A 'Surprise' winner in the Post Bulletin's Holiday Cookie Contest
Dec. 6—The Post Bulletin's annual Holiday Cookies Contest got spammed this year.
Well, technically it was Spammed, with a capital S.
This year's winning entry, a cookie called Maple Surprise by Denise Pagel of Chatfield, included the meat that made Austin famous as one of its key ingredients.
Pagel, no stranger to the contest, said she's been tweaking this recipe for some time. The result was a cookie one judge called "moist, delicious and flavorful." And that was before he knew exactly what flavors were included.
Truthfully, you would not know there was Spam in it, so finely was it chopped. The judges had no idea either until they were told when the tasting was over. Other ingredients in the Maple Surprise include pure maple syrup and maple flavoring.
Pagel is well known as both a cook and baker and finds many of her recipes on Pinterest, which she describes as "a great recipe source."
Keeping with the theme of cookies that turn out to be a revelation, Arleen Van Zuilen entered a cookie called Chocolate Mint Surprise, the second place winner. This is a very thin two-layer sugar cookie with a small piece of mint-chocolate baked between the two layers, a nice surprise when you take a bite not expecting that. The top is lightly sugared with a whole walnut on top. This would make a tasty and attractive addition to any cookie plate.
The third place winner could have won on looks alone. Created by Susie Dahl, she calls these cookies Snowglobe Cut-Out Sugar Cookies, the inspiration being the popular snowglobes.
Each cookie is frosted with a white frosting with a different mini winter scene on each — these are made with tiny tiny plastic figures and trees, then topped with a plastic globe, hence the cookie's name. Neither the clear globe nor the figurines are edible so need to be removed before you eat the almond-flavored cookie.
In the judges' scoring, a hair behind the Snowglobe Cut-Outs were delightful Almond Horns baked by Brenda Hansen. A heated discussion ensued over third and fourth place and nearly resulted in fisticuffs between the judges. The Horns are a more European-style confection with marzipan as the main ingredient. They are also more chewy than biting into the usual holiday cookie. We did consider a tie, but at the end the Snowglobes prevailed. Still, all judges agreed the Almond Horns deserved a mention.
The judges worked hard on these choices, considering appearance, taste and texture. They included Post Bulletin News Editor Brian Todd, Ad Coordinator Beth Krohn, Regional Reporter Dené Dryden, and Andy and Allie Good, both known for their culinary expertise. I was there as well. It would be wonderful if we could run all of the runner-up recipes and hopefully we can do that over the next few weeks. Keep your eyes on the lookout. Meanwhile, with the winter holidays approaching: Bakers, start your ovens.
1/2 can Spam luncheon meat (finely cubed, fried and cooled)
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cut brown sugar
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 eggs
1-1/2 tsp. maple extract
2-21/2 cups flour plus 1 Tbls.
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1-1/2 cups butterscotch chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Ina small fry pan over medium heat, cook the cubed Spam 10 minutes or so. Set aside on a paper towel to absorb any grease and to cool. In the bowl of a large stand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until light and fluffy. Add eggs and maple extract, beat again. Gradually stir in the flour, baking soda and salt until well blended. Stir in butterscotch chips, pecans and cooled Spam. Chill dough 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll into 1-inch balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 12-13 minutes. Cool and drizzle with icing. Makes 48 cookies.
Maple icing
2 Tbls unsalted butter
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup powdered sugar
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and maple syrup together. Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar. Drizzle over cooled cookies.
Cream together the following:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Mix in:
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Add:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Mix and chill for 2 hours then roll out thin and cut out cookies with 2" round cookie cutter. Place chocolate mint between two cookies. Top with half of walnut and sprinkle with colored sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-12 minutes.
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter (softened)
2 eggs, beaten
3 Tablespoons sour milk (Mix the 3 tablespoons of milk with 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon baking soda)
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond extract
Cream together the sugar and butter. Combine creamed butter and sugar with eggs and milk mixture. Add flour, salt and almond extract to mixture and stir together. Chill for one hour. Roll out, cut into circles and bake for 7-8 minutes at 400 degrees.
Butter Icing
1/3 cup butter (softened)
3 cups powdered sugar
3-4 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
Cream together butter and sugar. Add milk and almond extract. Mix until smooth. Frost cookies. Sprinkle coconut if desired and place miniature decorations on top of icing and then place 1/2 half of the plastic ornament on top.
For decorating, use fillable ball plastic ornaments and various miniature decorations washed in warm water.
One batch DIY paste
1-3/4 almond flour
1-1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 large egg white
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Blend the Almond Flour and Confectioners Sugar in a bowl. Add the egg white, salt and almond extract and mix together. Shape mixture into a ball and refrigerate until ready to use.
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Using a mixer combine DIY paste, sugar, salt, and almond flour until dough mixture is crumbly. Add egg whites to the crumbly dough making a smooth paste, stir in the almond extract. To shape the dough, transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip. Pipe U-shaped horns about 2 inches long by 2 inches wide, leaving a 2 inch space between each horn.
Almond Garnich
Add 1 large egg white and mix with 1 teaspoon water. Brush the horns with the egg white and water mixture and sprinkle with the sliced almonds. For best results, refrigerate the shaped cookies uncovered for about 2 hours or as long as overnight.
Bake the horns for 15 minutes, until they are starting to lightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on rack.
Chocolate Dip
In a small bowl over a saucepan over low heat, combine 1 cup bittersweet chocolate round wafers, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or shortening. Stir until smooth. Dip each end of the horn into the melted chocolate. Return the horns to the rack for the chocolate to set. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days, freeze for longer storage.
Post Bulletin food writer Holly Ebel knows what's cookin'. Send comments or story tips to
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