FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sample Recipes:
Pumpkin Pie Drops
Classic Thumbprint Cookies

Sweet Maria’s* Cookies Make this Holiday Season so Sweet!
*Connecticut Magazine’s Winner 2005 “Best Cookie in Connecticut”

(Waterbury, CT, 2005) Connecticut Magazine’s September 2005 issue named Sweet Maria’s Bakery of Waterbury, CT “Best Cookie in Connecticut” yet again!  Since 1990, owner and cookbook author, Maria Bruscino Sanchez has been baking the best cookies and cakes for those lucky enough to live in Connecticut. And now, just in time for the holidays, you can mail order select cookies including traditional amaretti cookies in two flavors - Pignoli Nut and Chocolate Almond at http://www.Sweet-Marias.com.

This holiday season, try your hand at baking up a batch of Sweet Maria’s award winning cookies with Pumpkin Pie Drops (recipe below) and Classic Thumbprint Cookies (recipe below) from Sweet Maria’s Cookie Jar: 100 Favorite, Essential Recipes for Everyone Who Loves Cookies (St. Martin’s Griffin; 2002). All four of Sweet Maria’s cookbooks are available at http://Sweet-Marias.com/cookbooks.htm.

RECIPES:

Pumpkin Pie Drops

• ½ pound butter, softened

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup canned pumpkin

• 2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

• ¼ teaspoon cloves

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream butter and brown sugar until light. Add pumpkin and eggs. Mix until well blended.  On low speed, add flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Mix just until blended.
3. Using a teaspoon, drop dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing each 2 inches apart.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes , or until firm
5. Cool cookies on wire cooling rack.
6. Frost with cinnamon icing.

Cinnamon Icing

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ cup water

Combine all ingredients in an electric mixer. Mix until blended and smooth.
Yields: about 50 cookies.

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Classic Thumbprint Cookies

Nothing says home baked like these jelly filled cookies. You can roll them in nuts or coconut and fill with your favorite filling.

• ½ pound unsalted butter, softened

• ½ cup sugar

• 2 eggs, separated

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 cups flour

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups finely chopped walnuts or shredded flaked coconut

• ¾ cup jelly or pie filling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light. Add the egg yolks and vanilla. Mix well. On low speed, add flour and salt. Mix until blended. Roll dough into 1-inch balls.
3. In a small bowl, beat egg whites with a fork. Place nuts or coconut in another bowl.
4. Dip balls into egg whites and then into nuts or coconut. Coat thoroughly. Place balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing each 2 inches apart.
5. Press tops of balls to flatten slightly. Make a hole in the center of each cookie. Spoon jelly or pie filling into the hole.
6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
7. Cool cookies completely on wire cooling rack.

Yields: about 36 cookies.

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Recipes from Sweet Maria’s Cookie Jar: 100 Favorite, Essential Recipes for Everyone Who Loves Cookies by Maria Bruscino Sanchez (St. Martin’s Griffin; 2002)
About Maria Bruscino Sanchez - the Sweet Maria
Maria Bruscino Sanchez is an award winning baker and the author of four cookbooks, Sweet Maria's Italian Cookie Tray,
Sweet Maria's Cake Kitchen,
Sweet Maria's Italian Desserts, and
Sweet Maria’s Cookie Jar,
all from St. Martin’s Griffin. She and her family live in Waterbury, CT.

Contact Maria Bruscino Sanchez at sweetmarias@msn.com

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