The 12 Days of Christmas Cookies continues on "Good Morning America" with an anchor-inspired treat for the fifth day of confections.
"GMA" viewer Kristen Abbott joined Robin Roberts on Thursday to bake a batch of her sandwich cookies that were inspired by the flavors of Roberts' mom’s Christmas punch, which is made with ginger ale, lime sherbet, and strawberries.
Abbott, who was previously on "GMA" in 2014 with a different dessert iteration of those flavors, told Roberts "I remembered your kindness and your kind words stuck with me all these years and shows how the importance of kindness is. So all these years later I've always remembered that."
"I said, 'I'll take the flavors of the Robin Roberts pie and make the Robin Roberts Christmas cookies," she explained.
Abbott's new recipe adaptation below brings "old traditions into new tradition" with a soft ginger oatmeal cookie filled with a creamy, whipped lime frosting and sandwiched together, topped with a slice of fresh strawberry.
Ingredients
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the lime filling
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened to room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 teaspoons lime zest
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Additional ingredients
4-6 strawberries, thinly sliced
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using a stand mixer, or electric mixture, mix the butter and brown sugar from the cookie ingredient list until completely combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, spices, baking soda and salt from the cookie ingredient list. Gradually add this ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients until completely combined.
Scoop and roll the cookie dough between your hands to form 1-inch balls, and place them on the cookie sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Do not bake for more than that or they won't be soft. They will continue to bake once taken out of the oven and will set up as they cool. Allow to cool completely before removing them from the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, and before filling.
For the filling: Juice the limes until you get 4 1/2 tablespoons of fresh juice. Zest the limes until you get 2 teaspoons of zest.
Using a stand mixer or electric mixer, whip the softened butter from the filling ingredient list until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the lime zest and 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger from the filling ingredient list. Mix until combined.
Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing continuously until all the confectioner sugar has been added and well mixed. Add the lime juice. Mix to combine. Once the juice is well mixed in, add the heavy cream. Beat on high speed for several minutes until the filling ingredients are completely combined and the filling becomes fluffier and more like a frosting, about 3 minutes.
Assemble the cookies: Once the cookies are completely cool, scoop the frosting into either a piping bag or a zip lock bag with the corner tip cut off to form a piping bag. Flip a cookie over. Pipe the amount of filling you prefer onto the bottom side of one of the cookies, not going all the way to the edge of the cookie. Place another cookie, right side up, on top of the filling and press gently to form a cookie sandwich. Filling can be spread gently with a knife if you don’t have a bag.
Pipe a dollop of filling on top of the top cookie, and top with a small slice of strawberry.
Repeat with remaining cookies. These can also be made without sandwiching them by piping the filling on top of a singular cookie and topping with a slice of strawberry.
This should make around a dozen or so sandwich cookies, and twice as many single cookies.
Cookies should be stored in the refrigerator, and can be eaten cold, but are best brought to room temperature before eating for best texture.