Everyone loves homemade Christmas cookies

Karen Freeman
Staff Writer

December 05, 2007 10:14 am

— One of the most fun things to do during the holidays is baking cookies. It’s a great thing to do with the kids. Or if you are like me and your kids are grown and gone, bake them for the neighbors, the homeless shelter, the hospital staff… anyone who could use a little Christmas cheer. Everyone loves homemade cookies but few people will either have the time or take the time to bake them.
You can pick up inexpensive cookie cutters at almost any discount store. Even if you choose not to make them from scratch, buy the rolls of cookies in the grocery store, roll them out and cut them into shapes. It will bring out the kid in you!
Buy a few colored sprinkles and some milk chocolate that you can melt in the microwave. Bake the cookies and either sprinkle them or dip 1/3-1/2 of the cookie into the melted chocolate and let it cool and dry on a wire rack. Bam you have a great homemade treat.
The first recipe is a great, chewy, brown sugar recipe. The only thing you might not have on hand is heavy cream, but it’s easy to get in the grocery store. This is a good cookie to dip or to paint with color frosting.
The second recipe uses my favorite food group. Cream Cheese. I think it should be it’s own food group. It’s such a versatile ingredient. It’s great in lots of savory and sweet dishes. Anyway, the kids will love these cookies. Sprinkle them while they are hot and try to let them cool before you start “taste testing” them!
The third recipe is the gift in a jar for this year. It’s gingerbread cookies. They taste great and cookies in a jar make a wonderful gift. Tie a pretty ribbon and bow on the jar and your friends and family will love it.
The last recipe is the standard Santa Claus sugar cookie. This is the one the kids will want to put next to the tree for Santa on Christmas Eve. Let them cut this cookie and paint it with colored frosting and you can put them at the kitchen table for an entire evening while the decorate cookies.
Brown Sugar Cookies
2 Cups Sifted Flour, less if possible
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1 Egg
1 Tablespoon 15% Cream (any kind of cream from 10% to 35% will work fine)
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla
Granulated Sugar, for decorating
Blend 1 cup flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and cream. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then add enough of the remaining 1 cup flour to make the dough stiff enough to roll. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill several hours. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place on a lightly floured cutting board and roll to 1/8" thickness. Use floured cookie cutters to cut into shapes. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake 8 minutes.
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Makes about 60
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup softened butter
3 ouncese cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk (reserve white)
2-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
In large bowl combine sugars, butter, cream cheese, salt, extracts and egg yolk; blend well. Stir in flour until well blended. Chill dough for 2 hours. Pre-heat oven to 375 F. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough, one-third at a time to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shaped with lightly floured cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Leave cookie plain, or brush with lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely on wire racks.
Gingerbread Cookies in a Jar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 gingerbread boy-shaped cookie cutter
Use a clean 1 quart jar and press each layer down firmly. Put in half of the flour along with the baking powder and baking soda. Add the spices and the remaining flour. Add the brown sugar last. Tie a ribbon around the top of the jar and attach the cookie cutter and the directions below.
Attach these directions to the jar:
Gingerbread Cookies
Empty jar of cookie mix into large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. Mix in 1/2 cup softened butter, 3/4 cup molasses and 1 or 2 eggs. Mix until completely blended. Cover and refrigerate 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes. Place cookies on lightly greased cookie sheet about 2" apart. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. Decorate with icing.

Yummy Sugar Cookies
Makes About 24
1 Cup Butter, Softened
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Large Egg
1-1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla
3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1-1/4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined. Add flour and baking powder in intervals. Dough will seem as if doesn't have enough moisture but continue to mix with mixer until combined (it will come together when chilled). Divide the dough into four equal parts, shape into four disks, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate about an hour or until firm. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper, about 1/4 inch thick for crispier cookies and 1/3 inch thick for softer cookies. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges just start to turn a golden color. For softer cookies, do not allow the cookies to take on color. Remove from oven, let cool for one minute and then transfer to wire rack. Allow cookie sheet to cool thoroughly before placing uncooked dough on it. Decorate cookies with Royal Icing or Buttercream Frosting and sprinkles.
Can be stored in freezer undecorated for 2 months. Dough also freezes well.
Note: Yield varies greatly depending on how thin you roll out the dough and how large your cookie cutters are, but an overall guideline is 24 cookies.
Stained Glass Window Cookies
These cookies have open spaces filled with crushed hard candy (bright colors work best). When baked, the candy melts and the cookie becomes a lovely stained glass window.
We don't recommend eating them, they are mostly for decoration. They can be eaten, but the melted candy gets very hard.
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
40 pieces of colored hard candy
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease cookie sheets very well or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Stir in vanilla and eggs. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; add to egg mixture alternately with milk. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 1/4 to half-inch wide strips and, on a well-buttered baking sheet, form into window frames. Alternately, cut with graduated cookie cutters so that there is a hole in the middle of each cookie. Keeping the colors separate, place candy in plastic bags and crush into small bits. Place crushed candies inside window frames.
Bake for six minutes, or until candy is just melted. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, until candy is hard. Carefully lift cookies off baking sheet with spatula.

Karen’s Kitchen is a weekly column by Karen Freeman of Tarboro. Contact Karen at:
kvfreeman@suddenlink.net to exchange ideas, ask questions, submit recipes, tips or suggestions.
Check out her Web site: http://www.geocities.com/kvfreeman27886/



Did you know?

Using the Right Cookie Sheet: A shiny, aluminum cookie sheet at least two inches narrower and shorter than the oven is best for evenly browned cookies. The sheet may be open on one, two, or three sides. Do not grease the cookie sheet unless the recipe states to do so. If a dark colored cookie sheet is used, watch carefully for browning. Always place cookie dough on cool cookie sheets.
Making Sugar Cookies Crisp: Using butter in your holiday cookie recipes makes cookies crisp and delicious. Use a shiny aluminum cookie sheet for baking. For cut-out sugar cookies, roll dough to 1/8 inch to 1/4-inch thickness. Baking time may vary depending on the thickness of the cookie. Bake cookies until lightly browned.
Making Your Cookies Soft and Chewy: Tips for soft, chewy cookies:
Do not over mix the dough or use too much flour. Bake cookies the minimum amount of time, even though the center may look slightly under baked. Let cookies stand on baking sheet for one to three minutes to continue to bake, and then remove to cooling rack.
Store soft cookies in an airtight container. Do not store soft chewy cookies with crisp type cookies. Use shiny aluminum cookie sheets, not dark colored ones.

Keep Dough from Sticking to your Rolling Pin: Use a pastry cloth and stockinet-covered rolling pin to make rolling the dough easier and to help prevent dough from sticking. Rub flour evenly onto rolling pin cover and pastry cloth for easy handling. Or, if dough appears to be too soft, refrigerate for about one hour.
Why Cookies Spread: Cookies may spread for a variety of reasons. So before baking an entire batch, bake a test cookie to give a good indication of dough condition. If it spreads more than desired, the dough may be too soft. Try refrigerating dough until well chilled (one to two hours). If the dough is still too soft, stir in 1 to 2-tablespoons of flour. Also, do not over-soften the butter before making the dough. Be sure to cool and clean cookie sheets between batches.
Another factor to take into consideration is the fat source used. If a low fat or nonfat spread with 60 percent or less fat is used, cookies may spread.
For consistent and flavorful results, real butter is the answer for the appearance and taste bakers come to expect.
Freezing or Refrigerating Cookie Dough: Most cookie dough freezes well up to three months. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator until it's just soft enough to use.
To have future batches of cookies ready in minutes, measure out dough for each cookie and drop dough onto cookie sheets; freeze until firm. When frozen, remove dough from cookie sheets, place in heavy-duty, re-sealable plastic food bags and freeze until you want to bake a batch of cookies. Then thaw the cookie dough and follow recipe directions for baking.
Over-baked and Cracked Cookies: Dough that is too dry will cause cookies to crack when baked. Too much flour and re-rolling results in tough, dry cookies. A dark colored cookie sheet may result in over baked cookies; us a shiny aluminum cookie sheet. Oven temperatures that are set too high may also result in over baked cookies.
Dry, Crumbly Cookie Dough: If your cookie dough is dry and crumbly, try adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk or cream. You may need to knead this liquid into dough rather than beating it in with a mixer.
(http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/food/cookies.html)

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