WALNUT BALLS

½ C. BUTTER
½ C. MARGARINE
3 TBSP. CONFECTIONERS SUGAR (PLUS MORE FOR ROLLING)
1 TSP. VANILLA
1/8 TSP. ALMOND EXTRACT
2 C. FLOUR
1 C. GROUND NUTS

CREAM BUTTER, MARGARINE AND SUGAR TOGETHER. ADD VANILLA AND ALMOND EXTRACT AND MIX WELL. MIX IN FLOUR THEN NUTS. REFRIGERATE 1 HOUR UNTIL CHILLED.
USING TEASPOONFULS, SHAPE DOUGH INTO BALLS AND PLACE ON BAKING SHEETS. BAKE @ 350 FOR 8-10 MIN.
WHEN COOLED, ROLL IN CONFECTIONERS SUGAR.

Nanaimo Bars

A three step no bake cookie kids adore

BASE:

Double boiler ( if you have one or process with melted butter) 1/2 cup butter, add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa...melt butter & whisk it up take off heat and let cool slightly- add beaten egg and whisk whisk

In processor:2 cups graham crackers to make crumbs then stir in 1/2 cup walnuts and 1 cup coconut... add butter medley stir and press into a 8x8 square pan

CUSTARD LAYER: Process 1/4cup melted butter, 3 TBSP Cream, 2 TBSP Custard Powder, splash of Vanilla and 2 cups Confectionery Sugar...Spread over the BASE layer and put in Fridge until firm

TOP LAYER:

Melt together and whisk About 4 oz semi sweet chocolate, 2 TBSP Butter splash of Liquor of choice...or Not

Once cooled a bit spread evenly over layer 2

Refrigerate until solid- Cut into small bite sized squares...

Dear Melissa and Leonard,
In these tough times I think it is only fitting to bake World Peace Cookies from the original recipe of Dorie Greenspan.
World Peace Cookie
by Dorie Greenspan
Yield: Makes about 36
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour (includes baking and cooling time)

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
5 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate (do not exceed 85% cacao), chopped (no pieces bigger than 1/3 inch)

Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth but not fluffy. Add both sugars, vanilla, and sea salt; beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; beat just until blended (mixture may be crumbly). Add chopped chocolate; mix just to distribute (if dough doesn't come together, knead lightly in bowl to form ball). Divide dough in half. Place each half on sheet of plastic wrap. Form each into 1 1/2-inch-diameter log. Wrap each in plastic; chill until firm, about 3 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
“When it comes to World Peace, no one has to ask me twice, and so I made the dough – by hand, a first! – and showed my sister (and a few brother) bakers my nifty tricks for making compact logs (it involves parchment paper and a ruler) and keeping them round (tuck them into the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels).” - Dori Greenspan

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using thin sharp knife, cut logs crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Space 1 inch apart on prepared sheets. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies appear dry (cookies will not be firm or golden at edges), 11 to 12 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Makes about 36 cookies (Longer instructions version)
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cups (packed) light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Maldon sea salt for sprinkling (I have added this to the recipe)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
2. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.
3. Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more until light and fluffy.
4. Turn off the mixer. Pour in the dry ingredients. Drape a tea towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don't be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.
5. Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Gather it together, pressing and kneading gently with your hands to form a ball and divide in half. Shape the dough with a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper into logs 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you've frozen the dough, you needn't defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies with a sharp knife and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)
6. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 °F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
7. Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you're cutting them — don't be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. Sprinkle with sea salt, preferably Maldon.
8. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won't look done, nor will they be firm, but that's just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can either serve them or let them reach room temperature.

*note: As much as I cheer the “No Glove Law”, I find that a pair of vinyl gloves is an excellent way to shape this dough into logs or press any dough into a tart or pie shell.

www.robinskitchenview.com

"Overnight Cookies"
Easy and healthy (as a sweet cookie can be).

-2 large egg whites, at room temperature
-1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2/3 cup fine granulated sugar
-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil. Set aside.
2. Beat egg whites in large bowl with electric mixer until foamy.
3. Add the cream of tartar and beat until fluffy -- be careful not to over beat.
4. Add half the sugar, then add vanilla extract. Continue beating.
5. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until sugar is dissolved and batter forms stiff "peak" (again, careful not to over beat).
4. Gently fold chocolate chips into batter.
5. Use to scoop batter onto the lined baking sheets, leaving 1-inch of space between cookies.
6. Place baking sheets in the preheated oven and turn the oven off. Leave the cookies (undisturbed) in the oven overnight.

In the morning, you'll wake to cookies that are crisp and dry. Perfect way to celebrate a snow day.

Cranberry Stix
I have been baking this at 350 degrees.
Ingredients: (Increase by 50% for 3 rolls)
1 stick parve margerine or butter
1-1/4 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
½ Teas. Salt
½ teas. Vanilla
2-1/2 C.Flour
¾-1 C. coconut
1-1/2 C craisins (I have also used chocolate chips instead of craisins)
Mix margarine (butter), sugar, eggs. Add powder, salt, vanilla, then flour. Add craisins and coconut.
Make two logs (or 3) 2x2x9 and bake on sheet for 35 minutes (use flour on your hands to shape the rolls).
Take out of oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Place on wooden cutting board and slice. Return to cookie sheets and cook for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned
This is an easy (often Parve) delicious treat.

Hi Melissa,

Happy Holidays!! I've been making these for years and they're always a hit! I am absolutely not a fan of white chocolate, but it is somehow delicious in these:

White Chocolate Cranberry Nut Cookies

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/white-chocolate-cranberry-cookies-recipe.html#lightbox-recipe-image

Regards, Lisa Martin

I once thought it was necessary to be over age 50 to learn how to make these cookies which my Swedish grandmother and mother used to make. But, no, I just needed better instructions and a quick demo, so I rewrote the recipe. My then college son made these cookies for an engineering class presentation and his team won. I think the cookies had something to do with it.

Gram's Sugar Cookies (Grandma Skredsvig)

350 degrees - can be doubled
The wonderful thing about these cookies in addition to the wonderful taste is that they are very thin, almost like paper.

1 1/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
5 1/2 cups flour
sugar for the tops
anise seeds (optional but great)
cinnamon (optional)

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, nutmeg, eggs, sour cream and soda.
Then gradually add the flour. Divide into about 8 to 10 small balls, wrap tightly and chill. (I put them into plastic bags.) You can freeze the frozen bags of dough.

Roll out one ball at a time (leave the others in the fridge) very thinly on a floured pastry cloth (see hints below). Sprinkle sugar alone or with anise seeds or cinnamon sugar on top and roll into very thinly rolled dough. Work as quickly as you can so the dough is still chilled and easier to handle.

Cut cookies with a big, round, serrated cutter, about 4 inches across, and preferably scalloped on the edge. Put on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 until pale brown at edges. First put on the bottom middle rack for 3 minutes; then move to upper middle rack for 3 minutes. Cookies might need a bit longer or a bit less depending on your oven. Cool cookies on rack.

Dough keeps for months tightly wrapped in freezer. Cookies keep for a month in airtight containers (if you can resist that long) or freeze them.

HINTS: Use lots of flour on pastry cloth and on rolling pin cover. Scrape flour off cloth after each batch and discard. Then reflour cloth and rolling pin cover. Whenever a bit of dough sticks somewhere, immediately scrape it off and put flour on the spot.

PEPPERY GINGER SNAPS

Cream 3/4 cup unsalted butter with 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup molasses and 1 egg.

Add 2 1/2 cups flour sifted with 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground clove and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Chill very well. Form into balls, approximately 1 inch in diameter and roll in sugar. Chill again if getting too soft.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350 F. for 11-12 minutes. Cool on racks.

Cinnamon Orange Cookies
makes about 3 dozen cookies
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 cups flour
2 tablespoon orange zest (zest the whole orange, you’ll use it later)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the coating:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/8 cup (eyeball it) orange zest
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1) Heat the oven to 400°F.
2) Gently melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and let it cool while you mix the dry ingredients.
3) DRY - Stir together the sugars, flour, spices, baking soda, and salt.
4) WET - Whisk the eggs into the cooled butter and add the vanilla.
5) Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just until it comes together.
6) In a shallow bowl, mix together the white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and remainder of orange zest.
7) Make small 1 to 1 1/2-inch balls of dough and roll them in the sugar mixture.
8) Place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 7 minutes then remove and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack.

Note: the cookies will be a little sticky while they're warm, it's ok to lick you fingers!
Adapted from a similar recipe from TheKithn.com