I’ll Be Home for Cookies
Photo courtesy of chowstatic.com.

I’ll Be Home for Cookies

Snow blankets the ground, holiday lights trim rooftops and winter coats make their seasonal appearance.

It’s that time of year again. As the cold sets in, warm up next to the oven with these tasty cookie recipes to spice up the holidays.

Sugar Cookies

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Stir together flour, cream of tartar and baking soda.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix butter, oil, powdered sugar and white sugar until well blended. Add eggs, vanilla extract and lemon extract.
  4. Gradually mix in dry ingredients until well blended.
  5. Roll dough into spheres and place 2 inches apart onto a cookie sheet.
  6. Flatten spheres to 1/8-inch thick discs.
  7. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.
  8. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
  9. After cooled completely, top with frosting and sprinkles if desired.

Ginger Cookies

Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.sndimg.com.

Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.sndimg.com.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
¼ cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves.
  3. In a separate bowl: mix butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat in egg, then stir in water and molasses.
  5. Gradually add dry ingredients until well mixed.
  6. Roll dough into spheres and coat them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.
  7. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
  8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
  9. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Photo courtesy of browneyedbaker.com.

Photo courtesy of browneyedbaker.com.

Prep time: 25 minutes

Baking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 mini peanut butter cups

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Stir together flour and baking soda.
  3. In a separate bowl: mix butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar.
  4. Beat in egg, vanilla and milk.
  5. Gradually add dry ingredients until well mixed.
  6. Shape into 40 spheres and place each into a mini muffin pan.
  7. Bake for 8 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each.
  9. Let cool before removing from pan.

Citrus Shortbread Cookies

Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.sndimg.com.

Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.sndimg.com.

Prep time: 25 minutes (this recipe requires 4 hours of cooling time between prep and baking)

Baking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2 cups dried cranberries, chopped

Directions:

  1. Stir together flour and baking powder.
  2. In a separate bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until smooth.
  3. Stir in vanilla extract, almond extract and orange zest.
  4. Gradually add dry ingredients until well mixed.
  5. Fold in cranberries.
  6. Divide dough into 2 equal portions.
  7. Roll each portion into logs, each about 7 inches long.
  8. Wrap each log in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
  9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  10. Remove wax paper from logs and cut dough into ½-inch slices.
  11. Place slices on cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
  12. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cookies are firm but not browned.
  13. Let cook 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Snowball Cookies

chocolate-snowball-cookiesPrep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

½ cup ground almonds
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

  1. Mix almonds, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
  2. In a separate bowl: cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
  4. Stir in cooled chocolate.
  5. Fold in almond mixture until thoroughly combined.
  6. Cover and refrigerate until dough is firm (10-20 minutes)
  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  8. Place powdered sugar in a bowl.
  9. Scoop tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls.
  10. Coat in powdered sugar and place on cookie sheet.
  11. Bake 12 to 14 minutes.
  12. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Kathryn Wisniewski

Reporter

kathryn.e.wisniewski@uwsp.edu

About pointer

Avatar

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*