Dessert | Good Dinner Mrs Mellen

Category: Dessert
- Oatmeal Cherry Thumbprints
  
  Posted at 12:45 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 15th
  I do love to bake cookies, yes they do take time to make but so worth all your effort. My fondest memories of Christmas are helping my mother bake. One of my jobs was to use my grandmother’s cast iron single pizzelle mold. My mother would make the dough and then it was my job to hold the mold on the stove and cook on each side just until the cookie was done. The mold only made one cookie at a time. I retired mold but the wonderful remembrances live on and keep me baking copious cookies quantities during the Christmas season. A tradition I am passing along to my grandchildren.
  
  Oatmeal Cherry Rounds are easy to make, simply delicious, and add a festive look to any cookie collection. If you are a cookie virgin I would suggest these Oatmeal cookies as a great first cookie to bake. I used red cherries, you can use red and green cherries or pecan in the center it is also nice.
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1 cup brown sugar
  
  1 egg
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 tsp cinnamon
  
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  
  1/2 tsp salt
  
  1 1/2 cup oatmeal (quick cook)
  
  1/4 cup sugar
  
  1 package(4 oz) red cherries
  
  Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Cream butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. If you plan to be a baker invest in a stand mixer to make the task quick and easy. Beat in egg and vanilla until well mixed. Combine dry ingredients and add to cream mixture, stir in oats. Shape dough into small balls and roll in sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet. Cut cherries in half and press half in center of ball pressing down to flatten cookie. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, Easy recipe, oatmeal cherry rounds
- Perfect Chocolate Cake
  
  Posted at 9:46 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Nov 16th
  Perfect Chocolate Cake
  
  For birthday celebrations my mother made her chocolate cake with rich fudge frosting and a chocolate filling. I believe she found this recipe in McCalls Cooking School publications, a series of cooking magazines with detailed instructions. When I married she shared with me her prize recipe and I’ve made this moist flavorful cake for birthday’s ever since.
  
  1 cup unsifted unsweetened cocoa
  
  2 cups boiling water
  
  2 3⁄4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  
  2 teaspoons baking soda
  
  1⁄2 teaspoon salt
  
  1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
  
  1 cup butter, softened
  
  2 1⁄2 cups sugar
  
  4 eggs
  
  1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  6 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces
  
  1⁄2 cup half and half
  
  3/4 cup butter
  
  2 1⁄2 cups unsifted confectioners’ sugar
  
  1 cup heavy cream, chilled
  
  1⁄4 cup unsifted confectioners’ sugar
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  1 cup heavy cream
  
  8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  
  1 teaspoon almond extract
  
  Preheat oven to 350°F.
  
  In a medium bowl, combine cocoa with boiling water, mixing with wire whisk until smooth. Cool completely. Sift flour with soda, salt, and baking powder. Grease well and lightly flour three 9 by 1 1/2 inch layer-cake pans. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, at high speed, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, scraping bowl occasionally until light-about 5 minutes.
  
  At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths), alternately with the cocoa mixture (in thirds), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Do not over-beat.
  
  Divide evenly into pans; smooth top. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip.
  
  Cool in pans 10 minutes.
  
  Carefully loosen sides with a spatula; Remove from pans; cool on racks.
  
  Frosting: In a medium saucepan, combine chocolate pieces, cream, butter; stir over medium heat until smooth.
  
  Remove from heat. With a whisk, blend in 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar.
  
  In a bowl set over ice(I use ice cubes) beat until it holds shape.
  
  Filling:
  
  Heat the cream in a saucepan or in the microwave, until the mixture begins to steam.
  Pour over the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir — at first slowly, then more vigorously — until the chocolate is completely melted. If necessary, reheat very briefly to soften any remaining hard bits of chocolate. Add almond extract. Refrigerate ganache until thick.
  
  To assemble the cake:
  
  On plate place a layer, top side down; spread with half of the ganache. Place the second layer, top side down; spread with rest of ganache.
  
  Place the third layer, top side up.
  
  To frost: With a spatula, frost sides first, covering ganache; use rest of frosting on top, swirling decoratively.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Baking, Cake, Dessert, desserts, Easy recipes, Food | Tagged chocolate cake, easy
- PUMPKIN-PECAN CHEESECAKE
  
  Posted at 11:50 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Nov 9th
  I discovered Southern Living magazine on a family road trip through the south to visit my mother-in-law’s family in southern Georgia. During one of our many stops for gas, I wondered to a magazine rack, searching for a new read for the trip, and was drawn to the cover of Southern Living. After a quick skim through the pages, I purchased the magazine and when I returned home to Boston, I ordered a subscription. Thirty years later and I continue to feel enthralled by the pages of this magazine.
  
  If you are a novice or even more experienced cook, the pages are packed with ideas for food, entertaining, decorating and traveling with an irresistible southern vibe. Hospitality is the core of the southern style of entertaining. And I learned on that long-ago trip, the pineapple is the symbol of hospitality. Pineapples can be found throughout my home decor and at Christmas, I decorate over my front door with Williamsburg Christmas fan containing a pineapple surrounded by red apples.
  
  The recipes populating the pages of Southern Living are clear, concise and easy to duplicate. I made this cheesecake recipe with one change, I added pumpkin pie spice and my guests raved about the taste.
  
  CHEESECAKE
  
  2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  
  1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
  
  5 tablespoons butter, melted
  
  3 tablespoons light brown sugar
  
  4 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
  
  1 cup granulated sugar
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  4 large eggs
  
  1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
  
  1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  
  1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
  
  PRALINE TOPPING
  
  1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  
  1/3 cup whipping cream
  
  1/4 cup butter
  
  1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  Garnishes: coarsely chopped Pecan Pie-Glazed Pecans, fresh sage leaves
  
  Preheat oven to 325°. Stir together the first 4 ingredients in a bowl until well blended. Press mixture on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
  
  Beat cream cheese and next 2 ingredients at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until blended and smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add pumpkin and lemon juice, beating until blended. Pour batter into prepared crust. (Pan will be very full.)
  
  Bake at 325° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until almost set. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven, with the door closed, 15 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven, and gently run a knife around the outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of the pan. (Do not remove sides of the pan.) Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Cover and chill 8 to 24 hours.
  
  Remove the sides and bottom of the pan, and transfer cheesecake to a serving plate. Prepare Praline Topping; immediately pour slowly over the top of the cheesecake, spreading to within 1/4 inch of edge. Garnish, if desired.
  
  Praline Topping
  
  Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Boil, stirring occasionally, 1 minute; remove from heat. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Let stand 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Use immediately.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Dessert, Elegant, entertaining, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Thanksgiving | Tagged pecans, Pumkin Cheesecake, Thanksgiving dessert
- Blueberry Pumpkin Loaf Bread
  
  Posted at 8:49 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Oct 12th
  Autumn holds a special place in my heart; I was born in Autumn and I feel a pull – a strong kinship to this time of the year. I love the sights and smell of the season – burnished crimson leaves, crisp red apples, cinnamon spice pumpkin lattes, hayrides, pumpkin patches, mums exploding with color, and the majestic vistas filled with nature’s glory in New England. Autumn is my favorite baking season with a bountiful array of ingredients to create flavorful treats.
  
  Pumpkin tea bread is so easy to make and although I have so many different variations, I still find new recipes to create. I love blueberries so I thought why not combine blueberries, from the summer, with a pumpkin flavor from the fall. Add a crumb topping for extra texture for an amazing tea bread to accompany a rich Chai Tea.
  
  “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” F. Scott Fitgerald.
  
  Nonstick cooking spray
  2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  ½ teaspoon salt
  ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  
  2 ½ tsp. pumpkin spice
  ⅔ cup buttermilk
  ½ cup canned pumpkin
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  ½ cup butter softened
  ½ cup granulated sugar
  ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  2 eggs
  ½ cup fresh blueberries
  
  1 recipe Almond-Oat Streusel Topping
  
  Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
  
  In a medium bowl stir together the next five ingredients. In a small bowl combine buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla.
  
  In a large bowl beat butter and both sugars with a mixer on medium until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately, beating on low after each addition just until combined (batter will be stiff). Fold in blueberries.
  
  Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Top with Almond-Oat Streusel Topping. Bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool loaf pan on a wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan.
  
  Almond-Oat Streusel Topping
  
  In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. each rolled oats and sliced almonds, 4 tsp. all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. the ground cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Stir in 3 Tbsp. melted butter.
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  Posted in Baking, breads, Breakfast, Dessert, desserts, Easy recipes, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Autumn baking, Pumpkin bread, Tea Bread
- CHOCOLATE TIRAMISU CAKE
  
  Posted at 7:05 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Mar 6th
  A luscious outrageous cake that will wow your guest! I loved creating this cake and had so much fun making the crepes that I hadn’t done in many years. Years ago when crepes were extremely popular I purchased a Sunbeam M’sieur Crepe maker. To my surprise I found the maker in a cabinet in my basement, unfortunately, it no longer worked so I used an omelet pan to make the crepes. This cake should be started two-three days before you want to serve. The cake is time-consuming yet easy to make. And your guest like mine will be so impressed with the cake because it looks and tastes amazing,
  
  INGREDIENTS
  
  Crepes
  ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
  
  ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  
  ¼ cup granulated sugar
  
  2 teaspoons kosher salt
  
  4 large eggs
  
  5 large egg yolks
  
  1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  
  2 cups whole milk
  
  3 tablespoons cognac
  
  Tiramisu Filling
  1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
  
  4 cups mascarpone cheese
  
  1/4 coffee liqueur
  
  1/4 cup natural cocoa powder plus 2 tablespoons for topping
  
  1 cup heavy whipping cream
  
  2 tablespoon powder sugar
  
  DIRECTIONS
  
  1. Make the crepe batter: Sift together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. In a slow, steady stream, whisk in the butter, then the milk and cognac, until the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  
  2. Set an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Gently stir the crêpe batter, then pour ¼ cup of batter into the skillet. Holding the skillet by the handle, tilt and turn the skillet to quickly disperse the batter. Cook the crepe until the underside is golden-brown, about 1½ minutes. Lightly jerk the skillet to loosen the crepe, then flip the crepe over using a spatula, a more vigorous jerking motion or your fingers. Cook on the other side until golden-brown, about 30 seconds, then slide the crepe onto a plate. Top with waxed or parchment paper to prevent crepes from sticking together. Repeat until all of the batter is used (you’ll end up with about 20 crepes total, and will need 18 for the cake). Refrigerate the crepes on a plate until completely chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.
  
  3. Make the tiramisu filling: Sift the confectioners’ sugar. Add the mascarpone cheese, coffee liquor, and 1/4 cocoa. Combine the mixture at low speed until well combined.
  
  4. Remove the crepes from the refrigerator. Add 1 crepe to the bottom cake plate so it lies flat. Add ¼ cup of the tiramisu filling to the center of the crepe and use a small offset spatula to evenly spread the filling over the crêpe. Repeat with the filling and 17 more crêpes. Refrigerate the leftover filling; you’ll use it to finish the cake. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight. Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
  
  Place the sugar into the mixing bowl and add the whipping cream. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks.
  
  Fold whipped cream into remaining tiramisu cream just until combined and no white streaks remain.
  
  Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Spread the remaining tiramisu cream on top and sides of the cake. Add the cocoa powder to a fine-mesh sieve and sprinkle it over the top of the cake. Slice and serve.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  gooddinnermrsmellen.com
  
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  Posted in Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, desserts, Elegant, entertaining, Food | Tagged chocolate tiramisu cake, crepes
- Sandies
  
  Posted at 12:23 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 18th
  My love of baking started when I helped my Mother bake cookies at Christmas time. Since then I’ve never stopped baking cookies for Christmas. Baking isn’t very hard and I am always amazed when I hear people say I don’t like to bake. What’s not to like, sugar, butter, chocolate, all those wonderful ingredients in one place. Baking is very precise, you need to measure the correct amount of ingredients and follow the recipe especially if you’re a beginner. Once you get some experience with baking you can add your personality. Christmas cookies make wonderful personal gifts to share with family and friends. And so many beautiful boxes, bags, tins can be used as containers for your cookies gifts.
  
  A few tips that will help novice bakers. Read all the recipe through before you start and assemble everything that you need. Do any preparation before you start, if the recipe calls for chopped nuts, chop and set aside, eggs separated, the same thing. This will make the flow of baking so much easier. Only use unsalted butter. I love Cabot, it’s made in Vermont by the cheddar people, I’m not sure if this butter is available outside of New England. The first time you try a recipe always bake for less time than the recipe calls for and then add additional minutes if needed. Unless your oven is calibrated perfectly and even then, ovens do bake differently. Nothing is worse than over baked cookies, cakes, etc. Dry is not good!
  
  At Christmas, I just start baking cookies and stop when I don’t have any more time left. I have so many recipes and cookie cookbooks and I keep buying more, I just can’t help myself. I try out one or two new cookies each year to see if I can find another favorite for my holiday tradition. The two recipes that I have included below are some of the first cookies that I make with my mother. These cookies are very basic and easy to make. Out of tradition, I make them every year and I want to share them with you.
  
  Sandies – These are wonderful cookies to make a few weeks ahead of time because they keep very well.
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  2 teaspoons water
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 cup chopped pecans
  
  1 cup confectionery sugar- for rolling cookies after baking
  
  Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and water. Add flour and mix well. Stir in pecans. Shape into small balls. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in 325 F over for 20 minutes. Remove. Cool slightly. Roll in confectionery sugar
  
  An easy way to do this is to put sugar in a plastic bag and add 3-4 cookies and gently shake around to coat cookies. Or you can put sugar in a bowl and roll around to coat.
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  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, easy, pecans
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
  
  Posted at 11:25 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 16th
  My love affair with making Christmas Cookies started when I was a little girl helping my mother bake cookies at Christmas. We made large quantities of my mother’s favorite recipes. To this day I have continued the tradition of baking, baking and more baking of delectable cookies. Today I made a favorite cookie of my children when they were little. Peanut Blossoms are a fun cookie topped with a chocolate kiss. Who does love a peanut butter cookie with a chocolate kiss in the center. I love the taste of peanut butter meeting chocolate. I’ve tried different versions of this cookie but always return to the Hershey’s original recipe that I made so long ago.
  
  1 3/4 cups flour
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  1/2 cup brown sugar
  
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
  
  1/2 cup peanut butter
  
  2 tablespoons milk
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  1 egg
  
  48 chocolate kisses, unwrapped
  
  Preheat oven to 325 F. In large bowl mix beat shortening and peanut butter. Add sugars mixing until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat flour mixture into peanut butter until all the ingredients until combined and dough forms. Shape a teaspoonful of dough into balls. Roll balls in additional sugar(1/2 cup). Place on cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove cookies from oven and immediately top each cookie with a kiss, pressing down so the cookie cracks slightly around edges of the kiss. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet letting cool completely.
  
  Makes 48.
  
  Enjoy!
  
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  gooddinnermrsmellen@blogspot.com
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  Posted in Baking, Baking, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, easy, Hershey Kisses, peanut butter
- Cranberry Desserts
  
  Posted at 9:36 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 8th
  You all know by now that I love using cranberries in my cooking; sauce, with veggies – so good with Brussels sprouts – and especially desserts. Cranberries also add a festive touch to all your dishes. Especially around the Holidays Cranberries add a festive flavorful touch.
  
  This year once again cranberries will be the star on my holiday dessert table – from easy make-ahead tea bread to a rich cheesecake and a sparking show-stopping white cake.
  
  The Ultimate Cheesecake
  
  The Ultimate Cheesecake
  
  A rich cheesecake topped with candied cranberries taste delicious and looks beautiful on a dessert table. My youngest son Chad loves cheesecake; we’ve even been to Juniors in Times square to sample their array of delectable cakes. At Christmas, I make especially for him a cheesecake enjoyed by all. This cheesecake is what is called a New York-style – rich, five packages of cream cheese, five eggs plus two egg yolks and cream – making for a dense creaming cake. In the spring I make this cheesecake with crushed pineapple.
  
  Snowy Winter White Chocolate Cranberry Cake
  
  Snowy Winter White Chocolate Cranberry Cake
  
  Isn’t this a beautiful cake – looking like new-fallen snow on Christmas morning. The white cake is light and moist, one of my favorite recipes that I use over and over, just changing the filling and frosting.
  
  Sweet Potato Cranberry Pound Cake
  
  Sweet Potato Cranberry Pound Cake
  
  A deliciously easy cake, perfect after a meal, but I like to serve this cake with brunch or when sharing a cup of coffee with friends.
  
  Pumpkin Cranberry Tea Bread with White Chocolate
  
  Pumpkin Cranberry Tea Bread with White Chocolate
  
  Tea bread is great to make ahead and freeze for up to a month. I always around the holidays have a few in my freezer for when friends drop in or if I want to bring as a hostess gift. I wrap the tea bread in cello wrap which you can purchase at a craft store and tie with a festive bow.
  
  In New England, we have freshly picked cranberries from fall to December. Cranberries freeze well so I buy extra to freeze and use during the winter months in my cooking.
  
  I have many recipes on my blog with cranberries!
  
  Enjoy!
  
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  Posted in Cake, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, Dessert, desserts, Elegant, entertaining, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Tea Breads | Tagged Christmas, Clheesecake, Cranberries, Ghiradelli Chocolate, King Arthur Flour, Philadelphia cream cheese
- Poppy Seed Bread
  
  Posted at 2:00 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 2nd
  Another recipe from my childhood Christmases, Poppy Seed Bread. My mother was raised in a neighborhood with many different ethnic groups sharing delicious foods with each other from all over the world. She learned from her Polish neighbors to make Eastern European style pastries which she incorporated into her holiday baking. Making her old holiday pastries transports me again to a time when I learned the magic of Christmas which still lives with me to this day!
  
  Poppy Seed Bread
  
  2 cups whole milk
  
  2 packages yeast
  
  2 teaspoon salt
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  2 eggs, slightly beaten
  
  1/2 cup shortening (Crisco)
  
  7 to 7 1/2 cups sifted all purposed flour
  
  4 tablespoon butter
  
  2 cans Poppyseed pastry filling(Solo)
  
  1 cup chopped pecans
  
  1 cup golden raisins
  
  Preheat oven to 375F. Heat milk until tiring bubbles form, 2-3 minutes. Put 1/4 cup of hot milk in a small bowl, let cool to lukewarm. Add yeast, let dissolve for 5 minutes. In a large bowl add remaining milk and cool. Stir in salt, sugar, shortening, and eggs. Next, add dissolved yeast then on low beat in half of the flour gradually. By hand add as much of remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle. Knead on a wooden board for about 5 minutes. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with a clean towel letting rise to double in size for approximately an hour. Knead the dough again, place back in the bowl and let rise again for another hour.
  
  Divide dough in half; roll each half into an oblong sheet about 1/2 inch thick. Melt butter then brush over dough. Spread poppy seed pastry filling over dough to half-inch from edge. Sprinkle pecans than raisins. Roll up jelly-roll style. Place both loaves on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cover and let rise again for an hour. Then bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
  
  This recipe can be cut in half if you only want to make one loaf.
  
  Enjoy!
  
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  Posted in breads, Christmas Recipes, Dessert | Tagged breads, nuts, Poppy seed, raisins
- Kolaches – Hungarian Christmas Cookies
  
  Posted at 1:00 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 1st
  Kolaches, Hungarian Christmas Cookies take me back to Christmas of my childhood where my mother would spend days baking Christmas cookies, filling our home with perfectly delightful smells. I would come home from school being greeted by my mother and the aroma of cookies baking in the oven. One of her favorite cookies to bake was Kolaches: a recipe that was passed down to her by a Hungarian neighbor when she was growing up. Like my mother, these flakey cookies have become one of my favorites that I still make today for my family and friends!
  
  Enjoy!
  
  Kolaches – Hungarian Christmas Cookies
  
  2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  
  ½ teaspoon salt
  
  8 oz cream cheese
  
  1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  
  ½ cup powdered sugar for rolling
  
  1 can Solo Poppy Seed Cake and Pastry Filling
  
  For the Pastry Dough:
  
  Sift flour and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter together with a stand mixer or a hand mixer until completely incorporated and creamy (3-5 minutes).
  
  Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add in the flour. I used 5 additions and completely mixed in the flour each time. The dough will be soft but not sticky.
  
  Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and flatten each to ¾” thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until hard, at least 2 hours.
  
  Assembling the Kolaches:
  
  Preheat the oven to 375°. Move the oven rack one setting higher than the center.
  
  Take one of the disks of dough from the refrigerator and lightly flour both sides. Spread powdered sugar on your pastry board or work surface. Place the dough on top and roll out the pastry to 1/16” to 1/8” thick.
  
  With a pastry wheel or sharp knife, trim the dough into a square and then cut the square into 16 smaller squares. Place a dollop of filling into the center of each square. I used ½ teaspoon to ¾ teaspoon for each.
  
  Gently grab two opposite corners and fold one over the other, gently pressing down to try and seal them together. Gently move it to a parchment-covered baking sheet. Repeat with all remaining squares, placing the kolaches no closer than 1” apart.
  
  Sprinkle the middles of the kolaches with just a touch of granulated sugar.
  
  Bake 12-14 minutes or until the bottom edges are golden and you can smell them. Let cool slightly on the pan on a wire rack and then move them gently to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with all remaining dough. Refrigerate and re-roll your scraps.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, Food | Tagged Hungarian Christmas cookies, Kolaches, Poppy seed, Solo filling
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