Most of us have heard about kissing the Blarney Stone, but how many of us know what it really is?  The Blarney Stone (Irish: Cloch na Blarnan) is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney, about 5 miles from Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens.

The word blarney has come to mean "clever, flattering, or coaxing talk."  The following recipe for bar cookies is not blarney – they're just plain good!

Blarney Stones with Irish Butter Cream Frosting

My mother used to make these for me when I was a child. These delicious bar cookies are just the right touch for an afternoon tea or an after-school snack.  They also go well in the lunch box.

Ingredients for cookies:

4    eggs, separated

1    c. sugar

1    tsp. vanilla extract

1    c. cake flour, sifted

¾   tsp. baking powder

1½ tsp. salt

½   c. boiling water

Ingredients for frosting:

1    c. powdered sugar

½   c. butter, softened

¾   tsp. vanilla extract

4    drops green food coloring

1    Tbs. water

      coconut

      chopped nuts

      chopped fruit

Directions for cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat egg yolks until lemon colored.
3. Add sugar and vanilla gradually; beat until creamy.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add alternately with boiling water.
6. Beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into batter.
7. Spoon batter into greased 12 x 9-inch pan.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes or until firm to touch.
9. Remove from oven and cut into squares.

Directions for frosting:

1. Blend powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and food coloring.
2. Add just enough water to make frosting easy to spread.
3. Frost bars, then sprinkle with coconut, chopped nuts, or chopped fruit.

Find this recipe and more in St. Patrick's Day Delights Cookbook, available at Karen's Bookstore.

by MyRecipes.com
Source: Yahoo

Follow these easy tips and tricks for baking the best batch of cookies every time.
 

1. SPLIT THE DOUGH
Work with half of the cookie dough at a time when rolling and cutting cookies. Too much handling of the dough makes cookies tough. Keep the other half refrigerated. Chilled dough is easier to handle.
 

2. CHOOSE BAKING SHEETS WISELY
Bake cookies on shiny, heavy aluminum baking sheets. These sheets with no sides are designed for easily sliding cookies onto a cooling rack. Dark sheets may absorb heat, causing cookies to brown too much on the bottom; nonstick baking sheets work well if not too dark. Insulated baking sheets require a slightly longer baking time.
 

3. KNOW HOW TO GREASE
Grease baking sheets with cooking spray or solid shortening instead of butter or margarine. Avoid using tub butter or margarine products labeled as spread, reduced calorie, liquid, or soft-style. These contain less fat than regular butter or margarine and do not give satisfactory results.
 

4. PURCHASE PARCHMENT PAPER
Use parchment paper to eliminate the need for greasing baking sheets. It also promotes even browning.
 

5. DON'T OVERLOAD THE OVEN
Bake one sheet of cookies at a time on the middle oven rack; if you need to bake more than one at a time, rotate the sheets from the top rack to the bottom rack halfway through baking to encourage even browning.
 

6. MAKE A BETTER BAR
To make brownies and bar cookies, line a baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil; allow several inches to extend over the sides. Lightly grease the foil. Spread the batter evenly in the pan; bake and cool. Lift from the pan, using edges of the foil. Press down the foil sides; cut cookies into the desired size and shape with a dough scraper (available at kitchen-supply stores).
 

7. BE CAREFUL WITH OVERBAKING
Check cookies for doneness at the minimum baking time.
 

8. USE COOLED BAKING SHEETS
Cool baking sheets between batches before reusing; wipe the surface of each with a paper towel.
 

9. SHORT ON COOLING RACKS?
Place a sheet of wax paper on the counter and sprinkle it with sugar. Cookies will cool without getting soggy.
 

10. COOL BEFORE STORING
Cool cookies completely before storing them in airtight containers.

Making Spritz cookies is one of my Christmas memories. It was extremely rare that we made these cookies at any other time of the year, so in my mind they are connected with the Christmas season. We would divide up the dough and color it, generally making some of it green and dark pink, and sometimes leaving some the original color. I liked to put two or three colors in the press to make cookies more than one color. We would decorate the cookies with colored sprinkles or strategically place those little silver BBs on them. (I didn’t learn until a few years ago that these are called dragees, and I’m no Spring chicken!)

My sisters and I usually squabbled over who got to do the pressing – we all wanted to do it! We had the old manual press. I don’t think there were electric ones back then. I remember that making the camels was the most difficult. If you didn’t squeeze out quite enough dough, you could tear off their heads or legs, but if you pressed out too much dough, they got too fat and didn’t really look like camels. The Christmas trees were fun to do, and we put the colored sprinkles mostly on them.

It seemed that we had to watch them like a hawk when they were baking. They just didn’t look right if they got browned on the edges. That ruined their looks. Inevitably, some did get too brown, though. We would sort those out if we were taking the cookies to share with others. Of course, I never minded eating them!

The Spritz cookies I grew up making used shortening, but this recipe, which is a Hood and Matsko Family Favorite, is made with butter. Butter makes a very tasty, creamy cookie. If you haven’t done it already, start a Christmas tradition of making certain types of cookies with your children. They will remember it fondly as they grow older.

Pressed Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1  c. butter, softened (no substitutions)

1  c. sugar

2  tsp. vanilla extract

2  eggs

3  c. all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. salt

    colored sugar or sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla.
3. Add eggs and beat well.
4. Stir in flour and salt until blended.
5. Using cookie press, press dough into long strips on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Cut into pieces about 1½ inches long.
7. Sprinkle with colored sugar or sprinkles if desired.
8. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are just slightly browned.
9. Remove from oven, and transfer to wire racks to cool.

Yields: 4 to 6 dozen.