Christina Lane
Best Selling Author of “Dessert for Two”
Christina Lane is the bestselling author of the cookbook Dessert for Two. You have probably seen Christina on national TV shows and in magazines. Her cookbooks became famous for her innovative small batch cooking. Most classic recipes call for ingredients that are for 8 plus servings, so if you only need to feed two or three, you end up throwing away the extras. Additionally, if you are trying to learn to cook and trying new recipes, you will make mistakes, it is much better to make mistakes cooking a recipe for 6 cookies than make a mistake on a recipe for 24 cookies.
“I always get torn between two recipes for the holidays. The classic is One Dozen Cut Out Sugar Cookies, you roll out the dough, cut your favorite shapes, then top with icing and decorate. It is such a great holiday family activity decorating cookies. The other perfect recipe is Christmas Fudge, it’s easy, chocolatey, and delicious.
One thing I tell people to remember is that the tenth time you bake cookies will be better than your first and the 50th time will be better than your tenth. The beauty of my small recipes is that if you make a mistake, you can try again, and you won’t be throwing away that much food,” stated Christina.
Cookies are a family holiday staple, so this year why not try this recipe instead of purchasing store bought cookies.
Christmas Lights Cookies © Christina Lane
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 12 minutes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup flour, plus extra for rolling
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
For the small-batch royal icing:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 large egg white
For decorating:
- 1 small tube of black icing for writing
- handful mini M&Ms
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a medium bowl, beat together with an electric mixer the butter and sugar. Once light and fluffy, add the egg yolk and vanilla and almond extracts.
- Once well incorporated, sprinkle over half the flour mixture and beat gently until combined, then sprinkle over the rest. Beat until no streaks of flour remain but be careful not to over-mix.
- Dust a clean counter top with flour and dump the dough out onto it. Gather it into a ball and press it into a 1/2″ thick round disk. Flour your rolling pin, then roll out the dough out big enough to cut out about 8 shapes. Place the shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Gather the dough scraps and re-roll to cut out 4 more shapes and place them on the cookie sheet. You should get 12 cookies.
- Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for the minutes while you preheat the oven to 350.
- Once the oven is hot, bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies just start to turn brown. Let them sit on the sheet a few minutes before moving them a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cookies are cooled completely, make the royal icing: in a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice.
- Beat the egg white in a small bowl to loosen them, and then measure out 2 tablespoons of egg whites and add them to the bowl with the sugar.
- Whisk together the icing, starting slowly, and trust that the sugar will melt and it will become liquid. Resist the urge to add any more liquid to the bowl, and instead just keep whisk slowly.
- When the icing comes together, spoon a small amount onto each cookie, and use an off-set spatula to spread it almost to the edges.
- Let the royal icing harden completely on the cookies before proceeding.
- Pipe two thin black lines onto each cookie, and then press mini M&Ms sideways.
New Year’s Eve Cookie Recipe
After holiday meals, you can still enjoy dessert!
Keto Sugar Cookies with Pecan Pie Thumbprint Filling
Keto sugar cookies with a keto pecan pie thumbprint filling in the middle. Small batch recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (46 grams) super fine almond flour
- 2 tablespoons (3 grams) Stevia In The Raw® Bakers Bag
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the keto pecan pie filling:
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons (30mL) heavy cream (or canned full-fat coconut milk)
- 1 tablespoon (3 grams) Stevia In The Raw® Bakers Bag
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans, freshly toasted
Instructions
In a small bowl, whisk together the almond flour, stevia, and baking soda.
Add the melting butter and vanilla extract. Stir to combine well.
Press the dough flat in the bowl and divide it in half by eye. From each half, scoop out 3 cookie dough balls.
Roll each cookie dough ball in your hands into a perfect ball, and place on a lined baking sheet. Using the tip of your finger, make a small indent in each cookie dough ball.
Place the cookie sheet in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375.
When the oven is ready, remove the cookie sheet from the fridge, and gently press down on each cookie. Make sure the indent is still somewhat there.
Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes, until they just start to turn golden brown.
Remove from the oven and move the cookies to a cooling rack.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, make the pecan pie filling. Melt the butter over medium heat and let it start to brown. Stir it constantly and keep an eye on it to prevent it from burning.
When the butter is starting to turn brown (you’ll see black specks around the edge of the pan), add the cream (or coconut milk) all at once, and continue to cook while stirring constantly. The mixture will start to thicken. Finally, stir in the Stevia In The Raw®.
If the caramel mixture appears to separate (mine didn’t, but it’s happened once), just put it in a blender.
Finally, stir in the pecans.
Place a scoop of the pecan filling in the center of each cookie and serve.
© Christina Lane
Christina’s fourth cookbook will be released April 9, 2019 “Dinner Just For Two.
You can learn more at: www.DessertForTwo.com
www.Instagram.com/DessertForTwo