Cookie Swap Wreath Recipes

COOKIE SWAP WREATH

Steps:

• For the spiced sugar cookie: Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Paddle the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed until soft and the consistency of mayonnaise, about 3 minutes. Use a kitchen torch to gently warm the bowl if necessary.
• Add the granulated sugar and salt and continue to paddle at medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and paddle at medium speed until well incorporated, about 3 minutes (see Cook's Note).
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to the lowest setting, add the flour, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and allspice and mix until well combined.
• Scoop the cookie dough into a rough ball on a piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Keep the dough between the 2 sheets of parchment, place on a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 10 minutes in the freezer.
• Peel off the top piece of parchment and then place it back on top. Flip the dough over and peel the bottom parchment off. Cut the dough to the desired shape: For this wreath, cut an 8-inch circle and then a 5-inch circle in the interior to make a ring. Reserve, re-roll and bake off scraps for another use.
• Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the cookie ring until set, 7 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
• For the langues de chats: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Paddle the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed until soft and the consistency of mayonnaise, about 3 minutes. Use a kitchen torch to gently warm the bowl if necessary.
• Add the granulated sugar and salt and continue to paddle at medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the egg whites and vanilla bean paste and paddle at medium speed until incorporated completely.
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to the lowest setting, add the cake flour and orange zest and mix until well combined. Your batter should resemble a thick cake batter.
• Fill a piping bag fitted with a number 3 or 4 tip (large round) with the cookie batter. Pipe cookies onto 3 parchment paper-lined baking sheets. The cookies should be 1 inch long and spaced about 1 inch apart; you should be able to fit 3 rows of 9 to 10 cookies on each baking sheet (see Cook's Note).
• Bake 2 baking sheets at a time, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies have just started to brown on the edges, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool. Cookies will crisp as they cool. Repeat with the remaining baking sheet of cookies. (Makes 60 to 70 cookies)
• For the coconut lime Russian tea cakes: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Paddle the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed until soft and the consistency of mayonnaise, about 3 minutes. Use a kitchen torch to gently warm the bowl if necessary.
• Add the granulated sugar and salt and continue to paddle at medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and lime juice and paddle at medium speed until well incorporated.
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to the lowest setting and add the lime zest, flour and coconut and mix until well combined, scraping as often as necessary
• Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop, scoop the dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake until set, about 15 minutes. You should be able to pick up a cookie off the baking sheet. The cookies will be very lightly browned on the edges, and should feel soft, yet solid. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, and then dredge the warm cookies one by one in confectioners' sugar, ensuring complete coverage. Place back on the baking sheet to cool. (Makes 24 to 30 cookies)
• For the hippen tuile: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Paddle the butter in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and paddle at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Slowly add the egg whites and continue to paddle at medium speed until completely combined.
• Reduce the speed of the mixer to the lowest setting, add the flour and lemon zest and mix until combined. Your batter should resemble cake batter.
• Scoop the tuile batter into a pastry bag fitted with number 0 tip. Chill the batter until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Pipe the chilled batter into desired shapes (holly leaves for the wreath) on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or silicone baking mat. The batter will be stiff; loosen it slightly by kneading the pasty bag with your hands. Chill the piped tuile cookies until the batter is firm, about 10 minutes. This is a very important step so that the cookies maintain their shapes.
• Bake the tuiles until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely before taking the cookies off the baking sheet. The tuiles will crisp as they cool.
• For the royal icing: Whisk together the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, slowly add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and beat on low speed until the frosting is glossy and smooth.
• Fill a pastry bag with about 1/2 cup of the royal icing and cut off the tip to pipe fine lines. Reserve the remaining royal icing in the bowl.
• To assemble: Lay the spiced sugar cookie wreath on a flat surface. Dip one end of a langues des chats in the royal icing and lay it lengthwise on the wreath; repeat twice more so there are 3 across. Continue attaching the cookies, overlapping the ends to shingle all the way around the wreath; the royal icing should only touch the part of the cookies attached to the wreath base and should not be visible.
• Pipe along the edges and down the center of the hippen tuile holly leaves to accent them. Allow to dry.
• Attach the leaves and the Russian tea cookies to the wreath with the royal icing to make decorative holly and berry arrangements. Once complete, dust all over with confectioners' sugar to look like snow.

CORNFLAKE WREATHS

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and cook, stirring, until melted. Add the green food coloring and stir until evenly distributed. Remove from the heat, add the cornflakes and stir until well coated.
• Spray your hands with nonstick spray as needed during this step to ease in the shaping of the wreaths. Take 1/3 cup of the mixture and form an even log. Join the ends of the log together to form a wreath. Place the wreath onto one of the prepared baking sheets. Continue with the remaining cornflake mixture.
• Decorate each wreath with 3 small cinnamon candies. Let sit to firm before serving.

CHRISTMAS CORNFLAKE WREATH COOKIES

Steps:

• Microwave marshmallows and butter on High for 2 minutes. Stir, then microwave on High for 2 minutes more. Stir. (This can be done in a double boiler if one doesn't have a microwave.)
• Add and mix quickly the coloring, extracts, then cornflakes. Drop by spoonfuls in clumps on greased wax paper and decorate with 3 red hots each.
• Once cool, transfer to lightly greased serving/storage tray with lightly greased fingers.

WREATH COOKIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. gradually mix in the flour. Cover dough and chill until firm, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Roll dough into balls a little smaller than walnuts. Dip the balls in egg white, then roll them in the chopped walnuts. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Press thumb into middle of each ball to create a divot.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Remove from oven and repress divots, fill the divots with 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry jam. Remove cookies to cool on wire racks.