A Stop at The Grinch Station Part One

At the Grinch Station, I met a cookie overload of new recipes. Of course, it was hard to stop at just one. While I was fortunate to get the following recipes for us my best discovery of the day was the bag of Grinch Hershey Kisses pictured below. Each foil-wrapped candy had a Grinch image on the bottom.  Oh, the possibilities with this bag. 

I used some of the candies for the following cookie recipe. 

Cook's notes: Sugar cookie dough rolled in green sugar and topped with a Hershey’s Kiss. Perfect for the Grinch station. The recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. The recipe was adapted from http://cookinfood.com/

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 6-8 drops green food coloring
• 1 ¼ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 bottle green decorating sugar (you’ll need about ¼ cup)
• 24 Hershey’s Kisses (unwrapped)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Continue to mix and add in the vanilla and egg. Mix until thoroughly combined. 
• Add 2 drops at a time (food coloring) to give the dough a nice light green color. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and make sure all of the color and ingredients are well incorporated.
• Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Refrigerate dough for approx. 30 minutes.
• Refrigerated dough makes it easier to roll. Scoop out about 1” size dough balls. Roll the cookie balls in the green sugar on a plate, and then place on the cookie sheet 2” apart.
• Bake the cookies at 350°F for 9-10 minutes. As soon as you pull them out of the oven, sink an unwrapped Hershey Kiss into the center of each cookie. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Grinch Cookies
 

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed and softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• green gel food coloring
• ½ cup cornstarch
• red heart-shaped sprinkles or cinnamon candies

Directions:

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, 2 cups of powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• Cut the butter into tablespoons and drop the pieces into the flour mixture. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add 2-3 drops of food coloring until the desired color is achieved. As the cookies bake, the color will lighten. Beat mixtures until well incorporated, making sure there are no white streaks in the dough.
• Chill the dough for about 40 minutes to make it easier to handle.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and the remaining ½ cup of powdered sugar.
• Scoop the dough into 1½ tablespoon-sized balls. Roll each between the palms of your hands to form a ball, then roll in the cornstarch mixture until well coated. Place each ball about 3 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets, and slightly press down on the tops.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies start to crinkle and are lightly browned on the bottoms. Remove from the oven and immediately press a heart-shaped sprinkle or candy on each cookie. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Cooking Tips:

• Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
• You can use red heart-shaped sprinkles or cinnamon candies. If you cannot find any of them, you can use red M&M’s.
• Careful not to overmix the cookies, or they’ll be dense.
• I recommend bringing the eggs to room temperature, so they incorporate into the batter without over-mixing. If you forgot to bring the eggs out, place them in a bowl of warm tap water to help warm them up.

Since I spent so long sampling cookies, I never got to the Grinch Drink and Appetizer section. Check back tomorrow for Part Two.