Almond Bars

These are a staple at my house during the holidays and my favorite cookie probably of all time.

Preheat oven to 325

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons milk
1 cup sliced almonds

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. About 3- 4 minutes. Add salt, eggs, vanilla, almond extract and baking powder. Add flour and mix until combined.

Divide dough into 6 pieces. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, roll two of the pieces of dough into logs the length of the cookie sheet. Flatten the dough with your fingers until they are 3 inches wide. You will have two long ovals on each cookie sheet.

With a pastry brush, brush the milk onto each oval of dough. Sprinkle the top with almonds.

Bake at 325 for 16 minutes.

Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then slice them 1 inch wide at an angle. Allow them to cool completely on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Once cooled, drizzle with icing.

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon melted butter

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies- EVER

These are the only sugar cookies that are better the next day. Soooooo good.

One tool I highly recommend for anyone, especially for making rolled cookies, is a small offset spatula. You can use it to help scoop up cookies and put them on the baking sheet and for frosting. It's an indispensable tool in my book.

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
4 ounces cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all purpose flour
Powdered sugar for dusting & rolling

Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add eggs vanilla, salt and baking powder. Add flour.

Dough will be soft, so you will need to work in a little powdered sugar when you're rolling out the cookies. Chilling the dough for 30 minutes will help, though I don't usually do that.

Roll cookies to 1/4 inch and cut into desired shapes. Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets at 325 on the top rack for 9 minutes.

*tip* for super accurate sprinkle placement, try a pair of (clean) tweezers.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Filled Cookies

They're a little more complicated than your average cookie, but so worth the effort.

If you get nervous about flipping the thin cookie dough on top, just refrigerate it for 5 or 10 minutes to make it easier to work with.

For the Filling:

3/4 cup dates, pits removed (about 10)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk cornstarch and flour into water in a saucepan. Add dates, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mix becomes thick. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Puree in a food processor until smooth.

For the Cookie:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
4 teaspoons half and half
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Combine butter, sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Add eggs, vanilla and half and half. Mix well. Add baking soda, baking powder and flour, stir until combined.

Line a 9x13 aluminum cake pan with parchment paper. Add half the cookie dough. Spread evenly into pan, using a piece of plastic wrap on top of the dough and spreading with your fingers. Just remember to remove the plastic wrap before adding filling.

Add filling and spread evenly.

On an additional piece of parchment, spread remaining half of cookie dough. Using plastic wrap and your fingers, spread dough to size of pan. Remove plastic wrap and flip dough onto filling. Remove parchment from the top.

Prick dough with a paring knife all over to vent. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Cool cookies for at least 30 minutes before cutting. Cut with a serrated knife for best results. Dust with powdered sugar.