It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!!
Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. I can not believe how fast it has come. There is always something magical about this time of year. There’s just more happiness in the air. And as much as I love Christmas, I don’t want it to come yet because I don’t want it to be over!
So far my family has done the following to celebrate the holiday season…
-Visited a Christmas tree farm
-Sat on Santa’s lap ( the kids not me )
-Saw Santa’s reindeer
-Decorated our Christmas tree
-Watched the classic Christmas movies (Frosty the Snowman & Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer)
-Put up our Christmas lights
-Wrapped gifts and put them under the tree
-Started an advent calendar and then lost said calendar
But now for the best part of all. BAKING. I love love love baking for my family.
CHRISTMAS COOKIE SEASON
I mean literally just a perfect excuse to make and eat dozens of cookies. Today I am making one of my own favorites which are the Italian rainbow cookies. And one of my husband’s favorites the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kisses on top. Also, known as the Santa hat cookies.
Every year I always say that I am going to attempt to make rainbow cookies but never do because they are a little bit of work. But this year they are my mission. Since I have never made them before I didn’t have a recipe so this one is inspired by allrecipes which I have included the link below. Rainbow Cookie Recipe
What we need
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three 9×13 inch baking pans with parchment paper.
Step 2
In a large bowl, break apart almond paste with a fork, and cream together with butter, sugar, and egg yolks. When mixture is fluffy and smooth, stir in flour to form a dough. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the dough. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Mix one portion with red food coloring, and one with green food coloring. Spread each portion into one of the prepared baking pans.
TIP- I only had two 9×13 baking pans so I baked the first 2 layers and had to wait to bake the last layer. However, I found that as the dough got to closer to room temperature while waiting, it was much easier to spread the last layer onto the baking sheet. Next time I will leave all 3 portions of dough for 15 minutes before spreading onto the parchment paper baking sheet.
Step 3
Bake 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Carefully remove from pan and parchment paper, and let cool.
Step 4
Place green layer onto a piece of foil large enough to wrap all three layers. Spread green layer with raspberry jam, and top with uncolored layer. Spread with apricot jam, and top with pink layer. Transfer layers to a baking sheet, and enclose with plastic wrap. Place a heavy cutting board on top of wrapped layers to compress. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
TIP- I was afraid that when I was assembling the layers together that they were going to break apart. So instead of trying to peel them off the parchment paper, I flipped the layer face down and then peeled the parchment paper off the top! It worked great!
Step 5
Remove foil. Top with melted chocolate chips, and refrigerate 1 hour, or until chocolate is firm. Slice into small squares to serve.
Christmas Cookies Part 1
