Christmas Cookies
If all the cookies baked in December were laid side by side they would go across the United States two times. (Just teasing, I haven’t the vaguest.)
Cookies at Christmas are as all American as apple pie. What else can you give the mailman or the cleaning lady? (I know the answer to that, too.)
The holiday season is a time of sharing, if you have something to pass on to others it makes you feel better. So we make cookies and candy. My
mother-in-law was the best candy maker that ever was, so I never moved in that direction. My mother baked cookies, raisin filled cookies, If you were hungry or bored you knew where the cookie jar was.
I have baked cookies, some good and some that stayed in the oven a minute too long. There was a time when girls joined 4-H and learned to bake cookies. They baked batch after batch before they got the perfect one that meant a blue ribbon or perhaps a champion ribbon. I hope young girls are still baking 4-H cookies.
As I share these recipes with you, remember if the first batch doesn’t turn out to suit you, someone will eat up the evidence and you can try again.
Johnnye is a retired Home Ec teacher who still likes to bake. She gave me
some good tips. Always use cane sugar, not beet sugar (the sugar bag is clearly marked). Find the recipe that you like and add different things to it. Her recipe came from Martha Stewart Living. The recipe can be adjusted for thin &crispy, soft & chewy, or light and cakey.
Johnnye’s Cookies
Thin & Crisp
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter softened
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
Soft & Chewy
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Light & Cakey
1 ¾ stick unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
Plus
2 ¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse ssalt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs, room temp.
2 cups chips, (any kind) I used Heath Bar Chips
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour and baking soda. In mixer bowl beat butter with both sugars until light and fluffy. This takes awhile. Add salt, vanilla and eggs. Beat well. Mix in flour mixture, beat only until combined. Add desired chips.
Drop on parchment paper on baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, still soft in center. Cool on wire rack.
Butter should be soft, not hard or runny.
Meme and her granddaughter bake gluten free cookies. Here is her recipe.
1 cup T.J. creamy Salted Peanut Butter
1 cup T.J. organic sugar
1 T.J. large egg
1 T.J. teaspoon baking soda
1 T.J. teaspoon vanilla
Addt. Sugar for rolling
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in bowl. Roll walnut size balls of mixture into addt,.sugar. Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet. Using a fork slightly press down on balls and create a crisscross pattern.
Bake for 10 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes, transfer to cooling rack.
Mark likes to make his version of peanut brittle during the holidays.
Salted Carmel Cashew Brittle
1 cup Brown sugar
1 cup light Karo
Cook in the microwave 4 minutes
Add 1 cup cashew nuts, mix, and cook in microwave 3 ½ minutes
Add 1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon carmel flavoring
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla, cook in microwave 2 minutes
Add 1 heavy teaspoon baking soda, stir and immediately spread on parchment paper.
Cool, break apart.
My baking has been pretty easy, but tasty.Linda’s Spiced Nuts
1 pound pecan halves
1cup sugar or Splenda
1 large egg white
1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Combine egg white and water, beat with fork until frothy.
Add pecans and stir until well covered
In separate bowl combine sugar, cinnamon and salt. Combine with nuts.
Spread on parchment paper on cookie sheet. Bake at 300 for 30 minutes, stirring at 10 minute intervals. Cool, that’s it.
My Southern Sis has cookies down to a science. Her husband had a side-line mowing business and at Christmas they wanted to share with their customers. For 30 year, she, her daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughters, and for many years, our mother baked cookies and shared. Here is one of her favorite recipes.
Pistachio Crinkles
½ cup unsalted butter softened
1 1/2cup granulated sugar, divided
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond flavoring
1 large egg
¼ teaspoon liquid green food coloring
¾ tespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup finely ground roasted, salted pistachios
1 cup P. sugar
In large bowl beat butter, 1 cup sugar and extracts until fluffy (3-4 minutes)
Add egg and food coloring, beat well.
Wisk flour with Baking powder and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating just till combined. Add the pistachios, blend well. Chill until firm.
Roll into 1 inch balls, then in ½ cup granulated sugar, then in P.; ;sugar. Place 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 24 cookies. Enjoy.
The women of the Edwards Memorial United Methodist Church in Liberty have been doing a Cookie Walk for about 25 years. They sell about 500 dozen cookies each year, plus some candy. To paraphrase an insurance advertisement, “They know a thing or two about baking cookies.” Sally is famous for her Candy Mice and she shared this information.
Chocolate flavored almond bark
Vanilla flavored almond bark
Maraschino cherries with stems
Sliced almonds
Red decorating gel
Place cherries on a paper towel to drain. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper.
Mix 2 chocolate almond bark squares and 1 vanilla almond bark square with 1 Tablespoon of oil, heat in microwave until melted. This will do approximately 25 mice. Hold cherries by the stem and dip into melted chocolate mixture to cover the cherry. Lay chocolate kiss on its side and press dipped cherry onto the bottom of the kiss with stem towards the back looking like a tail. Insert 2 small almond slices between the cherry and the chocolate kiss for ears.
After completing all the mice, apply eyes using the red decorating gel. I found it helped to put a drop of the gel on waxed paper and use a toothpick dipped into the gel to apply the eyes. If you use Hugs Kisses you can make eyes with the melted chocolate and add a drop at the tip for the nose.
Will the mouse eat the cookies?
No, somebody ate the mouse!
