Christmas Cookies

I have enjoyed baking since I was old enough to watch/help my Mom bake cookies. I was hooked back in the days when we did it all with a big bowl and a wooden spoon. In our family Christmas cookies have always been a step above a regular every day cookie; it had to be something a bit special. So, I still have some cookies that only get made at Christmas time or maybe for some other special holiday. 

About 25 years ago our church began the Cookie Sale on the second Saturday of December. For $12 the customer gets a red plastic bucket with a lid, puts on a plastic glove and fills the bucket from the many trays of beautiful cookies spread out on the tables. This wonderful event has given me a good excuse to go a bit overboard on my Christmas cookie baking. 

Yesterday was the day the annual baking began at my house. It was Chocolate and Mint day and I made two fun recipes, multiple batches. Today was frosted sugar cookie day. Oh, these are fun to make! Tomorrow continues with rolled cut out sugar cookies, but that will be another blog post. 

On with it!

No Roll Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

2 1/3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each egg. Stir in vanilla and almond flavoring. 

Sift together the dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Stir to combine.

Roll in balls or use a cookie scoop. Place on cookie sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. Bake 6-7 minutes at 375 degrees.

When baked, the cookies look like this.
Add frosting if you wish.

Fantastic Frosting For Cookies (or eating)

I used to make frosting by guess and by golly, some butter, some powdered sugar, some milk, adding enough of each to get the consistency right. A few years ago the girls insisted that I write down the recipe so we did. I measured as I made the frosting, we wrote it down and the girls named the recipe. I have been measuring ever since!

2 sticks butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2-4 Tbsp. milk

5 c. powdered sugar

Beat the dickens out of the butter so it is soft and creamy. (We got a little Grandma Audrey language in while writing this recipe) Add the vanilla and beat well. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and continue beating. Add 1 tablespoon milk and beat it some more. Add remaining powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well after each cup. Add another tablespoon of milk after the third cup and add more as necessary till the frosting is easy to spread. I usually use 3 and sometimes 4 tablespoons of milk. 

White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 c. white baking chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Combine the cocoa, flour, and baking soda, gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, fold in chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake 8 minutes until puffy but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on pans for 5 minutes before removing. 

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The original recipe came from www.allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe sites.

I have made these cookies with many variations and this one used Holiday Mint M&M's instead of white chips.

Tips for great cookies . . .

1. Measure carefully. Spoon flour into the cup and level it off. Pack brown sugar. Use the cups and the spoons!
2. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper. Cut one piece for each cookie sheet and use it all day. This not only protects cookies from burning on the bottom, but it makes clean up easy peasy.
3. Bake in the center of the oven. I bake cookies one pan at a time, but if you bake on two racks, rotate half way through.
4. Do not overbake! Take cookies out when they are beginning to feel firm-ish at the edges, but are still very soft in the center. Leave them on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes and they will firm up. Then remove. Many recipes say to cool on wire racks. I spread waxed paper on the counter and cool cookies there.
5. Sift the dry ingredients. It will not only thoroughly mix everything, but it adds air.
6. Pack cookies away carefully. You want these cookies to stay fresh and tasty through the next weeks. Put waxed paper between the layers of cookies and put them in containers with tight fitting lid. Store in the freezer or somewhere cold. I stash cookies in my garage or in a cooler on the back deck.  Keep them cold, they thaw out quickly. 
7. Have fun! Take time to bake with your kids and grandchildren. Share, give and enjoy.

One More Note . . .

I love baking in my new kitchen. Everything is just a little bigger and there is more room to move around. Even though it is wonderful, it isn't exactly right. At the old house Sam was often home when I was doing the holiday baking. He would have the wood burning stove fired up in the sunroom and I would have the oven going in the kitchen. The house was cozy and warm, bordering on hot. He would walk through looking for cookies that weren't quite right. He would offer to take the ones that were a bit oddly shaped or a bit more brown than I liked. He might linger in the kitchen for a while before moving on to the computer or the TV or whatever he was doing. I miss that. Hold on tightly to those you love.