This time of year, my mind doesn’t immediately turn to
decorations or gift buying (or getting). I’m not thinking turkey or ham or
holiday traffic. My thoughts turn toward cookies. I love to bake. Cake, pie,
cookies, you name it. I find it therapeutic. Cookies are my go-to dessert
because they’re fast easy and there are so many varieties... which leads me
back to why thoughts go to cookies at this time of year.
Christmas cookies.
It’s like an excuse
to bake as much as I want, as often as I can, and try as many varieties as
possible. I can rarely leave a recipe alone. I like to experiment. What if I added coconut... chocolate, etc. I have my favorites, and those
varieties requested by friends and family, but I love to try out new varieties
every year. I bake them for friends,
neighbors, family, and this year I’m even selling them.
I think it would be awesome to participate in a giant cookie
exchange, but as that’s kind of problematic, how about an informal cookie recipe
exchange?
I’ll give you my favorite sugar cookie recipe and if you
have a favorite recipe, post them in the
comments.
I’ve always loved
sugar cookie dough, but this one... the cookies are good without frosting.
½ cup butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
½ tsp almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
Cream together cream cheese, butter and sugar. Blend until
smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract. Mix. Add flour and baking powder and blend
together.
Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate
for at least one hour. (I’ve refrigerated overnight with no problem)
Take half of the dough and roll it to a ¼ inch thick on a
well-floured surface. Cut out the cookies and bake them at 350 for 6 to 10
minutes or until golden brown. (Cooking
time depends a lot on what shape you choose for your cookie) If you don’t like
the taste of almond, substitute vanilla.
Cool and frost or decorate as you desire.
Let me know what you think of the cookies! I will check the
comments and try your recipes too. I may just pick one I like the best and send
you a batch of my famous—in my family anyway—lemon cookies. Because who doesn’t
love getting cookies?
Not only is my mind full of cookie thoughts, I’m celebrating my upcoming release, Journey
of Wisdom, which is the third book in the Triune Stones series. I don’t think
Ilythra ever made a cookie in her life, but she’d probably eat one or two.
Journey of Wisdom comes out December 30th, just
in time for New Year’s reading!
So please, leave your favorite recipe or a link to your favorite recipe in the comments below!
I grew up eating Buckeyes for Christmas it's become a tradition that now my kids love. And they are so easy.
ReplyDelete3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted when ready to use
Mix all the ingredients except the chocolate in a bowl. Form dough into round balls. Place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper and freeze for 1 hour. Melt the chocolate and roll the balls into melted chocolate then place bake in freezer 1-2 hours until chocolate hardens. Your done. They are so yummy too.
Steph, I just saw a picture of Buckeyes. Peanut butter and chocolate? I'm sold! I will be sure to try this recipe. Thank you!
DeleteGreat idea! I finally have a big enough house to host Christmas, and I'm excited about doing Christmas baking. (It also helps that I finally have a freezer...) This recipe is my husband's favourite. It's a bit fiddly, the kind of Christmas cookie you only make at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteCandy Cane Cookies
1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp red food colouring - DON'T ADD YET
Combine first five ingredients in a bowl. For best results divide dough into two equal halves, then add flour and salt. Add food colouring to only one of the bowls. If necessary, add a little water.
Take 1 1/2 tsp of white dough, form into a rope, Do the same to 1 1/2 tsp of pink dough. Twist ropes together and curve to form a candy cane.
Bake @375 x 7-9 minutes
I love this idea... and best yet, no frosting! LOL Although I love to bake... decorating cookies leaves me a little cold. I let the kids do it. ; ) Thank you so much Nicole! And what do you think about adding a little peppermint sugar sprinkles while they're hot?
Delete