Guest post from My Girl Friday, who loves loves loves cookies—M.R.
by Emilia Juocys
December is here and it is time to bake cookies. It is not as easy of a task as one might think it is. I spend about two days thinking of the combination of cookies that I will be baking and presenting for Christmas. I review classic cookies that I make year round, seasonal cookies, and ones that take a bit longer to make. My labor of love are these cookies. The two dozen that make it in the box to share with friends, loved ones, and co-workers. This is my way to share my skill and love of baking with those around me.
This year will be a more meaningful Christmas baking season since my mentor has passed. I lost my grandmother in October. I can recall standing beside her and watching her roll out the rich butter cookie dough. The power and grace she had while weilding a rolling pin, how the flour coated her hands. My sister and I anticipated her completing rolling out the dough so we could select the Christmas shapes to cut the dough with. I remember the times I was given warm hazelnuts to remove their skins or the special hand coffee grinder to grind the nuts. My Christmas will be filled of thoughts and memories of her and all the cooking we would do during Wigilia.
The cookies I selected to share with you are my favorites for the holiday, Ginger Pigs and Chocolate Orange Delights. Ginger Pigs are my spicy take on the traditional gingerbread man, instead of a person I pick a pig. This cookie is very popular with my Canadian curling friends who live in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the lot of my curling acquaintances. It is a pig because I am playing off the curling term called the "hog line." I normally leave them unglazed, but since 'tis the season, please glaze them or decorate them with frosting or royal icing.
The Chocolate Orange Delights are a soft, rich, chocolaty treat studded with the essence of orange. It is a classic combination of dark chocolate and orange. To make this cookie out of this world you should look for high quality oranges and chocolate. The quality ingredients make this cookie outstanding. Look for beautiful mineola or navel oranges and then a higher quality chocolate like Cacao Barry, Callebuat, or Scharffenberger, if not then Ghirardelli will do.
Lastly, I must stress that mise en place is very important in cookie making and baking. Have everything scaled out ready to go. This will make the cookie baking experience more enjoyable, especially if you have small children around. Baking equipment is also critical to cookie success. Have a good baking scale, rolling pin (I like the french pins), scoops, and a dependable 5 quart mixer. Please enjoy these holiday cookies recipes. Happy baking!
Ginger Pigs
- 19 ounces All Purpose Flour (1 pound 3 ounces)
- 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
- 4 teaspoons Ground Ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons Ground Cloves
- 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cardamon, optional
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 8 ounces Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature (two sticks)
- 6 ounces Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 5 ounces Dark Molasses
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- As Needed, All Purpose Flour for dusting
- Sift all the dry ingredients together, including all the spices, salt, pepper, baking soda, and flour.
- In a standing mixer with a paddle attachement, beat butter until creamy; about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the sugar to the butter and beat until creamy and smooth; another 3 minutes on medium-high speed.
- With a rubber spatula scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add in the egg. Beat until incorporated
- After the egg is blended in, add the molasses, honey, and paddle until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. The dough should tinged brown because of the molasses.
- On low speed, slowly begin to add flour mixture to mixing bowl. When the dough pulls away from the sides remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic.
- It is recommended that you refrigerate dough overnight, if not rest the dough for 2 hours before rolling out and cutting.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degree F/177 degree C. Remove the dough from the cooler and divide into 4 parts. Begin to roll out the dough on a well dusted surface, roll out to ¼-inch thickness. With your favorite cookie cutters begin to cut out your desired shapes or cut out squares with a fluted pasta cutter. I prefer pigs, hence the ginger pig.
- Place the cut outs on a sheet tray lined with either parchment paper or a silpat and bake for 10-12 minutes.
- When cookies are done baking, let them sit for a few minutes and them place them on a rack to cool.
- Eat as is or you can glaze with a simple powdered sugar glaze or frosting to decorate for the season. If you have a pig cutter you can tint your glaze pink.
- Enjoy!
Chocolate Orange Delights
- 11.5 ounces All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 8 ounces Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature (2 Sticks)
- 2 cups Brown Sugar, Packed
- 2 ounces Cocoa Powder
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Orange Zest
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 Eggs
- 8 ounces Bittersweet Chocolate; Melted & Cooled
- 5 ounces Chopped Bittersweet Chocolate
- Granulated Sugar, As Needed
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F./ 177 degrees C.
- Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a five quart mixer with a paddle attachement; beat together the butter, brown sugar, cocoa powder, orange zest, and vanilla until well combined or 4 minutes. The butter mixture will be a light brown color and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Then add the eggs one at a time, until each is incorporated in the butter mixture.
- Pour in the melted chocolate into the butter mixture and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. You need to make sure the chocolate is cool to the touch and not hot or it will melt your butter.
- Once the chocolate is mixed into the butter begin to add the dry ingredients and mix on slow speed until almost blended which will take about 1 minute.
- Pour in the chopped chocolate and paddle for another 30 seconds.
- With a tablespoon scooper begin to scoop out balls of the dough, roll in sugar until the outside of the dough ball is covered in sugar, and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silpat.
- Bake until cookies are puffed and cracked on top 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes before you move them or they will crack and break.
If you liked this post on the Holiday Cookies, check out these other links:
- Our post on a new ratio: biscotti.
- A great cookie app called Cookulus.
- Learn about more about curling and the hog line at USA Curling.
- Gourmet Cookie Book is a fantastic compilation of cookie recipes.
© 2011 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2011 Donna Turner-Ruhlman. All rights reserved
Mark Corcoran
Orange and chocolate make a marriage made in heaven. What is the yield, please?
emilia
I do tablespoon scoops about 50 cookies.
Victoria
This is a lovely post. I made Brown Sugar Butter Cookies yesterday from :pastrystudio.blogspot.com, and they were, to quote Steve Jobs, "INSANELY GREAT." I love the idea of Ginger Pigs because I love ginger and my English grandfather was a pork butcher. So I will give those a try next weekend if I can find a pig cookie cutter. I wish Emilia (beautiful name) - or anyone - would write a post about how to ship Christmas cookies and get them to a destination without breaking apart.
emilia
Great idea Victoria! I know that we shipped christmas cookies to Iraq when my father was in the Army during culinary school. Give me a couple days to collect some thoughts and ideas on this topic.
Carri
oooh, I'm going to have to add those chocolate orange cookies to my holiday baking list, very festive! Thanks for the lovely post...my grandmother was my baking mentor, too. She made dessert every single day...I miss her!
Stephanie
Great post! Love cookies, especially this time of year.
Tana Butler
Emilia: I make gingerbread cookies from the Joy of Cooking. I never use cloves since I dislike them intensely, but substitute cardamom instead.
The best part of my cookies is that they are frosted with Grand Marnier and confectioner's sugar. I don't have the portions nearby at the moment, but you can figure it out—I thin as needed with water. After frosting, we decorate with royal frosting with various tips on the piping tube.
I love your pig cookie cutters, since I live in KPIG country (www.kpig.com—a fabulous radio station that plays Americana "roots" music). Also, I was born in the Year of the Pig. Squeeee!
emilia
I do like cloves, try it out and see if you like it in this recipe. These are spicy little pigs!
Victoria
I ordered a pig cookie cutter from <a href="http:/www.coppergifts.com/"here. Mine is a swine, but they also have a hog.
Victoria
Sorry. It was http://www.coppergifts.com
I ordered a pig cookie cutter from here. Mine is a swine, but they also have a hog.
emilia
Awesome! I do love my pig cookie cutter! Its a good size. I maybe looking for larger pig cookie cutter in my near future. Thanks for commenting.
Radu
Can you post some of those cookies :))?
sweet lab
The ginger pig idea seems so clever. I also enjoy baking cookies during the holidays and anytime of the year for that matter. By the way, I just baked what I call "snow domes" using the cookie dough ratio that you shared in your book.
Dr. Tom
I can vouch that Emilia's cookies are great. But Emilia, keep your secret for that lemon thing you make, a secret. Or, share it first with me.
emilia
Too funny. I will see you soon and lemon thing will appear.
Run Fast Travel Slow
There is nothing better than holiday cookies! My mother made chocolate shortbread cookies in the shape of scottie dogs, linzer thumbprint cookies with raspberry jam, and coconut cookies. I'm deciding what cookies to make this year... I'm kicking things off with a brown sugar cookie.
Julie
The Chocolate Orange Delights are AMAZING!
Steven
As one of those curling Canadians I can attest that the ginger pigs are SPECTACULAR!!!
emilia
Glad to see you here. Pigs will be returning!
Julie
OK, the pressure is on. Exactly what "lemon thing" is Dr. Tom talking about?? No fair calling it out but keeping it secret. There should be no secret recipies among chefs!! Spill the beans, Emilia. And Happy Holidays from another who loves cookies and cooking and food and wine and...all that stuff.
emilia
Lemon thing aka my lemon tart is quite popular over Christmas. A post could be in the works for this recipe.