What's a Christmas without a cookie ...

What with holiday baking on everyone’s mind—isn’t it on yours?—I wondered about CHEESE COOKIES … lo and behold … I found a whole batch of delicious sounding recipes already offered up on:

“Just For Fun: Benji and Petey’s Cheese Cookies Page”
http://the-office.com/bedtime-story/cheesecookiesrecipes.htm

I also found another recipe that makes my mouth water just looking at it (see photo above) I got this photograph and the recipe--at the tail end of the recipes below--from http://whatscookingamerica.net/Appetizers/SavoryCheddarCookies.htm

The Apple Cheddar Cheese Cookie recipe sounds particularly yummy, so why not try something a little different, no?

There's even a recipe here for cookies for your dogs! Suki is going to be a happy Shih Tzu!

If you end up trying any of these recipes, let me know how they turn out!

Here they are. Happy Holiday cookie making!!!!!

Cheese Cookies

Ingredients (1 serving)

1/4 lb Butter

1/4 lb Margarine

2 c Plain flour

1/2 lb Sharp cheese, grated

1/2 ts Salt

2 c Rice Krispies

Instructions Mix thoroughly; form into small balls. Place on greased cookie sheet, mash flat with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Cheesecake Cookies (16 servings)

5 tb Butter, softened

1 c Flour

1 pk 8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tb Milk

1/2 ts Vanilla

1/3 c Brown sugar, packed

1/2 c Sugar

1 ea Egg

1 tb Lemon juice

Instructions Heat over to 350. In a medium bowl blend thoroughly butter, brown sugar and flour with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put 1 cup of the mixture aside for topping. Press remaining mixture into an 8x8x2 inch baking dish; bake for 15 minutes. In another bowl combine sugar and cream cheese, mixing until smooth. Thoroughly beat in egg, milk, lemon juice and vanilla. Spread over the baked crust and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar mixture. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool, then chill for at least 1 hour. Cut into 16 squares; serve.

Cream Cheese Cookies

Preheat oven to 350.

2 pkgs. refrigerator chocolate chip cookies

2- 8oz. pkgs. cream cheese

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c. sugar

Soften cream cheese. Cut 1 roll of cookies into 1/8 inch slices. Place in bottom of 9x9 pan. Pinch together. In a small bowl blend cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Blend in remaining ingredients. Pour over cookie dough in pan. Slice second row of cookies. Place in rows over cream cheese. Bake 35-40 mn. at 350.

Ricotta Cheese Cookies II
Delicate Italian ricotta cookies with an almond flavored glaze.
Ingredients:

1/2 pound butter or margarine

1 3/4 cups white sugar

2 eggs

15 ounces ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

5 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

nonpareil sprinkles

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 2. Blend the butter, sugar, eggs, ricotta cheese and vanilla together until creamy.3. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Blend flour mixture into thecreamed mixture (you may need to add a little more flour to make the doughworkable but don't add too much or the cookies won't taste right). Scoop upabout a teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place onto an ungreasedcookie sheet. Repeat until all the batter is used. 4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon icing overwarm cookies and top with nonpareil sprinkles. 5. To Make Almond Icing: Mix together the milk, confectioners' sugar and almondextract until smooth. Use immediately to spoon over warm cookies. Variation:use anise extract in place of the almond extract.

Apple Cheddar Cheese Cookies
Ingredients (6 servings)
1/2 c Butter

1/2 c Sugar

1 ea Egg; Lg

1 ts Vanilla

1 1/2 c Unbleached Flour

1/2 ts Baking Soda

1/2 ts Cinnamon; Ground

1/2 ts Salt

6 oz Cheddar; Sharp, Shredded

1 1/2 c Apples; Cored,Peeled,Chopped

1/4 c Nuts; Chopped
Instructions:

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then stir in the egg and vanilla. Add the combined dry ingredients, blending well. Stir in the cheese, apples and nuts. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Remove from the cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack or plate.

CHEESE BONE DOG COOKIES Categories: Pets

Yield: 12 cookies

2 c Unsifted all-purpose flour

1 1/4 c Shredded cheddar cheese

2 cl Garlic, finely chopped

1/2 c Vegetable oil

4 1/2 tb Water (up to 5 tbs.)

1. Preheat oven to hot (400 degrees) 2. Make a cardboard pattern of a dog bone, 4 inches long or use a dog-bone cookie cutter. 3. Combine flour, cheese, garlic and vegetable oil in container of food processor. Cover, whirl until mixture is consistency of coarse meal. With machine running, slowly add water until mixture forms a ball. 4. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece to 1/2" thickness. Cut out bones. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheet. Do not reroll scraps. 5. Bake in preheated hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until bottom of cookies are lightly browned. Carefully transfer bones to wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate in airtight container.

Savory Cheddar Cheese Thumbprint Cookies
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 cup (2 ounces) freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup (4 ounces) finely chopped pecans, unblanched almonds, or hazelnuts

1 cup water

1 cup hot pepper jelly (red and/or green pepper jelly may be used)
NOTE: When measuring cheese and nuts, it is best to use the weight measurements.
In a food processor, combine cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and butter; process until creamy. Add egg yolk and pepper; process until well blended. Add flour and pulse just until soft dough forms. Dough will be sticky at this point.
Using your hands, roll approximately 1 tablespoon of dough into 1-inch balls; place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes to firm the dough up.
Place finely chopped nuts on a plate. Place 1 cup water in a bowl.
Roll all the balls first, then dip refrigerated balls in water, and then roll the balls in nuts to coat (pressing nuts lightly into dough balls). Place balls on an ungreased baking sheet. Using your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each cookie ball. Refrigerate for 15 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake cookies in center of your oven for approximately 15 minutes or lightly golden. Remove from oven and place baking sheet on a cooling rack, allowing the cookies to cool directly on the baking sheet.
After cookies have cooled, they may be stored in airtight containers at room temperate or freeze. If you have stored the cookies for a long time before serving them, you can re-crisp them by baking them at 350 degrees F. for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and allow them to cool fully before adding the hot pepper jelly.
Before serving, fill the indentations with hot pepper jelly.
Makes approximately 3 dozen appetizer cookies.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Appetizers/SavoryCheddarCookies.htm

American Cheese ...

I watched a Kraft Cheese commercial on television last night touting themselves as THE American cheese. I knew a little about Kraft cheese, but thought I would look into the history a bit more.

Why?

Because that American entrepreneurial spirit and sense of discovery is resulting in American artisan cheesemakers creating incredible advances in the world of artisan cheese and claiming more competition prizes from other countries who have reigned superior for a very long time.

But back to Kraft American Cheese.

James Lewis Kraft, a Canadian born on a farm near Ontario in 1874, was the founding father of Kraft Cheese.

At age 18, he worked at Ferguson’s grocery in Fort Erie, and later invested in a cheese company in Buffalo.

While in Chicago, Illinois attending to the company branch there, he found his partners had eased him out of the partnership.

Although he found himself lacking funds and stranded in Chicago in 1903, he put his knowledge of merchandising to good use. He bought a horse and wagon, and went every day to the wholesale warehouse district where he bought cheeses wholesale and resold them to small stores.

Kraft proved his retailing determination and was so successful that several of his brothers joined his efforts and the cheese business was incorporated in 1909.

Kraft was driven to improve, or change, certain qualities in cheese to give it a longer shelf life and more uniform flavor. Until that time cheddar cheese, which was the favored cheese in the United States, either molded or dried quickly, so there was excessive waste. It also varied greatly in taste.

As a result of years of experimentation to give cheese longer lasting qualities, Kraft’s major contribution to the cheese industry in America was processed cheese. He experimented with mixtures of cheeses and found that if he heated and stirred the cheese and placed it in sterile containers, it would cool to a solid state and stay fresh longer. He was granted a patent for the “Process of Sterilizing Cheese and an Improved Product Produced by Such Process” in 1916.

Since then, Kraft has diversified into many industries and last night I saw the most recent example of that company’s claim as the American Cheese.

I bring this up because Kraft tried to eliminate the very aspects of cheese that artisan cheesemakers are offering to appreciative cheese consumers today. Where Kraft wanted conformity and consistency, there are cheese connoisseurs the world over who delight in the taste differences between a spring cheese and a winter cheese, who appreciate that the cows (or sheep or goats or buffalo) grazed on alpine slopes or limestone valleys or wherever in the world they grazed because it affects the taste of the milk and thereby the cheese. Artisan cheese aficionados tout the exquisite taste experience of a fresh cheese versus the developed flavors, complexities and textures of an aged cheese.

There’s room for all cheese in this big, wide world of ours! But in this big, wide world of ours, American artisan cheesemakers are starting to reign innovative and influential!

It’s been interesting to read how “American Cheese” has grown from a simple dairy craft to world authority.

Move over, Kraft!





www.kraft.com.au/Products/KRAFTHistory/
www.cookingdeliciousfood.com/kraft-cheese/