Julie Van Rosendaal - Holiday baking

Time to throw away the fruitcake recipes. With Christmas baking season just around the corner, Julie brings in three delicious new ideas for your holiday cookie exchange.

Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip & Pretzel Bars

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1-2 cups chocolate chunks or chips
1 1/2 cups mini pretzel twists, coarsely broken (divided)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9×13" pan.

In a large bowl, beat the butter with both sugars at until light and 
fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour, baking soda and 
salt and stir until almost combined; add the chocolate chips and 1 cup 
of the pretzel pieces and stir just until blended.

Spread the batter evenly in the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until 
golden. In a small bowl or saucepan, melt the peanut butter and 
chocolate chips in the microwave or over low heat, stirring until 
smooth. Sprinkle the bars with the remaining crushed pretzel pieces 
and drizzle with the peanut butter-chocolate mixture. Let cool until 
set, then cut into squares or bars.

Nutella Brownies with Hazelnuts & Dried Cherries

adapted from epicurious

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup Nutella
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted
1/2 cup dried cherries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter an 8x8" pan.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter, chocolate chips and Nutella over 
low heat, stirring until smooth. Scrape into a medium bowl and let 
cool slightly. Whisk in the sugar and eggs. In a small bowl, stir 
together the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the chocolate 
mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the toasted hazelnuts 
and dried cherries.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven 
for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out with moist crumbs 
adhering to it. Cool brownies completely in the pan. Makes 16 squares.

Skibo Castle Ginger Crunch

from Gourmet, December 1999

Shortbread base:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Topping:
1/3 cup butter
1 Tbsp. Lyle's or Roger's Golden Syrup (British cane sugar syrup)
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a 9x13" metal baking pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, 
ginger and salt and blend in the butter with your fingertips until the 
mixture resembles coarse meal. Press evenly into bottom of the pan 
(base will be thin). Bake in middle of oven until golden and crisp, 20 
to 25 minutes.

Make topping just before shortbread is done: Melt the butter in a 
small saucepan and whisk in the remaining ingredients until smooth. 
Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring, 30 seconds.

Remove shortbread from oven and pour topping over, tilting pan and 
using a spatula to cover shortbread evenly. Cool in pan on a rack, 
then cut into small rectangles or break into shards. Makes about 64 
pieces.

Cinnamon Bun Crunch Icebox Cookies

Dough:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:
2 Tbsp. liquid honey
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts or pecans

In a medium bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric 
mixer for 1 minute, until well combined. Beat in egg white and vanilla 
until smooth.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the sugar 
mixture and stir by hand just until you have a soft dough.

Roll the dough between two sheets of waxed paper into a 12-inch 
square. Place on a cookie sheet in the fridge for about 30 minutes or 
in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Remove dough from the fridge and 
peel off the top layer of waxed paper.

Drizzle honey evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with brown sugar, 
cinnamon and nuts, going almost to the edges. Gently roll into a log, 
peeling back the bottom paper as you go. Wrap in waxed paper or 
plastic wrap and freeze for 3 hours, or up to 3 months.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the log into 
1/4-inch slices and place 1-inch apart on a cookie sheet that has been 
sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until pale 
golden. Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to 
a wire rack to cool.

     Per cookie: 52 calories, 1.5 g fat (0.2 g saturated fat, 0.9 g 
monounsaturated fat, 0.3 g polyunsaturated fat), 9.1 g carbohydrates, 
0 mg cholesterol, 44.2 mg sodium, 0.2 g fiber. 26% calories from fat.