Turtle Pretzels and Minty Witch Cookies

Minty Witches   and   Turtle Pretzel Nuggets    

'Turtle anything'  is  a magnet for me, and these nuggets are delicious,  however......someone at RR magazine is  totally clueless when it comes to time management.    I'm not  at all sure these are worth the effort,  so  I'm likely to go back to plopping a caramel on a small pretzel ring or twist, nuking briefly, then dipping in chocolate and nuts.  Even easier,  put a Rolo on a small pretzel ring, nuke briefly to melt a bit, press a pecan half on top.    The taste is pretty  much the same and it frees up an hour or so for waxing the driveway or whatever you consider  more fun than  tediously rolling out caramels.

Being a good direction-taker, I started out following directions to roll the caramels flat with a rolling pin.  I used Kraft caramels, maybe Brachs would have been softer... or maybe I should have had  Wheaties for breakfast,  because  this  task was not as easy  as it sounded.   I soon started nuking a dozen or so at a time, for about 15 seconds, to soften them slightly, which resulted in being able to squish them flat with my fingers, no rolling involved.  (If you over-nuke they'll begin to lose their shape  and be too gooey to work with)  This made the process speed up acceptably, but still took a while.  I've left the  RR original directions intact here, in case  you happen to feel like punishing yourself or  keeping  kids busy for hours.  I also found that dropping them in the nuts resulted in too heavy  a nut coating, so I just sprinkled the nuts over the hot chocolate.

One 14-ounce bag (4 dozen) soft caramels   One 10-ounce bag pretzel nuggets,  12 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped , 2 cups natural almonds, toasted and finely chopped       Directions:  Unwrap the caramels, then, using a rolling pin, roll out each one into a 1/8-inch-thick oval. Wrap a caramel around each pretzel nugget, pinching the ends to seal. In a double boiler over simmering water, melt half the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add the remaining chocolate, remove the top of the double boiler from the saucepan and stir until smooth.

Place the almonds in a shallow bowl. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Using a fork, dip a caramel-covered pretzel in the chocolate to coat, tapping off any excess chocolate. Transfer the pretzel to the almonds and toss to coat; place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pretzels. Let stand until set, about 3 hours. ( I refrigerated them to harden  the coating faster).
Yummy for sure,   but never again......    

Minty Witches
are a favorite I've been making at Christmas  for  about  forty years.   I am not  crazy about sandwich cookies,  hard cookies, or mint  for that matter, but these are an exception to all three.  Somewhat like Girl Scout Thin Mints  on speed, they're very chocolate-y  and the chocolate-covered  mint patty filling  makes them easy to assemble.  I buy the long thin boxes of the candies somewhere cheap like Dollar Tree.  They also carry small bags of  the same type mints ( like mini York's) in small bags.    There are generally about 20 per box, check the label for quantity.  Thiis time I happened to find orange-flavored mints covered in chocolate.

Combine 1/2 c  solid shortening, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1 egg, and beat til creamy. Blend in 6 oz mint-flavored chocolate chips, melted, and 1/4 c. white corn syrup.  Sift together  1 3/4 c  flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt.  Stir into chocolate, mix well, and refrigerate  several hours or overnight. Just add about 1/4 tsp peppermint extract if you use plain chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll into tiny  uniform-size balls, about the size of a maraschino cherry or a malted milk ball. It's important not to let them get too big, or the filling will get lost inside. We want them to  spread to be only the same size as the mints.    Roll them in granulated sugar,  and bake for 10-15 minutes.  Let stand on cookie sheets  a minute  before removing,  but do not let them cool....they harden quickly  Remove half of them to a rack,  turning upside down. Immediately  top with a peppermint and then the other cookie, right side up.  As the  mint begins to soften, gently push to squish the filling to the cookie size.  Cool.   The original recipe says it makes 48 but I never  get  more than 36.   They are  witchy-good!

Little Clouds of Lemon Heaven

The name says it all.....

Cookie dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before shaping and baking. If it's too firm, let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 2/3 cups   all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

In large bowl, beat butter, 1/3 cup powdered sugar and the vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Stir in flour until dough forms. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes for easier handling.


Heat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Press thumb into center of each ball to make indentation.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Larger cookies may take up to 20 minutes.  Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Have something handy to re-open the indentation for the filling before the cookies cool... you might use a bottle cap, upside down. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Make the filling while  they cool.

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten

In 1-quart saucepan, heat all filling ingredients over low heat  stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. Cool slightly, about 15 minutes.  Fill each thumbprint with rounded 1/4 measuring teaspoon filling, using a spoon or a pastry bag. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon powdered sugar over cookies.

Lime -Coconut Coolers

Whatever possessed me to make these cookies the first time, I  no longer recall.  Since  I seldom look  twice at cookies without chocolate,  I can only speculate now that manifest destiny, or the hand of the Fabulous Cookie Fairy compelled me to  overlook  my chocolate obsession for a few moments.   I also have to admit that I have become a major fan of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix.  Bakers everywhere will  protest that their  from-scratch cookie is  better but I refuse to believe it, and the ease of  using the mix has converted me.  

   But, I digress!  This  soft, coconut-lime chewy sugar  cookie was a winner in Betty's cookie mix recipe contest many moons ago  and is simply lime-a-licious.  The coconut and lime are both subtle and you'll get a lot of questions about the  mystery ingredients.  Now and then I add a tiny drop of green food coloring to help identify the  lime flavor, or use a teeny drop of  neon-green food coloring to  tint the coconut ( ahead of time)  a pale lime green. Just be very cautious not to end up with green cookies.

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl stir together a 17-oz  pouch  of BC sugar cookie mix, 1/2 c. coconut, 1 TB grated lime zest ( about 1 lime), 3 TB lime juice ( you can use real lime juice, like Joe and Nellie's Key lime juice,* but  since you have the  limes right there, fresh is obviously best), 1 egg, and  6 TB butter or margarine, melted.  Mix til a soft dough forms.  Drop dough by  heaping TB's  onto ungreased cookie sheets, at least 2" apart.  Bake 9-13 minutes, until the edges only are a light golden brown...dont let them  brown at all;  you want a  nice white cookie.  Cool for 1 minute on the pan, then remove to cool completely.   Later, sift  powdered sugar  over the cookies. I usually get about 28 cookies per pouch. If you freeze them, powder  them both  when baked and again after thawing, if needed.   

 

* don't, please, use the sweet bottled lime juice that's used in mixed drinks. 

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

My all-time favorite cookie !   The base is chewy and fudgy, and then there's that maraschino cherry on top, smothered in a  baked-on  cherry-fudge blanket.  I've been indulging myself and  others for over 40  years, and believe the recipe  originated in  Better Homes &  Gardens.     The original recipe claims to make 48 but I've never managed to get that many, so I plan on 3 dozen each time.....24 for the cookie jar and a dozen for the cook's quality-control  testing.

You'll need 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened, 1 cup sugar,; 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder,  1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1 egg,  1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla,  48  maraschino cherries (about one 10-ounce jar + the juice) ; 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, (do not use milk chocolate), 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk.  Don't mindlessly use the entire can, as I've done a time or six!

In a mixing bowl combine flour and cocoa; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds or until softened. Add sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until well combined. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls ( mine are apparently a little bigger) &   place on an ungreased baking sheet. Press down center of each ball with thumb. Drain maraschino cherries, reserving juice. Place a cherry in the center of each cookie. In a small saucepan combine the chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk; heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of the reserved cherry juice.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the frosting over each cherry on unbaked cookie, spreading to cover cherry. (Frosting may be thinned with additional cherry juice, if necessary.)  Bake in 350°F oven about 10 minutes or until done. Remove to wire rack; cool. Cover and store at room temperature up to 2 days.   This might make  48 cookies.  More or less!