Our Favorite Christmas Cookies
This morning I woke up to the most BEAUTIFUL fog and frost on my tree and fence in the backyard. Instantly got me in the mood to bake, it’s the perfect setting to do some christmas baking. This may be a long post, but i want to do my best to put a few of our favorite recipes in one place. I will write out a couple recipes that are ours or ones given to us, but there are also a few from other food blogs that just can’t be beat. Those will also be linked in this post.
Recipes in this post will be: Monster Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Homemade caramels, cake mix cookies, no chill sugar cookies & Frosting.
-No chill sugar Cookies & Frosting- THere are so many sugar cookie recipes out there and when I say I’ve tried them all, it’s probably not that far from the truth. These are a no chill cookie, making the process so much faster! They hold their shape better than any other recipe i’ve made, and they don’t puff up much at all, making the top nice and flat for a thick layer of frosting. The cookie recipe is from In Katrina’s Kitchen and is linked here NO chill sugar cookies.
The frosting that I use for sugar cookies I’ve had for a long time, I’ll be honest I don’t’ even remember where it came from. But coming from the girl who couldn’t make frosting, this is by far the best frosting recipe I have and turns out so well for me every single time.
FROSTING
1 Cup shortening, such as Crisco
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 large bag powdered sugar (2lbs, about 8 cups)
1/2 heavy cream or whole milk (more if needed to reach desired consistency)
Food coloring, if desired
Sprinkles
In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl for use with your handheld electric mixer, place shortening and extracts. Beat until creamy ( at least 1 minute)
Begin adding powdered sugar 1 cup at a time.
When the mixture starts to become dry start adding cream a little bit at a time alternating with the powdered sugar.
Beat until cream. Use more or less cream to reach the desired consistency. ( I like for it to be smooth enough to pipe through a piping bag, but still a bit more stiff than a typical store-bought frosting.)
Add food coloring if desired.
-Cake Mix Cookies- For everyone who doesn’t really like to bake, or claim none of their recipes turn out, give these a try. They are so easy and always a hit. Plus you can literally make any flavor you’re craving. Add sprinkles or flavored chips for a little holiday cheer.
CAKE MIX COOKIES
1 box cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 cup chips.
Mix everything together well. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. There are so many combination options. I like chocolate cake mix with no chips and a little powdered sugar on top. Or white cake mix, Funfetti is even better, either plain or with cherry chips is also really good. My cookie scoop is a large 2 TBSP scoop, may want to consider that when planning for baking time.
-Homemade Caramels- When it comes to caramel there is so much information out there on how to get the PERFECTLY soft caramels. i have without a doubut burnt my fair share of cream, butter, and sugars. The recipe I use is from another food blog. I’ll link the originial recipe for Homemade caramels here. I am also going to link the blog post i wrote a couple years about caramels. CTK Caramels blog post I tried to include all the information i could think of and tips and tricks i’ve used to get soft caramels every time. I have continued to update this post each time i make them. I apololgize for making you jump around to MULTIPLE posts to get recipes, but I simply don’t want to retye all of that out. :)
-SNICKERDOODLES- Unpopular opinion…but Snickerdoodles are my (Anna’s) favorite cookie. well it may be a toss up between these and sugar cookies. I have made my own, and usually i jazz those up with additional flavors. But as far as simple snickerdoodle cookies, cookies and cups does it best. You simply can’t go wrong with any of her recipes. i’ve tried so many! Cookies and Cups Snickerdoodles
-Monster Cookies- Monster cookies are always a fan favorite it seems like. And i can’t disagree at all. They can sometimes be kind of hard to make, they seem to dry out so easily. This recipe has turned out to be a tried and true for me and i always get compliments on them.
One thing that I should note about this recipe is that for whatever reason, you can’t double this recipe. I was told this by the person who gave it to me and have never tried myself. I feel that is good information that needs to passed along to everyone.
MONSTER COOKIES
1 c. margarine, softened
1 c. plus 2 T. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon. vanilla
1 teaspoon. dark Karo syrup
2 ½ c. sifted flour
1 c. peanut butter - original recipes says crunchy, but I’ve always used creamy
4 c. oatmeal
2 teaspoon. baking soda
3 oz. chocolate or peanut butter chips
3 oz. plain M&M's
3 oz. raisins-optional
Cream together shortening and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and beat well. Beat in syrup and peanut butter. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in M&M's, chips, and raisins. Drop by heaping tablespoon onto the cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 11 minutes. Do not overbake, they will get dry quickly. My cookie scoop is a large 2 TBSP scoop, may want to consider that when planning for baking time.
If you’ve made it this far thank you for sticking with me. I hope that you try some of our favorite CHRISTMAS recipes and that they become favorites for you also.
As always please please reach out to me if you have any questions regarding our recipes and how they may or may not have turned out for you.
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