Christmas Cookies & Recipes

[Minnymouth]

Love the awesome receipes............... Thanks folks.............

[Bandit]

I should be expecting mine when?

Seriously though, thanks for all the awesome recipes!

After counting the bags, there is one extra bag. It must have been just for you. Would you believe I spent from 8 AM to 1 AM on saturday going in & out of two ovens? LOL! iT was a 15 hour day & I never sat down once. I was actually getting frustrated toward the end.

that did not include the 8 hours the weekend before whipping up the dough.

You are welcome & thanks for cheer.

[Bandit]

I was emailing this recipe to a friend and I thought of your thread here and thought I would add it here also.. I make these ever year and are really simple to make. They are a family favorite especially with the all the kiddos.



Peanut Butter Snowballs



1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter ,softened

1 pound white chocolate or almond bark

Combine sugar , peanut butter and butter in a small mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Chill 30 minutes or until firm.
Melt white chocolate in a double boiler over boiling water or microwave for about 4 minutes. Dip balls into melted white chocolate using toothpicks or fork. Return to waxed paper to harden.

Makes about 2 dozen.



Note... I always double the recipe because they go really fast.

You would not believe this but I have wanted to do that for about 15 years & never knew what they call it. I recall people making them years ago & they used a toothpick to dip the balls into the chocolate but it was brown chocolate.

I am going to try that one this year.

[Lacy]

Thanks Lacy! I'm going to make these with my boys!

You are welcome... I am sure they will enjoy making them as well as eating them.

[DisneyGirl]

I was emailing this recipe to a friend and I thought of your thread here and thought I would add it here also.. I make these ever year and are really simple to make. They are a family favorite especially with the all the kiddos.



Peanut Butter Snowballs



1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter ,softened

1 pound white chocolate or almond bark

Combine sugar , peanut butter and butter in a small mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Chill 30 minutes or until firm.
Melt white chocolate in a double boiler over boiling water or microwave for about 4 minutes. Dip balls into melted white chocolate using toothpicks or fork. Return to waxed paper to harden.

Makes about 2 dozen.



Note... I always double the recipe because they go really fast.

Thanks Lacy! I'm going to make these with my boys!

[Lacy]

I was emailing this recipe to a friend and I thought of your thread here and thought I would add it here also.. I make these ever year and are really simple to make. They are a family favorite especially with the all the kiddos.



Peanut Butter Snowballs



1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons butter ,softened

1 pound white chocolate or almond bark

Combine sugar , peanut butter and butter in a small mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Chill 30 minutes or until firm.
Melt white chocolate in a double boiler over boiling water or microwave for about 4 minutes. Dip balls into melted white chocolate using toothpicks or fork. Return to waxed paper to harden.

Makes about 2 dozen.



Note... I always double the recipe because they go really fast.

[DisneyGirl]

This year I made eight batches of these to give out

I should be expecting mine when?

Seriously though, thanks for all the awesome recipes!

[Lacy]

Here is another of my favorites.

THUMB PRINT COOKIES

I have made those before and they are really good... one of my faves as well.

[Bandit]

BLUEBERRY (OR CRANBERRY ORANGE)
MUFFINS

2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. milk
2 c. blueberries (or 1 c. cranberry-orange relish)

Mix all ingredients except fruit until dampened. Add fruit. Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins.


I use whole oranges with the skin minus the seeds, whole fresh cranberries and make my own relish by adding a bout 1/4 c. of sugar for a double batch and use a food processor. Where it says only 1 cup relish, I put about two cups, just like the blueberries.....

Then I add some dried/raisin-like cranberries and a tablespoon of lemon juice to the batter. This recipe works well to quadruple.

mmmm mmm good! cranberry & orange

[Bandit]

Here is another of my favorites.

THUMB PRINT COOKIES

1/2 c. butter flavor Crisco
1 egg, separated
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. thick jam or jelly
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder


Beat Crisco and sugar. Add egg yolks. Beat white in separate bowl and set aside. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add to Crisco mixture; mix well. Make 1 inch balls and roll in egg white. Put on greased pan. Press with thumb to make dent in center. Fill thumb print with 1/2 teaspoon jam or jelly. Bake on cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 8-9 minutes.

You can brush the egg white on top if you want. Just do not make the thumb print too deep because this cookie is very light & crumbles easy. They are good with a tiny but of powder sugar as an option. A very good fruit/jam cookie and works well with variations, like chocolate & coconut but jam is the best.
This year I made eight batches of these to give out

[Bandit]

Yummy ! those look really good... But hey you forgot to say how long to refrigerate the dough for !

You just put cut/roll out dough in for an hour or two to get it chilled because when it is cold it makes rolling it, cutting & moving it around easier to work with. No absolute set time for this one.

They are good.

[Lacy]

Kolacky

2 sticks butter
8 oz cream cheese
1 egg

blend

2 cup flour
add to mix

refridgerate

roll out the dough 1/8 to 1/4 thickness
You have two choices.
a) cut into two inch squares, put in jam filling & pinch two corners of the square together like a croisant
b) smear fruit jam all over the dough & roll it like a jelly cake. cut into slices.

Bake at 350 for 15 to 18 minutes
Top with powder sugar.

These cookies always go first & they freeze well. The most important parts of this is to work with cold dough and to keep a very close eye when baking. pull them out just as soon as they start to turn brown.




almond paste, sweet cheese or chocolate chips ground up make good fillings too.

Yummy ! those look really good... But hey you forgot to say how long to refrigerate the dough for !

[Bandit]

Christmas Cutout

I remember this one way back when I was just a little boy and mom working her tail off cooking, baking & filling the house with the smell of ginger & vanilla just before Christmas, then letting us in on some of the cutouts & colored icing. She would pass them out as gifts the week of Christmas.

This is my moms recipe.

2 c sugar
1 c butter
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream

mix

1 tsp. baking soda
2 heaping tsp. baking powder
5 to 6 c flour
(5 makes them softer
6 makes them a bit harder)

add slowly to mix

1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt optional

Refridgerate for a few hours in 3 balls
Roll onto flour surface about 1/8 to 1/4 thick
Use cutters of different shapes

Bake @ 375 for about 10 minutes

a)For colored sugar topping, sprinkle on and pat onto cookie before baking.
b)For frosting mix together: butter, powder sugar, vanilla & milk until creamy enough to frost cookies with. You can divide it up & make different colors with food coloring.

This dough recipe works best with a kitchen aid mixer and making a double batch will keep its consitency. You can freeze this dough & cut hearts for valentines day & it keeps up to St Patricks day for clover leaf cutouts.

Any questions? Just ask

[Bandit]

Scotch Shortbread

1/2 LB butter
1/2 C sugar
2 1/2 C flour

(you can add a little soda or powder if you want but not too much) It should be flat.

Cream butter & sugar then add flour. Pat the dough into 9x13 pan. Prick holes with a fork for effect. Sprinkle colored sugar on top.

Bake @325 for about 35 minutes.
Watch very close at your time as this one will brown fast if you turn your back.

Sprinkle with confectioners sugar & cut into cookie sized squares.
This is a lot like a lorna doone cookie.

[Bandit]

Toll House of course for the best chocolate chip.
Quaker Oats for the best oatmeal, except for I add nutmeg & allspice.

and of course all classic Peanut Butter Cookies will use a certain amount of shortening to get that crispy texture on the outside.

I am going now to whip up a huge batch of cut out cookies to get into the freezer until next weekend & will get that written down & over to you all when I am finished.

Enjoy your kitchen