Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose?

Hello Sweets,

Merry Christmas to all of my readers, from the great state of Texas!  I hope you all received some special kitchen tools from Santa, I know I did.  But more on that later, today was our first of two Christmas dinners and I would say it went off pretty much without a hitch.

Since I am writing this on Christmas eve (because even bloggers need a day off now and then) I thought I would keep it festive, so I saved one last holiday cookie recipe to share with all of you :)  I have some great memories from when I was a little girl and I am going to share one of those moments with you.  I come from Canada, and if you know your geography you know that no matter where you are in Canada, winter means snow, and a lot of it.  Well you knew where to find all the neighborhood kids when the snow started falling; outside enjoying the winter wonderland (although I no longer feel that way).  And when we finally were convinced to come inside every single part of us was frozen, sometimes even my mittens had icicles on them lol.  My grandmother would always make us hot cocoa with little tiny marshmallows in them, and it is a drink that I still enjoy today on a chilly night.  Well when I came across a recipe for hot cocoa cookies I couldn't pass them up!  Lets get to the warm gooey goodness that is this cookie :)

Hot Cocoa Cookies (via The Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients

2 1/4C cake flour, plus more for dusting

1/4C unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 Tsp baking soda

1/4Tsp salt

1C butter, room temperature

3/4C sugar

1 large egg

1 Tsp vanilla extract

1/2C marshmallow cream

 

Directions:

1)  Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.

 

2)  Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.

 

3)  Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

 

 4)  Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in two batches and beat until just incorporated.

 

 5)  Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

6)  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Working with one piece of dough at a time, dust the dough generously with flour and roll out between 2 pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8" thick.  Cut out shapes using 2 to 4 inch cookie cutters and transfer to the prepared baking sheets.  Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; re roll once to cut out more cookies.  Refrigerate the cutouts until firm, about 30 minutes.

 

 7)  Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350F.  Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until slightly puffed and darker around the edges, 12-15 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to racks to cool completely.  Sandwich the cookies with the marshmallow cream.

forgot to take a full picture, but don't these 2 look lovely :)

Well folks there it is, the final holiday cookie recipe I have for you.  Now that doesn't mean I won't be baking any goodies in the near future, have you heard me talk about my sweet toothed sweet heart??  Lol but who knows what Canuckette will bake next, heck I'm her and I don't know yet.  

I do want to warn you guys, I will have a couple of "technical" posts coming up. I just got a whole whack of fun kitchen toys from Nathans family and frankly I am SUPER excited to share with all of you :)  But I think my turkey tiredness is starting to kick in, so I will leave you with well wishes and a merry Christmas!  Until next time.......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo