Archive for Christmas Cookies
Fun {healthier} Holiday Baking
Posted by: | CommentsWhat with all the butter I hear you’ve been going through lately, it sounds like there’s a lot of fun Christmas baking going on out there! I actually haven’t even started doing my baking yet, but I will start soon. Oh yes, the butter and sucanat are going to start flying around here.
As I began to make my baking plans, I put together a list of some of my favorite holiday cookies and treats. All of these are made with healthier flours and sugars (usually honey or sucanat). I won’t be making all of these treats, but I’m really hungry right now, so I just kept adding to the list.
Christmas Graham Crackers
Orange Cream Cheese Cut Out Cookies
What’s on your Christmas baking list this year?
Whole Wheat Gingerbread Men
Posted by: | Comments
It may be that I’ve gone a little loopy with all of the recent Christmas preparations, but for some reason I got really hung up on what I should call these cookies. Are they Gingerbread Men? Or are they Gingerbread Boys? But then, I didn’t want to leave out the girls…so maybe some of them should be called Gingerbread Girls. Or maybe I just go with the politically correct name and call them Gingerbread People?
When did Christmas baking become so complicated? :)
Gingerbread Men/Boys/Girls/People/Cookies
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sucanat
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Sucanat Powdered Sugar Frosting
Cream butter, sucanat and molasses together. Add eggs, vinegar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda and spices. Stir in flour and mix well. Cover and chill dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours (more is fine).
Roll out dough on a well floured surface to about 1/8 inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut into desired shape. Bake cookies about 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet in a 375° oven for 5-8 minutes.
If you don’t put your cookies 1 inch apart on the pan, you’ll end up with one cookie kicking another cookie in the head. I tell ya, I can’t even get my cookies to behave sometimes. A mother’s work is never done…
I recommend spreading Sucanat Powdered Sugar Frosting on the cookies. I had a little bit of Chocolate Fudge Frosting leftover in the fridge and used that for faces and buttons.
I figured they wouldn’t mind if I put chocolate on their faces. I know I would never mind if someone wanted to put chocolate on my face. ;)
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Smells Like Christmas Cookies! Reindeer Cuties
Posted by: | CommentsThese simple cookies are a hit. Fun to make…fun to eat. I like that they are made with honey and whole wheat. And they really don’t take much time at all.
Reindeer Cuties
1 /2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
tiny pretzels
chocolate chips
red hot candies
Stir together butter, peanut butter and honey. Add egg, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla. Mix in flour. Chill dough for about an hour.
Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a well floured surface. Cut circles using a small drinking glass. Place on cookie sheet. Use fingers to squeeze the circles in the middle.
Place two pretzels at the top for antlers, two chocolate chips on for eyes and one red hot candy for a nose.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow reindeer to cool 2-3 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
And, well…from the Land of the Misfit Cookies…
I just had to show you Malachi’s attempt at a reindeer.
He sure did have fun helping!
Smells Like Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Snowballs
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s the promised Chocolate Snowball recipe. I like that these aren’t super rich or heavy…just kind of like a little ball of chocolate cake.
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup rapadura or sucanat
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. sea salt
1 t. vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
powdered sugar
Cream butter, rapadura and cocoa. Add milk and eggs and stir well. Mix in baking powder, salt and vanilla. Stir in flour. Chill dough for at least two hours. Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until the tops are cracked slightly. Roll balls immediately in powdered sugar.
Be sure not to miss the recipes for Christmas Spice Cookies and Orange Cream Cheese Cut Out Cookies! The next Christmas Cookie recipe will be:
Reindeer Cuties! (Your kids will love ‘em!)
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Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more kitchen fun!
Smells Like Christmas Cookies! Orange Cream Cheese Cut-Outs
Posted by: | CommentsI have decided that these are my favorite Christmas cookies. And this recipe makes a lot of them…which is why it’s a good idea to have lots of people in mind to share them with!! Because having them just sitting around the house screaming at me to come eat them is a bad idea.
I’d like to give in to the notion that since they have orange juice in them, they’re good for me and just packed with vitamin C. Oh, if only.
Orange Cream Cheese Cut-Outs
1 cup melted butter
1 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar (I used organic unbleached sugar crystals)
2 eggs
1 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla
1 t. finely shredded orange peel
3 T. orange juice
4 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground soft white wheat)
Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, baking powder, vanilla, orange peel and orange juice. Stir in flour one cup at a time until mixed well. Chill dough for about 2 hours.
Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness, cut with cookie cutters and bake on a cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting.
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 t. vanilla
2 T. orange juice
2 1/4 – 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Cream together cream cheese, butter, vanilla and orange juice with beaters. Gradually add powdered sugar.
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If you’re wondering if this recipe is worth going to all the trouble of actually shredding orange peel (a step that takes a total of about 20 seconds), it is. If you’re wondering if I’m serious about making them, and then giving them away as quickly as you can so that you won’t eat too many of them, I am. And if you’re wondering if there will still be other fun Christmas recipes soon, there will.
Coming up next: Chocolate Snowballs… This Orange Cream Cheese Cut-Out recipe may be my favorite Christmas cookie…but a girl’s still gotta have her chocolate. :)
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It’s Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas…Cookies!
Posted by: | CommentsAs you all know, I love tweaking recipes and working to create a healthier version of recipes I find. Thanksgiving and Christmas time give me plenty of excuses to exercise this crazy hobby of mine. Nobody around me seems to mind. :) (Hehe, funny that I used the word exercise…talking about baking cookies! Hey, exercise comes in many forms.)
My favorite part of holiday baking: I LOVE THE WAY CHRISTMAS BAKING MAKES THE HOUSE SMELL!!!
I’m planning on baking up quite a few treats in the next few weeks to share with neighbors and friends…so be looking for several new recipes coming up here!!!
The first recipe I’ll share is one that smells just like Christmas!! MMMmmm!!
Christmas Spice Cookies
1 cup melted butter
1 cup rapadura or sucanat
1 egg
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
Stir together melted butter and rapadura. Mix in egg, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla, nutmeg and cloves. Add flour gradually until mixed thoroughly. Chill dough at least 2 hours.
Roll dough into teaspoon sized balls. Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
These cookies are soooo yummy with a cup of hot cocoa!!! (If you haven’t tried this hot cocoa recipe, you really, really should!)
Upcoming cookie recipe: Orange Cream Cheese Cut-Outs!! Possibly my favorite!
P.S. Don’t fall out of your chair, but some of the recipes I’ll share might contain some compromising ingredients like powdered sugar and (gasp!) sprinkles. What’s Christmas without an occasional red and green sprinkle??
So, what are your favorite kinds of Christmas cookies??!!
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