have been stocking up on baking products. So, now when I feel like mixing-creating a cooking recipe, I don’t have to make an extra run to the super market. Something delicious can be created with the most basic things and a little imagination. So, I ordered some Linzer cookie cutters this week, in hopes of making some. Linzer cookie! Linzer cookie! I love jam! So finally the the cutters arrive and of course I cant wait to try them out. As I was surfing the internet, I was reading some great tips on what one can do with melted chocolate. In the past few weeks, I have been on a real chocolate kick. I think I am addicted to chocolate. Ok so, the bottom line? I am NOT making the Linzer cookies, instead I am making some good ol’ fashioned sugar cookies dipped in chocolates. I think I will make the linzer cookies next week?hmm… Adapted from my favorite baking website Joyofbaking.com

Drool.

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Zest of one orange
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar (substitute 1/2 with brown sugar)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Melted Chocolate

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
Okay so I never heard of tempering chocolate. What is that? plus I am in the habit of making things in a rush. After reading up WHY this is necessary, I realized that this was a step I did not want to miss. So I went the extra mile. . This is the reason why I love the internet! You have a ridiculous amount of information on everything. So why not use it? Before I decide to make something, I research that subject to death. Check out the website it really helped me , and the directions are easy http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/155/Tempering-Chocolate
I did the pot over a sauce-pan method and used chocolate chips instead. I also dipped the pot into room temperature water, to let it cool for just a few minutes. My hand tested tepid to the touch once the chocolate started to cool. It was perfect! I also made the dipping chocolate when the cookies were cooling after being baked. The melted chocolate has to be used right away!

For Sugar Cookies:

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. Grate the orange to get some zest and bits of juice. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluff. Add the orange zest and beat till incorporated. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll . Preheat to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch . (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. Bake cookies for about 10 minutes (depending on size) or until they are brown around the edges. Remove from oven and dip in melted chocolates, dip in nuts or nonpareils.

Holiday Thumbprint Cookies

Its been only a recent curiosity. Baking. Especially cookies. Christmas was approaching soon, and I had no idea what my contribution to this years feast was going to be. I started my web search. something easy, something fun. something useful for years to come.....then I saw it on Epicurious.com! the rave reviews tempted me to try it and it seemed ridiculously easy. My guests loved these cookies and it turned out to be a great choice. I had decided to make some basic butter cookies with thumbprint filling. They were warm, soft and filled with total yumminess. The fillings inside the thumbprint can be anything you wish. I first started it off with Apricot Preserves & Raspberry Jam. Later, I melted 1/4th cup semi-chocolate with 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening and used the sauce as a chocolate filling. Results? each time they were gobbled up! I made 48 cookies in the last two days. Try it, you will find yourself wanting more. Maybe the next time I make this, I will put some exotic honey in the center...*drool*

Holiday Thumbprint Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
About 2 table spoons of anything you wish. Jam-Chocolate Sauce-Honey


* Equipment: a 1/2-inch-thick wooden spoon handle or dowel


Make dough:
Whisk together flour and salt. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, then beat in egg and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. Divide dough in half and form each piece into a 6-inch disk, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.

Assemble and bake cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll a level teaspoons of dough each into a ball, then flatten the ball slightly (to 1 inch wide and less than 1/2 inch thick). Make a deep indentation in center of each round with wooden spoon handle. Make more cookies, arranging them 1 inch apart on baking sheets.

Fill indentations in each cookie with jam
Bake until cookies are baked through and golden-brown on edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Bake more batches on cooled baking sheets lined with fresh parchment.