Page 3 - TR What Women Want Dec 2015

BY LINDA GARNER-BUNCH SPECIAL SECTIONS WRITER
The holidays are just around the corner, and you know what that means — boxes, tins and trays filled with cookies of every size, shape and flavor! These tempting morsels can be served to holiday guests, given as gifts or just nibbled with a cup of hot coffee or cocoa. The best thing about cookies, though, is their huge number of flavors and textures.
This Basic Cookie Dough recipe, flavored with just a hint of cinnamon, is delightful on its own, or you can try a few of the variations to create gourmet goodies such as Lemon-Ba- sil Cookies, Mocha White-Choco- late-Chip Cookies, Ginger Cookies and many others. Don’t stop with these suggestions — give your cre- ativity free rein, and create an endless list of flavor combinations.
Basic Cookie Dough
YIELD: ABOUT 36 COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Additional sugar for coating cookies (use
for basic recipe only)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line ungreased baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
In another large bowl, use an electric mixer
ARSHIA KHAN / RIVER VALLEY & OZARK EDITION Baking dozens and dozens of cookies for the holidays can be a daunting task. To streamline the process, try enhancing a basic recipe with a variety of add-ins and easy variations. These goodies are
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Sunday, December 13, 2015 • An Advertising Supplement to the Three Rivers Edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette • What Women Want • 3SS
Cookies, cookies,
COOKIES!
Variations on a basic dough make preparing sweet treats a breeze
too yummy to save just for special occasions!
to beat the sugar and butter at high speed un- til fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to the sugar mixture; beat at me- dium-low speed until all ingredients are incor- porated (the dough will be slightly crumbly but should hold together when pressed into a ball).
Shape tablespoons of dough into balls. Roll in sugar, and place about 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. If desired, flatten the cookies slightly using the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Place sheets in refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking cookies.
Bake the cookies for 11 to 13 minutes or until the tops are cracked and the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack; store cooled cookies in an airtight con- tainer.
Note: For larger cookies, shape 2 table- spoons of dough into balls; then bake as directed.
VARIATIONS:
➤ Ginger Cookies: Add 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger (or more, to taste) to the flour mixture; add 1 to 2 tablespoons molasses when beating the egg and vanilla into the butter mixture. If desired, stir 2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger into the dough before shaping into balls. Roll the unbaked cookies in coarse raw cane sugar before baking. Tip: Lightly spray a measuring spoon with cooking
spray before measuring the molasses to pre- vent the syrup from sticking to the spoon.
➤ Mocha White-Chocolate-Chip Cookies: Reduce flour to 1 1/2 cups, and omit the cinna- mon. Add 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon dry instant coffee to the dry ingredients. Stir 1 cup white-chocolate chips into the dough.
➤ Raspberry-Almond Thumbprint Cookies: Replace 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon with 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg; replace 1 teaspoon vanilla with 1 teaspoon almond ex- tract. After placing balls of dough on the bak- ing sheet, use a finger or the back of a round measuring spoon to make indentations in the cookies; fill each indentation with seedless raspberry jam.
➤ Lemon-Basil Cookies: Omit the cinna- mon; reduce the vanilla to 1/2 teaspoon, and add 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract. Stir 1 to 2 ta- blespoons fresh lemon zest and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil into the dough.
➤ Cranberry-Walnut Cookies: Add 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts to the dough.
➤ Orange-Rosemary Cookies: Omit the cinnamon; reduce the vanilla to 1/2 teaspoon and add 1/2 teaspoon orange extract. Stir 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest and 2 table- spoons chopped fresh rosemary into the dough.