Fluchtlings Pletzchen

Preheat oven 325 degrees

250 grams (9 oz) butter
100 grams (3.5 oz) confectioners' sugar
250 grams (9 oz) cornstarch
2 pkg vanilla sugar (if you make your own, 2 Tablespoons)
100 grams (3.5 oz) flour

In a food processor, combine butter and sugars, zap until well mixed.
Open top and add flour and cornstarch. Process well. It will form a ball of dough.
Remove dough, form into log about 2" in diameter. Refrigerate for 2 hrs.
Slice 1/4" thick, place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Using a fork, press on each cookie leaving marks.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until slightly brown on edges.

Very flakey, melts in your mouth.
Variation: I made a batch that I added 2 teaspoons of almond extract.
Another batch I added 2 teaspoons of rum extract.
Extracts were added at end while mixture is processing into a ball.
Both were great!
ENJOY

Margaret's Quark Stollen (Cottage Cheese Stollen)

This is an old German recipe. I put the conversion in parenthesis ( ). If you can weigh the ingredients it is a good idea to do so because weighing is the most accurate way to measure baking ingredients. Think about this, if you measure cups of flour, it can be variable depending on if the flour is packed down or not. There are also measuring cups with grams, sold in most cooking specialty stores. They are cone shaped and so easy to use.

Here is a really yummy recipe. No one would ever guess the ingredient of cottage cheese.

1 lb. (4 cups) flour
2 eggs
200 gr (7 oz) sugar
250 gr (9 oz) butter
2 T. rum extract
200 gr. (7 oz) raisins
250 gr. (9 oz) cottage cheese, NOT creamed.
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 lb. (1 cup) finely grated almonds
100 gr. (3.5 oz) candied fruits
4 level tsps. baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs. Strain cottage cheese until most of liquid is removed. Press cottage cheese through a sieve to make it smooth. (I used a food processor, zapped it 2 or 3 times) Add cottage cheese to butter mixture. Add rum extract and lemon rind. Mix well. Mix flour and baking powder together. Add to above mixture. Knead dough until your hands are clean (not sticky). Coat almonds and fruits with a tsp. of flour. Add to dough and knead well to mix in fruit.
Split dough into two parts. Flatten dough for each loaf. Should be an oval shape. Melt a table spoon of butter and brush on top of each piece. Fold each piece in half and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake one hour at 350 degrees.

Allow to cool. Can be coated with confectioners' sugar when completely cooled. Or you can make a glaze with confectioners' sugar and lemon juice.

Christmas Cookies from the past

I started this blog in 2008 and I have other Christmas cookie recipes writen then, so check out the December 2008 entries.
Cookies bring back memories of our childhood. Watching Mom rolling out the cookie dough, using cookie cutters to make yummy sugar cookies. Decorating the cookies! And the best part, tasting! Of course I couldn't resist tasting before baking. The pieces of dough between the cut-outs... oh so good! And Mom would tell me not to do this, it would cause a stomach ache, but that didn't matter to me.
Then when my children were baking with me, I smiled as I saw them eat the raw dough. Of course I had to give the standard warning. Didn't help....
As the years go on, we make our own memories. Some with Mom's cookies, then we have found our own recipes to add to the list. The best of all of these I share with you. Maybe they can become part of your family memories too.