December is here and believe it or not there are only 22 more days until Christmas. I really feel cheated this year with one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I already feel behind and it’s barely started!!
The college kids and high school girl have all returned to school and Jim was traveling today so I had the house totally to myself! It was so quiet!! I decided to get busy ”decking the halls” and unpacking all those boxes.
I also began making a list – not a list for Santa – but a list of all the yummy cookies I want to make this year for our annual Cookie Baking Day. Each year I try to add a few new recipes to the collection. I usually spend hours looking through magazines, cookbooks and blogs looking for new recipes to try.
This year I decided to ask for your help and to have some fun at the same time!
You are invited to a Holiday Cookie Exchange!
Since I can’t have you all over to my house to actually exchange cookies we will just have to exchange cookie recipes. And guess what?! There is a prize too!
All you have to do is enter one of your favorite holiday cookie recipes into the comment box below. You will then be entered into the giveaway for another one of my “Handmade by Leigh Anne” holiday aprons (fabrics may vary)
Remember if you are reading this in an email update or rss reader you will need to click through to the blog to leave your recipe in the comment box. Do not just reply to the email. Thanks!
The Holiday Cookie Exchange will be open for entries through Sunday, Dec. 7th at midnight PST. I will post the winner on Monday morning.
We will all be winners though because we will have lots of fun new cookie recipes to try.
I will kick off the cookie exchange with a yummy recipe – Peppermint Cookies. This recipe came from my friend Shauna Watts - her sister in law Mitzi came up with it! The recipe calls for mint chocolate chips which I didn’t have so I just used semi-sweet but for an even mintier version they would be wonderful.
If you have one of those great Silphat mats you will definitely want to use it with this recipe. Since the cookies are covered in crushed candy cane the melted candy will permanently adhere to your cookie sheet if you don’t use the mat. If you don’t have a mat be sure and loosen the cookies before the melted candy hardens and move them to a cooling rack.
I will share a few more favorite cookie recipes over the next week or so. I can’t wait to see what you share!!
One Year Ago: Banana Bars
Peppermint Cookies
1/2 C butter
1 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
pink or red food coloring
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 C flour
1 C mint chocolate chips
candy canes, crushed
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheet
Cream together sugar, butter, egg, salt and food coloring. Stir in baking powder, flour and vanilla. Add chocolate chips. Roll dough into ball, dip in crushed candy canes. Bake 10 minutes.
FYI – Yesterday we made the Candy Cane Snowballs in post #37 above and they are wonderful! They taste great and the kids had fun helping me dip them in the chocolate and candy canes.
A new favorite of ours are these Roly Poly Santas. I got the recipe from Taste of Home and if you make them you should go to their website to see a picture…you really need it to see how cute they are and how to put them together. http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Roly-Poly-Santas
Rolling all the balls takes awhile, but even just one of them on a tray of cookies makes a big difference!
ROLY POLY SANTAS
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• Red paste food coloring
• Miniature chocolate chips
• FROSTING:
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons milk, divided
DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add milk and vanilla; mix well. Add flour and mix well. Remove 1 cup dough; add red food coloring. Shape white dough into 12 balls, 3/4 in. each, and 48 balls, 1/4 in. each. Shape red dough into 12 balls, 1 in. each, and 60 balls, 1/2 in. each. Place the 1-in. red balls on two ungreased baking sheets for the body of 12 Santas; flatten to 1/2-in. thickness. Attach 3/4-in. white balls for heads; flatten to 1/2-in. thickness. Attach four 1/2-in. red balls to each Santa for arms and legs. Attach 1/4-in. white balls to ends of arms and legs for hands and feet. Shape remaining 1/2-in. red balls into hats (see the photo). Add chocolate chip eyes and buttons.
Bake at 325° for 12-15 minutes or until set. Cool for 10 minutes; carefully remove from pans to wire racks (cookies will be fragile).
For frosting, combine shortening and vanilla in a small mixing bowl; mix well. Gradually add 1-1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar; add 1 tablespoon milk. Gradually add remaining sugar and milk. Fill a pastry bag with frosting. With a round decorator’s tip, add a band of icing on hat, cuffs at hands and feet, and down the front and at bottom of jacket. Use a small star tip to pipe beard and pom-pom on hat.
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Yield: 1 dozen.
i just made these cookies and they were sooo yummy!! i used white chocolate chips. they will look so pretty on my treat plates that i make for neighbors and friends. thanks so much for sharing the recipe!