Aunt Sues Holiday Chocolate Pecan Neapolitan Cookies Recipes

NEAPOLITAN COOKIES

Steps:

• This dough chills overnight. On the day you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 400.
• For the dark dough: sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cloves, and cinnamon and set aside.
• Grind or cut chocolate until it is fine (otherwise it will be hard to slice the dough). Set aside.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, add the coffee and brown sugar and beat well.
• Add the eggs and beat to mix. Beat in the ground chocolate.
• On low speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl regularly. Don't overblend! Then stir in the nuts. Set the dough aside (not in the fridge) and make the light dough.
• Light dough: Sift together flour, salt, baking soda. Set aside.
• In a large clean bowl of the electric mixer with clean beaters, cream the butter. Add the vanilla, the sugar, water and beat well. Add the egg, beat to mix. On low speed gradually add the shifted dry ingredients. Don't overmix.
• Mix in the currents, lemon rind and cherries.
• Layer dough in the pans: one half the dark dough (carefully pack down and smooth), all the light dough (do the same), then the rest of the dark dough. Press down to make a compact loaf.
• Chill overnight (or for about twelve hours) in the freezer.
• To bake: preheat to 400. You'll need unbuttered cookie sheets, lined with foil if possible.
• Turn the pan over so that the cake of dough slides out, and peel off the foil or waxpaper. With a long and heavy knife, cut the cake in half the long way (if you used loaf pans); if you used a square 8x8 pan, cut it in three equal strips. Work with one piece at a time (wrap and freeze the others). Now slice the long piece you've got into individual cookies, about 1/3 of an inch thick. Place them 1 1/2 inches apart on the cookie sheets -- they will spread!
• Bake 10 minutes, watching carefully. The white dough should be lightly browned, but the dark dough will burn if you're not careful. If they come out of the oven seeming slightly underdone, that's good. They'll be chewy instead of brittle.

NEOPOLITAN COOKIES

Steps:

• In an electric mixer add flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking powder, vanilla, salt, beat 3 minutes. Line bottom of loaf pan with waxed paper. Divide in 3 equal parts and mix in: Part 1: almond extract and 5 drops red food coloring Part 2: cocoa Part 3: chopped walnuts
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread each part in loaf pan one on top of the other, pink, white, and chocolate. Cover pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Remove from pan and cut lengthwise in half then crosswise then cut 15 cookies from each piece. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
• The recipes for this program, which were provided by contributors and guests who may not be professional chefs, have not been tested in the Food Network's kitchens. Therefore, the Food Network cannot attest to the accuracy of any of the recipes.

NEAPOLITAN HOLIDAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 3 quarter-sheet pans (or three 13-by-9-by-2-inch jelly roll pans) with cooking spray. Line each pan with parchment paper and coat the paper with cooking spray as well.
• Place the almond paste in the bowl of a stand mixer. Break it up into small pieces with a fork. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and add the butter and sugar to the bowl. Beat the mixture on high speed until light and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, add the egg yolks, and beat until incorporated. Turn the mixer off and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.
• Clean the mixer bowl thoroughly and fit the mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter until thoroughly blended.
• Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the batter to a medium bowl, then transfer another 1 1/2 cups of the batter to a second medium bowl. Add the red food coloring to one of the bowls and stir until the batter is tinted throughout. Add the green food coloring to the second bowl and stir until the batter is tinted throughout. Scrape each of the three batters into one of the prepared pans, using the spatula to spread the batter to the edges. Bake, rotating and switching the positions of the pans halfway through, until the edges are golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then invert onto cooling racks and allow to cool completely.
• To assemble, place the green layer on a large cutting board or a large inverted baking sheet lined with wax paper. Spread the raspberry jam evenly over the top. Place the yellow layer on top and spread with the apricot preserves. If there are large chunks of apricots, remove and chop them up to make them more spreadable. Top with the red layer. Cover with plastic wrap and place a heavy cutting board on top to weight it down. Refrigerate overnight.
• Place the chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl and melt in the microwave on low power about 2 minutes. Spread the chocolate on top of the cooled cake and let dry slightly. Trim the rim of the cake with a serrated knife to make clean edges. Cut the cake crosswise into twelve 1-inch-wide strips, then cut lengthwise into 1 1/4-inch strips. The cookies will keep, covered, up to 1 week.

NEAPOLITAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Line a 9x5-in. loaf pan with waxed paper, letting ends extend up sides. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. , Divide dough into 3 portions. Mix almond extract and food coloring into 1 portion; spread evenly into prepared pan. Mix walnuts into another portion; spread evenly over first layer. Mix melted chocolate into remaining portion; spread over top. Refrigerate, covered, overnight. , Preheat oven to 350°. Lifting with waxed paper, remove dough from pan. Cut lengthwise in half; cut each half crosswise into 1/8-in. slices., Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until edges are firm, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

CHOCOLATE PECAN COOKIES (BETTER THAN PUBLIX BAKERY)

Steps:

• Notes: 1. Can substitute dark brown sugar in place of white sugar and molasses (I find my way cheaper and less messy). 2. Can substitute canola oil for soybean (I read it's healthier, but I'm in what seems to be a minority of people who can taste canola oil and really don't like it). 3. Can substitute dark brown sugar in place of Splenda (I use some Splenda just to cut down on a few calories). 4. I use Nestle cocoa instead of Hershey's because it's cheaper, and I can't taste any difference. 5. Dutch cocoa will not react with baking soda. Plus, I don't like the idea of treating cocoa with some alkali, which causes some losses of the chemical compounds that are retained in unprocessed cocoa, including some of the natural antioxidants in the chocolate. 6. Can substitute unsalted butter for salted butter, but then need to increase Kosher salt to ½ teaspoon. 7. You can freeze the egg white in an ice cube tray then bag it for future use. 8. Of course, you can substitute, add or subtract anything else you want, but then it would be a different cookie recipe.
• General method: This recipe uses only a blender, one bowl, and one fork. I've tried other methods, but this gives the best result along with the added benefit of being very simple and quick. Of course, if you don't have a blender, just use whatever substitute will give you the equivalent result of a blender.
• Put all the wet ingredients (items 1 - 8) in the blender in any order. Start the blender at a low speed until the ingredients are flowing smoothly (takes maybe 30 to 60 seconds in my blender). Then quickly move the blender speed up to its highest setting and blend on highest for about 30 seconds. The mixture's consistency should be medium light and airy. Not too thick, and not like meringue.
• Put all the dry ingredients (items 9 - 12) in a large bowl (I like using a 2-½-quart glass measuring cup because of its size and shape for the ingredients in this recipe). Mix them thoroughly (I use a plain fork to do this). Create a well in the center for the wet mixture.
• Pour and spatula all the wet mixture from the blender.into the dry mixture well in the bowl. Add the chopped pecans to the bowl. Mix together with a fork, spoon or hands, just until thoroughly combined (I prefer a plain fork). Do not overmix. The cookie dough consistency should be firm, slightly oily, and should not stick to the sides of the bowl. The color should be dark black, and may glisten some.
• Set oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. You should use the center rack.
• Let the cookie dough sit in the bowl at room temperature for about ten minutes to let the bread flour and cocoa thoroughly integrate with the wet mixture. The bowl can be covered to keep out unwanted stuff, but it is not necessary otherwise.
• After sitting for about ten minutes, .mix a little more. You are now ready to pan and bake.
• I recommend you now try a single test cookie. (If you want to just bake the whole batch now, then skip this instruction and continue to the next one.) The batch of dough makes twelve 3 ½ inch cookies. So, using your fork or other scooper, get an amount equal to about 1/12 the total batch (this should be about the size of a golf ball or slightly bigger). It is not necessary to grease the baking sheet. Put the dollop of cookie dough in the center of the sheet, and mash it till it is fairly flat on top, and about 3 inches across. If the cookie dough sticks a lot to the baking sheet, and leaves residue that is not easily scraped off, you may need a little more oil. Bake the single cookie for 8 -10 minutes (I would try 9). It should rise somewhat while baking, but will fall flat after taking it out of the oven. Let it cool a bit on the sheet, then try it. If it's too dry and sticks a lot to the baking sheet, you can add 1 TBL of soybean oil to the cookie dough and mix it in by hand as best you can. If it's too dry, but does NOT stick a lot to the baking sheet, then try baking less time (try 2 minutes less). When you are happy with the cookie, bake the whole batch following the next instruction.
• The batch of dough makes twelve 3 ½ inch cookies. The baking sheet should be on the center rack of the oven, so you may have to bake two batches of six cookies (like I do), or you can use two baking sheets on two racks, and swap the sheets half way through baking. It is not necessary to grease the baking sheet. The size of each cookie on the baking sheet should equal about 1/12 the total batch (this should be about the size of a golf ball or slightly bigger). Using your fork or other scooper, put the dollops of cookie dough on the sheet, and mash them till they are fairly flat on top, and about 3 inches across. Bake the cookies for 10 -12 minutes (12 works for me). They should rise somewhat while baking, but will fall flat after taking them out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before taking them off (I use a wooden spatula).
• Baking is very unforgiving, and these cookies are no exception. There are two main reasons I've found that will give you a bad batch. The cookie dough is either too dry or too oily. Or, the baking time was either too short or too long. In insrtuction 9 above, I discuss too dry. If they are too oily, use less oil in the next batch, or add more milk and/or bread flour. If the dough seems oily enough, but bakes too dry, then reduce the baking time (try 2 minutes less).

NEAPOLITAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Line the bottom of a loaf pan with waxed paper.
• With an electric mixer combine flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking powder, vanilla, and salt; beat for 3 minutes.
• Divide the cookie dough into 3 equal parts.
• Part 1: mix in the almond or hazelnut extract and 5 drops red food coloring (this is the pink/red dough).
• Part 2: mix in the chopped walnuts or pistachios (this is the white dough).
• Part 3: mix in the cocoa (this is the brown dough).
• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• In the loaf pan, spread each part of the dough one on top of the other, pink, white, and chocolate; cover the pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
• After chilling, turn out the dough from the pan and cut loaf lengthwise in half, then crosswise, then cut pieces of dough to make about 15 cookies from each piece.
• Bake each batch for 8-10 minutes.
• Makes about 60 cookies.

CHOCOLATE COCONUT NEAPOLITANS

Steps:

• Line a 9x5-in. loaf pan with waxed paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well., Divide dough into thirds. Add almond extract and red food coloring to 1 portion; spread evenly into prepared pan. Add coconut to second portion; spread evenly over first layer. Add chocolate syrup to third portion; spread over second layer. Cover with foil; freeze for 4 hours or overnight., Unwrap loaf and cut in half lengthwise. Cut each portion widthwise into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° until edges are lightly browned, 12-14 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool., In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip 1 end of each cookie into chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set.

NEAPOLITAN REFRIGERATOR COOKIES

Steps:

• in large bowl, combine 3/4 cup crisco with sugar.add egg and almond extract.mix well.
• sift flour with baking powder, and blend into creamed mixture --
• divide dough into 3 portions.
• to one portion, add 1 tbls crisco and cocoa --
• to another bowl, add a few drops of red food coloring and strawberry extract -- blend well.
• with plastic wrap, line a loaf pan about 3x6" and 2" deep --
• press chocolate dough into bottom of pan, brush with egg white.press white dough over chocolate dough, brush with egg white, then press strawberry dough on top and brush with egg white --
• wrap plastic wrap around the three layers to cover.
• chill several hours in refrigerator.
• preheat oven to 375*.
• remove dough and cut into 1/4" slices.
• bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes or firm.
• transfer to wire rack to cool.

CZECH CHOCOLATE PECAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients until smooth.
• With a teaspoon, make little heaps (walnut-sized) on a floured and greased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 300 degrees for 6-8 minutes.
• You can also place 1/2 of a pecan on each cookie while still warm.

AUNT SUE'S HOLIDAY CHOCOLATE PECAN NEAPOLITAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 x 5 x 3 in loaf pan with waxed paper and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
• Divide dough into thirds. Add almond extract and red food coloring to one portion; spread evenly into prepared pan. Add green food coloring to second portion; spread evenly over first layer. Add chocolate syrup to third portion; spread evenly over second layer. Cover with foil. Freeze for 4 hours or overnight.
• Unwrap loaf and cut in half lengthwise. Cut each portion widthwise into 1 inch slices. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.
• In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until blended and smooth. Dip one end of each cookie into chocolate. Place on wire racks until set.