Holiday baking season is underway, and we’re excited to share 12 of our favourite submissions from our annual Cityline Holiday Cookie Swap to add to your repetoire!

Congratulations to Michelle P. from Amaranth, Ontario, who won our 2015 contest for submitting her Italian Christmas ricotta cookies recipe! Michelle wins a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer (retail value $550), courtesy of KitchenAid.

We also had two runners-up this year: Winnipeg’s Sharon L., who submitted her Chocolate caramel thumbprints, and Vancouver’s Kristin G., who submitted Gingerbread whoopie pies. Each wins a set of KitchenAid bakeware, also courtesy of KitchenAid!

Starting today and for the next 11 days, we’ll be posting our 12 favourite recipes from this year’s contest to help provide you with plenty of baking inspiration. Thanks to all of you from across the country who entered!

Happy holidays, and happy baking!

Cityline.ca

Winning recipe: Italian Christmas ricotta cookies

Cookie ingredients:

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Glaze ingredients:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tbsp milk

Decorations:

• 1 large bottle (7.5 oz) mixed red, green and white sprinkles

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, add the softened butter, sugar and egg. Beat until light and fluffy.

Add ricotta cheese and vanilla extract, mix well and combine.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix only until combined.

Portion the dough on the prepared baking sheets using a cookie scoop.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 25 minutes.

To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a large bowl and add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze has formed.

Dip each cookie into the glaze, place on a clean cookie sheet and then sprinkle with the decoration sprinkles. Repeat for every cookie.

Let cookies dry completely before serving, and store in an airtight container.

Submitted by Michelle P.
Amaranth, ON