Raisin Filled Holiday Ring Recipes

OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS RAISIN DELIGHTS

Steps:

• To Make The Dough: Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together; set aside.
• Cream the butter with 3/4 cup of the brown sugar and the white sugar. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix at high speed for 2 minutes, then reduce speed and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 3 hours.
• To Make Raisin Filling: Grind the raisins. In a medium saucepan combine the ground raisins, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup water, salt and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 3 minutes.
• Combine the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of the water and mix until smooth. Add to the raisin mixture and continue to simmer until thick. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, stir in the chopped nuts.
• Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
• On a floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 3/4 inch rounds. Place rounds on the prepared baking sheet. Place a heaping teaspoon of the raisin filling on the cookie round and top with another round. Crimp the edges closed.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on sheet until just barely warm.

CHRISTMAS TEA RING

Steps:

• Roll bread dough into a rectangle 8 inches wide and 15 inches long. Spread butter over the bread, leaving about 1/2 inch of a long edge unbuttered. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl and sprinkle the mixture over the buttered part of the dough.
• Starting with the long edge opposite the unbuttered edge, tightly roll the dough over the filling; seal the roll along the unbuttered edge to make a log.
• Lightly grease a 12-inch round cake pan or baking dish; place dough into the pan and form a ring, pinching the two ends together to seal. Use kitchen scissors or sharp knife to make cuts 3/4 inch deep into the outside of the ring. Twist the cut sections of dough slightly to reveal filling.
• Cover the tea ring with a cloth, place into a warm area, and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake tea ring in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil after 15 minutes if tea ring starts to brown too quickly. Let tea ring cool in pan for about 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a bowl to make a smooth frosting. Spread top of the tea ring with frosting.

FRUITED SWEDISH TEA RING

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Cover and refrigerate. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast, 1/4 cup water and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/4 cup warm water; let stand for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine remaining water and sugar; stir until dissolved. Add yeast mixture, eggs, shortening, salt and 3 cups flour; mix until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 16x9-in. rectangle. Sprinkle filling over dough to within 1/2 in. of edge. , Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal. Place on greased baking sheets; pinch ends together to form a ring. With a scissors, cut from outside edge two-thirds of the way toward center of ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate strips lightly; twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. , Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes. For icing, combine the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and milk; drizzle over tea rings while warm. Decorate with cherries if desired.

RAISIN-FILLED COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream sugars and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate until easy to handle. , For filling, in a saucepan, combine the cornstarch, flour and brown sugar. Stir in water until smooth. Add raisins. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir and cook for 3 minutes or until thickened. Cool. , On a floured surface, roll out dough into 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in.-round cookie cutters. Spoon 2 teaspoons filling on top of half the circles and top each with another circle. Pinch edges together and cut slit in top. , Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

RAISIN-FILLED PUMPKIN SPICE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add sugar, oil, eggs and buttermilk. Mix well. Stir in flavorings, pumpkin, raisins and pecans. Pour into two greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes or until bread tests done. Let stand 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool on a wire rack.