Cocoa Wedding Cookies Recipe

This is a recipe from Good Housekeeping. I LOVE Mexican wedding cookies, and I have to say, these are by far the best ones I have tried so far. The secret ingredient is the Cocoa and mini chocolate chips. It turns them into delicious melt in your mouth chocolate confections that you won't be able to stop eating. Far superior to the vanilla traditional cookies.

1 Cup Pecans ( or almonds if desired)
1 3/4 Cups confectioner's sugar
1 Cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut up ( no substitutions)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 Cups flour
1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 Cup chocolate semi-sweet mini chips

Preheat oven to 325.

1- In a food processor, pulse grind pecans with half cup of the confectioners sugar until finely ground. Add butter and vanilla and process until smooth, occasionally stopping processor to scrape side with rubber spatula. Add flour and cocoa and pulse until evenly mixed. Add chocolate chips and pulse until just combined.

2- With floured hands, shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on large ungreased cookie sheet.

3- Bake 16-18 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned. If using two cookie sheets, switch racks halfway through.

Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool a couple of minutes.

Roll in remaining confectioners sugar to coat.

Return to rack and cool completely.

Once cool, roll in sugar one more time ( you can never have enough sugar)

Store in airtight tin. These last about a week, if they're not immediately gobbled up.

Peppermint Layer Cookies Recipe

This is a recipe from Sunset magazine that I have adapted. These are very "showy" cookies - they look good and they taste good ! I make them for my holiday gift tins. The secret to this recipe is not an ingredient- but more a process that makes them easier to make and actually prettier in presentation.

The cookies are made by fusing three different colored doughs together and then cutting them so that they are tri-colored. The problem I had the first year I made them was that they fell apart in the oven. So this year, once I assembled them, I froze them unbaked on a cookie sheet overnight. When I baked them the next day, they stayed together and looked beautiful. I also used insulated cookie sheets, so I did not need to bake them on parchment paper.

1 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 Cups sugar
3 Cups flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of peppermint extract, divided
20-25 drops red food coloring
1/8 Cup of cocoa
12 ounces of Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate morsels
1 Cup of almonds or hazelnuts chopped in a flat bowl.

1- Using stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about four minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, using an electric hand mixer, mix flour, baking powder, and salt for about 30 seconds. (this works better than sifting to incorporate the baking powder into the flour).

2- With stand mixer running at low, add egg and yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Slowly add flour mixture and beat on low just until combined- do not over mix.

3- Divide dough into thirds. Shape one third into a disk, set aside. Return another third to the mixing bowl. Add red coloring and 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract and mix, shape into a disk and set aside. Put last third of dough in mixing bowl and add 1/4 tsp peppermint extract and cocoa- shape into disk and set aside.

4- Draw a 6x8 inch rectangle on a piece of waxed paper. Lightly flour the paper. working with one disk at a time, put dough in center of rectangle. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, your fingers, and a pastry scraper, roll and shape each disk to fit the rectangle. Layer chocolate, white, and red layers on top of each other. Press gently with flour dusted rolling pin to seal layers together, and trim edges to be straight with a knife. Chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.

5- Remove from refrigerator and let dough stand for five minutes before cutting-Cut dough stack lengthwise into three 2-inch wide columns. Cut each column crosswise into 1/3 in thick pieces. Do NOT make them too big (they spread a little while cooking).

6-Line a large cookie sheet with edges with wax paper. Carefully lay all the cookies side by side (as close as you can)and fill the sheet. Cover with a second layer of waxed paper, and place flat in the freezer for at least 2 hours- but can be up to 2 days.You can carefully stack cookie sheets on top of each other if you make alot.

7- To bake, preheat oven to 350. DO NOT take cookies out of freezer until you are ready. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on your regular cookie sheets you bake with. Make sure the sheets are not hot. You can use parchment paper, but since I use insulated cookie sheets, I do not need to. Bake cookies 8-10 minutes until edges are golden- watch them carefully so they don't burn. If you use two cookie sheets, make sure you change racks halfway through. Cool cookies on wire racks.

8- Melt chocolate in double boiler (or heatproof bowl over boiling pot of water- bottom of bowl should not touch water). Make sure not to get any water in the chocolate or it will seize. Stir chocolate until melted and smooth. Dip cookie about 1/2 inch into chocolate, then into nuts. Set on racks to harden.

Sandies by the Sea Cookie Recipe

I cut out recipes all the time from magazines and stuff them in folders- but it usually takes me a while to organize them and actually try them. I found this cookie recipe dated 2006 (an ad from www.butterisbest.com) last fall and I made these for my cookie gift tins for the holidays- and I have to say these are spectacular. The secret ingredient is the salt. Salt is so underrated. I know it is bad for you and you should try to reduce your intake but man oh man, is it good. It brings out the flavor of so many foods in cooking and baking. In this recipe, when you bite into the cookie it mixes with the sweetness of the caramel and the bitter chocolate and is just SOOOOOO yummy.
This recipe calls for fleur de sel or large crystal sea salt- but I used large crystal kosher salt (all I had) and they were still deelish. Also, I have become a real fan of the Ghiradelli chocolate morsels, overall I find their chocolate taste, melting time, etc superior over some of the other brands in the grocery store.

Cookies should be always be eaten within one to two days for the best flavors. Store in airtight tin.


2 Cups of Flour
1/4 tsp fine salt
2 Sticks unsalted butter softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 Large Egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Cup of pecans lightly toasted and very finely ground (using a food processer)
20 caramel candies
3 TBSP cream
2-3 TBSP large crystal sea salt or fleur de sel
1 Cup bittersweet Ghiradelli chocolate morsels. (at least 60% cocoa)

1- Combine flour and salt in a bowl /set aside
2- Using stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, beat on low to incorporate. Add dry ingredients in batches, mixing between each, and then stir in the ground pecans. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
3- Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, or butter the sheets. (if you use an insulated cookie sheet, no parchment paper or greasing required).
4- Roll dough into 1 inch ball with floured hands. Place on baking sheet at least 1-inch apart, and depress a cavity in the center of each ball using your thumb, a spoon or a rounded implement (I used the granite mortar from my small mortar and pestle). Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the bottoms are brown and set. Check halfway through baking to see that the depressions are still deep enough to fill. If not use a spoon to redefine.
5-Remove cookies from the oven, and let them sit for a few minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to a wire cooling rack with parchment paper or empty tray underneath (to catch drips).
6- Melt caramel candies and cream together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Fill the center of each cookie with approximately 1/2 tsp of the caramel. Sprinkle centers evenly with the sea salt, and let sit until firm.
7- Place chocolate in a sturdy plastic bag and place in bowl. Microwave and heat on medium at 30 - second intervals , massaging between each, until melted. Cut a small hole in the corner bottom bag and drizzle melted chocolate across each cookie, and allow cookies to sit until chocolate has become firm.