Saturday, December 20, 2008

Christmas Cookies

Since Richard and I are back in Maryland this year, I got to bake Christmas cookies with my mom! It was so much fun to do it together, and they turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. We made 4 types of cookies/candy in all: Rugulah, Thumbprint Cookies, Russian Teacakes, and Freezer Candy. I have pictures of the Rugulah and Thumbprint Cookies, so I decided to post the recipes along with the pictures. Enjoy!



Rugulah
Our favorite Jewish cookie- it's a Christmas tradition!
























Pastry Ingredients
1/2 lb. butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups flour

Filling Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup pecans, chopped

In a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese. Add the flour a little at a time. Divide into two parts, make into balls, cover with saran wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let the dough warm-up a little. On a floured surface, roll out the 1st half of the dough into a circle like a pie (approximate 1/16" thick). Sprinkle 1/2 of filling on the circle, leaving 1/4 inch dry around the edge. Cut the circle like a pizza until at least 16 wedges. Roll the wedges toward the middle. Sprinkle the pastries with sugar. Repeat process with 2nd half of the dough. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 15-18 minutes.


Thumbprint Cookies














Ingredients
3/4 lb. butter
1 cup sugar
3 1/2- 4 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks
Red raspberry seedless preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add yolks, then flour and vanilla. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, press flat with your thumb, fill with jelly (be careful to not overfill). Bake 17-20 minutes. *Cookies double in size

1 comment:

West Family said...

yum, yum! Sounds like fun. I read your last post, so does this mean you will be staying in Maryland?