OK, I don't think we can REALLY do an exchange, but thought maybe we could do a recipe exchange instead. Everyone post ONE cookie recipe...whichever one you would make if we were doing an exchange. Make sure it's "a winner" with your family; this isn't the place to post one that looks really neat, but you've never really made, or the one that Great-Aunt Sophie makes each year. So who wants to join? Ginger Cookies (Snaps) When I was in the classroom, the occupational therapists had a Christmas Cookie Bake Off for the kids. This recipe DIDN'T win, but it was my favorite. We've made them ever since. 2 1/4 cups flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. ginger 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. cloves 1/4 tsp. salt 1 cup brown sugar 3/4 cups shortening (or cooking oil) 1/4 cup molasses 1 egg Stir together the first 6 ingredients. Combine the remaing ingredients and beat well. Add dry in gredients to beaten mixture, beating well. Form 1" balls. Roll in granulated sugar if desired. Place 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 375° for about 10 minutes. Makes about 48 cookies.
This recipe is a family fave. They are so rich that I only make them at Christmas. We always do gift baskets loaded with homemade goodies and this cookie is always a hit. CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY COOKIES Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup baking cocoa 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk Directions In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa, 1/4 teaspoon salt, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Drain cherries, reserving 1-1/2 teaspoons juice. Pat cherries dry. Shape 1 tablespoon of dough around each cherry. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on wire racks. For frosting, in a saucepan, heat chocolate chips and milk until chips are melted; stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Add reserved cherry juice and remaining salt. Frost cookies.
Reindeer Cookies: Peanut Butter Cookie body: 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1/2 cup peanut butter 1 egg 1 1/4 cup self-rising flour Additional Ingredients: large twist pretzels chocolate chips red hots (I use red M&M's.) Mix all cookie ingredients, form balls and flatten on greased cookie sheet. Make small indentions in both sides, more towards the top to form the face. Place pretzels (antlers) on each side of top of each cookie. Use chocolate chips for eyes and red hots for a nose. If you use M&M's, add the nose just AFTER you take them out of the oven. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. You can subsitiute your favorite peanut butter cookies recipe. We make these every year.
Oh my goodness! Lucy posted the exact recipe I was going to use! Those cookies are keeper and a must have at Christmas time!
I wanna join, I wanna join....but I'm prepping to go away for Thanksgiving. I'll do digging and pull out my fav when I get back...will that be too late? P.S. LOVE the reindeer cookies!!! SO CUTE!!! I might try them this year!
No, as far as I'm concerned, you can post your favorite recipe up to Christmas Eve! I've made those reindeer with a chocolate cookie, instead of peanut butter, but mine NEVER turned out that cute!!!
I have a recipe that I hope you all will love, it's a little odd, but it is soo tasty and my kids ask for them all year long. Sometimes I'll even bake them up in the morning (make the batter the night before and stick it in the fridge) and we'll have them for breakfast! Fruit Cocktail Cookies: 1 1lb can (2 cups) Fruit Cocktail, drained and save the syrup 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 2 cups flour (all purpose) 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1/2 cup chopped walnuts Oven should be at 375 degrees F, of course you may want to change that depending on how your hot your oven runs. The bake time is 10-12 minutes and they make 3 1/2 dozen. Cream first four ingredients together. Now with your dry ingredients, you can add them together in another bowl or bag. Make sure they are mixed well. Then alternate mixing dry ingredients with the reserved syrup from the fruit cocktail. If you want you can add maraschino cherries, different nuts or raisins. Mix wet and dry ingredients together. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. These cookies are very cheap to make, and they come out sweet but not too sweet, and they are soft, which we all love.
I'm back. Here you go. THIS ONE...is my personal favorite. They go faster than Chocolate Chip. Ultimate Snickerdoodles 2 Sticks Butter (please, no substituting this!) 1 1/2 Cups Sugar 2 eggs 2 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour 2 tsp Cream of Tartar 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 2 Tbs PLUS 2 tsp Cinnamon (divided) 2 Tbs. Sugar In a small bowl mix the 2 tsp Cinnamon and the 2 Tbs Sugar, set aside. In a bowl, lined with a sifter or sieve, place flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt and 2 Tbs Cinnamon. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, continue to beat. Scrape sides as necessary. Add flour mixture - 1 cup at a time to the butter mixture until well blended. Refridgerate dough for 30 minutes (or overnight works too). Preheat oven to 375. Form dough into walnut sized balls (I use a metal Tbs measuring spoon and scoop). Roll balls into sugar/cinnamon mixture, coating well. Place balls 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Bake about 10 mins until a golden brown. Remove and cool on rack. Note: they will puff at first when cooking, then flatten - this is normal.
So far we have three cookies made, and the Snickerdoodles were one of them! The others were ginger cookies and pumpkin cookies.
Here's one that requires no baking! These are always a hit. Oreo or Nutter Butter Truffles 8 oz Cream Cheese one package Oreos- or Nutter Butters cookies crushed Combine until smooth. Dip in white or regular chocolate.
Here are a couple of my favorite easy cookies. Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies 1 cup white sugar 1 cup peanut butter 1 egg 18 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine sugar, peanut butter, and egg. Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. NOTE: If dough is too sticky, refrigerate 1/2 hour or until easy to handle. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each warm cookie. Fudgy Mint Cookies 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) devil's food cake mix 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 tablespoon water 2 eggs 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar 2 packages (5 ounces each) chocolate-covered thin mints In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter and water. Add eggs; mix well. Shape into 1-in. balls; roll in confectioners' sugar. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Immediately press a mint into the center of each cookie. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
My new favorite cookie Orange Date Nut Cookies 2 sticks of butter (softened) 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup gradulated sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 3 cups Quick Oats 2 eight ounce packages chopped dates 1 cup chopped pecans Zest from one orange preheat oven to 350 degrees Cream butter and both sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and combine well. Add flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix well. Add nuts and Quick Oats. Mix well. Add orange zest and mix well. Using a teaspoon, drop mix onto baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with Pam. Bake for 11 minutes or until lightly brown. Do not overcook. Cool on wire racks. These freeze well. They can be made without the orange zest and nuts but I thought they were a little flat tasting that way.
These are not really a cookie but more a candy. I got the recipe from someone on another board...we call it evil stuff Preheat oven to 350 Get a shallow pan with sides, 9x13 Put down parchment over the pan, so that it overhangs on ALL sides. This is VERY IMPORTANT, ALL SIDES! Or if you use those disposable aluminum pans, skip the parchment. Put down a tight layer of saltine crackers. Boil 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup. brown sugar for 3-4 minutes. (I have used both light and dark brown sugar, both work fine). Pour this mixture over crackers and spread evenly. Pop in oven for about 5 minutes (until it is bubbly and you can see the mix has gotten under crackers too. Pull out of over and sprinkle 12 oz of chocolate chips on top (I use semisweet, but milk or dark work too). The heat from the mixture should melt the chocolate, if not pop it back in the oven for about 2-3 minutes. Use a spatula or icing spreader to smooth out the chocolate over the top. Sprinkle on top about 3/4 bag of Heath Brickle N Bits (sold with the chocolate chips). After about 1 min. I use the back of a clean spatula to pat down the bits. Refrigerate until it hardens through. Then break it apart like peanut brittle.
Another excellent candy! Peppermint Bark In seperate bowls, melt both milk chocolate and white chocolate in the microwave (or on the stove). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place broken up peppermint candies on the parchment paper. (I actually buy it at a cake store, where they sell all kinds of candy/cookie/cake supplies). Pour the chocolates over the peppermint, "marbling" it as you go. Put in the refridge until solid, break into bite-size pieces. *One time I put this on my PC stoneware without parchment paper, and it did NOT come up well! I had to scrape it off. Not wanting to throw it out, I put the very fine stuff in a bag and added it to hot chocolate. It worked!
Wow, I was just thinking I want to make Peppermint Bark! These are my hubby's favorite all year, so I guess the aren't really Christmas cookies, but they are still good Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies 1 cup butter 1 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 Eggs 2 tbsp Milk 1 tsp vanilla 1 3/4 cup flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 2 1/2 cups rolled oats 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hey... no one posted the Turtles yet!!! EASIEST and BEST candy!!! GREAT to give away!!! Turtles 2 packages Rolo Candy Mini Pretzels Pecan halves Preheat oven to 250. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet and lay pretzels on pan in SINGLE LAYER. Unwrap and place a Rolo candy on top of each pretzel. Place in oven about 3 to 4 minutes until Rolos are soft but not melted. Remove from oven. Immediately press a pecan half on the top of each candy and press in - making the turtle shell. BTW....you h ave to let them cool for a long time so the chocolate resolidifies. You can put in fridge, too. They are so cute and so delicious!!!
MamaKittyCat - I hope you're okay that I did this...BUT...I made your Truffles (I renamed them because I made them with Aldi ingredients), and I gave you credit on my blog. click on my blog - folks - and you can see a picture of them! They are YUMMY!!!! They taste like mini cheesecake bites. OH SO GOOD!!!!
