12 Days of Christmas: Gingerbread Cookies

Day 11: Gingerbread CookiesI usually don't make cut-out cookies at Christmas, but I knew it was something I wanted to do with Mason's cousins. We spent one afternoon letting them cut out the cookies and then decorate them. They loved it. It was sweet to watch them working together, discussing the frosting and sprinkles.

Gingerbread Cut-out Cookies

From Gooseberry Patch: Christmas All Through the House

1 1/2 c. light molasses
1 c. packed brown sugar
2/3 c. cold water
1/3 c. shortening
6 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 t. allspice
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. cinnamon

Mix the first four ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Sift together dry ingredients and stir into molasses mixture. Chill dough overnight (we chilled it for a couple hours and it was great.) When ready to bake, roll dough into 1/4 inch thickness and cut out with cookie cutters. Place on lightly greased cookie sheets; bake at 350 for 15 minutes. (Maybe a little less if you want them chewy.) Decorate! 3 dozen.

12 Days of Christmas: Nutmeg Logs

Day 7: Nutmeg Logs
Do you love eggnog? I do. I can only handle a little bit at a time though. Or mix it with milk. because it's so sweet. These log shaped cookies taste just like eggnog. They are a fun addition to our cookie trays. Luckily we don't have any more in the house between delivering them to friends and bringing the rest to school because I couldn't stop eating them. These are probably my favorite new cookie recipe so far.

Frosted Nutmeg Logs
From Taste of Home

1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. rum extract
3 c. flour
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt

Frosting
1/3 c. butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. rum extract
1-2 Tbsp. half-and-half

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and extracts. Combine the flour, nutmeg, and salt; gradually add to the cream mixture. On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into 1/2 inch wide logs. Cut into 2 inch pieces. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 11-14 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes before moving to wire racks.

For frosting, in a mixing bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, extracts and enough cream to achieve a spreading consistency. Frost cooled cookies. 4 1/2 dozen.

I'm looking forward to two (busy!) weeks home with my kids. Yesterday we cut out snowflakes to hang from the windows, played, read books, and made granola. I still have a pretty long to-do list, but I know it will get done. It always does. I still need to finish making a couple presents and do all the wrapping. I'm pretty sure our Christmas cards are going to be late considering the email I got from snapfish saying my pictures weren't going to ship for two more weeks because of the holiday frenzy. Bummer. That's what I get for finishing my cards in June but waiting until Thanksgiving to get a photo.

We'll spend today finishing the ceiling trim, cleaning the house for company, going for a walk, and watching Emma perfect her crawling techniques. She can get anywhere she wants, but I wouldn't exactly call it crawling yet. She's too busy pulling herself up on everything. I've gone in to her room a couple times to find her standing in her crib, so pround of herself and as happy as can be! Then Ryan and I are off to have dinner with friends while the kiddos hang out with Lacy. Shaping up to be a pretty nice Saturday!

12 Days of Christmas: baking

Day 5: Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies

I made these cookies for our friend Tim. We hung out with him on Friday and celebrated his birthday. He got extra points for watching Mason while Ryan and I went to our eye doctor appointments. Let me tell you...it is a little difficult to pay attention to all the 1 or 2?, 3 or 4? , better or worse? questions from the eye doctor with a squirming baby on your lap. Somehow, even with all the baby passing back and forth, Ryan and I both ended up with Emma girl during this part of our eye exams. I think next time I'll bribe Uncle Tim to watch both kiddos and make him a dozen more cookies!

These are best warm out of the oven, when the Rolos are really melty inside! Mason helped me unwrap all the Rolos. And after every single one, he would ask "for Uncle Tim's birthday?" as he dropped it in the bowl. Oh, I love that boy. Here's the recipe:

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies
from Taste of Home
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. plus 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 c. chopped pecans, divided
1 package (13 oz) Rolo candies
4 squares white baking chocolate, melted (I used white chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, cream butter, 1 c. sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in 1/2 c. pecans. Shape a tablespoon of dough around each candy, forming a ball. In a small bowl, comgine the remaining sugar and pecans. Dip each cookie halfway. Place nut-side up 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 7-10 minutes or until tops are slightly cracked. Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks. Drizzle with melted white chocolate. 5 dozen.

12 Days of Christmas: baking

Day 4: Fennel Tea Cookies

These cookies taste a little unique because of the fennel. I think they are a great addition to the usual cookie tray if you want something a little different. The fennel is subtle, but lovely. Best of all, they're quick and easy to make.

Fennel Tea Cookies
from Taste of Home
1 Tbsp. fennel seed, crushed
2 Tbsp. boiling water
3/4 c. butter, softened
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
powdered sugar (for rolling)

In a small bowl, soak the fennel seed in boiling water; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in the egg. Drain fennel seed. Combine the flour, baking soda, and fennel seed; gradually add to creamed mixture.

Roll into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar and let cool. 3 Dozen.

12 days of Christmas: baking

I've been enjoying looking through all my cookbooks finding new recipes to try this holiday season. I'm challenging myself to post 12 of those recipes here on the blog. First up is White Chocolate-Cranberry Biscotti. I love biscotti. When Ryan and I were hanging out in Salida on Friday we went to a bakery in town and they had a basket full of huge biscotti. I have about a dozen biscotti recipes earmarked, but I'm sort of on a cranberry kick these days so I decided to try these first.
White Chocolate-Cranberry Biscotti
from Taste of Home: Cookies & Bars

1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar (the recipe calls for 1 cup, but it was plenty sweet with 3/4 c.)
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
3/4 c. dried cranberries
3/4 c. white chocolate chips
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in cranberries and white chips. Divide dough into 3 portions.
On ungreased baking sheets, shape each portion into a 10 by 2 inch rectangle. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a cutting board; cut diagonally with a serrated knife into 1 inch slices. Place cut side down on baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 2 1/2 dozen.


Mason wanted to help me stack the biscotti. When I got the camera and told him to smile he said, "they can't smile mom, they don't have teeth!" I said, "yeah, you're right." He then said, "mommy didn't know?" Ha!

salt-n-pepper cookies

I got a new cookbook from my brother and sister-in-law. I love cookbooks. I read through the whole thing. Multiple times. This particular cookbook, Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, was no exception. The photography is excellent and every single recipe looks delicious.

The first recipe I tried was the malt waffles. Ryan loves malt, so I couldn't wait to make them for him. They had a wonderful flavor and baked up brown and crisp. We didn't get any photos though.

But, the cookies on the cover kept grabbing my attention (you can get a glimpse of them in the photo above). Since we had friends over this past weekend, it was the perfect excuse to make them. I'm a little slow though. Every time I looked at them I thought they were called salt-n-pepper cookies because some were black and some were white. It wasn't until I actually looked through the recipe again that I realized they had salt and pepper in them! The white cookies in the photo are actually malted milk sandwich cookies (another recipe in the book:) They just look so pretty all stacked up together.

So, I set to work on the salt-n-pepper cookies. The description said they were a tribute to the oreo. I thought they were much better than oreos. A hint of salt and the spice of the pepper mixed with the cocoa powder was unlike any cookie I had ever had before. Yum!

My little helper. He loved pushing the cookie cutter into the dough.

He didn't love waiting until they were assembled and until he ate his lunch to try one:)

Next up: peanut butter banana cream pie!

mocha fudge cookies

This was a new recipe I tried this year. They turned out really good...a hint of coffee flavor with lots of chocolate and nuts. Nice and chewy. They came from the 2008 Taste of Home Cookies magazine. I should mention that the original recipe makes 18 dozen cookies! Really? 18 dozen of just one kind? I cut everything into fourths and figured I better try them out before I filled my entire freezer with them. Here is my version which makes about 4 1/2 dozen.

Mocha Fudge Cookies

1/2 c. butter

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips, divided

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. baking cocoa

1 tsp. instant coffee granules

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter and 1/2 c. chocolate chips. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Combine the sugar, cocoa and coffee; add to butter mixture. Stir in brown sugar. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture. Stir in the walnuts and remaining chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-11 minutes or until edges are set. Remove to wire racks and cool.

Well, tomorrow is the last day of school before Christmas break. It should be a fun day full of finishing up projects, consuming too much sugar, and watching second graders giggle every time someone says "see you next year!" Then I'm off to a cookie exchange. And no, I'm not bringing these....I made a family favorite: snowballs. I'm looking forward to some fellowship with friends and kicking off my holiday break. And to make it even more festive, we're supposed to finally get some snow! Cross your fingers.

candy cane kisses

These are a yummy chocolate and mint flavored cookie (a perfect combo, really). I love the candy cane kisses on top! They harden up nicely and are easy to stack for storage or to give away.
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 cookies have cooled, they can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer to re-solidify the Kiss.

After the kisses had just started to melt, I twisted them to make more of a puddle:)