Recipes for Shabbat

Chanukah Cookies

By Eileen Goltz

When it comes to Chanukah you can never have enough cookies to serve to the family and friends that drop by to share the candle lighting festivities. Over the years I've developed a method to my madness when it comes to making my weeks supply. Consider the following recipes and Cookie 101 information as my Chanukah present to you.

When making roll out cookies you should mix the ingredients together carefully and quickly. Do not over beat the dough, or you will have tough, rubbery cookies. Always chill the dough for at least a half an hour before rolling it out. This prevents the dough from being too sticky to roll. Divide the dough into halves or thirds for faster chilling. If the dough is too stiff to roll out, let it stand at room temperature until it softens a bit. To save time you can chill the dough in the freezer for 20 minutes. You can also freeze the dough for up to 3 weeks if you like to plan ahead.

1. You should only take as much dough out of the refrigerator as you can work with and keep the remainder in the refrigerator.

2. Lightly flour the work surface before rolling. Use as little flour as possible because too much flour added to the cookie can make it tough. Sometimes I use equal parts confectioner's sugar and flour as the sugar doesn't toughen the cookies like flour will.

3. Cut the dough with cookie cutters dipped in flour to avoid sticking. Make you cutouts as close together as possible (almost impossible when dealing with small children helpers). Re-roll scraps left from the cutouts to cut more cookies. Be warned, excessive re-rolling can result in tough cookie dough.

4. Transfer the dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Parchment is great. It saves you from having to wash the cookie sheet over and over.

Rolled cookies should be thin and crisp, so generally, the dough should be rolled to a 1/8-inch-thickness. The rule is the thinner they are, they are more crispy and fragile. But if you want bit, two fisted cookies that are on the chewy side, roll them thicker and under bake them just a little bit. Remove the cookies from the oven while the center is still a little soft.

Even if I'm making a dairy recipe I usually make my rolled cookie recipes with a half butter and half shortening mixture. Shortening helps to make them sturdier than using all butter; they won't crumble easily and have a smoother surface for decorating on. If the recipe contains all butter, I substitute half of it with an equal amount of shortening, usually the butter flavored kind to add to the richness of the flavor. You should NEVER USE DIET OR LITE shortenings when making cookies. They contain too much water to work well in cookie dough.

One last note - I couldn't find any official spelling for the coming 8 day holiday. The way I figure it, with recipes like these it really doesn't matter if you're serving Chanukah, Hanukkah, or Chanuka cookies; they're so good you'll never have enough to last the week unless you make a couple of batches.

EDIBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIE BOWL (pareve)
I usually use a Star cookie cutter when making this bowl so that I can use is as a centerpiece when I serve dessert.

Cover the outside of a loaf pan or ovenproof bowl with foil. (Try to find
one that has a lip so the cookies don't fall down while baking.) Spray with
vegetable cooking spray and set it aside. In a medium bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder, almonds and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in flour mixture. Refrigerate dough for at least 1/2 and hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out to 1/8 to 1/4 thickness. Using a small to medium sized cookie cutter (1 1/2") cut out the shapes you want to use. Cover the prepared loaf pan with cutouts, overlapping them slightly. Press them together gently. Place cookie bowl on foil-lined cookie sheet and bake until edges are firm, about 12-15 minutes. They will feel soft with just starting to firm edges when done. IMPORTANT: Individual ovens vary widely so bake a few first, let cook and taste. They firm up when cool.) Transfer pan to a wire rack and cool completely. To remove the cookie bowl, carefully lift it off the foil-lined pan. Remove foil. Arrange other cookies in the cookie bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

NOTE: If you want to bake these cookies just for eating roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick and bake 7 to 8 minutes.

STAINED-GLASS COOKIES (dairy or pareve)

In a bowl whisk together the flour and salt and set it aside. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until it's pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix at low speed until just combined. Divide the dough into 3 separate balls, cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm (at least 2 hours). While the dough chills, unwrap the candies and separate them by color in small heavy-duty sealable plastic bags. Seal the bags, forcing out air, then coarsely crush candies by wrapping each bag in a kitchen towel and pounding bags with a rolling pin. Preheat oven to 350. Roll out 1 piece of dough into a 9-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on a well-floured surface with floured rolling pin (keep remaining dough chilled). Cut out as many cookies as possible from dough with large cutter and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, arranging about 1 inch apart. Cut out centers from cookies with small cutter and add to scraps. Spoon about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed candy (depending on size of cutout) in center of each cookie. Bake the cookies in middle of oven until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes, then cool cookies completely on baking sheet on a rack, about 10 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a plate or an airtight container. Gather scraps and chill until firm enough to reroll, 10 to 15 minutes. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll once) in same manner on cooled baking sheet. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies depending on the size of the cutters. Cookies can be keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week or in the freezer for 3 weeks.

CITRUS CUT OUT COOKIES (pareve)

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, sugar, eggs, salt, orange extract, vanilla extract and almond extract. Blend in flour, mix until mixture becomes a smooth dough. Remove the dough from the bowl, divide in half, cover the balls with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook preheat the oven to 375. Grease 2 cookie sheets with non stick vegetable spray. Roll out dough between two sheets of wax paper to about 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut out the cookies, and place on the greased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Makes 2 to 2 1/2 dozen cookies depending on the size of the cookie cutter. Cookies can be keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week or in the freezer for 3 weeks.

ALMOND OR LEMON CUT OUT COOKIES (dairy)

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large bowl, beat the sweetened condensed milk, eggs and lemon extract and lemon zest or almond extract and ground almonds and mix until well blended. Add the flour mixture and mix well to combine. Make 3 balls of the dough, cover them with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. On well-floured surface, roll out each portion to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with floured cookie cutter. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on parchment covered cookie sheets (do not grease them). Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Do not over bake. Cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired. Store loosely covered at room temperature. Makes about 4 to 5 dozen cookies depending on the size or the cookie cutter.

CRISPY CHOCOLATE CUT OUT COOKIES (dairy)

Microwave chocolate morsels in a large glass bowl at HIGH for 2 minutes or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter, stirring until well blended. Stir in the cereal, peanuts, and marshmallows. Line a 13- x 9-inch pan with foil. Lightly grease the foil. Press the mixture into foil-lined pan. Drizzle with chocolate. Sprinkle with white nonpareils, if desired. Let stand 1 hour or until firm; cut with a 2 inch cookie cutters. Store cookies in an airtight container or place in a candy box, if desired.

Note: White nonpareils (tiny decorative beads) are available in cake decorating shops or large supermarkets. Makes 1 dozen cookies

From Southern Living

SIMPLE CREAM CHEESE CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIES (dairy)

In the bowl of an electric mixer bowl combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat at a medium speed, scraping bowl often until the batter is creamy. Reduce speed to low and add the flour. Beat, scraping the bowl often, until well mixed. Divide dough into 2 equal portions; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours) Preheat oven to 375. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface OR parchment paper. Cut into desired shapes and place on parchment covered cookies sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheets and place them on a rack to cool completely. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies depending on the cookie cutter size.

CUT OUT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (pareve)

In large mixer bowl cream together shortening and peanut butter. Gradually add sugars blending well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Add vanilla. Set aside. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in peanut butter mixture. Divide dough into two parts. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 350. Roll the dough on lightly floured surface or on parchment paper and cut into the desired shapes. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheets and cool completely. Cookies can be keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week or in the freezer for 3 weeks.

CUT OUT GINGERBREAD DOUGH COOKIES (dairy or pareve)

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter and brown sugar and mix until creamy. Beat in the molasses. Add 1 cup flour, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg and blend. Add the remaining flour alternately with 1/3 cup water. It may be necessary to knead the last cup of flour by hand as the dough will be very stiff. Form the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling. Preheat oven to 350. Roll the dough on lightly floured surface or on parchment paper and cut into the desired shapes. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies can be keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week or in the freezer for 3 weeks.

CUT OUT CHOCOLATE COOKIES (dairy or pareve)

In large mixer bowl beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until well
blended. In medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder,
baking soda and salt. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and blend well. Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 325. On lightly floured surface or parchment paper, roll out dough. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched. Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely. Cookies can be keep, layered between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week or in the freezer for 3 weeks.

CHOCOLATE CHERRY CUT OUT COOKIE
The kids loved to help with this recipe just because they could eat the raw dough.

Preheat oven to 325. Dry the cherries gently using a paper towel. Place then in a small bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl stir together flour and sugar. Cut in butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs or small peas. Stir in the chopped cherries. Knead well on a lightly floured board until all the ingredients are well combined and the dough is smooth. On the lightly floured board, roll out the dough to a 1/2 inch thickness. Using cookie cutter (dipped in flour before each cut), cut the dough into the desired shape. Place each cookie one inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are set to the touch. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack. Evenly spread almonds on waxed paper. In a small saucepan or pot heat the chocolate and shortening on low heat just until melted, stirring occasionally. Using a knife, spread the bottoms of the cookies with the chocolate. Press cookies with chocolate sides down into almonds. Place cookies with chocolate-almond sides up on a wire rack. Let stand until the chocolate is set. Makes 2 dozen cookies depending on the size of the cutters.

Eileen Goltz, a professional chef and caterer, is the author of the new cookbook, Perfectly Pareve.