Maria Pucks Holiday Spice Gingerbread Cookies Recipes

RON'S HOLIDAY SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves, cardamom and salt to combine.
• Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla to the creamed butter mixture and beat on low/medium speed until smooth and combined.
• On low speed, add the flour mixture in few additions. The dough will be soft and a bit sticky.
• Refrigerate in a covered bowl for a minimum of two hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or use nonstick baking sheets.
• Use an ice-cream scooper or a slightly heaping tablespoon to portion the dough. Roll each cookie into a 1-inch ball between your hands, then roll lightly in the white granulated sugar and place on the prepared baking sheets. Make sure to leave enough space between the balls, as they'll flatten out to twice their size.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough balls would flatten and develop a crinkly crust, but will still be flexible. Gently remove to rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 3 days.

MARIA PUCK'S HOLIDAY SPICE GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In a heavy-duty stand mixer at medium speed, beat the butter, both sugars, and the salt until blended and light, scraping down the bowl occasionally.
• Gradually beat in the cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ground ginger, egg, molasses, and fresh ginger.
• Sift the flour and baking soda onto a large sheet of parchment paper. With the mixer at low speed, gradually pour the flour mixture into the creamed mixture and continue beating just until fully incorporated and smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the bowl and the beater.
• Chilling the dough
• Empty half the dough from the mixing bowl onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat it into a flat rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap up securely. Repeat with the second half. Chill in the refrigerator until cold and firm, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Put the egg whites in a medium bowl, reserving the yolks for another use. Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk until blended. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar, 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time, until the icing is smooth and thick but still fluid. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. With a sharp knife, cut a rectangle of dough into 1-inch cubes. Roll each cube between your palms to form even balls, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet; or use a 1-inch-diameter scoop to form the balls.
• Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until nicely puffed on top, well browned on the bottom, and firm to the touch, 15 to 20 minutes. Leave on the baking sheets to cool briefly before decorating.
• Fill a disposable plastic pastry-decorating bag or a sealable plastic sandwich bag with the icing and snip off a corner. Gently squeeze the bag to pipe the icing over the warm cookies in any design you like. Leave the cookies on the sheets to cool completely before serving.

HOLIDAY GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine butter, sugar, and molasses together in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in increments, and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed together.
• Pour the dough out onto the countertop and divide into 4 pieces. Press each piece into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 1 to 2 hours, or up to 3 days.
• Adjust the racks to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line sheet trays with parchment paper.
• Spread 2 large pieces of parchment paper out and very lightly flour them. Place a disk of dough between the parchment sheets and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with the remaining disks of dough. Rework all scraps into balls and re-chill before reusing. Repeat with all the dough.
• Cut out cookies and place on the parchment-lined sheet trays with an offset spatula, leaving 1-inch between each cookie. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheet tray for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack to continue cooling to room temperature before decorating the cookies with Royal Icing.
• Add ingredients to a large bowl. Beat, using a hand mixer, until glossy and stiff, about 5 to 6 minutes. Place in icing bags with fine tips to decorate cookies.

HONEY-SPICE GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices in a large bowl. Beat together butter and granulated sugar with a mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then honey and molasses. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture until well combined. Divide dough into thirds, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm but still pliable, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Working with a third of dough at a time, roll dough out to 1/4-inch thickness on generously floured parchment. Brush off excess flour, transfer dough on parchment to a baking sheet, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters, rerolling scraps as needed. Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Bake until edges turn golden, about 15 minutes, rotating once and firmly rapping baking sheet halfway through baking to flatten any bubbles in cookies. Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets set on wire racks.
• Place icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (Ateco #0, 1, or 2). Pipe outlines and details on cookies. Immediately sprinkle with sanding sugar, and tap off excess. Let set completely, uncovered, at room temperature, at least 4 hours or (ideally) overnight.

MARIA PUCK'S LINZER COOKIES

Steps:

• Toasting the hazelnuts: Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until deep golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Empty into a folded kitchen towel, rub to remove the skins, and discard the skins. Leave to cool to room temperature, then empty into a food processor.
• Making the dough: Add the cake flour, sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, butter, egg, and lemon zest. Pulse on and off several time; then, process until the nuts are ground and a soft dough has formed, stopping once or twice as necessary to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Chilling the dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Turn out the dough onto the surface. Separate into 2 equal pieces, dusting lightly with flour. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap, flattening and shaping it into a rectangle. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
• Rolling out the dough: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, line large rimmed baking sheets with silicon sheets or parchment paper. On another silicon sheet or a lightly flour-dusted work surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Roll out the second piece the same way.
• Cutting the cookies: With a 2 1/2- to 3-inch cutter, preferably star-shaped, cut out cookies from one piece of dough close to each other. Pull away dough around the shapes. With a thin spatula, transfer the cookies to a baking sheet. Repeat rolling and cutting the second piece. Use a 3/4- to 1-inch-diameter cutter to cut out the centers of half of the cookies.
• Baking the cookies: Bake the cookies until deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the fragile cookies completely on the baking sheets.
• Filling & finishing the cookies: Transfer the whole cookies to a work surface. Spread each with jam. Sift powdered sugar over the cookies with cutout centers. Gently press powdered sugar cookies on top of the jam on the whole cookies. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight tins.