Does anyone have a recipe for "Christmas Roses"?

Question

This is an Italian home cookie made by spreading nuts and raisins, cinnamon and sugar, on a dough spread with olive oil and orange zest. It is cut into strips. The strips are folded and rolled. After baking they are drizzled with honey. I lost the dough recipe which was made with four eggs, flour, sugar, shortening, etc.

Answer 1

Does this sound familiar?

Cucidati II

"This takes some time to prepare, but is well worth the work. I looked years for this recipe for my father-in-law. After many tries, I found the one that reminded him of his grandmother's Christmas cookies."
Original recipe yield: 5 dozen.
Prep Time:1 Hour Cook Time:20 MinutesReady In:1 Hour 30 MinutesServings:60 (change)


INGREDIENTS:
1 pound dried figs
1 cup raisins
2 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 pound chopped walnuts
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup orange marmalade
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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DIRECTIONS:
Grind the figs, raisins, orange zest and walnuts in a food processor, blender or food grinder. If the mixture is too thick, a couple of tablespoons of water can be added. Gradually blend in the honey, cinnamon, chocolate chips and orange marmalade. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease two baking sheets.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and baking powder. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the eggs, milk and vanilla until the mixture can be gathered into a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut the dough into strips that are 4 inches wide. Spread filling onto one half of each strip lengthwise. Fold the dough over to cover and seal the edges by pressing on them with the tines of a fork. Slice the filled strips crosswise at an angle about every inch or so. This will make diamond shapes. Place the cookies onto the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. Glaze with your favorite confectioners' glaze and top with sprinkles for added festivity.

Answer 2

Marian's Italian Loaf Cookies


Bumpass found this in a Woman's World magazine; it is the new cookie for this year's swap. It was contributed to the magazine by Marian Marelli of Belleville, N.J. To keep the cookies fresh as long as three weeks, place them in a tightly sealed plastic container with a slice of bread. The bread gets hard, and the cookies stay soft.


1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup butter or margarine, plus more for buttering pans

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup sugar

4 eggs plus 1 yolk, divided

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon grated orange zest (thinnest colored part of peel only)

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon water

4 ounces each (optional): white chocolate and semisweet chocolate

2 teaspoons solid all-vegetable shortening, divided (optional)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds in single layer over baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, about 8 minutes. Set aside. Meanwhile, lightly butter 2 baking sheets. Combine flour with baking powder; set aside. In bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat sugar with butter until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in 4 eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. Beat in juice, extract, zest and vanilla until just combined.

Reduce mixer speed to low; beat in reserved flour mixture until combined. Stir in reserved almonds. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; cut in half. Shape each piece into a 12-by-3-inch loaf. Transfer each loaf to 1 baking sheet. Lightly beat egg yolk with water; brush over tops of loaves. Bake 25 minutes or until browned. Cool 15 minutes on pan on rack.

Cut logs diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices, cut side down, on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, turning once, or until crisp and dry. Cool completely on pan on rack. If desired, melt chocolates separately with 1 teaspoon shortening each. Spread over 1 side of each cookie.


Makes 48 cookies, each: 84 calories, 2 grams protein, 4 grams fat, 27 milligrams cholesterol, 11 grams carbohydrates, 34 milligrams sodium.

Some great xmas cookie recipes
http://christmas.allrecipes.com/directory/4829.asp