Christmas at the brook

As Christmas draws near, here at the brook we are getting ready for a festive holiday. The snow came down today and will continue thru Christmas eve. So when I am not outside plowing snow so we can get down to the barn, I am working on getting some cookies made.

My mother sent me up some fresh pecans from Alabama this year, so I am putting them to good use in making some pecan tassies.

Pecan Tassies


INGREDIENTS:
2 cups margarine
4 (3 ounce) packages cream
cheese
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.
In a medium bowl, mix together the margarine and cream cheese until well blended. Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until the mixture forms a smooth dough. Roll into small balls, and press into the bottoms and sides of tart pans or mini muffin pans.
3.
In another bowl, mix together the eggs, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the pecans. Use a spoon to fill each of the crusts 2/3 full with the filling mixture.
4.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes in the preheated oven, until shell is light brown, and the filling has puffed up. Cool, and carefully remove from pans.

We also love this Italian cookie. I remember these from when I was a kid. A friend of the family always made these.

Italian Chocolate Spice Cookie


2 cups butter
4 cups milk
12 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Grease cookie sheets.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and milk. Cook until melted, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir in the milk mixture by hand until the dough is firm and not tacky. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place onto the prepared cookie sheets. These cookies do not spread much, so you can place them fairly close together.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks. Glaze with a thin confectioners' icing when cool to preserve freshness.

The next cookie is one I had on a trip to Scandinavia. I was staying with the Andersson family this was made as a treat. I begged the recipe to bring home and it has been a favorite to make each year at Christmas.

Chocolad Pinar

2 cubes butter - 1/2 pound, softened
1 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 3/4 cup flour
Chopped almonds (for topping)

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees.
Get out an ungreased cookie sheet.

Mix butter and sugar. Add 1 egg and beat(or beat egg first then add to butter - I am too lazy to do this and adding it directly works fine.)In a second bowl, mix cocoa powder, baking powder and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Stir the dry mixture into the butter mixture. Mix well. Divide dough into 6 parts. Roll out each section to 1" wide by however long your baking sheet is.. After you roll, the dough, 3 rolled sections should fit on a normal sized baking sheet. Brush tops with beaten egg ( this is where you use the second egg) and sprinkle with powdered sugar and chopped almonds.

Bake for about 10 minutes.

Cool on sheet slightly. Slice each portion of dough into individual cookies; cutting on a slight angle makes em look nice.