Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening or coconut oil

3/4 cup light or dark molasses

2 tablespoons milk (I used lactose-free milk, but almond or soy milk would work fine)

Directions

In a food processor, process flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt until combined. Add the shortening, and pulse until mixture is sandy, about 15 seconds. With the machine running, gradually add the molasses and milk; process until the dough is evenly moistened, about 10 seconds.

Scrape the dough onto a work surface; divide it in half. Working with one portion at a time, roll the dough 1/4 inch thick between 2 large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving the dough sandwiched between the parchment, stack the dough on a baking sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. You could also refrigerate the dough for 2 hours or overnight.

Adjust oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove 1 dough sheet from the freezer; place on the work surface. Peel off the top parchment sheet and gently lay it back in place. Flip the dough over; peel off and discard the second parchment sheet. Cut the dough into 5 inch gingerbread people or 3 inch gingerbread people, transferring the shapes to the baking sheets leaving 3/4 inch of space between cookies. Repeat with the remaining dough until both sheets are full.

Bake cookies until set in the centers and the dough barely retains an imprint when touched gently, 8 to 11 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool cookies on the sheets 2 minutes, then remove cookies to a wire rack; cool to room temperature.

Gather scraps; repeat the rolling, cutting and baking.

I wanted to come up with a special appetizer to take to a Christmas party, but I was running out of ideas. Sure Pinterest is exploding with Christmas options, but sometimes I just need to look in my pantry to get inspiration. A combination of spiced turkey sausage, some sundried tomatoes sauteed with shallots and a little bit of sour cream wrapped in light flaky puff pastry sounded just right. Of course, you could do almost anything wrapped in puff pastry and it'll be delicious!

These would also be good with the addition of some cheese. Since my husband is lactose intolerant I skipped the cheese and used lactose-free sour cream and shortening based puff pastry so he could enjoy them.

Turkey & Sun-dried Tomato Pinwheels

Ingredients

1 lb turkey sausage
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil, finely diced
1 shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 puff pastry sheets
Egg wash: 1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Thaw 2 sheets (one box) of puff pastry dough on counter or in fridge, following package instructions.

Remove casing from turkey sausage. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to saute pan, and saute sausage until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to saute pan, and saute shallot, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper until the shallot is translucent, around 4 minutes. In a bowl, combine the cooked turkey sausage, tomato mixture, parsley, and sour cream. Set aside.

Spread out puff pastry on a lightly oiled piece of wax paper (this will aid in rolling up the pinwheel). Spread the egg wash along the outer edges of the puff pastry sheet with a pastry brush. Then spread half of the turkey mixture evenly over the puff pastry sheet. Start rolling the puff pastry from short end of the rectangle keeping the roll as tight and uniform as possible. Once rolled, lay the seam side down, and roll up in cling wrap, or wax paper. Roll the second puff pastry sheet. Place both rolls on a cookie sheet and place in freezer for 20-30 minutes to set up. This makes them much easier to cut!

Preheat oven to 400 F. Slice rolls in 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch rounds. Place on a lightly oiled sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan and brush each pinwheel with the egg wash. Bake for 15-18 minutes until puffed and golden brown. I actually needed to give my pinwheels 30 seconds under the broiler to reach a lovely shade of golden brown. If you try this technique, do not walk away, they can burn in seconds!

Serve hot or room temperature.