Chocolate Cookies and Wine for Christmas Dessert

Christmas is the one time a year when hopefully we can all forget about diets until the New Year! Chocolate lovers can have their treats with or without the wine; same goes for those who'd just rather have a drink after dinner; skip the chocolate treats in that case.

Christmas Chocolate Cookie Recipes

Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

Ingredients:

5.3 oz. almond paste

• ½ egg white

Filling:

• 3.5 oz. butter
• ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 egg yolks
• To serve:
• 7 oz. dark chocolate
• red and green sprinkles

Method:

1. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Lightly blend in the egg yolk with the almond paste.
3. Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the baking sheet, flatten with a floured palm.
4. Bake in the center of the oven at 300 F for 15 minutes.
5. Loosen the cookies while still warm from the parchment paper, and let them cool upside-down.

Filling:

1. Beat butter and sugar until frothy.
2. Shift in cocoa powder through a sieve.
3. Add the egg yolks, beating lightly.
4. Make “sandwiches” with two cookies and filling at a time.
5. Leave the cookies in the fridge overnight.

To serve:

1. Melt the chocolate in a pan.
2. Dip in the “sandwich” cookies until covered in chocolate, and dust with sprinkles. Let dry.

Round Chocolate Mini Loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 /2 cups sugar
• 5.3 oz. dark chocolate, melted
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. vanilla essence
• 2 cups flour
• confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients, except the confectioner’s sugar. The dough will be hard.
2. Let it cool in the refrigerator for a while, then make round cookies, flatten.
3. Roll the cookies in confectioner’s sugar, and place on the baking sheet.
4. Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes.
5. Let the cookies cool, and powder with more confectioners’ sugar.

Cherry Chocolate Drops

• 11 oz. dark chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup cherry preserves
• 3 tbs. cherry liquor

To Serve:

• 2 oz. dark chocolate

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate, stirring well. Lift off heat just before the chocolate is all melted.
2. Mix the cherry preserves and cherry liquor together.
3. Add the cherry mixture to the chocolate, stirring well.
4. Make small balls with a spoon, flatten, place on parchment paper, and refrigerate well.
5. Just before serving, slice the remaining chocolate to cover the chocolate cookies.

Dessert Wines for Christmas

All dessert wines have one thing in common: they are sweet. They can be had on their own as dessert, or you can try pairing them with any of the above delicious chocolate cookie recipes, for a really sweet treat. Below is a selection from all around the world. Muscat – many varieties form all over the world; maybe one of the oldest wines around.

• Ice Wine – from grapes that have been frozen while still on the wine.
• Port – from the Porto region of Portugal.
• Tokaji – a very old wine again, from Hungary.
• Sherry – dessert wine from Spain, popular in the UK.
• Marsala – from Sicily, Italy.
• Madeira - from the Portuguese Madeira Islands.
• Vin Santo – traditional dessert wine in Tuscany region in Italy.

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