Holiday Treats and More to Enjoy

If you're looking for a few extra recipes to add to your dessert table this holiday season, be sure to check out these tasty treats! 

Carmel Apple Cookies

 Ingredients: 

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
• 3 small granny smith apples, peeled and cut into thin slices
• 1 cup sea salt caramel sauce
• flaky sea salt for garnish

Directions:

1- Preheat oven to 375*. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in bowl of stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium until light and fluffy. Scrape sides. Add eggs, vanilla and reduce speed to low and beat to well incorporated. Whisk flour, apple pie spice, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture slowly until fully combined. Fold in white chocolate chips.

2- Using 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, spoon dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches. Bake until cookies have spread but aren't fully cooked, about 7 minutes. Quickly press 3 apple slices into top of each cookie and return to oven. Bake until the edges of cookie are golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer to wire cooling racks and let cool completely. 

3- Drizzle caramel sauce over cookies, and if desired, lightly sprinkle with sea salt. 

Classic Latkes

1- Prepare your setup. Heat the oven and prep a baking sheet with a wire cooling rack, so latkes can stay warm and crisp. Prepare a paper towel lined baking pan ready to receive the piping-hot latkes for draining.

2- Grate the potatoes and onions. Use the large shredding blade on your food processor to grate the potatoes and onions in seconds. A box grater works well too (with some extra elbow grease.)

3- Squeeze the potatoes and onion. To get crispy latkes, the potato and onion mixture needs to be dry. A tea towel absorbs the liquid and starch, while cheesecloth lets it pass right through. Tie the cheesecloth around the handle of a wooden spoon for extra leverage in squeezing. 

4- Mix the potato starch, egg, matzo, salt and pepper with potatoes and onion. Use your fingers to evenly distribute all of the ingredients. The potato starch is slippery and wants to cling to itself. Be sure to work it into the potato mixture. 

5- Form latkes. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup, a fish spatula, your fingers and a fork to form a flat, 4-inch patty. 

6- Fry the latkes. Heat the oil (and schmaltz, if using) until latkes sizzle immediately upon entering the oil. Fry until each side is dark golden brown. 

7- Drain and serve. Remove hot, crisp latkes from the oil and drain on paper towels. Serve or keep warm in the oven. 

Sufganiyot

Ingredients:

• Apricot, red-currant or raspberry jam
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 2/3 cups flour, plus a little more if necessary
• 2 or 3 drops of vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 whole egg
• 3 tablespoons sour cream or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• Confectioner's sugar to sprinkle on
• 1/4 cup lukewarm milk or water
• 1 teaspoon dried yeast

Directions:

1- Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk or water with 1 teaspoon of sugar and leave for 10 minute, until it froths.

2- Beat the rest of the sugar with the egg and the yolk. Add the sour cream or oil, the salt, vanilla and yeast mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour gradually, and continue beating until you have soft, smooth, elastic dough, adding more flour if necessary. Knead for 5 minutes, sprinkling with a little flour if necessary if it is too sticky. Coat the dough with oil by pouring a drop in the bowl and turning the dough in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. 

3- Knead the dough again for a few minutes, then roll out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness. With a pastry cutter, cut into 2-inch rounds. Make a ball out of the scraps so as to not waste them, roll out and cut into rounds. Put a teaspoon of jam in the center of a round dough, brush the rim with a little water to make it sticky and cover with another round. Press the edges together to seal. Continue with the rest of the rounds and arrange them on a floured tray, Leave them to rise for 30 minutes. 

4- Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a saucepan to medium hot. Drop in the doughnuts, a few at a time. Fry in medium-hot oil for 3-4 minutes with the lid on until brown, then turn and fry the other side for 1 minute more. Drain on paper towels. Serve sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. They are at their best when still warm and fresh.

Here are some more Cookies to make this season!