Swirly Tree Cookies Recipes

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:

• In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Mix in egg, vanilla, and salt.
• Mix in flour.
• Make the dough into a ball and cut into two halves.
• Add food coloring to one half of the dough, working it in until evenly mixed.
• On a large cutting board covered in plastic wrap, use a rolling pin to roll out each piece of dough to make two 12x9-inch (30x22-cm) rectangles. Tip: Place wax paper over the dough while rolling to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin.
• Take the colored dough rectangle and place it over the other regular dough rectangle.
• Use the plastic wrap under the regular dough rectangle to help you roll the two rectangles up.
• Fill a flat dish or baking pan with sprinkles. Roll the dough around it until the outside is completely coated.
• Chill for at least 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
• Cut the dough into ¼-inch (6-mm) slices and place them on a cookie sheet.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, until blonde.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
• Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix until the dough is crumbly, but holds together when squeezed.
• Split the base dough in half, add your desired mix-ins, and incorporate them fully.
• We used chocolate hazelnut spread and cocoa powder for one half and peanut butter for the other.
• Roll out each dough between two sheets of parchment paper until it's ¼-inch (6-mm) thick. Chill both doughs for 30 minutes.
• Place one half of flavored dough on top of the other and start to roll up the doughs into a swirl. Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until solid, about 4 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Once chilled, unwrap the dough, slice into ½-inch (1 cm) thick coins, and place them on the baking sheet at least 2 inches (5 cm) apart, as the cookies will spread while baking.
• Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Let cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
• Try additional combinations.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla. Add flour and salt and blend well. Divide dough in half. Add cocoa to 1/2 of dough. Let rest. Roll 1/4 inch cylinders of chocolate and plain vanilla dough about 12 inches long. Arrange in checkerboard by alternating 6 cylinders of chocolate and vanilla dough, contrasting each time to six layers total. Press tightly. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 1/2 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a sharp knife, slice the dough into rounds about 1/3-inch thick. Place 1 inch apart on a parchment covered baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour until well blended. Divide dough in half; wrap each half in plastic wrap. Place in freezer 10 minutes.
• Shape half of dough into 1-inch balls. With fingers, roll each ball into 10-inch rope, about 1/4 inch wide. Break off small piece from each rope for tree trunk. Carefully place ropes on ungreased cookie sheet.
• With each rope, starting at top, twist rope back and forth into tree shape, gradually making larger at bottom (rows of dough should touch). If rope breaks, press dough together. Place small piece at bottom of each tree for trunk. Repeat with remaining half of dough.
• Decorate trees with candies to look like ornaments or lights. Place candy at top of each tree for star; sprinkle with sugar. Bake 9 to 13 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.
• Add green food coloring to the dough, if desired.

Steps:

• For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mix the mint and vanilla extracts with the egg in a small bowl with a fork.
• Beat together the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed until the butter has picked up the sugars, about 30 seconds. (If using an electric hand mixer, beat about 2 minutes.) Increase the speed to medium and beat, stopping halfway to scrape the bowl, until slightly creamy, about 1 minute (about 3 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Reduce the speed to low, slowly add the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture a heaping cup at a time in 2 additions, stopping a few times to scrape the bowl and beaters. (If using a hand mixer, increase the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning.) Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium (higher with a hand mixer) and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 2 minutes (about 5 minutes with a hand mixer).
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together. Divide the dough into 2 even pieces, each about 11 ounces. Shape each piece into a 6-inch square and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.
• Remove one of the dough squares from the refrigerator and let soften until just pliable but still cool and firm, about 15 minutes. Position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Dust a piece of parchment with flour. Dust the dough square with flour and roll it out on the parchment to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Lift the dough occasionally by sliding a metal spatula or bench scraper underneath to make sure it isn't sticking to the parchment. Cut out Christmas trees with a 2-inch cutter as close together as possible and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch between the trees. Gather together the scraps and roll and cut more cookies. Chill the cookies on the baking sheets in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through, until the cookies are light golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool the cookies about 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove the second dough square from the refrigerator to soften until just pliable but still cool and firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat the rolling, cutting, chilling and baking procedures with the second dough square.
• For the green royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the frosting thickens. The icing should be pure white and thick but not fluffy and bubbly. (If the frosting is overbeaten, it will get aerated, which makes it harder to work with. If this happens, let the frosting sit for a bit to settle, then use a rubber spatula to vigorously beat and smooth out the icing.) Add the green and red food coloring and beat until evenly distributed and the color is a deep hunter green. Put the icing in a resealable plastic bag and snip the corner to make a tiny opening (or put the icing in a piping bag with a 1/16-inch tip).
• To decorate: Pipe a dot of icing onto the top point of each tree. Stick a chocolate nonpareil candy on each dot. Pipe the icing onto the cookies in zigzags to make a tree design. Sprinkle white nonpareils around the icing as snow. Let the icing set at room temperature, at least 1 hour.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a heavy saucepan, bring butter, sugar, honey, and cream to a rolling boil. Stir in almonds and oats and cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until batter thickens slightly and smells of toasted almonds. Take mixture off heat and let cool. Place 12 (2 1/2-inch) ring molds on a sheet pan lined with parchment or aluminum foil. Spray each ring liberally with non-stick spray. Spoon cooled batter into each ring mold (approximately 2 tablespoons). Bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes or golden brown around the edges. Melt chocolate chips while allowing cookies to cool, and finish by dipping cookies in melted chocolate.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Beat 1 1/2 cups white sugar and butter together in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat egg into butter mixture. Add strawberry puree.
• Stir flour, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt into strawberry mixture with a spoon until flour is completely incorporated into dough.
• Stir 1/2 cup white sugar and red sugar together in a shallow bowl.
• Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, roll each ball in red sugar mixture, and place each ball 1 1/2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Lightly press each dough ball down to flatten.
• Bake cookies in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool.