Welcome holiday season with tasty cookies, bars

Some things never go out of style during the holidays — eggnog, peppermint candy canes, gingerbread and a whole host of classic cookies and bars — and many of these have become firmly entrenched as part of the holiday season. Today we’ll look at some of the great old classics, both cookies and bars, that are sure to delight all you know. Enjoy.

Crisp Lemon Wafers

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup finely grated lemon zest

1 large egg

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tsps. pure lemon oil

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the

butter, sugar, and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beginning on low speed and gradually increasing to high until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium, add egg, lemon juice and lemon oil, beat just until well blended. Reduce speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat just until blended.

Divide the dough into thirds; it will be sticky. Transfer one third of the dough to a floured sheet of waxed paper and lightly flour the top of the dough. With floured hands, form it into a 11by 1 1/4-inch log. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill logs, wrapped in waxed paper for at least 2 hours or until firm. (Dough will keep in the freezer tightly wrapped for 3 months).

At least 25 minutes before baking, position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Cut dough crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices and place at least 1-inch apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or till the edges are golden brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

This recipe makes about 10 dozen wafers, and as suggested in the illustration, can be made into dessert sandwiches with chocolate glaze, chilled lemon curd or other seasonal choices. Too, the suggestion of stirring a tablespoon of finely minced crystallized ginger into the dough adds a number of other delectable possibilities.

One of my favorite cookies is the Florentine – so elegant whether plain or glazed with chocolate – and so delicious! I’ve seen several recipes over the years, each with different additions from slivered almonds to orange peel, but when I saw this unique gem, I just had to share it.

Florentines

3/4 cup golden raisins, plumped by soaking in warm water

2 cups crushed plain cornflakes

3/4 cup chopped salted cashews

1/2 cup candied or maraschino cherries, chopped

1/2 can condensed (not evaporated) milk

3 squares unsweetened baking chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets, line with buttered wax-paper and dust lightly with cornstarch. Combine drained raisins, cornflakes, cashews, and candied cherries in a mixing bowl. Add condensed milk and mix well. Mound mixture, 2 teaspoons at a time, on the sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool slightly. With a spatula, carefully remove to cool – flat side up - on dishtowel-covered sheets.* Melt chocolate in top of a double boiler, remove from heat and stir until slightly thickened. Spread over the flat side of half the cookies and score wavy lines with a fork. Allow chocolate to firm before storing.

* These soft, pliable freshly-baked cookies are fragile for a rack, so I place a clean dishtowel on trays to cool the cookies.

You may want to replace 1/2 cup of the crushed cornflakes with chopped coconut. I do it, as well as often substituting chopped walnuts for the cashews. Some bakers use peanuts but I don’t like them – I think it “cheapens” the classic cookie. It seems to me that at their original site in Florence, Italy, that hazelnuts might have been the “nut of choice”, but haven’t discovered that one yet. Experiment and choose your own favorite!

Sorry, I gave short shrift to the bars today, but will make up for it in a later column. Here, however, is a gem to bake while you’re waiting!

Chewy Apricot-Date Bars

Bars:

1 ½ cups firm-packed brown sugar

¾ cup + 4 tsp. butter

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups Quick Quaker Oats uncooked, divided and finely ground

½ cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. EACH nutmeg, salt

1 cup finely grated carrots

1 cup finely minced* dried apricots

1 cup minced dates

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

* To mince apricots and dates, sliced into slivers, then cut the slivers into very small pieces.

Frosting:

1 3-ounce pkg. cream cheese, softened

¼ cup butter

2½ cups confectioners’ sugar

1-2 tsp. milk

¾ tsp. lemon extract

1/3 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. finely grated lemon peel

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350F: Grease 13x9x2-inch pan; flour lightly, tap out excess. For bars, combine brown sugar and ¾ cup + 4 tsp. butter in large bowl, Beat at medium speed of mixer until fluffy; add eggs one at a time, then vanilla, beating until well blended and fluffy.

Combine ground oats with flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add gradually to creamed mixture at low speed. Add remaining 1½ cups oats, carrots, apricots, dates, 1 cup nuts and white chocolate chips. Mix till partially blended, finish mixing with a spoon. Spread in greased pan.

Bake 35-45 minutes or until center is set and dough just starts to pull away from sides of pan. Tester inserted in center should come out clean. Do NOT over-bake! Cool completely.

Make frosting: combine cream cheese, ¼ cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, milk, lemon extract, vanilla and lemon peel in medium bowl.

Beat at low speed until blended; increase speed to medium-high and beat till fluffy.

Spread on baked surface. Cut into bars. Refrigerate.

Valle Novak writes the Country Chef and Weekend Gardener columns for the Daily Bee. She can be reached at bcdailybee@bonnercountydailybee.com or by phone at 208-265-4688.