Fruity Meltaways Recipes

PECAN MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate until chilled., Preheat oven to 350°. Roll into 1-in. balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Roll warm cookies in additional confectioners' sugar; cool completely on wire racks. Roll cooled cookies again in confectioners' sugar.

LEMON MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together 3/4 cup butter and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar until smooth. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Combine the flour and corn starch, and blend into the lemon mixture to form a soft dough. Divide dough in half, roll each half into a log about 8 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cut each roll into 1/4 inch slices and place onto the cookie sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes, or until set. Cool completely before frosting.
• In a small bowl, blend together 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon lemon zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Frost cookies and allow to dry before serving or storing.

PASSION-FRUIT MELTING MOMENTS

Steps:

• Cookies:Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed, scraping down sides as necessary, until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Sift together flour and cornstarch, then add to butter mixture along with salt, beating until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
• Measure 2 teaspoons of dough and form into a ball; transfer to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing about 1 inch apart. Use a fork to make a three-prong indent on tops of balls. Bake until slightly golden around edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Filling:Heat egg yolks, passion fruit, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in butter and gelatin and mix until the butter has melted and the gelatin has dissolved. Strain curd into a medium bowl, then place plastic wrap directly onto surface; refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour.
• Spread 1 scant teaspoon curd each on bottoms of half the cookies. Dust remaining cookies with confectioners' sugar; sandwich halves together. Filled cookies are best eaten the day they are made.

FRUITY MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a stiff spatula, mix butter, confectioners' sugar, salt, lemon juice and vanilla until creamy and combined. Add ground freeze-dried fruit and mix until distributed. Add flour, and mix until it all comes together into a soft dough.
• Divide the dough into two (250-gram) portions. On pieces of parchment paper, wax paper or plastic wrap, roll each portion of dough into a 10-inch-long log. Chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator or up to 3 months tightly wrapped in the freezer.
• Set oven racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper.
• Using a sharp knife, trim about ⅛-inch off each side of the chilled dough logs, just so that you have flat ends. Slice the logs into scant ¼-inch-thick cookies. Roll the log a quarter turn after each slice to keep it round. (If the dough cracks while slicing, let it warm up at room temperature for 10 minutes.) Arrange on sheet trays ½-inch apart and bake, rotating the trays once during baking, until set and barely golden underneath, 10 to 12 minutes.
• While the cookies bake, make the sugar coating: Sift together the powdered sugar with the ground freeze-dried fruit. While still warm, gently toss the cookies in the powdered sugar mixture and return to the sheet tray to fully cool. The cookies will keep for 2 weeks stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

LEMON MELTAWAYS

Steps:

• In a bowl, beat butter and confectioners' sugar until blended. Beat in lemon juice. In a small bowl, whisk flour and cornstarch; gradually beat into butter mixture. Divide dough in half; shape each into an 8-in.-long roll. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 2 hours or until firm., Preheat oven to 350°. Unwrap and cut dough crosswise into 1/4-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 8-12 minutes or until firm. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat butter and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in lemon zest, lemon juice and, if desired, food coloring. Spread over cookies.