Advent Shadowbox 2012: Day 8, Holiday Canning & Test-Cookie Party! Kid-Friendly Thumbprint Cookies, Carrot Cake Jam & Cranberry Sauce

Today’s the day when we whip up some last minute items to place in jars and send off as holiday gifts. We’ll also try out these treats and use up any left-over jams from last year by filling up some special thumbprint cookies. Unlike other thumbprint recipes, which require pressing or re-pressing your thumb into the dough into a hot cookie ball after minutes of baking, and/or filling the hot cookies mid-stream, this recipe has the advantage of pressing once before baking and filling the cookies after they have cooled.

Kid Friendly Thumbprint Cookies
adapted from my mom’s old Betty Crocker Cookbook recipe
makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients
.5 c packed brown sugar
.5 c shortening [preferably organic, spectrum] OR up to .25 c butter & .25 c shortening
.5 c unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon or ginger [optional]
2 eggs, separated
2 c all purpose flour
.5 tsp salt
1 c finely chopped nuts [we use pecans or walnuts] or shredded coconut
Jam or Jelly

Method
Heat oven to 350.
Mix sugar, shortening, butter, vanilla, and egg YOLK.
Gradually stir in flour until dough holds together.
Shape into 1-in balls.
Whisk egg-whites in a small bowl and spread nuts [or coconut] on a small plate.
Dip each ball into egg whites and then roll in nuts.
Place each ball 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Press thumb hard into the center of each ball.
Bake 10-12 minutes, until light brown.
Remove from oven and cool.
Fill thumbprints with jam or jelly.

Carrot Cake Jam
adapted from a Better Homes & Gardens special interest publication: Canning
makes 13-14 quarter-pints

Ingredients
2 c finely shredded carrots (5 medium)
1 c finely chopped peeled apple
1 15 oz can crushed pineapple in juice
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
1 1.75oz powdered pectin
4 c brown sugar
2 c white sugar
.5-1 c flaked coconut
2 tsp vanilla

Method
In a large pot, combine carrots, apple, pineapple in juice, lemon juice, and spices.
Boil and stir constantly.
Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring often.
Remove the pot from the burner.
Add pectin and stir until dissolved.
Place the pot back on the stove.
Bring the pot back to a boil and add the sugars.
Bring the sugared mixture to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove the pot from the heat.
Skim the foam.
Stir in coconut and vanilla.
Ladle jam into hot, sterilized .25-quart jars, leaving .25 in headspace.
Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

We made our Whisky Fig Cranberry Sauce in October. It was such a big hit, we’ll be canning up a batch in smaller decorative jars to ship to family and friends near and far. Click Here for the Recipe.

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Whisky Fig Cranberry Sauce

If you’re going to make your own cranberry sauce, you might as well make it worth the effort.  We’re always trying something different for our annual Thanksgiving feast.  This time, I was inspired by one of my favourite fall cocktails:  Apple Cider & Fireball Canadian Whisky (Cinnamon Whisky).  We just went apple picking, so there’s plenty of cider on hand. And I always seem to have some sort of whisky in the cabinet…Of course, the booze cooks off, so it’s family friendly.   This recipe can be canned using a boiling water bath and given as gifts around the holidays. The figs are green, so it looks kind of Christmassy, too.

Whisky Fig Cranberry Sauce
this one’s for you, Grandma Geraldine
Makes 1.25 pints
Recipe can be doubled, triped, quadrupled…

Ingredients
For every 12 oz bag cranberries:
.25 c whisky [We used Fireball (Cinnamon Flavoured) Canadian Whisky, but any Whisky will do!]
.75 c apple cider [juice or water can be substituted here]
1 cup brown sugar
[OPTIONAL] .25 cup/50 g diced dried apricots [OPTIONAL]
1 cup/8 oz quartered fresh green figs, tips and tails removed.
zest and juice of .5 lime
.5 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp vanilla extract
.125 tsp ginger
.125 tsp cardamom
.125 tsp cloves
OPTIONAL Garnishes:
.125 cup sliced almonds (toasted if you wish)
.25 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Method
Heat liquid, sugar and [optional] dried apricots in a pot and bring to a boil.
Add the cranberries.
[If your cranberries are frozen, wait a minute or two before continuing].
Add the quartered fresh green figs and return to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium low.
Add lime zest, lime juice, and spices.
Boil on low, stirring frequently, until the sauce comes to an almost jam-like consistency.
[This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.]
Sauce may be canned using a boiling water bath, leaving .25-in headspace in jars and processing  for 15 minutes.

[Optional] If you would like to make this into a  “compote,” add .25 c shredded sweetened coconut and/or .125-.25 c almonds per batch to your sauce before canning or serving or you could use coconut and/or almonds as a garnish on the day of your gathering. This is going overboard, of course…..but we like to go overboard around the holidays.
         
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