Cookies, Cookies, Cookies!

Sounds like this is going to be a "crumby" thread.

Funny you should post this as I just came back from a baking run at the market. Honestly, it has been so long since I've had the time or the money to bake for Christmas that I hope I remember how I'm using my mom's recipes for the staples: chocolate chip, peanut butter, butter creams, but I love trying new recipes. I probably went overboard on flour, sugar, etc so I am open to any new recipes!

I hope you don't mind if I post a recipe for people to try.

Butter Cream cookies:

1 cup of butter
1/2 of sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups of flour
candied cherries (or other fruit)

cream butter and add sugar. Blend in vanilla the slowly add flour. Shape into balls and press 1/2 or 1/4 of candied fruit into each ball (depending on the size of the ball). Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Yields 4 dozen.

Hint: The tops will NOT get brown. You want to look for slight cracking/separating around the fruit to see if they are done.

OOOh I love cookies but never get round to baking I'm so busy, I may do one day, they sound yummy.xx

With the way today is going, I immediately thought of the other type of cookies earlier.
I don't really bake cookies anymore. I did when I had a gas stove. This electric one must have the temp off (high) a few degrees and cooks them differently - crisping them up when they're not supposed to be.

If anyone wants to donate samples, I will pay the postge x

I don't eat many cookies myself (I'm a diabetic), but I enjoy baking them at Christmas; I usually take them to work for my co-workers to simultaneously curse and thank me while they are eating them...

I made a few batches of chocolate chip ones last week for part of a gift basket I was making. Needless to say, there were just SO many that were not fit for gifts...ahem...and I hate wasting food... Dang, they were good!

I've been cooking fudge for gifts this week. I love the Ghiardelli chocolate chips, and usually use them for the cookies and fudge. I think they do make a huge difference in the taste and texture. BTW, if you live near a Wegman's grocery store, they are on sale for $1.99 this week! That's a very good price.

This year I probably won't get around to baking cookies till Christmas Eve, so it'll probably just be chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies.

These sound like thumbprint cookies. You roll the ball into finely chopped nuts, poke your thumb in the middle and bake. When baked and cooled, add a 1/2 tsp or so of jelly or jab in the middle.

Funny thing, we don't "do" cookies for Christmas? My family, and Charlie's family too, tend to do more homeade candy than cookies? Usually peanut brittle, white chocolate macadamia nut balls, peanut butter balls, orange slice candy (melt in your mouth!), fudge, chex mix, caramel corn, ....there are more that I'm not thinking of......... guess I'd better go get the cookbook out, with Charlie working the hours that he's working this year, looks like I might need to get busy, lol!!

Thanks for posting all these recipe ideas! I will baking some Christmas goodies this year as we'll be having it here for once. Nice to have a variety to give out.

Maybe you already have samples...sitting at your house in wrapped packages...just waiting there...until you decide to open them.

That's another way that's yummy. I just use the cherries because it's easier.

But I am not participating in the Secret Santa this year because of finances. Maybe one of the TC Elves can send me a few? I promise to share them with DH. But not the girls... cookies are not good for the kitties.

I just popped into this thread. Ive got a hankering for some sugar cookies..BADDDD I only have flower cookie cutters *I like the rolled cookies a little better than drop ones* I may be running to the store tonight for food coloring and some paint brushes. Id like to make the hardening 'frosting' to paint in Christmas colors on the cookies. I just dont know what its actually called or how to make it whatsoever but if I cant find the recipe for that does anyone have a good cream cheese frosting recipe they can share that I can dye Christmas colors and decorate my cookies with???

I'd have to look up the hardened decorating icing, but an easy cream cheese one is 8 oz cream cheese, one stick margarine, a drop or so of vanilla, and about 2 lb of powdered sugar. mix the margarine and cream cheese together, slowly add powdered sugar to desired consistency... the stiffer it is, the less it runs. mix in a drop or so of vanilla, then whatever colors you want to use!

I just made these cookies last night, and my family loves them. They are like sugar cookies with bits of toffee mixed in. They are delicious!!

Sparkling Butter Toffee Cookies

1 \tcup sugar
3/4 \tcup Butter, softened
1 \tegg
1 \tteaspoon vanilla
2 \tcups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 \tteaspoon baking soda
1/2 \tcup English or almond toffee bits(I used heath toffee bits)
\tSugar

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar, butter, egg and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add flour, baking powder and baking soda; reduce speed to low. Beat until well mixed. Stir in toffee bits by hand. (I use my stand mixer on the lowest setting for a few seconds to do this b/c the dough is really stiff and hard to mix by hand)

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each with bottom of glass to 1 1/2-inch circles. (If glass sticks, dip glass in sugar.) (They turn out just as well if you forget to cover them in sugar and flatten with a glass lol they just aren't as flat, more puffy)

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are just lightly browned. (DO NOT OVER BAKE.) Sprinkle with sugar while warm. Cool completely. .

TIP: English toffee bits and chips are available in the baking section of large supermarkets.

TIP: Cookies may also be flattened with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.

Oooooh stop it, you will not make me open them!! Even though it is sooo tempting! x

Any Norwegians or Swedes out there?

Cardamom toast is my family's favorite Christmas cookie.

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 doz. cardamom seeds (shelled and finely ground in mortar/pestle
OR
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour

Warm butter in microwave until very soft or melted, but do not boil. Add eggs, sugar cardamom and baking powder. Mix until well blended. Gradually add flour. Mixture will be very stiff. When well mixed, put in greased/Pam 9x13 baking pan. Press mixture into corners to spread evenly.

Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Cut into long logs about 1 inch x 3 inches. Remove from pan and place on a cookie sheet. Reduce oven temp to 300 to 325 and bake on cookie sheet for another 30 min. The result should be much like biscotti - hard and dry and just perfect for dunking in coffee!

I am drooling! Thanks for sharing the recipe! These sound wonderful!

Does anyone have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. Im going to be using milk chocolate Hersheys chips but all the recipes Ive tried always end up too crunchy when they cool off out of the oven. Even the slice of bread in with the cookies (in the storage container) doesnt moisten them up. I have actually quit making chocolate chip cookies because I get frustrated. I have perfected sugar cookies..hmmm could I just add chocolate chips to a sugar cookie dough...lol...that would be super yummy.

^Have you tried a recipe that uses vanilla pudding mix?

When he gets home tonight, I'll pester my baker hubby .... he can tell you what to do to mae them less crunchy.... for the love of a cat, I can't remember!

I have a good (we think it is) recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies. It's from King Arthur and it calls for light corn syrup and vinegar. In our opinion, those are the best CCC. I'll post it for you when I get home from work tonight.

Does anybody make biscotti? I make brown sugar-cinnamon biscotti and cranberry-orange biscotti for Christmas.

Ooooh, that sounds good! I can't wait.

Here's the recipe. It's from King Arthur's The Essential Cookie Companion, an excellent cookie book. What's interesting about this recipe is that it uses vinegar, which mixes with the baking soda to give the cookies a little bit of "lift" instead of a lot of spread.

The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or white vinegar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) two baking sheets.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, corn syup, and vinegar. Beat in the eggs. Beat in the vanilla, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Stir in the flour and the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, until they're just set; the centers may look a bit underdone. Remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

My note: Watch the cookies in the oven because if you bake them too long, they won't be chewy; they'll get crisp. The centers will firm up while they're cooling on the racks. Also, use more cookie sheets, if you have them. If you put cookie dough on warm sheets, they're going to start spreading quickly and you won't get chewy....you'll get crispy.

Im gonna try this tonight. Im SOL on the extra baking sheets, Ive only got one cookie sheet and one round pizza sheet that I use for baking cookies. Someday Ill have all the baking stuff I want, that includes new pots and pans, a new crockpot, stand up mixer, and a full little cabinet thinger mabobber fulllllll of baking sheets and stuff. Someday Ill get it, probably when we win the lottery or either me or BF find out we have a super rich relative we never knew about that leaves us a pile of money that will never be touched by the goverment!!! You know...the usual get rich quick stuff.....LMAO!