Christmas Cookies for Santa: Changing the Crunch

An explosion of almond extract hit my taste buds as I munched away on one (okay, three) of my biscotti. But as the crumbs collected on my shirt, another doubt crossed my mind. What if Santa forgot to dunk the crunchy cookies in milk? At his age, his teeth probably chip quite easily, and I didn’t want to be charged with Santa’s new denture bill. So I pulled the almond extract back off of the shelf to mix up a batch of chewier bar cookies.  

 

Glancing in the pantry and fridge, I spotted a jar of jam. Softer than baby food, jam would give Saint Nick no chewing challenges as he unloaded his sack into our stockings. Hoping to get a chuckle out of the jolly ol’ elf, I sliced the cookies into festive strips resembling pieces of candy cane rs, and I added a little drizzle of irresistible almond-flavored icing as the “sugar” on top.

 

 

Striped Raspberry Cookies

based on CL’s Raspberry Strippers 

makes 2-3 dozen

Wipe the knife clean in between cutting each cookie to prevent the jam from bleeding onto the dough. Substitute your favorite jam for the raspberry, or use two different jams—one for each log!

cookies

⅓ c. granulated sugar

5 tbsp butter, softened

½ tbsp vanilla extract

1 egg white

1 c. flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ c. raspberry jam

 

icing drizzle

½ c. powdered sugar

2 tsp water (or less, for a thicker icing)

¼ tsp almond extract

 

1. Preheat the oven to 375°, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. To prepare the cookies, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until well blended, around 3-4 min. Add the vanilla and egg white, mixing well. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour through salt, and gradually add this mixture to the butter mixture.
3. Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a 12”-long log. Flatten each log slightly, and press your thumb down the center of each to make a well.
4. In a small bowl, stir the jam with a spoon until smooth. Pour the jam into each well. Bake at 375° for 20 min or until the cookies begin to turn golden. Remove from the oven, and place the logs on a cutting board.
5. To prepare the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar, water, and almond extract. Drizzle over the logs.
6. Using a serrated knife, cut each log into 1”-thick diagonal slices, but do not separate. Cool for 10 min on the cutting board before separating the slices and moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.