Almond Crescents

My favorite Christmas cookies. 

Though lately I've been making them for King's Day, January 6th,

and hiding a bean in one of the cookies for a lucky eater to find

and then be crowned King for the Day.

The last sweet taste of our Christmas holiday

before ordinary life engulfs us once more.

 

Preheat oven to  350°F.

Sift:

¾ cup powdered sugar

Add the sugar gradually and cream with:

1 cup butter

Add:

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup almond meal

Knead in by hand until completely mixed:

2½ cups sifted flour

Chill the dough and roll it to a 1- inch thickness.  Cut with crescent cookie-cutters.  Bake on parchment papered cookie sheet at 350° until slightly golden – about 15 minutes.  When baked, dip in:

powdered sugar

Limey Lambs

You will need a lamb-shaped cookie cutter.  Otherwise you will have to make Limey Stars or Limey Hearts or Limey Christmas Trees, which should taste just as delicious but not be quite so alliterative.

½ cup sugar

2 Tablespoons finely grated lime zest

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

¼ cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 ¾  cups, plus 2 Tablespoons flour

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

for tossing, also for rolling out

1 cup powdered sugar for dusting

pinch salt

1. Whisk granulated sugar and lime zest.  Add powdered sugar. 
2. Cream together butter and sugars.
3. Add lime juice and vanilla.
4. Sift together flour, cornstarch, and salt.  Add to butter mixture.
5. On work surface, sprinkled lightly with powdered sugar-salt mixture halve dough.  Flatten each half into a 10-inch disk and wrap each in plastic.  Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 325°.
7. Working with 1 half at a time, roll out dough on parchment paper to ⅛ inch thick.  Cut shapes from dough with cookie cutter.  Space 1 inch apart on baking sheet lined with parchment.  Wrap scraps in plastic and freeze 30 minutes; re-roll and cut shapes.
8. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until barely golden, about 10 minutes (13 minutes if baked at 300°).  Let cool slightly, on wire rack 8-10 minutes.
9. While still warm, gently toss each cookie in small bowl of powdered sugar-salt mixture, coating both sides.
10. Cookies can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 2 weeks.  Can be frozen.

Maple Walnut Pie

This is one recipe it just doesn't make sense to bother with unless you use the best ingredients.  First, only the freshest nuts, this season's, preferably gathered from a neighbor's tree.  Second, you want real maple syrup, the dark full-flavored Grade B type.  Third, real apple cider vinegar is a lot milder and mellower than the acidulated corn syrup with added artificial flavors that is marketed these days as cider vinegar.  Fourth, beyond that this recipe is easy . . . as pie.  In seven simple steps.

Prepare half a batch of Best Pie Crust.  Roll out and fit pie crust into pie pan.  Preheat oven to 375.

Beat together thoroughly

3 eggs 

1 cup sugar 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/3 cup melted butter 

1 cup real Grade B maple syrup 

1 Tbs real apple cider vinegar 

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Stir in

3 cups very fresh walnut pieces, reserving a few unbroken             halves to decorate the top
1 tsp real vanilla extract

Pour filling into pie shell.  Bake pie 50 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Delicious warm with good vanilla ice cream.  Delicious cooled with a dab of cream.  Not half bad all by itself the day after.