Swedish Yule Cookies Recipe 455

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add syrup. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Divide dough into eight portions. Roll each portion into a 9-in. log. Place 3 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into 1-in. slices. Remove to wire racks. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, cardamom, and salt in a bowl.
• Put the butter and confectioners' sugar in a food processor, and process until smooth. Pulse in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined. Add the flour mixture and process to make a soft buttery dough. Divide the dough in half onto 2 (12-inch long) sheets of plastic wrap. Using the plastic, shape into rough logs. Refrigerate the dough logs for 30 minutes until just firm enough to shape into uniform logs, 8-inches long by 2-inches in diameter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Scatter either the sanding sugars or toasted nuts on a work surface and roll the logs until completely coated. Cut into 1/4-inch thick cookies and space about 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cookies on the pan on wire racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Steps:

• Beat butter, 1/2 c sugar, and egg in a large bowl until fluffy. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Knead to make a dough. Press into a ball and wrap in foil or plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 °. Divide dough into 3 pieces; knead each in turn. Refrigerate 2 pieces of kneaded dough. On a floured surface, roll out third piece of kneaded dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 2 1/2 in rounds. Place on a baking sheet. Repeat with refrigerated dough. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Brush cookies with egg white; sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Cool on a rack.

Steps:

• Place the pistachios and sugar in a food processor; cover and process until ground. Set aside. In a microwave, melt 1 cup chocolate chips; stir until smooth., In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, melted chocolate, milk and almond extract. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pistachio mixture., Divide dough into eight portions. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 3 hours or until firm., Shape each portion into an 18-in. rope; cut each into six logs. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cut the ends of each log at an angle. Using a small amount of egg white, attach removed pieces to each log, forming branches., Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks., In a microwave, melt remaining chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Working in batches, dip cookies in chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. With the tines of a fork, make strokes in the chocolate to resemble bark. Dust with ground pistachios., For mushrooms, pinch half of each marshmallow to form a stem; flatten the other half for cap of mushroom. Dust tops of mushrooms with cocoa. Attach to cookies with a small amount of melted chocolate., Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.