The 12 Doughs of Christmas

BY NANCY HOBBS
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Cookies are synonymous with Christmas. They haunt us with temptation and calories, but try to do without and chants of "Scrooge" for your bah-humbug attitude will follow.

Besides, what better way to get into the holiday spirit than gather the kids on a snowy day to decorate sugar cookies while sipping hot chocolate? Tradition wins almost every time.

In gathering our 12 Doughs of Christmas, we've included the perennial favorites and some less familiar suggestions. There is chocolate, of course, but also fruit and nut selections. Some recipes are family hand-me-downs, while others come from less obvious sources, such as the traditional Mexican Biscochitos recipe from New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, via the Internet, or the Creative Mint Cookies that brought 6-year-old Alex Sleater a blue ribbon at the Utah State Fair. It wasn't the kids' contest she won in, either; hers were judged the best among entrants of all ages.

And in our efforts to find something for everyone, how could we forget Fido? Besides pleasing the pet with crunchy, homemade dog bones, the breath-freshening parsley and mint could really be the gift-giver's reward.

Stained-Glass Lemon Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces (approximately) colored hard candies
Additional sugar

Using electric mixer, beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg yolk, lemon peel and vanilla extract. Add all-purpose flour and salt and beat until mixture begins to clump together. Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. Flatten each piece into disk; wrap each in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Finely grind hard candies separately in processor. (A coffee grinder works well for this, too.) Transfer each color of candy to separate small bowl; cover candies and set aside.

Position racks in center and top third of oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Using 2 1/2- to 2 3/4-inch-diameter cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out cookies. Using small (about 1 inch) cookie cutter, make cutouts in center of each cookie.

Transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets. Spoon ground hard candies into cookie cutouts, filling cutouts completely to same thickness as cookies. Sprinkle cookies lightly with additional sugar. Repeat with remaining dough disks, ground hard candies and additional sugar. Reroll dough scraps and cut out additional cookies. Place on baking sheets; fill with hard candies and sprinkle with additional sugar.
Bake cookies until firm and light golden and ground candies look translucent, about 8 minutes. Cool cookies completely on baking sheets. (Can be prepared ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week or freeze up to 1 month.) Makes about 30.

Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

Almond Biscotti

2 cups whole toasted almonds
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, to roll dough in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the almonds and brown sugar into a food processor, and chop to a fine meal. Transfer to a bowl. Put the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into the processor, and process for several seconds. Add the butter and process again to make a fine meal. Mix with the ground nuts.

Beat the eggs just to liquefy. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir by hand until the dough packs together. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 2-inch log and then roll the log in confectioners' sugar. Place each log onto a greased cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 35 minutes and remove from oven. Turn oven down to 300 degrees.

Cool logs for 10 minutes, slide onto a cutting board, and slice diagonally into slices about 1/2 wide. Place the slices back onto the cookie sheet, standing them on their original bottoms. Bake 30 minutes more. Cool on a rack. Makes about 2 dozen.

The Old Farmer's Almanac "Family Favorites"

Black Gold Cookies

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped coarse
18 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped coarse
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon vanilla
6 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1 1/2 cups pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt unsweetened chocolate, 9 ounces semisweet chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat.

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs with sugar until light and fluffy. Add espresso powder, vanilla and chocolate mixture, beating until smooth.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; add to chocolate mixture, beating until just combined. Stir in remaining semisweet chocolate and nuts until well combined. Drop by tablespoon onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool cookies on a rack. (To make extra-large cookies, scoop out the dough in 1/2-cup portions and put 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, or until tops begin to crack.)

Gourmet magazine

Creative Mint Cookies

2 eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
10 pieces mint-sandwich candies, such as Andes
1 cup sugar (to roll cookies in)
30 pieces mint-sandwich candies, grated for the top of cookies

Beat eggs, 1 cup sugar and brown sugar until creamy and smooth. Add vanilla, cocoa, chocolate chips, baking soda and flour; mix until well combined. Stir in chopped mint candies and refrigerate dough for about 1 hour. Scoop out a heaping teaspoon of dough, roll in the extra sugar and arrange on a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 9 to 13 minutes, or until the top of the cookie starts to crack or fall. Put a small amount of the grated mint candies on top of the hot cookies; cool.

Alex Sleater, Utah State Fair winner