Christmas Cookies-Becky's Sugar Cookies

Matt ate them all before I could try any, so I am assuming they were good!


1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 TB milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter & shortening
2. Add sugar, egg, vanilla & milk until fluffy
3. Mix flour, baking soda & salt in separate bowl
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well
5. Roll dough into balls & place on greased cookie sheet
6. Flatten (slightly) with sugar coated cookie press (or bottom of a cup)
7. Bake 12 min at (preheated) 350 degrees.
8. (Optional) Once cooled, frost & add sprinkles

Christmas Cookies-Becky's Sugar Cookies

Matt ate them all before I could try any, so I am assuming they were good!


1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 TB milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter & shortening
2. Add sugar, egg, vanilla & milk until fluffy
3. Mix flour, baking soda & salt in separate bowl
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well
5. Roll dough into balls & place on greased cookie sheet
6. Flatten (slightly) with sugar coated cookie press (or bottom of a cup)
7. Bake 12 min at (preheated) 350 degrees.
8. (Optional) Once cooled, frost & add sprinkles

Christmas Cookies-Bark Cookies- by Stephanie

Bark Cookies-Stephanie Fritz

About two sleeves of saltines

1 ½ sticks of butter

2 tbsp of sugar

12 oz ( or one package) of chocolate ship cookies

Meet butter and sugar on low heat and blend

Arrange Saltines ( top side up) on cookie tray

Pour butter and sugar mixture over saltines

Bake at 400 for 4 minutes or until lightly toasted

Sprinkle chocolate chips and spread evenly until smooth

Place in freezer overnight

Break apart ( and keep in freezer when not eating!)

Note, you can also use Ritz Crackers for a different effect-thanks T!

Christmas Wassail-Jerelyn's Recipe

Wassail

 

7 cups apple juice

1 cup Cranberry

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

 

Bring to a boil add:

 

1 cinnamon stick

5-8 whole cloves

 

Reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes. Add:

 

2 cups Orange juice

or 1/2 container orange juice concentrate (i just scoop it straight out)

 

Serve hot.

Jeri confessed that one batch she was missing cranberry juice so she threw in a jar of jam that hadn't set properly....yum!

Christmas Cookies-Teah's Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup shortening or butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt w/ shortening or
1/2 tsp w/ butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups quick or regular oatmeal
1/2 cup chocolate chips or more if you like.
1 cup coconut (optional)

Cream together sugars and shortening (butter).
Add egg and vanilla.
Mix up dry ingredients in a seperate bowl.
Add to wet ingredients.
Add in chocolate chips.
Mix together well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 7 - 10 minutes.
Makes 3 to 4 dozen.

Dough can be frozen. Best if used within 3 months.

Teah Miles

Christmas Cookies-Amanda's Spritz Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the 3 beaten egg yolks and one teaspoon of almond extract. Mix until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually sift into the butter mixture and stir well.
4. Chill until firm (2 - 3 hours).
5. Using a cookie press, press out cookies onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Christmas Cookies-Nichole's Quick and easy Snicker Doodles!

Snicker Doodles

2 Packages Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix (pouches)
2 Sticks butter
2 Eggs
1 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
2 t vanilla extract
1 t almond extract

Cinnamon-sugar mix for rolling cookies in. (@ 1 cup sugar & 2 t cinnamon)

Mix all ingredients together. Scoop with small cookie scoop (@ 1 Tablespoon). Roll in
cinnamon sugar. Place on greased sheet pan 2 inches apart. Bake @ 7-8 minutes at
375 degrees (until edges just start browning.) Enjoy warm. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies~Andrea's Cream Cheese Cookies and Pie Crust

Andrea's grandma's Cream Cheese Thumbprint Cookies:

3 oz cream cheese
3 oz butter
1 cup white flour

Cream together, let set half an hour, roll out to 1/4 in thick or less. Cut into circles and place on cookie sheet. Press thumb into each cookie and fill with small dollop of strawberry jam, bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately dust with powdered sugar.

The best part is that the dough, by itself, makes awesome piecrust. For Thanksgiving, I started with a pound of cream cheese, pound of butter, and 5 1/3 c flour, made 5 pie crusts and used the crust trimmings to make two dozen cookies!

Christmas Cookies-Double Chocolate Mint.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa pdr
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels (seasonal so snap them up!)

I also added a splash of mint extract to kick the mint flavor up and a small box of chocolate pudding mix to keep them spft, moist and extra fudgy.  I just prefer soft cookies, so feel free to skip this part.

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 325° F.

COMBINE flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 11 to 13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

OR drop onto cutting board and freeze!  Then you can pull out just a few cookies when you want them and not make the whole batch all at once!

Christmas Cookies~Peppermint Kisses

Thanks to Our Best Bites (READ THIS BLOG!~It's fantastic!)  I have a new twist on the Kiss on a Peanut Butter Cookie....

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening
1/2 c. real butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
optional: 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
48 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together softened butter, shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Meanwhile, combine the baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the centers are set but still soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Top each cookie with an unwrapped Candy Cane Kiss. Allow to cool completely, long enough for the Kiss to harden. If necessary, after the cookieshave cooled, they can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer to re-solidify the Kiss.

Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling

In my quest to make yummy rainbow cake and cupcakes for Maddy's birthday, I tried a buttercream frosting (too rich and heavy) and then I found this gem.  The only change I made was to use more lemon extract....I used 4 tsps.  It still had a sweet buttery taste but it started out fresh and light and lemony, then the sweet contrast kicked in.  It wasn't overpowering at all.




Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
thanks to Our Best Bites.com

3 T Flour
1/2 C milk (whole milk is best, but I used non-fat when it's all I have and it's actually fine)
1/2 C real butter
1/2 C sugar (that's granulated sugar, not powdered sugar)
1 t vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.

Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. It should still be liquid-ish though

[It's okay if you have lumps, because we're gonna strain those out right now. Place the mixture in a mesh strainer and stir with a rubber spatula to push it through.

(NOTE! IF YOU WHISK CONSTANTLY, YOU WON"T HAVE LUMPS!)You should end up with a nice, smooth mixture. It's almost like pudding before it's set.

Put this mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it's fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don't want it warm at all. When it is chilled, you can move on to the following step.

It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You'll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Don't be scared. It's going to look like a goopy mess and kind of lumpy and separated.


But you just wait. It's gonna blow your mind in a few minutes. Beat on med-high for 7-8 minutes. Yes, that long. I know it seems like forever, but that's when the magic happens!

After 7-8 minutes it will have transformed from that sloppy mess into something gorgeous, fluffy, and incredibly light and silky. 
Use it to fill or frost cupcakes, cakes or other pastries. You can't go wrong putting this on just about anything :)

Frosts 12 cupcakes


Here are some helpful Notes:

1. Use real butter, and a good name-brand. Cheap butter does weird things.

2. If you beat for the 6-8 minutes and the mixture still looks strange, beat longer and at a higher speed if you can. It should come together, but it takes a little patience!

3. Store at room temperature. Frosting may separate or sweat in the fridge, but you can store it overnight if left at room temp and in a well sealed container.

4. Add extracts to your hearts content; lemon is wonderful!  Food coloring is also okay.

5. The white sugar can be exchanged for brown. Try 1/2 white 1/2 brown for a warm caramel flavor.

6. Do not try to make other substitutions or additions. Sour cream, cream cheese, fruit purees all do disastrous things.