Ricotta Cookies

This cookie is very sweet and cake-like.

Cookie Ingredients:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 cups flour
2 sticks margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 pound whole milk ricotta cheese
3 teaspoons vanilla

Cream sugar and margarine in a large bowl. Beat in one egg at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Add ricotta and mix well. In another bowl mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder); gradually add dry ingredients to sugar/margarine mixture. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 10 minutes until the tops of the cookies are white and the bottoms are golden brown.

Icing Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

When the cookies are completely cool: Dip top of cookie in icing and place on wax paper. (Add sprinkles now if you like) Let cookies sit at least 5 hours You may refrigerate them. Makes 8 dozen cookies.

I found this recipe last year in the Providence Journal’s cooking section. Not sure why they have to ‘sit at least 5 hours’. Does it have to do with firmness or taste? If you are a baker and know the answer, I’d love to hear it.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

A friend’s mother passed away this weekend. The local tradition is to take food to the grieving family so I baked a Sour Cream Coffee Cake. For years, this heavy moist cake has been my family’s traditional Christmas morning breakfast. The last two years, it has also become my go-to recipe when someone is in need of sympathy and comfort. This saves me from looking through recipes, trying to decide what to make, how much to make, and then shopping for ingredients. The process was too cumbersome. With this coffee cake, the only ingredient I have to run out for is the sour cream. All the dry ingredients are in my cupboard and the milk and eggs are in the fridge. When butter is on sale, I purchase extra and freeze it.

1 cup walnuts (optional – I don’t usually include them as some people can not have nuts)
1 & 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
sugar
3 cups flour
3/4 cup butter – softened
1/4 cup milk
1 & 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 & 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 oz. container sour cream
3 eggs
Mix walnuts (if desired), cinnamon and 3/4 cup of sugar and set aside.
Grease and flour a (angel food cake) tube pan.
In a large bowl with mixer on low speed, beat flour, butter, milk, baking powder, baking soda, sour cream, eggs and 1 & 1/4 cups of sugar till blended. Increase speed to medium. Beat 2 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spoon half the batter into the pan and sprinkle with half the cinnamon, sugar and nut mix.
Spread remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon, sugar and nut mix.
Bake 60 minutes.

Don’t forget that 1 & 1/4 cup of sugar in the batter. (I did that once – never made that mistake again!)
This cake freezes well. I make it before Thanksgiving, pop it in the freezer then pull it out Christmas Eve to serve the next morning.
Enjoy!