Cookies

Today's my day off...so catching up on chores. Today is cookie baking day. I do a different theme each year. This year's is our origins. I put in Scandinavian, German and Celtic by using a cardamom almond cookie recipe and a dark chocolate cookie recipe, cookie stamps of a Christmas tree, reindeer, and Celtic knot. Then, added in some Swedish candies, some English and Scottish teas and (sigh)...I'm done! They go into the nifty little plaid bags. I figured I'd show you the recipes and the cookies in case you want to make them. The cardamom ones taste very much like butter cookies with a hint of cardamom and almond. The dark chocolate ones are just nasty good.

Don't worry...I'll be back to a very horrifying post (hopefully later today). I'm doing a realistic fictional piece of how it will go down when we find Bigfoot. It's actually creeping me out writing it! My ghost hunting buddy is coming over on her day off too and we're going to watch a bunch of obscure horror movies I found at Zia Records (I adore that place--they have the best horror anywhere). I hope to do a review of one of the movies because I think it's as classic as "The Haunting" (1963) as far as a haunted house movie and I never had even seen it before! For a person who obsesses about finding obscure horror--I'm shocked!

Cardamom Almond Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 lb.) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom seed
2 cups all purpose flour
Cream the butter for 2 minutes, then add sugar and continue beating for another 2 minutes. Stir in the flavorings and salt. Add the flour and blend well. Refrigerate the dough for 30-90 minutes in a covered container. For by hand into 1" balls, place on lightly greased cookie sheets about 2" apart. Oil and lightly flour a cookie stamp, press lightly into the dough to make the design. (You'll need to re-flour after every 1-2 cookies and re-oil after every 4-5.) Bake cookies at 325°F for 9-12 minutes. They should be firm but not browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes then transfer them to wire cooling racks.


Dark Chocolate Cookies
2 Tb. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 Tb. hot water

In a food processor, combine the cocoa, chocolate and 1/4 cup of flour and process until the chocolate is a fine powder. Add the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to blend. In a bowl (or stand mixer), cream together the butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and coffee. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing well. Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm. Preheat oven to 325 (or 350 for crisper cookies). Divide dough into quarters, and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Cut out shapes and transfer to ungreased (or silpat lined) baking sheets and stamp. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until firm. Transfer to rack