Holiday Cookies!

The internet is full of link-rot, so if you haven't noticed, this gets to be my own personal archive of recipes, esp those where I'm worried about the original going away (or, in this case, the original has been recovered via the Wayback Machine). And where I've made modifications to the original so I have a chance on bad brain days of remembering what I was thinking.

In this case, I have two where finding them later is going to be an issue. 

These Eggnog Cutout Cookies (originally from Stop & Shop's grocery flier) have a couple of points in their favor: 1) They don't spread. Pretty much at all. Which means you can use the really elaborate cookie cutters and have all the details come through. 2) They're actually nice to eat, which is not something one can usually say of cutout cookies. However - a reasonably sized roll of parchment paper  is a must for any rolled GF cookie

Eggnog Cuttout Cookies

For the cookies;

• 3 cups GF all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• ¼ store-bought eggnog
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze;

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• ¼ cup store-bought eggnog, plus more as needed
• Food coloring, sprinkles, colored sugar, etc, as needed

1) In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar 2–3 min., until light and fluffy, scraping bowl as necessary. Beat in the egg, then the eggnog and vanilla until combined, reducing speed as necessary to prevent splashing. In batches, on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Put dough into a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least an hour, or until firm.

2) Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll out your dough between sheets of parchment paper, and then transfer the cookies over to the baking sheets. Bake for 9-12 min (depending on the size of the cookie), and they should just start to have color on the edges. Pull out and let cool completely before attempting to decorate

3) Make the royal icing/glaze. Add a couple of drops of appropriate food coloring and ice to your heart's content. Add sprinkles and colored sugar to the wet icing. 

And then we have the cream cheese dough for jam-filled cookies. I use this particular recipe for thumbprints, linzers, and hamentaschen. It's originally from the now-defunct Something Sweet blog, and I need to be able to find it again. 

Jam filled cookie dough

• 1 (8oz) pkg. Softened Cream Cheese 
• 3/4 cups Softened Butter 
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 
• 1 cup (Organic*) Powdered Sugar 
• 2 1/4 cup GF All Purpose Flour 
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• Jams, jellies, and other preserves.

*Organic powdered sugar is mostly made with tapioca starch, because organic corn starch is much more of a pain to both make and keep segregated. So if you have a corn sensitivity like mine in your circle, just make the switch.

1) Cream cream cheese and butter until volume increases by about half. Then add the vanilla and sugar and mix until smooth. Slowly add in the flour and baking soda. Once you have a smooth dough, make it into a shape that can be wrapped in cling wrap or (my preference) stuck in a gallon freezer bag for 30 min in the fridge to chill

2) Preheat oven to 350. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Remember to roll between parchment sheets, you'll thank me later.

• For thumbprints, roll into 1" balls. Put into the oven for 5 min. Pull out of the oven, and either use your thumb or the back of a small spoon to make the indentations for jam, and quickly fill the hollow with your chosen jam, then stick back in the oven for about 8-10 min, until the edges start to get a touch of color.
• For hamentaschen, roll out to about 1/4in/0.5cm thick, then take your favorite round juice glass or biscuit cutter of at least 2.5in across. Cut out circles, put 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle, and pinch together the corners at three places to make a standing triangle shape. Bake for 10-12 min
• For linzer, you'll need the pretty round cookie cutters. Roll to 1/8 inch, cut out rounds with the linzer cutters (fluted, 4cm, annoying to find in the US). In half of the rounds, cut out a pretty shape from the middle - I find the decorative pie mini 'cookie' cutters work well here. Bake them all for 8-10 min. Once they're cool enough to be stable, spread a thin layer of jam on the solid cookies and sandwich with the pretty cookies, so you can see the jam layer. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar if desired.