½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp cloves
3 shots whiskey
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups milk
Mocha Glaze
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
2½ tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
2½ tbsp unsweetened brewed coffee
½ tbsp salt
To prepare the glaze, combine sugar, butter, cocoa, coffee, and salt; stir until well blended. Add a little more hot coffee or hot water to get the desired consistency.
For the cookies, mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in milk, whiskey, and vanilla and mix with your hands into a giant ball. Wrap dough in wax paper and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove dough, and roll with hands into 1½-inch balls. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Dip cookies in glaze immediately after removing from the oven. Let cookies stand on a rack until cool. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
Filled Cookies
6 cups flour
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp vanilla
Filling
1 lb dates
1 lb figs
1 lb raisins
1 cup white wine
Simmer the filling ingredients together for 10 minutes and put aside to cool.
To make the dough, combine all the dry ingredients, cut in shortening, then add eggs, followed by other ingredients. Form dough into a ball, cover with wax paper, and refrigerate for an hour.
When dough is ready, roll it out into a rectangle and cut it into three even strips. Put a line of filling down the center of each strip and pinch the cut ends of the dough together to hold in the filling. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove and cut strips into 1-inch slices.
Italian Christmas Cookies
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup soft butter
½ cup whipping cream
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp almond extract
½ tsp salt
1 egg, separated
1¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp almond extract
½ cup chopped almonds
½ cup chopped red and green cherries
Mix together flour, granulated sugar, butter, whipping cream, baking powder, 1 teaspoon almond extract, salt, and egg yolk. Work well with hands to blend. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or more. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into an 8-by-6-inch rectangle on a floured board. Square off corners. Place on greased cookie sheet.
Beat egg white until foamy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Beat until stiff and glossy; spread onto rectangles. Sprinkle nuts and cherries on top. Cut into 1-by-1-inch rectangles. Bake for 10 minutes. Cut again.
Longely is an imaginary community, as are all its inhabitants. Any resemblance to people either living or dead is pure coincidence.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2013 by Isis Crawford
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013940651
ISBN: 978-0-7582-7489-2
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9157-8
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9157-4
First Kensington Electronic Edition: November 2013
A Catered Christmas Cookie Exchange (A Mystery With Recipes) Page 27
