Saturday, November 19, 2011

Christmas Nougat Cookies

Today I tried another recipe from my Christmas baking board on Pinterest. These are called Christmas Nougat Cookies, and the recipe comes from a commercial bakery in Seattle.
This recipe is made with shortening, not butter. I rarely use shortening in baking, but to achieve the correct texture with these, you must. These cookies are sweet and crisp and nutty, but then melt away in your mouth. They remind me of Mexican Wedding Cookies in their texture.
The recipe for these comes from a blog called Mediteranean Cooking in Alaska. To quote from that recipe: "The soft dough doesn't need to be refrigerated, and rolls out easily. The cookies do not spread when they are baked, so can be placed closely together on the baking sheet. As a result, they are quick and easy to make."
You can use any kind of nuts that you prefer in these. I used Pecans, but other yummy choices include cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or macadamias.

This is the photo from the original recipe. Don't they look yummy?! Well, I had to try an aqua & pink look, so I got out my powdered leaf green color, my french dragees, my Christmas tree cookie cutter, and my vintage feed sack and went to work. But you don't have to do that to try these yummy cookies! Just roll them out and use a round cookie cutter and they will be just as good! The recipe says to bake for 8 minutes, but I baked mine for 10, and that is the only adjustment I made. They are not supposed to brown.
If you like Mexican Wedding Cookies aka Russian Teacakes etc etc, then you'll love these. They're easy, and you can create fun shapes for the holidays! Happy Baking!!

8 comments:

  1. This sounds fantastic! I love your version! Thank you for sharing,
    Have a great weekend!
    Kathy

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  2. Love these...I just bought some new sprinkles for Christmas baking..can`t wait to use them..they sit on my cupboard ...too pretty to hide!
    Happy new week to you.

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  3. What a great selection of Xmas cookies.They look wonderful:)

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  4. These are beautiful and I know I would love the taste. I am really feeling the pink and aqua this year but afraid my family will rebel. Love your photos!
    Lisa

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  5. Excellent,they look great. Wow you are so busy baking!! I have a few things to get out of the way with work before I start my baking on the 30th November,you are making me want to start now!
    Best of luck with your next treat!
    T&T

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  6. So very pretty and yum yum yum!!!

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  7. GREAT IDEA...LOVE UP GOING TO MAKE ME UP SOME FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN...

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  8. wow i love these! How pretty :) I found you through My sweet friend Andrea's blog and decided to come check your blog out!
    I love it! so so pretty :) following along!

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