Culinary School Chefs Share Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Chefs from OSU Institute of Technology’s School of Culinary Arts share some of their favorite holiday cookie recipes that can be made by home cooks and their families.

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies
from Chef Grady Perryman

Ingredients

½ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup sugar, divided
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup cold butter cubed
1 tsp. almond extract
zest of one orange
1 to 2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice (optional)
Additional sugar to coat cookies

Instructions

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Combine cranberries and ¼ cup sugar in a food processor and process just until the cranberries are broken down into smaller pieces. Set aside.
3. Combine flour and remaining sugar in a large bowl.
4. Use a pastry cutter to cut in butter. You want very fine crumbs.
5. Stir in extract, cranberries and sugar mixture, orange zest and orange juice.
6. Use your hands to knead the dough until it comes together and forms a ball.
7. Work the dough into a log about two inches in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for two hours or up to 72 hours.
8. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. Cut slices of cookie dough about ¼ inch thick.
10. Place about ½ cup of sugar in a bowl and coat the cookie slices with sugar.
11. Place cookies on baking sheet and bake 12 to 15 minutes or just until cookies are set. Do Not Over Bake.
12. Let cookies cool for several minutes on baking sheet before removing to cooling rack. Let cool completely.
13. Store in airtight container for three days or freeze for up to three months.

Viennese Hazelnut Shortbread Crescents Cookies
from Chef Aaron Ware

Ingredients

3 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter
4 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
2 cups hazelnuts, finely ground
½ tsp. salt (optional)
½ tsp. vanilla
1​ cup vanilla sugar or confectioners' sugar for decoration

Instructions

1. Cut butter into tablespoon chunks. Mix flour, sugar and hazelnuts with optional salt. Cut in butter or beat with a mixer on low speed until crumbs form.
2. Add vanilla, if using it, and mix again until dough comes together in a ball.
3. Form dough into 1-inch diameter cylinders and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least one hour, preferably several hours before baking.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the dough cylinders from the refrigerator and cut them into ¾ -inch slices. This is the traditional way of measuring the dough. You can also scoop or cut the dough into ½ -ounce or 13- to 14-gram pieces in any manner you like.
5. Take each piece of dough and form a rope, about three inches in length and with tapered ends. The dough is a bit crumbly, but when warmed up in your hands it will stick together better.
6. Place on a nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly browned.
7. Roll in vanilla sugar or powdered sugar while still hot or as soon as you can handle them. These cookies are fragile when hot, but become robust when they cool down.

Miss Blanche’s Refrigerator Cookies
from Chef Brenda Nimmo

Ingredients

1 cup Crisco shortening
½ cup sugar
2 cups brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 Tbsp. orange rind
½ tsp. vanilla
2 ¾ cups flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Cream shortening and sugars
2. Add egg, vanilla, orange juice and orange rind. Beat until well blended.
3. Sift flour. Measure and add baking soda and salt. Sift again, Add to first mixture.
4. Add 1 cup of chopped pecans and mix well.
5. Form into a roll, about three inch diameter. Refrigerate.
6. Cut into slices and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

Mescouta Date Cookies
from Chef Aaron Ware

Ingredients

6 eggs, well beaten
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) melted butter or margarine
¾ cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1 cup pitted dates, chopped
½ cup walnuts or almonds, finely chopped
1/3 cup raisins, seedless
3 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In large mixing bowl mix eggs, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter or margarine by hand or with an electric mixer until well-blended, about 3 minutes.
3. Gradually stir in flour and baking powder, a little at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon to blend.
4. Add dates, nuts and raisins and mix well.
5. Pour mixture into greased 8- or 9-inch square cake pan.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. While still warm, cut into rectangular bars about an inch wide.
8. Put three tablespoons confectioners’ sugar into a small dish.
9. Roll each bar in confectioners’ sugar.
10. Store bars in a box with wax paper between layers. Makes 24 to 30 bars.