Your loved ones are sure to enjoy the combination of cranberry and orange of these Cranberry Pillow Cookies and the rich flavor of these Winter Molasses Cookies. Each recipe makes 18-24 cookies.
Ingredients
Cranberry Pillow Cookies
2 1/2 c frozen cranberries
1 c fresh-squeezed orange juice
3/4 c sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temp
1 c sugar
2 lg eggs
1 t vanilla
cranberry filling
crystal sugar, for garnish
Winter Molasses Cookies
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c whole-wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 c dark molasses
1 t vanilla
1/3 c Lars Swedish pearl sugar or other coarse sugar
Steps
Cranberry Pillow Cookies
In saucepan, cook cranberries, orange juice, sugar and cornstarch over med heat until thickened. Chill. Alternately, you can substitute the cranberry filling with your favorite jam.
Combine flour, soda and salt in med bowl; set aside. Cream butter and sugar in mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Add dry ingredients until combined; do not over mix. Cover and chill at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough 1/8″ thick on floured board; cut into 2 1/2″ squares. (A metal ruler and pizza cutter make this easier.) Choose a mini cutter no larger than 1″ in diameter and cut out center of half of the squares for the cookie tops. Place 1 t filling in center of solid cookie square and cover with top square. Press edges of two squares together to seal in filling. Crimp edges with fork. Sprinkle with crystal sugar.
Bake 8-10 min until slightly browned; cool on wire rack.
Winter Molasses Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In med bowl, mix flours, soda and spices. Set aside.
In a mixer, cream butter and sugars until fluffy, scraping bowl often. Add yolk, molasses, and vanilla; mix well. Gradually incorporate dry mixture. Cover; chill 1 hour, until easy to handle (cold dough spreads less when baking).
Shape dough into 1″ balls and roll in pearl sugar. Place onto cookie sheet, 2″ apart. Bake 8-10 min until bottoms are light brown. Let rest 1 min; transfer to wire rack.
