Macadamia Meltaways Food

CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour and mix well. Stir in nuts (dough will be stiff); set aside. , For filling, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Stir in nuts; cool slightly. Drop by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. , Shape 1 teaspoon of dough around each piece of chocolate-nut mixture so it is completely covered. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. , Bake at 375° until lightly browned, 12-14 minutes. Roll warm cookies in confectioners' sugar; cool on wire racks.

PEPPERMINT MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. In another bowl, whisk flour and cornstarch; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape dough into 1-in. balls; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat butter until creamy. Beat in milk, extract and, if desired, food coloring. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over cookies; sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in an airtight container.

NUTMEG MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour and mix well. Stir in almonds. Shape into 1-in. balls., Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 300° for 18-20 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. , In a shallow bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and nutmeg. Gently roll cooled cookies in sugar mixture.

MACADAMIA MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In food processor, pulse nuts until they are finely chopped, or chop by hand. With a mixer, combine butter and vanilla, and mix until smooth, occasionally scraping the sides with a rubber spatula. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix for 2 more minutes. Then add the flour and mix just until combined and the dough holds together. Fold in the macadamia nuts.
• Shape dough by measuring teaspoons into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls, 1 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake cookies 20 to 22 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool 5 minutes.
• Sift remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar into a pie plate. While cookies are still warm, roll in sugar to coat; return to wire rack to cool completely. When cool, gently roll cookies in sugar and then tap very lightly to remove any excess sugar.
• Repeat with remaining dough and sugar. Store cookies in tightly-covered container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in the freezer up to 3 months.

MACADAMIA CHOCOLATE MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a food processor, process 1 1/2 cups of the macadamia nuts and the sugar until ground to a fairly smooth paste, about 1 1/2 minutes, scraping down the bowl several times.
• Add the butter, 2 tbs of the oil, the egg yolk, and vanilla and process in on/off pulses just until well blended, stopping and stirring to redistribute the contents several times.
• Add the remaining 1/4 cup of macadamia nuts, the flour, powdered sugar, and salt, is using, and process in of/off pulses just until the macadamia nuts are chopped moderately fine.
• In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave the remaining 1/2 tbs oil and the chocolate on 50% power, stirring at 30 second intervals, until just melted.(Alternately, melt the oil and chocolate in a double boiler set over gently simmering water, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from the heat) let stand until cooled.
• Line a 4 1/2 x 8 1/2" loaf pan with two long sheets of plastic wrap laid crosswise, overlapping in the middle and overhanging the longer sides by about 3 inches.
• Divide the dough in half. spoon half of the dough into the pan.
• Lay a sheet of wax paper over the top, then press down and smooth to even the surface; peel off and discard the paper.
• Using a pastry brush or a rubber spatula, spread the chocolate mixture thinly over the dough.
• Immediately place in the freezer until the chocolate is completely set.about 10 minutes.
• Spoon the remaining dough over the chocolate.
• Lay a sheet of wax paper over the top and very firmly press down on the dough and smooth its surface; peel off and discard the paper.
• Fold the plastic wrap over the dough.Freeze until the loaf is cold and very firm, at least 3-4 hours or up to 24 hours.
• Bake immediately, or remove from the pan, transfer to an airtight plastic bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F Grease several baking sheets or coat with nonstick spray. Carefully peel the plastic wrap from the loaf.
• Using a large sharp knife, trim off and discard the excess dough so the sides of the loaf are straight up and down -- rather than flared; wipe the knife between cuts. If the dough is too hard to cut easily; let stand for a few minutes; don't let it thaw too much, or the dough will be more difficult to slice cleanly.
• Carefully cut the loaf in half crosswise, then in half lengthwise to form 4 logs for baking.
• Cut each log crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices, wipe the knife clean between cuts. Using a spatula, carefully transfer the slices to the baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.
• Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 11-15 minutes or until just tinged with brown and slightly darker around the edges. Reverse the sheet from front to back halfway through baking to ensure even browning.
• Transfer the sheet to wire rack and let stand 3-4 minutes to firm up. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to wire rack. Let stand until completely cooled.
• Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. Handle gently, because the cookies are fragile.

SHORTBREAD MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla until creamy.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt;stir half into butter mixture.
• Stir in toffee bits and remaining flour mixture.
• Roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and place on prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
• Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
• Let cool on pan for about 5 minutes and dust with more icing sugar, if desired.

PECAN MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate until chilled., Preheat oven to 350°. Roll into 1-in. balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Roll warm cookies in additional confectioners' sugar; cool completely on wire racks. Roll cooled cookies again in confectioners' sugar.

MACADAMIA-COCONUT MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• 1. Pulse macadamia nuts and 1/4 cup of the sugar in food processor until nuts are chopped fine (do not over process). Add coconut; continue to pulse until everything is finely ground.
• 2. Beat butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the nut mixture and the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar: beat until creamy. Add flour and beat until a soft dough forms. Chill dough 1 hour.
• 3. Preheat oven to 325°F. With lightly floured hands, shape scant tablespoons of dough into balls. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 16 minutes, or until tops are dry and bottoms are light brown. Move the cookies with a spatula to a wire rack and cool completely. Dust the tops with confectioners' sugar before serving.

FUDGE MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Mix Graham crumbs, coconut, cocoa and sugar. Stir in margarine and water. Press into an ungreased 8x8-inch or 9x9-inch pan. Refrigerate while making icing.
• Mix remaining ingredients. Spread over crumb mixture and refrigerate for about 2 hours before cutting. Cut into 1 inch squares, these can be decorated with cut up red or green cherries. Keep refrigerated once cut.
• These freeze really well, cut first lay on a cookie sheet and freeze them first on a cookie sheet, then put into a container putting wax paper in between each layer of squares. Will stay in freezer for about 2 months.

MACADAMIA-COCONUT MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Pulse macadamias and 1/4 C sugar in the food processor until the nuts are chopped fine.
• Add coconut; continue to pulse until all ingredients are finely ground.
• Mix softened butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl on medium speed until creamy. Add the nut mixture and remaining 3/4 C sugar and mix.
• Add flour and mix until a soft dough forms.
• Refrigerate dough for one hour.
• Heat oven to 325 F
• With lightly floured hands, shape dough into balls (about the size of a teaspoon).
• Place 1" apart on a baking sheet.
• Bake 16 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are dry and set and the bottoms light brown.
• Cool completely.
• Dust tops of cookies with powdered sugar.
• Serve.

MAPLE MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• Beat the margarine, sugar and extract together.
• In a separate bowl, stir the flour and salt together, then beat into the margarine mixture until fluffy.
• Roll into 1-inch balls and place on a sprayed cookie sheet.
• Gently press a pecan half onto each cookie.
• Bake 12 minutes at 350°F; let cool slightly on pans before lifting onto cooling racks.
• Keeps 2 weeks in a covered tin, and freezes well.
• Note: This recipe does not call for eggs.