Holiday Cookie Recipes

[Mannequin]

Date: 12/23/2008 12:53:04 PM
Author: curiopotter
marcyc, Skippy, Zoe, Loreli, Ellen, Aw thanks guys! My favorite part is the ginger people''s two little front teeth. I hope people will still eat them!

I think the cookies turned out awesome! My fave one is the little old man cookie with the wispy hair on the sides of his head, LOL.

 

[curiopotter]

lol, thanks equestrianne that''s my favorite one too!

 

[dianne]

I owe SKIPPY and MARA a huge thank you!!

Skippy, Just wanted to say thanks for starting this post. I now have several new recipes I can''t wait to try.

Mara, I baked 5 (yes...5) batches of the Peanut Butter cookie recipe you posted...I, too, opted to leave out the peanut butter chips and only used chocolate chips...They are fantastic and I have given to several folks in decorated boxes as gifts. I used unsalted margarine (mistakenly bought margarine instead of butter and figured I''d give it a try) and it worked great. I also rolled heaping teaspoons of dough into balls and flattened with a fork and that worked, too. Thank you!!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 12/28/2008 8:26:32 PM
Author: dianne
I owe SKIPPY and MARA a huge thank you!!

Skippy, Just wanted to say thanks for starting this post. I now have several new recipes I can't wait to try.

Mara, I baked 5 (yes...5) batches of the Peanut Butter cookie recipe you posted...I, too, opted to leave out the peanut butter chips and only used chocolate chips...They are fantastic and I have given to several folks in decorated boxes as gifts. I used unsalted margarine (mistakenly bought margarine instead of butter and figured I'd give it a try) and it worked great. I also rolled heaping teaspoons of dough into balls and flattened with a fork and that worked, too. Thank you!!

Ah, Dianne, you are such a doll! I am glad it helped; I was hoping it would help each other since there are great cooks in this forum.

I got on the bandwagon and made Mrs. Salvo's delicious PB fudge, oh boy, that stuff is delicious! hehe

 

[dianne]

Date: 12/28/2008 8:29:43 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 12/28/2008 8:26:32 PM
Author: dianne
I owe SKIPPY and MARA a huge thank you!!

Skippy, Just wanted to say thanks for starting this post. I now have several new recipes I can''t wait to try.

Mara, I baked 5 (yes...5) batches of the Peanut Butter cookie recipe you posted...I, too, opted to leave out the peanut butter chips and only used chocolate chips...They are fantastic and I have given to several folks in decorated boxes as gifts. I used unsalted margarine (mistakenly bought margarine instead of butter and figured I''d give it a try) and it worked great. I also rolled heaping teaspoons of dough into balls and flattened with a fork and that worked, too. Thank you!!

Ah, Dianne, you are such a doll! I am glad it helped; I was hoping it would help each other since there are great cooks in this forum.

I got on the bandwagon and made Mrs. Salvo''s delicious PB fudge, oh boy, that stuff is delicious! hehe

I adore PB fudge...looks like I gotta get on the bandwagon, too! Guess I should go ahead and thank Mrs. Salvo in advance, huh?, since we already know it is fabulous!! Thank you, Mrs. Salvo!!

 

[dianne]

equestrianne and curio: OMG! Your cookies are beautiful!--they really are works of art! And I thought I was doing good just to roll dough into balls and flatten with a fork...LOL! I am jealous of both your patience and your talent. Hats off to both of you!!

 

[Skippy123]

bumping for Ellen and new recipes in 2010

 

[AGBF]

bumping for Ellen and new recipes in 2010

Oh, no, Skippy! Not the dreaded fattening recipe thread!!!!!

Deb, hiding her head under the bed the way her Golden Retriever used to when she wanted to be invisible!!!

 

[Skippy123]

bumping for Ellen and new recipes in 2010

Oh, no, Skippy! Not the dreaded fattening recipe thread!!!!!

Deb, hiding her head under the bed the way her Golden Retriever used to when she wanted to be invisible!!!

Please add recipes I want to make something new this year. I am betting you have a good one Deb.

 

[AGBF]

bumping for Ellen and new recipes in 2010

Oh, no, Skippy! Not the dreaded fattening recipe thread!!!!!

Deb, hiding her head under the bed the way her Golden Retriever used to when she wanted to be invisible!!!

Please add recipes I want to make something new this year. I am betting you have a good one Deb.

OK...I'll try, Skippy. But I'm about to pack and make the long drive down to Virginia to my own house to be with my own husband for a week (yay!). Until I do the packing and driving and unpacking and grocery shopping, I probably won't hit the computer. After that I'll look through my recipes! It's been unseasonably cold in Connecticut (it was down in the teens last night). I think the entire East Coast has been affected, though, so I don't expect Virginia to be much warmer!

Deb

 

[bebe]

can't wait to see some new stuff
love this thread, thanks Skippy.

 

[Jessie702]

I made the fudge receipe, but i made it with peanut butter chips, and chocolate chips. Its a little grainy, but its my first try. Also, just made chocolate chip cookies. Ill post some pictures...they are tasty.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup White Sugar
1 egg
1 Cup Butter( Softened)
1 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt

Mix the dry ingidents, and than add the egg and butter...beat well. (Its fun to use your hands), put on ungreased cookie sheet, bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 365.

 

[Jennifer W]

Re:

Great idea for a thread, Skippy! I have several that I used to make annually, some of which my mother used to make annually. Here is one of them, which was posted in another Pricescope thread once.


Scottish Shortbread

(I think my mother originally called this, "Mrs. Smith's Shortbread".)

1/2 lb butter
scant 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3 cups flour (My notation says, "use less!" and is heavily underlined; I think you should listen to me. I believe it gets too crumbly with a lot of flour.)

Knead butter and sugar together, then work in flour, a little at a time. Form into two small cakes and prick fork right through to the bottom. Bake in a slow oven until light brown. (About 325 degreesF-20-25minutes-about 1/3 " thick.)

This is a great Christmas cookie recipe. I have never tasted shortbread that approaches this.


Deborah

Yay! I'm glad this thread popped up again, I'm going to bake some cookies with DD this afternoon. I'm inspired to make shortbread again. There's nothing quite as good as real shortbread!

I just looked out my gran's recipe again, and compared it to her mother's recipe.They are both very similar to this one, same ingredients and quantities (only by weight). However, my gran's recipe replaces about 1/3 of the wheatflour with cornflour (I think it's cornstarch in the US). It makes the shortbread 'shorter' and crisper. I wouldn't use less flour though- traditional Scottish shortbread is supposed to be very crumbly and light, or it's more like a cookie dough. Shortbread shouldn't look or taste like a cookie.
Commercial shortbread is much less crumbly than the real thing, I guess to make it transportable for sale. I'd rub the flour into the butter first, then stir the sugar into the resulting crumbs.

Traditionally, it's packed into a shallow wooden mould as loose crumbs, then pressed in place to make it all stick together. You turn that out onto a bake tray and bake until it's just about to turn light brown - it should be very pale, should barely change colour at all. If you don't have a mould, I'd pour the crumbs into a shallow oven tray and compress them lightly, then score it into squares before baking.

Scottish recipes use caster sugar- confectioner's sugar is icing or powdered sugar here. Caster sugar is half way between that and granulated sugar. Granulated won't work, its bigger crystals are too slow to dissolve and melt into the mixture - it would be too brown if you left it in the oven long enough to melt it. Powdered sugar won't give the right crunch to the finished texture.

The slow oven is key - the mix is basically drying out and melting the butter and sugar together rather than really baking.

I've made many, many batches over the years and the best ones have always been the ones that take the longest time in the oven yet still stay very pale.

Hope this helps if anyone is baking shortbread!

Jen
ETA: I'm a purist! Make it any way you like it, the point is to enjoy. However, if you want it to be true to its roots, use caster sugar, a wooden mould, salted butter and just a little cornflour, aiming for something like pale, baked sweet crumbs that just hold together.

 

[Jennifer W]

If anyone's interested (Debs?) I've just made a batch of shortbread. I took some pics along the way. If anyone is making shortbread, I hope they're helpful.

The first one is the texture of the mixture - large crumb.
Jen

 

[Jennifer W]

This one is my great-grandmother's shortbread mould.

You get them with really pretty carved patterns - thistles are popular, but it's really hard to turn the dough out in one piece from them.

 

[Jennifer W]

double post, sorry.

 

[Jennifer W]

Pour the crumbs into the mould and press them together gently.

 

[Jennifer W]

Turn it out onto a baking tray and bake in a low oven. It should look much the same colour when you take it out.

 

[Ninna]

This one is my great-grandmother's shortbread mould.

You get them with really pretty carved patterns - thistles are popular, but it's really hard to turn the dough out in one piece from them.

Great tips and pictures Jennifer
My dad [64] still makes hundreds for the whole gang. Most of his molds are well seasoned, newer ones get dusted with cornstarch or rice flour every 5 cookies or so to release chilled dough faster. My mom is the only one allowed to touch his Watson's molds

 

[Jennifer W]

Oooh. I'd love to see some pics of the molds. How does he season them? I'm scared to mess with mine, it's so old, but the dough is starting to stick sometimes, so it must need something done to it?

 

[Ellen]

Thanks again Miss Skippers! I have some additions for you.


Jennifer, I love the pics. Cooking shortbread is totally foreign to me, (but not eating it ) so I really enjoyed your posts!



If either of these are a repeat, please forgive. I'm not reading through 10 pages...


These have to be THE simplest cookie I've ever made, in terms of ingredients,. Hard to get much simpler. I am thinking that chilling them for a few minutes before baking might help them to keep more of a "mound" shape. Almost all of them (except for two, weird) spread too much, and ended up looking more like ravioli's...but Oh.My.Gosh., the taste. *faints*

http://www.northpole.com/kitchen/cookbook/rec1059.asp



And this banana bread is to die for. End of story. (and I don't even bother with the honey butter, it's perfect as is)

This is the second time I've made it. The first time (in regular loaf pan), I checked it several minutes before time was up, and it was very brown and checked clean with a toothpick. So I pulled it out, but found out later it was not done in the center (not sure how the pick missed that!). So make sure you cook it the amount it calls for. It's a very moist bread. This time I tried mini pans, and they came out great. I baked them for about 36-37 minutes.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/momma-callies-banana-nut-bread-with-honey-butter-recipe/index.html


Enjoy!

 

[Skippy123]

JenniferW, wow, I never knew how to make shortbread either and the mold makes beautiful cookies. Thank you for sharing!!

Jessie, mmm chocolate chip!

Ellen, I will check out those recipes, thankies!! What cookies are you making this year?

Bebe, hi friend!

Deb, no worries; have a safe trip sweetheart!

 

[marcy]

I just had a request for this from my cousin. This is a favorite of many who've tried them. DH's old boss always asks me if I still make them whenever we run in to her somewhere and he hasn't worked for her for about 15 years.

I make them thick and soft.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 c sugar
1 c unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4 1/4 c of flour (add a bit more if necessary)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs, salt, vanilla and sour cream and stir well. Add dry ingredients. Chill dough at least an hour. Roll out to desired thickness. (We tend to like the thicker, soft cookies so we roll them out about 1/3 inch). Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake at 350 degrees until lightly golden brown (about 10 to 15 minutes)

Enjoy

 

[Skippy123]

Marcy those sound great! Thanks! Have you already baked this year? What are you making? I think I will try something new this year!

 

[crown1]

thanks for getting this going skippy. i am checking back on it regularly for some new ideas. good to see you posting again!

 

[Jennifer W]

Well, I meant to post a pic of how the shortbread looked when it was baked. I waited until it was cool (tasting only a small piece, naturally...) and here's how it looks about 30 minute after you take it out of the oven:

 

[marcy]

Skippy, I have 2 types of cookies done and 2 to go. I made some Christmas M&M ones (using my chocolate chip cookie recipe) and peanut butter. What I did on the PB ones instead of putting the candy on top (which takes forever to get hard again after baking then makes them hard to stack) I made smaller cookies and made some chocolate frosting and put 2 cookies together like an Oreo. Tomorrow I am making candy cane and then Wednesday I am making the sour cream sugar cookies. I will be sick of cookies by the time our family Christmas rolls around. How about you? What are you making this year?

 

[Skippy123]

thanks for getting this going skippy. i am checking back on it regularly for some new ideas. good to see you posting again!

Hi Crown, thank you; good to see you too!

 

[Skippy123]

Skippy, I have 2 types of cookies done and 2 to go. I made some Christmas M&M ones (using my chocolate chip cookie recipe) and peanut butter. What I did on the PB ones instead of putting the candy on top (which takes forever to get hard again after baking then makes them hard to stack) I made smaller cookies and made some chocolate frosting and put 2 cookies together like an Oreo. Tomorrow I am making candy cane and then Wednesday I am making the sour cream sugar cookies. I will be sick of cookies by the time our family Christmas rolls around. How about you? What are you making this year?

Marcy, I usually make gingerbread, biscochitos and sugar cookies and maybe a bar of some sort. This year I probably will do biscochitos and something else. I want to just do a cake gingerbread for fun, instead of a cookie. Also, last year a friend gave me the best cookies; I am not sure what they are but some nutty cookie with a powdery coating and they were delicious. I tried calling her for her recipe. If I make them I will post pictures!!! My hubby would like you making the PB cookies; those are his favorite!!! Sound like you are making some yummy ones! Post pics if you get a chance. and good to see you!

Jennifer, those cookies sound delicious!!!

 

[marcy]

Skippy, gingerbread cake would be great. I love warm gingerbread with cool whip. I know what cookies you are talking about - but I don't remember what they are called. They are delicious. My mom used to make them. I will try to remember to take pictures of the cookie trays when I make them up. It's good to see you too.