Baselerleckerliswissspicecookies Recipes

LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Cream butter with paddle attachment. Add sugar and continue creaming. Add the egg, lemon, and vanilla and mix. Add nuts and mix. Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl and add to mixer and blend. Form into disks, wrap and chill. Roll out dough with floured rolling pin to 1/8-inch thickness on a well floured surface. Cut out disks, fluted if desired, approximately 2 inches in diameter. Cut out the centers of half the disks with a cutter in the shape of your choice. Re-roll scraps and repeat. Chill cut out dough. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 12 minutes or until edges turn golden then cool on a wire rack. Heat the jam and spread the solid disks with a layer of the hot jam. Glue on the lids pressing down lightly. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, then fill the holes with more jam. Let set slightly before serving.

COPYCAT BERGER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Beat butter, baking powder, salt and vanilla until combined. Add sugar; beat until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour; do not overmix., Drop by 3 tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. With wet fingers, flatten each into a 3-in. circle., Bake 10 minutes or until edges start to brown. Cool on pan 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. , For icing; in a small saucepan, stir icing ingredients over low heat just until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature. Using a hand mixer, beat on high until mixture thickens and becomes lighter in color, 6-7 minutes. , Spread 2 Tbsp. icing over flat side of each cookie; let stand until set. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

GERMAN SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon and pepper. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the egg mixture. Stir in raisins and walnuts. , Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until surface cracks. Remove to wire racks to cool.

SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
• Combine sugar, butter, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a bowl; beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Combine flour, currants, and baking soda in a separate bowl. Stir into the butter mixture alternately with tablespoons of milk until the flour is fully incorporated.
• Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the prepared baking sheets. Press down lightly with a fork. Dip fork in sugar or water if it sticks.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Let stand on the baking sheets for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

COOKIE BUTTER SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, softened butter, egg, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg and 1/2 cup of the cookie butter until soft dough forms. Shape dough into 24 (1 1/2-inch) balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set and light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave remaining 2 tablespoons cookie butter uncovered on High 20 to 25 seconds or until smooth and melted. Stir in powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon milk; add remaining milk 1 teaspoon at a time as needed until smooth and drizzling consistency. Drizzle evenly over cooled cookies.

BASLER LACKERLI (SWISS SPICED HONEY COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat over to 325 degrees. Line bottom and sides of a buttered jelly-roll pan, 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1-inch, with foil and butter foil.
• Make dough:.
• Chop almonds very fine but not ground, preferably in a food processor. In a bowl whisk together flour, spices, baking powder, and baking soda. In a large heavy saucepan heat honey and granulated sugar over moderately low heat, stirring, just until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and stir in kirsch, orange peel, and almonds. Stir in flour mixture and cool dough 5 minutes.
• With floured hands, press dough evenly into pan. Put dough in oven and immediately reduce temperature to 300 degrees F. Bake dough 25 - 30 mins, or until firm but not dry and hard, and cool in pan on a rack. Invert baked dough onto a cutting board. Discard foil and invert baked dough.
• Make glaze:.
• Ina small saucepan heat water with grandulated sugar over moderately low heat, stirring, just until sugar is dissolved. Sift in confectioners' sugar and stir until comined well.
• Pour hot glaze on baked dough and brush evenly over dough, brushing continuously until glaze crystallizes and whitens. Let glazed dough stand 10 minutes Trim off and discard edges of dough and cut into 2 x 1 1/2-inch rectangles. Keep cookies in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

BASLER LECKERLI (SWISS CHRISTMAS COOKIE BARS)

Steps:

• Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper that sticks up at least one inch (2.5 cm) on each side.
• Finely chop the almonds and candied peel. You can do this by hand or in the food processor (much easier). For the food processor, chop the almonds coarsely first, then add the peel and process together until they are evenly ground, with little chunks of the nuts still remaining.
• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the chopped nuts, peel, lemon zest, flour, spices, baking powder, and salt.
• Heat the honey and sugar in a small pot on the stove until the sugar is melted and the honey is warm. Do not allow it to boil.
• Pour the hot honey over the flour mixture and stir or mix (in the stand mixer) until the batter is blended into a thick, sticky dough. It will be very firm.
• Divide the dough in two and put half into each prepared pan. Use a metal spoon to scrape the remaining dough out of the mixing bowl and add it to the rest.
• Using damp fingers (keep dipping them in water as needed), push and pat the dough into a 9" x 13" (23 x 33 cm) rectangle on each cookie sheet. Work quickly while the dough is still warm, as it gets harder to work with as it cools. This takes effort and muscle. Pinch off pieces of dough from the thicker spots and press them into the thinner spots until the rectangle is of even thickness. Pat the top smooth with damp fingertips. Dock the dough all over with a fork (poke the fork straight down through the batter until it touches the cookie tin, 1 to 2 inches apart, all over the dough rectangle). Trim off excess parchment paper so it sticks up no more than one inch (2.5cm) above the cookie dough.
• Allow the pans to rest at room temperature, covered with a clean dish towel, for two hours or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
• Bake the cookie sheets for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating them halfway and using a spatula to press down any parts of the dough that have bubbled or bulged up. The edges of the dough should just be starting to brown.
• While the cookies are baking, whisk together the glaze ingredients.
• Brush the glaze all over the top of the two cookie rectangles as soon as they come out of the oven.
• While still warm, lift the cookie slabs from the cookie sheets using the parchment paper to hold onto, and transfer them onto a large cutting board. Cut the cookie slabs into 1" x 2" (2.5 x 5 cm) bars. You can trim off a thin strip from the outside edges first, if desired. Use a large, sharp knife and work quickly to cut the cookies while still warm, as they are hard to cut once they cool.
• Allow the cookies to cool.
• Store the cookies in an airtight, covered container. The are best if left for at least a week to soften and mellow the flavours, but need a minimum of one day in the container before they should be eaten.
• The cookies will keep for up to two months, in a sealed container at cool room temperature and up to six months in the freezer (age at room temperature for one week before freezing). If you're storing the cookies at room temperature and they get too hard, put a few wedges of apple or some orange peels into the container with them and after a few days they will have softened considerably.
• Make 8 dozen Basler Leckerli cookie bars (that sounds like a lot, but they are small and keep forever! (They freeze well, too).

SWISS BASLER LECKERLI (BASEL COOKIES)

Steps:

• Put honey, sugar, cinnamon, clove powder and nut meg in a pan, heat up slowly, then remove from stove.
• Add candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, almonds and grind skin of lemon, stir until mixed evenly.
• Add kirsch, flour and baking powder, knead on a table to form a soft dough.
• While the dough is still warm, roll it out on the back of a greased baking sheet approximately 5 mm (0.2 inches) thick.
• Let it rest for about 5 to 6 hours or over night in a dry place.
• Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes in the center of the pre-heated oven at 430°F(220°C).
• Mix confectioner's sugar and kirsch or water, frost dough immediately.
• Cut off stale edges.
• Cut dough in small pieces (5 x 3 cm, 2 x 1.5 inches), take them off the baking sheets and let them cool.

CHICK SLICE-AND-BAKE COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and egg until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.
• Transfer 1 tablespoon dough to a small bowl and add 1 drop orange food coloring. Use a small spoon to mix until an even vibrant orange; set aside. Add 1/2 teaspoon yellow food coloring to the dough left in the bowl and mix on low until an even vibrant yellow. Refrigerate both doughs on a baking sheet, uncovered, until just firm, about 20 minutes.
• Roll the yellow dough into an 8-inch cylinder, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Flatten the top of the log slightly to form an oval or egg-shaped log. Roll the orange dough into an 8-inch rope. Press into a triangular shape by flattening the sides (a ruler is helpful for this). Freeze both doughs on a baking sheet, uncovered, until hard, about 20 minutes.
• Slice lengthwise through the yellow log, cutting off the top third and making 2 half-moon logs, one larger and one smaller. Make a small slit, about 1/8 inch deep, down the length of the larger log on the center flat side. Gently insert one of the pointed sides of the orange dough into the slit, being careful not to flatten out the triangle. Place the smaller log on top and press together to seal and re-form into an egg-shaped log, making sure the edges are smooth. Freeze until solid, about 1 hour.
• Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Cut 1/4 inch off each end of the log with a very sharp knife. Slice the cylinder into 24 cookies, each about 1/3 inch thick. Arrange the slices about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until crisp and just starting to turn brown on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Make the icing: Whisk together the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding up to 1 more tablespoon water if necessary. Cover the bowl with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap until ready to use to prevent the icing from drying out. (Makes about 2 1/4 cups.)
• When ready to ice the cookies, transfer about 1/2 cup of the icing to a resealable plastic bag and snip a small opening in one corner. Use this icing to pipe a thin border around the bottom half of each cookie and make an outline of a cracked eggshell about halfway up. Let set for a few minutes.
• Thin the remaining icing with a few drops of water until it's the consistency of syrup. Transfer about 1 cup of the thinned icing to a resealable plastic bag. Divide the remaining thinned icing among 3 small bowls and tint each with a different color of pastel food coloring; transfer each color to a separate resealable plastic bag.
• Snip a corner of the white icing bag and pipe a generous amount inside the icing border of each cookie. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the icing to cover the cookie inside the border. Use the white icing to attach 2 mini chips for the eyes. Snip a corner of each pastel-tinted icing bag and use them to decorate the eggshells. Decorate with sprinkles or decorating sugar as desired. Let the icing dry completely before serving, about 30 minutes.

BASEL LECKERLI SWISS HONEY SPICE COOKIE

Steps:

• Simmer the sugar and honey in a double boiler until melted; cool.
• Add the rest of ingredients except frosting.
• Mix.
• Spread in a thin sheet and bake until done.
• Frost with thin frosting made of lemon and powdered sugar as soon as cookies are baked.