Raspberry Diamonds

RASPBERRY DIAMONDS

Ingredients
For the cookies:
11-1/4 oz. (2-1/2 cups) allpurpose flour
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. table salt
8 oz. (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbs. confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. pure almond extract
6 Tbs. raspberry jam (I prefer seedless)
For the almond glaze:
1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
Pinch table salt
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. water
1/4 tsp. pure almond extract

How to Make the cookies:
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the cream of tartar and salt until well blended. With a stand mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat until blended. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just blended.
On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into six equal pieces. If the dough is very soft, wrap each portion in plastic and refrigerate until firmer, about 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 350°F and have ready two large ungreased baking sheets (or line them with nonstick baking liners). If the dough is in the refrigerator, remove it and unwrap it. Using your hands or a rolling pin (or both), shape each piece into a flat 12x1-1/2-inch strip about 1/4 inch thick, dusting with flour if needed. Transfer the strips to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart.
Using the butt end of a knife handle dipped lightly in flour, make an indentation down the middle of each strip (this will widen the strip to about 1-3/4 inches and make a depression about halfway down into the strip). Spread 1 Tbs. of the jam evenly down the indentation of each strip.
Bake until the cookie strips are lightly browned on the bottom and edges, about 20 minutes. Let the strips cool on the sheets on racks for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to racks to cool completely (a long offset metal spatula is good for this). Before glazing, set the rack over a baking sheet or a sheet of waxed paper. If you plan to freeze these cookies, do it before glazing.
Glaze the cookies:
In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar with the salt, water, and almond extract. The glaze should be thick enough to hold its shape when drizzled; add more confectioners’ sugar or water if needed. Using the tines of a fork, drizzle the glaze over the tops of the cooled cookie strips. (Or transfer the glaze to a sturdy zip-top plastic bag, snip off a tiny bit of one corner of the bag and drizzle.) Leave the cookies on the rack until the glaze is set, about 30 minutes, and transfer to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut each bar on the diagonal into 1-inch-thick diamond shapes.
Store at room temperature or freeze (unglazed) in an airtight container, separating the cookie layers with waxed paper.

Review: time consuming but delicious.  Instead of almond glaze on all of them I used lemon glaze too which was tasty.  You have to be careful not to make too deep of an indention in the middle as that will be a weak spot and the cookies will just fold in half when you pick them up to eat.

Old-fashioned Gingerbread

Yields one 8x8-inch cake.

8-1/4 oz. (1-3/4 cups plus 2 Tbs.) flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
2-1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
Pinch salt
2-1/2 oz. (5 Tbs.) butter, softened at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup dark molasses
3/4 cup cold water

For the whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream (not ultrapasteurized, if possible)
1/4 cup maple syrup

Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8x8-inch cake pan. Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pour in the molasses in a slow, steady stream, beating all the while. Add half of the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until well combined. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Slowly pour in the cold water and stir until well incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 min. Let cool in the pan about 1 hour before serving.
Beat the cream until thickened. Slowly pour in the syrup and continue beating until the cream holds soft peaks. Cut the cake into squares; serve with the whipped cream.

Review:  Yummy cake - probably more suited for the fall or winter.  I dusted the cake with powdered sugar then topped it with regular whipped cream (didn't add the maple syrup) and it was delicious!!

Black and White Bars

Yield: 1/2 sheetpan

4oz Butter, melted
1lb 4oz Oreo cookie crumbs
 2 T Sugar

2 C shredded Coconut
2 C Chocolate chips
2 C White chocolate chips
2 C Chopped Walnuts
3 C Condensed Milk

1. For the crust: mix butter, crumbs, and sugar until it holds together well.  (Add more butter if needed)
2. Pour Crust mixture into a sheetpan (aka cookie sheet).  Roll evenly using a rolling pin on top of parchment paper.
3. Mix coconut, both chocolate chips, and walnuts together and spread over crumbs.  If this is too much, cut back to 1 1/2 C of each item.
4. Pour condensed milk evenly over entire pan.
5. Bake immediately at 350F.  Start to check at 15 mins, but will probably need more time.  Want to get them nice and golden brown over the top.
6. Allow to cool, then cut into bars.
7. Can also be frozen.

The first time I tasted these were at the Bearclaw at the top of the Sundance Ski Resort - delicious!!  My friend works there and I asked her one day if she could get me the recipe and she said she had it already!!!  I got a copy and they turned out just as good as they are at Sundance:)  Makes a huge batch so I ended up freezing most of them as individual bars in little plastic baggies and pulling them out when I wanted one. Enjoy!!