Cherry Dream Meltaways Food

CINNAMON-ALMOND MELT-AWAYS

Steps:

• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350˚. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and bake on the lower rack until toasted and lightly browned on the inside, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely, then pulse in a food processor until very finely ground (do not grind to a paste). Add the all-purpose flour, rice flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the salt. Pulse until combined.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the butter and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture. Turn out the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap, flatten into a rectangle and wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into an 8-by-9-inch rectangle (about 1/3 inch thick). If the dough starts to crack around the edges, pinch it back together with your fingers. Peel off the plastic wrap. With a short side facing you, slice the dough lengthwise into eight 1-inch-wide strips, then slice the strips crosswise into 1 1/2-inch rectangles (48 total; if the dough becomes too soft, refrigerate 15 minutes). Arrange the rectangles 1 inch apart on the prepared pans.
• Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are set around the edges, 16 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the pans.
• Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Gently toss the warm cookies in the sugar mixture to coat, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Toss the cooled cookies in the sugar mixture again.

RED CHERRY DREAM SQUARES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 deg.
• Grease 13x9" pan.
• In large bowl, combine cake mix, 1 cup of the rolled oats and 6 T of the margarine; mix until crumbly.
• Reserve 1 cupcrumbs for topping.
• To remaining crumbs, add 1 egg; mix until well blended.
• Press into greased pan.
• Pour cherry pie filling over crust; spread to cover.
• To reserved crumbs in large bowl, add remaining 1/4 cup rolled oats and 2 T margarine, nuts and brown sugar; mix well.
• Sprinkle over cherry filling.
• Bake at 350 deg for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.
• Cool completely.
• If desired, serve with whipped cream.

PISTACHIO CHERRY MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a stand mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, pudding mix, and flour. Mix until combined. The mixture may seem dry at first but will come together after beating.
• Add the almond extract and green food coloring if you want the cookies with a brighter green color.
• Finely chop the maraschino cherries. Using a paper towel pat the cherries removing all of the juice and excess liquid. You want to make sure you dry all of the red juice or you may turn your cookies a not so pretty color. Gently mix in the chopped cherries being careful not to overmix because the color will start to bleed.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Take a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Place cookie on the cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
• Bake for 9-11 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet. Once completely cooled sprinkle or roll cookies with additional powdered sugar.

LEMON MELTAWAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix butter and white sugar.
• Add the egg and continue to mix until combined.
• Stir in the lemon zest.
• Combine flour and baking powder and add it in batches to the wet ingredients until fully mixed.
• Take about 2 teaspoons of the dough and shape it into a ball in your hands.
• Place onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and flatten just a little.
• Bake for 8 minutes then remove from oven.
• After a few minutes, transfer to a wire cooling rack. Cookies will need to be completely cooled before glazing.
• In a small mixing bowl add the confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, and cream then stir until combined.
• Spoon a little onto each cookie, spreading toward the edges.TIP: The glaze will take about 15 minutes to set before eating.
• Decorate with a bit of lemon zest.

THE BEST PECAN MELTAWAYS EVER!

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
• Stir in the pecans.
• Refrigerate dough until chilled.
• WHEN READY TO BAKE: Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Roll into one inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes or until set.
• Roll warm cookies in additional confectioners' sugar; cool completely on wire racks.
• Roll cooled cookies again in additional confectioners' sugar.

~ CHERRY DREAM MELTAWAYS ~

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 325 degree F. Lightly grease a sheet pan. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the extracts. Mix the salt and flour and add to the butter mixture a little at a time until all is beaten in.
• 2. In a bowl, spoon out preserves and I chop the cherries up with a spoon, just so they aren't left whole.
• 3. Roll in the palm of your hand about 1 inch round balls and place on prepared pan about 1 inch apart. Use your thumb and indent the dough, not clear through, just enough that you can fill each cookie with 1/2 - 3/4 tsp of preserves.
• 4. Bake just until they begin to brown on the bottom, yet are nice and white on the sides and top - about 15 minutes.
• 5. Remove cookies to cooling rack and make the glaze while they cool.
• 6. Whisk together the sugar, almond extract and milk. Take a small baggie and roll down the top, spoon in the glaze and cut a small hole on the one corner. Pipe glaze over each cookie in a swirled motion.
• 7. Dig in, they are delicious!
• 8. Original recipe for which I tweaked. I loved my changes. :)

CREAM CHEESE MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch and salt until combined.
• In a large bowl, add powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese and vanilla and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until combined. (Note: dough will be dry and crumbly).
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls (be careful not to overwork dough) and place on prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until bottoms of cookies are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes of pan and then move to wire rack to cool completely.
• GLAZE: In a medium bowl, whisk powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Dip the tops of cooled cookies into glaze and place on wire rack. Decorate with sprinkles, as desired. Let cookies stand until glaze is set.

SHORTBREAD MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Drop by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 11-13 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

EGGNOG MELTAWAY COOKIES

Steps:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Put the almonds and 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until very finely ground, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and process until smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Scrape the dough off the inside of the bowl if needed. Add the bourbon and rum and vanilla extracts and pulse until smooth. Add the flour and salt and pulse until the dough forms a ball.
• Roll mounded teaspoons of the dough into balls about 1 inch wide and place on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, position oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the cookies are firm when gently pressed, completely dry and just beginning to crack at the top, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes; they will firm as they cool.
• Meanwhile, put the nutmeg and remaining 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar in a pie plate or wide baking dish and mix well. Toss the warm cookies very gently in the sugar mixture until evenly coated; the cookies need to be warm for the first coating of sugar to stick. Cool the cookies on a wire rack completely, about 30 minutes, then toss again in the sugar mixture so they are very white. Sprinkle with additional grated nutmeg.
• Store the cookies in a little bit of extra confectioners' sugar in an airtight container for up to a week.