Holiday Swirl Shortbread Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In large bowl, beat softened butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and the vanilla with spoon until well mixed. Stir in flour until blended. Knead 5 to 10 times or until dough is smooth.
• Divide dough into 3 pieces. Place 2 pieces of dough into 2 small bowls. To one bowl, add green food color; stir or knead to mix color thoroughly into dough. Repeat with red food color and second piece of dough.
• Cut each of the 3 doughs in half. Take one half of each of the doughs, and press together into a ball. Gently knead to mix colors (don't overwork dough or it will lose marbling). Shape into a roll, 6 inches long by 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Spread 1 tablespoon sparkling sugar on plastic wrap; roll log to cover. Wrap dough log tightly with plastic wrap. Repeat forming, shaping and rolling with remaining dough pieces. Refrigerate about 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Unwrap 1 of the dough logs; cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet, reshaping if necessary.
• Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Unwrap remaining dough log, and repeat slicing and baking. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Store covered in airtight container.

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium high, add the vanilla and egg and beat until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until just combined. Shape the dough into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Generously dust a work surface with confectioners' sugar. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch, dusting with more confectioners' sugar as needed. (Return the dough to the refrigerator if it gets too soft.) Cut out shapes with a 2-inch round cookie cutter and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. Refrigerate the cookies until firm, about 1 hour.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake the cookies, rotating the pans halfway through, until lightly browned around the edges, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets.
• For the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 7 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding up to 8 tablespoons water if necessary to make a smooth icing that thickly coats the back of a spoon.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment and set a cooling rack on top.
• Put 1/4 cup icing into each of 2 small bowls. Add 9 drops red food coloring to one bowl and stir until evenly combined. Add 2 drops green food coloring to the second bowl and stir until evenly combined. Pour the remaining white icing into a clean rimmed baking sheet and spread or shake to evenly coat it. Drizzle the red icing all over the white, then drizzle the green icing over both. One at a time, put the cookies face-side down in the baking sheet icing. Take the cookies out one at a time, shaking gently to let excess icing drip off, and place right-side up on the prepared cooling rack. Decorate with edible glitter or sprinkles if desired. Let the icing harden completely before serving, about 1 hour.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter with vanilla seeds and confectioners' sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add yolk and beat until incorporated, 1 minute more. Gradually add flour mixture and beat on low until just combined. Tint with food color as desired.
• Transfer dough to pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip (such as Ateco #825). Pipe into S shapes, each about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, spaced 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Bake until edges are light golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer cookies on sheets to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine filling ingredients. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes stiff, 15-20 minutes. Chill. , For dough, cream butter and sugars in a bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add extract. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Chill for at least 1 hour. , On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to a 12x9-in. rectangle, about 1/4 in. thick. Spread with half of the filling. Roll up, starting with the long end. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Wrap in plastic; chill overnight. , Cut rolls into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop mixer and add flour mixture; mix on low speed until just combined. Remove half the dough; divide into two equal pieces, wrap in plastic, and set aside while you make the chocolate dough.
• In a small bowl, stir together cocoa, espresso, and 2 tablespoons hot water. Add cocoa mixture to remaining cookie dough and mix on low speed until color is uniform, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
• Place half the chocolate dough on a sheet of parchment and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 14-by-10-inch rectangle (dough will be very thin but can be easily patched if it tears). Set aside, still covered with plastic. Repeat rolling process with remaining chocolate dough and both pieces of vanilla dough.
• Place one sheet of chocolate dough on work surface and remove plastic. Remove plastic from one sheet of vanilla dough and invert, still attached to its parchment backing, onto chocolate dough, pressing gently with the palm of your hand to adhere. Gently peel back parchment paper to remove. Continue layering with remaining chocolate and vanilla doughs. Position dough with one short side parallel to edge of work surface, then roll dough into a tight spiral. Wrap log in parchment and place in a cardboard paper-towel tube that has been cut open from end to end (this will help retain the round shape of the log of dough). Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Trim ends from dough. Slice dough 1/4 inch thick. Roll each cookie between sheets of parchment into an oblong disk about 3 inches long and 1/8 inch thick; transfer to prepared sheets. Bake until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool completely. Working with one cookie at a time, dip an edge in melted chocolate and coat with pistachios. Transfer to fresh parchment-lined baking sheets and let stand until chocolate is set, 45 to 60 minutes.

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl. Resift again into another bowl.
• Beat the butter with the brown and white sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until evenly blended. Gather the dough into a ball, and divide into two equal parts. Place one half in a second bowl. Add red food coloring to the dough in one bowl, and green food coloring to the dough in the other bowl. Use a fork or wooden spoon to blend the food coloring into the dough until evenly blended. Add additional drops of food coloring to make the desired shade.
• Roll out the red dough to 1/4 inch (5mm) thickness. Roll out the green dough to 1/4 inch (5mm) thickness, and place on top of the red dough. Beginning on one edge, roll the doughs to make a log so the two colors spiral inside each other. Wrap the log in waxed paper, then in a cotton towel, and refrigerate at least 8 hours.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
• Unwrap the dough log, and place on a clean, lightly floured surface. Slice the log into rounds 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, and place on prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in preheated oven until set, 5 to 6 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent edges from browning. Remove from oven, and cool on racks.