This is the time of year when my sweet tooth is in heaven. Brownies and blondies-mmm; fudge and almond bark - sheer bliss; but, cookies - they are my favorite!
Growing up, we always had the traditional frosted sugar cookie "cut-outs", fudge, 7 Layer Bars, Spritz, and my personal favorite, the Chocolate-Iced Bittersweets. My mom has made these for as long as I can remember. In fact, when I was really young, I didn't like them because they had coconut. (What can I say, I was a picky eater as a child.) These cookies only made their appearance at Christmas time, so we'd have to eat our fill, because after that they are gone for a year. To this day, I still eat my fill every year when I go back to Minnesota for Christmas.
Well, this year Scott and I are staying in Arizona for the holidays, so my mom so graciously made us a batch of the Chocolate-Iced Bittersweets while she was here over Thanksgiving weekend. They are stashed away in the freezer, so that they would last until Christmas. (I may or may not have dipped in and "tried" one, or three in the past couple of weeks.) I am excited to pull them out and add them to our cookie tray next week, as the non baker side of me, actually did make a few other types of cookies to add as well. If you like coconut, chocolate and pecans, you will absolutely love these special cookies.
By the way, I think this recipe is from a torn and tattered church cookbook, but if anyone knows a more specific source, please let me know.
CHOCOLATE-ICED BITTERSWEETS
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups All Purpose or unbleached flour
FILLING:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp. vanilla
3 oz package cream cheese, softened
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup coconut
FROSTING:
½ cup chocolate chips
2Tbsp water
2 Tbsp butter
½ cup powdered sugar
Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, cream 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 cup butter, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Blend 2 cups flour into creamed mixture. Shape dough into balls, using a teaspoonful of dough for each cookie; place 2 inches aprart on ungreased cookie sheet. With thumb, make imprint in center of each cookie. Bake at 350 for 12-16 minutes or until lightly browned on edges. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.
In small bowl cream 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp flour, 1 tsp vanilla and cream cheese until light and fluffy; stir in nuts and coconut. Fill each warm cookie with about ½ tsp filling.
In small saucepan, melt chocolate chips with water and 2 Tbsp. butter, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add ½ cup powdered sugar; blend until smooth. Drizzle over cookies. (5 dozen cookies)
Let stand to cool and set completely, then eat as many as you possibly can, before they are gone again until next year. :-D
I'll leave you with a photo of Chase enjoying his big "cookie." Wish my cookies were that big...
1 comment:
Mmmm. I love holiday cookie memories and recipes. Some of my fondest memories around baking and cooking are related to the holidays. Those look delicious. I also love that they came from a church cookbook. Before she died my aunt collected them so my grandmother has a huge stash at her house. Some of the recipes are downright frightening (many permutations of snickers and jello salads), but those look like a church cookbook gem. Have a great holiday! I still haven't made it back to MN because my flight Friday was cancelled, but I'm still maintaining hope.
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