Best Christmas Cookie Recipes

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Gingerbread Cookie Sandwiches

Course:

Dessert, Cookies

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until they appear light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl once if needed.
2. Working in three batches, add the dry ingredients, mixing between each addition until just incorporated. Remove the dough and turn it out onto a sheet of plastic wrap; form into a dish, wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Dough can be made up to 1 day ahead.
3. Preheat the oven to 350˚. Remove the dough and cut it in half. Rewrap one half and place back in the fridge; let the other sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften slightly. Lightly flour a work surface and your rolling pin and roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using cookie cutters, cut out the gingerbread men, and transfer to the prepared sheets. If the dough feels very soft, refrigerate the gingerbread men on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before placing in the oven to bake. Bake until cookies appear firm and like they’re just starting to crisp, 12-15 minutes. Remove and let cool on the sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
5. Meanwhile, make the sandwich filling. Beat together the butter, vanilla, and salt until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar in 2 batches and beat on low speed until incorporated. Add the milk and beat until the mixture is thick but spreadable, adding more milk in1 teaspoon increments as needed. Spread some of the icing onto half of the cooled cookies, sandwich each with another cookie.

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Speculoos Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Cuisine:

German

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes 4 Dozen Small Cookies

German Christmas Spice Cookies

1. To Make the Cookies: in a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla, spices, and salt until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the egg and continue mixing until well incorporated. Scrape down bottom and sides of bowl
2. Add the flour, almond flour, and baking powder and until the dough just comes together.
3. Transfer the dough to a few sheets of overlapped plastic wrap and fold over a few times to incorporate any patches of unincorporated flour and press into a smooth disk. Refrigerate for at least ½ hour to overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 325°f. Line two half sheet pans with parchment.
5. Using a traditional rolling pin, roll the dough out to ¼ inch thick. If using an impression pin, brush the pin with corn starch and, using even pressure, roll the pin across the dough, sprinkling with cornstarch as needed until the dough is about 1/8” thick and holds the impression. Using a small 2” round cutter, stamp out cookies and place about 1” apart on the cookie sheets. If using a pin with a shallow impression, allow the cookies to “dry” at room temperature for ½ hour before baking to set the impression. If using a deeper impression pin, bake immediately. If using only a traditional pin, roll the dough out to 1/8” thick and stamp out shapes as above.
6. Bake cookies 10-15 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

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Gingerbread Ornaments with Marble Icing

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, allspice, and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Continue to beat while adding the molasses, whip until incorporated. Add egg, beat to combine, then add vanilla and continue beating on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes. On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
3. Transfer the dough to a flat surface and flatten into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours, or up to 5 days.
4. Preheat the oven to 350of. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Divide the chilled dough into four equal quarters, leaving three quarters in the refrigerator. Flour a flat work surface (be generous) and roll out one piece of dough to a thickness of about 1⁄4 inch. Using a 3 1⁄2–inch circular cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible. Place the cookies on the prepared cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. Gather all the dough scraps into a ball, reroll, cut, and repeat until no more cookies can be cut.
6. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, until slightly raised. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes.
7. Using a spatula, remove the cookies from the cookie sheets, transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
8. Repeat steps 17-21 until dough is used up.
9. Once cookies are cool, use icing to decorate as desired.

1. Prepare the border icing. Place the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk or water for the border icing in a medium bowl and stir together with a spoon or a fork until smooth. It should be quite thick, and if you drizzle a little from your spoon, the ribbon should hold for a few seconds before melting back into the icing. This border icing should be just thick enough to pour easily. If desired, add food coloring to this border icing now.
2. Transfer the border icing to a squeeze bottle. Insert a small funnel into the mouth of a squeeze bottle. Spoon some of the border icing into the funnel and let it drip into the bottle. Since this icing is so thick, it can be difficult to get it to drop into the bottle — you can squeeze the bottle to suction the icing and start it flowing. If it still won't start flowing, add more milk or water one teaspoon at a time until just barely thin enough to pour (be careful of adding too much or else the border icing will pool instead of maintaining a border). Once flowing, it can still take a few minutes for all the icing to funnel into the bottle. Prepare your flood icing while you wait.
3. Prepare the flood icing. Place the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 1/2 tablespoons of milk or water for the flood icing in a bowl and stir together with a spoon or a fork until smooth. This icing should still be fairly thick, but it should drizzle easily and a bit of drizzled icing should sink immediately back into the icing. If desired, add food coloring to the flood icing now.

Transfer the flood icing to a squeeze bottle. Clean and dry the funnel and insert it into a clean squeeze bottle. Pour the border icing into the bottle; this icing should be thin enough to funnel easily into the bottle. If necessary, add milk or water 1 tablespoon at a time until a thin, pourable consistency is reached.

1. Outline and flood the cookies with icing: using the border icing, draw outlines around each of the cookies. Fill in the insides of the cookies with flood icing. For more details on this step, read our tutorial on how to decorate cookies with icing above.
2. Draw a squiggle in contrasting icing: while the iced cookie is still wet, quickly draw a squiggle of contrasting color down the middle of the cookie.
3. Run the toothpick through the squiggle: draw the toothpick across the squiggle, pulling the toothpick through each line of the squiggle.
4. Run the toothpick in the opposite direction: next, draw the toothpick through the squiggle in the opposite direction.
5. Continue running the toothpick back and forth: continue drawing the toothpick through the lines of the squiggle, back and forth, until you reach the bottom of the squiggle. You can play with spacing the lines further apart or closer together for different marbling effects.
6. Let the cookie dry: let the cookie dry undisturbed for at least 24 hours.

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Chocolate-Dipped Butterscotch Shortbread Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes 32 Cookies

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add vanilla, reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture until just combined. Mix in butterscotch chips and beat gently until evenly distributed, scraping down paddle if needed.
• Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan. Using your fingertips, press dough evenly into pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Score dough into eighths in one direction and quarters in the other, to make 32 rectangular cookies. Pierce dough all over with a fork.
• Bake until firm and slightly golden brown around the edges, 50-60 minutes. Immediately cut through all scoring to separate cookies, then let cool completely in pan.
• Remove cookies and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Dip half of each cookie in chocolate, gently scraping off any excess, and place back on baking sheet. Sprinkle each with a pinch of holiday sprinkles, if desired. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

Note: Cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

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Christmas Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes 24 Large Cookies

1. Cream butter and salt together in a stand mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds to incorporate the salt into the butter.
2. Add in both sugars and mix for one minute.
3. Add in egg, vanilla and peppermint extract and mix together just until incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, and cornstarch in separate bowl. I use a whisk to blend the dry ingredients together.
5. Add dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. Mix until the cookie mix becomes a dough and it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It will seem a little dry but it will all come together.
6. Remove dough from bowl and wrap in saran plastic, place in fridge for at least 15 minutes. If you flatten the dough, it gets colder quickly.
7. Preheat oven to 375 while your dough chills.
8. Flour your surface and roll dough out to ¼ inch thick. Cut your cookies out into desired shapes.
9. Place about two inches apart on an aluminum restaurant grade baking sheet or non-stick baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 6-8 minutes, when the cookie puffs up and its matte on the top.
10. Once baked, let sit for one minute on the cookie sheet to firm up then transfer to a cooling rack so they can cool completely.

Peppermint extract and mint extract are not one and the same. They are not interchangeable. Freeze cookies unfrosted for three months, freeze frosted cookies up to three weeks.

For this recipe we are going to cut the butter with vegetable base shortening to form a crust, they can still be smashed if a lot of pressure is applied. The crust will help so that the cookie doesn’t smear. The shortening helps give it a smoother texture which is great for piping cookies. They won't crust over quite as much but enough to gently stack. It is a little sweet but the powdered sugar makes a strong crust, which pairs nicely with the cookie because that’s not too sweet. It’s a perfect balance. Typically for a buttercream recipe you would mix until light and fluffy, not this recipe. You want the buttercream to be nice and smooth so we will just mix for a minute or two.

Makes About 6 Cups

1. Cream your butter, shortening and salt in a stand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Both must be at room temperature to prevent clumping.
2. Once creamed, add your vanilla. Mix again for a minute.
3. Sift your powdered sugar to make sure there are no clumps and add it in.
4. Place a towel over your mixer to prevent a powdered sugar storm.
5. Once mixed, add in your milk, starting with 5 tbsp. You can always add more but you can't take it out. Continue to add more than the recipe states if it's too thick. Remember temperature and humidity factor in. If you find its too soft, add in ¼ cup extra powdered sugar to thicken it up. Be careful because it will begin to taste like straight powdered sugar if you add too much.
6. Mix until smooth, about 1 minute on medium to high speed. Be sure not to over-whip your buttercream. Don’t panic you won't ruin it if it whips longer. Store unused buttercream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for up to three months.

I always use fresh shortening because it develops a strange taste if it is sitting in the pantry for long. Don’t overwhip because the shortening and butter get grainy after whipping too long. I use any kind of powdered sugar that the grocery store is carrying. Safeway brand seems to work great. C & h is a great one as well.

I really wanted a cookie plate that would be fun to do with your whole family. Some of my fondest memories are getting cookies ready with my kids on Christmas eve. I am using some simple, yet effective decorating techniques that will leave Santa wanting more.

1. Turn the gingerbread man on its head. Use tip 12 and light brown, tan or white buttercream. Hold the tip ¼ inch off the cookie base and have your bag straight up and down. This will make the buttercream flow flatter. Fill the bottom half for the face.
2. Make two ears where the gingerbread man’s hands would be. These will be your reindeer's ears.
3. Dip the cookie straight into a plate of clear sugar crystals and gently press to fully coat. Don’t smash.
4. With a darker shade of brown, use tip 5 and pipe on the horns. Making three to four points to the antlers on each side.
5. Next, use tip 2 and black buttercream and make small dots for the eyes.
6. Lastly, put a tiny dot of buttercream on where the nose will go and then put a red cinnamon imperial to make a bright red nose.

Make the reindeer white, light brown or dark brown.

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Ergolavi (Greek Almond Cookies)

Course:

Dessert

Cuisine:

Greek

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

1. Blanch almonds to remove skins, then dry in oven at 200˚ F. Make sure they don’t toast, just dry.
2. Pulverize almonds in food processor until made into fine meal.
3. Mix almonds with both sugars, then fold in egg whites and almond extract with spatula until it makes a thick paste.
4. Heat oven to 300˚ F. Butter a baking sheet.
5. Shape cookie into horn shapes (they will spread).
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, then remove and cool before serving.

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Cinnamon Star Christmas Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Debbie Matenopoulos and Ryan Paevey make quick and easy Christmas cookies.

1. Heat oven to 300˚ and put oven rack on lowest rung of oven. Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. Sift in powdered sugar while continuing to beat until well combined. Add vanilla paste and beat until distributed. Remove ¼ cup egg white mixture and set aside to be used as glaze later.
4. Add almond meal, almond extract, cinnamon, and salt to mixing bowl, then beat until the dough comes together, it will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add more nuts and powdered sugar.
5. Sprinkle counter surface with nut meal and roll dough to a thickness of ⅓ inch.
6. Cut out 2-inch stars and transfer to parchment lined cookie sheet. Form scraps of dough into ball, re-roll, and re-cut.
7. Use pastry brush to brush reserved egg white mixture onto cookies in thin layer.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, the glaze should be barely browned. Let cookies cool completely.

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Christmas Sugar Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Rachel Boston and David Alpay share their recipes.

Directions

1) Lightly grease cookie sheet.

2) Let butter soften and add sugar and mix.

3) Add egg, vanilla, milk.

4) Stir until smooth.

5) Mix baking powder, almond, and add one cup flour.

6) Mix until smooth.

7) Add remaining flour and mix till firm dough.

8) Roll out on floured board into thin sheet. 

9) Cut with large cookie cutter.

10) Place cookie on sheet, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 12-15 minutes till edges Begin to darken. 

1) Let cool!  Decorate with beautiful, fun Christmas decorations

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Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

“The Hutch Oven” creator Emily Hutchinson is making the world a sweeter place with her Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugars and beat at medium speed for 1 minute. With the mixer on low speed, add egg and vanilla; beat for about 30 seconds. We aren’t whipping the wet mix.
2. Beat in molasses just until combined.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat at low speed until combined. (dough will be slightly sticky.)
4. Turn out dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 375°f (190°c). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use a non-stick cookie sheet.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll one-third of dough to 1⁄3- to 1⁄4-inch thickness. (keep remaining dough refrigerated until ready to roll.) Using desired holiday cutters, cut dough, and place 2 inches apart on prepared pans. Reroll and cut scraps as needed, refrigerating dough if it becomes too soft.
7. Bake until puffed and center is matte,
8. 6 to 8 minutes. Using a small offset spatula, quickly press edges of cookies back into shape, if necessary. Let cool on pans for 1 minute. Remove from pans and let cool completely on wire racks. Keeping the dough cold will prevent spreading.
9. Pipe or spread American crusting buttercream onto cooled cookies as desired.

NOTES: To help the flour stick to your work surface, gently press your dough on the clean surface before dusting the surface with flour.

To roll your dough to an even thickness, roll slowly up and down and then to the sides. If you run your hand across the top of your rolled dough, you can feel any bumps or slightly raised areas.

Alternatively, this dough can be rolled out between sheets of parchment paper.

I prefer to freeze the cookies overnight because it gives them added moisture to keep them soft.

For extra spice, add more cloves and nutmeg to the recipe.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and shortening at medium speed until well combined.
2. Add vanilla and beat at medium speed for 1 minute. Add confectioners’ sugar and place a kitchen towel over the mixer. (the bowl of the stand mixer will be full.)
3. Beat at low speed and gradually increase speed to medium speed until thick and combined. (do not overmix.)
4. Add 5 tablespoons (75 grams) milk or cream, and beat at medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute; add up to remaining 1 tablespoon (15 grams) milk or cream, 1 teaspoon (5 grams) at a time, if too thick. (do not overmix.)
5. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week. The buttercream recipe can be cut in half- add 2.5-3 tbsp milk to the halved ingredients.

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Dipped and Glazed Coffee Shortbread Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes About 24 cookies

Food and lifestyle expert Brandi Milloy is making delicious cookies to enjoy with a hot beverage.

1. Into a stand up mixer, cream butter 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and mix. Add egg and mix to combine. Add salt and flour 1 cup at a time until dough forms. Add ground coffee until mixed in.
2. Place dough in gallon size bag and form into log. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 375F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, slice dough into 1/2" slices. Place on baking sheet and bake 13 minutes or until edges are slightly golden but cookies are still soft. Allow cookies to cool completely.
4. Into a bowl, mix powdered sugar and coffee until smooth. Dip cookies half way into glaze and place on wire rack to set. Another topping could be to dip the cookies half way into melted dark or milk chocolate. Optional: Add sprinkles.

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Snowball Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes About 32 Cookies

One of Maria Provenzano's favorite recipes for Christmas cookie exchanges.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spread the sunflower seeds into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
3. Bake until lightly golden and fragrant; about 10 minutes
4. Let sunflower seeds cool completely then use a knife to finely chop them
5. If you can't find raw sunflower seeds at the store it's ok to use pre-roasted but make sure they are unsalted
6. Cream the butter and powdered sugar together in a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer)
7. Stir in the vanilla
8. In a bowl stir together the flour, chopped sunflower seeds, and salt
9. With the mixer on low slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture
10. Stir until just combined
11. Pour the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use your hands to form a small disk with the dough
12. Wrap in the plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes
13. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
14. Use a small scoop or hands to scoop out enough dough for about a 1-inch ball
15. Use your hands to roll the dough to form a ball and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
16. The balls of dough can be placed about 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheet
17. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until slightly golden
18. Allow to cool enough to where you can handle them
19. Place about one cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl
20. Roll the warm cookies into the powdered sugar one at a time to coat with the powdered sugar
21. This is important to do when they are still warm so that the powder sugar will stick well
22. Once I am done rolling each cookie I like to roll each one a second time
23. Store in an airtight container once cooled
24. Before setting them out for guests or placing in cookie boxes I like to add an extra sprinkle of powdered sugar to make them look really pretty

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Holiday Sugar Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes About 24 cookies

1. Using a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Cream on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. Add the eggs and beat on low speed for 15 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. On low speed, add the flour. Beat until all the flour is incorporated. Scrape down, mix for 15 seconds, or until you have an even dough.
4. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment, roll it out ¼ inch thick and freeze it at least 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. When the dough has chilled, carefully peel off the parchment and place the dough on a work surface dusted lightly with flour. Because it holds its shape in the oven, sugar cookies make a great cookie-cutter cookie. Dip the cookie-cutter in flour as needed. Once on the baking sheet, the cookies can be decorated with colored sugars or candy sprinkles or dusted with granulated sugar.
7. Set pressure valve to seal and lower sealing lever.
8. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time for 7 to 9 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. When time is up, carefully turn the pressure valve to vent and wait for steam to escape. Slowly raise the sealing lever and press the door release button.  Remove from the oven and carefully slide the parchment onto a work surface. Wait at least 5 minutes before serving. Cut-out cookies can be iced after baking.

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Christmas Monster Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Elizabeth Chambers Hammer of "BIRD" Bakery is making delicious cookies with peanut butter, rolled oats and M&Ms.

Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugars until blended. Add eggs one at a time. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add vanilla, baking soda and syrup. Add peanut butter and mix until smooth.
Carefully add oats one cup at a time, mixing well. Stir in the chocolate chip and m&ms, mixing until completely incorporated.

2. Scoop onto baking sheet using a serving spoon or small ice cream scoop. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

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Candy Cane Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes About 60 cookies

Author, Marjorie Johnson shows you how to make these decorative candy cane cookies.

Directions

1. In a large electric mixer bowl, place butter, sugar, and extracts. Cream together thoroughly. Beat in egg. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Stir into butter mixture and combine well.

2. Divide dough into two equal portions. Blend in red food coloring in one part.

3. Using 1 teaspoon of dough, roll out to a pencil-thin strip about 4-5 inches long. Rolling the strips on a pastry cloth with your hands makes a smooth strip.

4. Place a white strip and a red strip side by side and twist them together. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Turn one end to form a handle for the cane. Roll the strips one at a time, as rolling them all at one time could make the dough dry before you twist each one.

5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven. Place cookies on a cooling rack. Combine crushed peppermint stick candy and sugar. Sprinkle mixture over warm cookies.

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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

1. In a medium, heat-safe bowl, add the chocolate, butter and espresso and set over a medium saucepan of simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water or let.
2. The water come to a boil. Stir frequently until melted and smooth. Take off of the heat, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix until smooth. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
3. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the bread flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt. Add this to the chocolate mixture and blend in as few strokes as possible.
5. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, or until the dough has firmed up.
6. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. To make the cookie coating, put the granulated sugar and powdered sugar in separate, shallow bowls to roll the cookie dough in. Roll 1½ tablespoons (21 g) of dough into a ball, plop it into the granulated sugar and cover completely. Don’t shake any off as you want it well coated. Then roll the balls in the powdered sugar.
8. Again, don’t shake off the excess.
9. Place the covered dough balls on the baking sheet, about 2 inches (5 cm) apart from each other. Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 11 minutes.
10. Don’t overbake - they will be soft and appear underdone when you pull them out of the oven.
11. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 15 minutes. Then remove the cookies and place on a cooling rack.

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Holiday Dome Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Owner of Studmuffin Desserts, Seth Raphaeli is making some delicious cookies with dried apricots and pumpkin.

Directions for Filling

1. Cut up dried apricots. Place in food processor and process to a paste.
2. Add butter, canned pumpkin, light brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice.
3. Process until blended. Place filling in a large bowl and set aside.

Directions for Dough

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175C). Grease two cookie baking trays and set aside.
2. Place dry ingredients (flour, semolina, salt) in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
3. Prepare dough in Kitchen-Aid mixer; does not work in Cuisinart Food Processor.
4. Combine butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cream until light and fluffy.
5. Beat in egg. Add brandy and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
6. Gradually add dry ingredients until dough pulls away from side of bowl.
7. Pour dough out onto floured board and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
8. Pinch off pieces of dough 1 ½ inches in diameter.
9. Shape into balls. Pat into 3-inch circles.
10. Place 1 tbs. filling in center of each circle.
11. Pull edges of circle over filling and pinch together to enclose filling.
12. Place cookie in a decorative mold or tabi.
13. Pat down gently in mold.
14. Knock molded cookie out of mold dome-side up onto greased baking sheet.
15. Repeat with remaining dough circles and filling.
16. Bake 20-25 minutes or until bottom of cookies are pale golden.
DO NOT LET TOPS OF COOKIES BROWN.
17. Cool on a rack. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon powdered sugar while still warm.

Directions for Caramel Sauce

1. For sauce, in a small heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, cream, butter and salt; bring to boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Place a generous helping of caramel sauce on place and center dome. Enjoy!

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Jingle Bell Fruitcake Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Yield:

Makes About 36 cookies

Time:

25 minutes

Check out this sweet recipe from the Hallmark Publishing original book, “A Down Home Christmas.”

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in egg; add rum and vanilla extract and mix until fully blended.

3. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; whisk to blend.

4. Alternately, add dry ingredients and buttermilk to batter and mix until blended.

5. Fold the chopped nuts and fruit into batter by hand. Chill dough 10 minutes.

6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons or with a small ice cream scoop, about 2 inches apart, onto cookie sheets lined with baking paper.

7. Bake each cookie sheet for 8 to 9 minutes, until lightly golden.

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Cookie Christmas Trees

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Founder of “The Hutch Oven” Emily Hutchinson makes beautiful and delicious sugar cookie Christmas trees.

Directions:
1. Use tip 21 and attach it to your coupler on a bag of green buttercream (recipe follows).

2. On the largest star, pipe a rosette and 6 to 8 stars to fill up each point. Continue on each point until the 5 points on the star are piped.

3. Repeat step 2 on the second to largest star and stack onto the large star. You will want to offset each star you place so it begins to look like a tree.

4. Continue until you get all the stars frosted. Top will a small cookie angel or star. Place a tooth pick behind the angel to keep it from falling over.

5. Sprinkle with clear sugar crystals and embellish with Christmas candy for an over the top, beautiful cookie centerpiece.

FOR THE MARBLED SUGAR COOKIES:
1. Put on plastic gloves, flatten cookie dough, and add a couple drops of green food coloring.

2. Mix with hands and gently knead a couple times to mix color.

3. Roll out dough to at least 1/4-inch thickness.

4. Cut out cookies into 6 to 8 different sized stars and bake.

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
1. Cream your butter and shortening until well incorporated. Both must be at room temperature to prevent clumping.

2. Once creamed, add your vanilla. Mix again for 1 minute.

3. Sift your powdered sugar to make sure there are no clumps and add it in. Place a towel over your mixer to prevent a powdered sugar storm.

4. Once mixed, slowly add in your heavy cream or milk, 1 tablespoon at a time (you can always add more but you can’t take it out). Continue to add more than the recipe states if it’s too thick. Your climate and humidity will play a factor in how much cream you will need.

5. Mix until smooth, about 1 minute on medium to high speed. Be sure not to overwhip your buttercream. You want it nice and smooth.

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Santa's Whiskers Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Danielle Kartes of "Rustic Joyful Food," is making a fun and festive sweet treat for Christmas.

Directions

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, or by hand, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add whole cherries, almond extract, vanilla extract, and salt.
3. Mix thoroughly.
4. Fold in flour and mix until it forms a crumbly but moist dough.
5. Lay a 16-inch sheet of parchment paper onto the counter.
6. Sprinkle 1 cup coconut on the center in a loose rectangle shape, making sure it does not reach the edge of the parchment.
7. Place cookie dough on top, flattening a bit with fingers, and sprinkle remaining coconut over the top of the dough.
8. Form the dough into a 12-14 inch log, about 3 inches thick.
9. Evenly press the coconut around the log and roll to make the log an even cylinder.
10. Roll the parchment up with the dough inside and twist
11. Unroll and slice the cookies ½ an inch think with sharp or aerated knife to cut through the cherry bits.
12. Place on a lined cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees

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Santa's Favorite Mint Cookies

Course:

Dessert

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

Alison Sweeney shares a holiday recipe that is a hit with Santa!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift flour, cocoa powder together with baking soda, baking powder, & salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, and add egg, then yolk, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla & peppermint extract. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).

2. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out circles, and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined or silicone baking mats on baking sheets. Roll and cut scraps once. Freeze cookies until firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining disk.

3. Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, about 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks, and let cool.

4. Sift crushed candy, and separate larger pieces from dust, reserving both. Melt chopped chocolate in a microwave proof bowl, in one minute increments, stirring in-between so as not to burn chocolate. Remove from heat. Spoon the melted white chocolate onto each cooled cookie, using the back of the spoon to smooth the chocolate to the edges. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of either candy pieces (big & small) on top. Refrigerate until set, up to 3 hours. Decorated cookies are best served the same day.

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Yield: 8 polar bear cookies and 8 penguin cookies

DIRECTIONS:

POLAR BEAR COOKIE

1. Twist open 16 regular cookies and all mini cookies so that frosting is on one side and there’s one empty chocolate cookie for every pair. Separate the cookies into two piles, frosted and unfrosted.

2. Place one frosted half in front of you. Take two mini unfrosted halves and place them on the top edge of the frosted regular-sized cookie so that they’re peeking out like ears. Place another frosted regular cookie on top, sandwiching the “ears” in between the fillings.

3. Use one frosted side of the mini cookie and place it in the center of the top cookie, frosting side down, to make the “snout.”

4. Dip entire cookie creature in white chocolate and let it cool on wax paper in the fridge, about 15 minutes.

5. Use a toothpick to apply a dot of melted chocolate to “glue” the candy eyes and mini M&M nose in place.

PENGUIN COOKIE

1. Dip one whole sandwich cookie in melted white chocolate. Tap to remove excess chocolate, then place on wax paper on baking sheet and chill in the fridge until chocolate is set, about 15 minutes.

2. Remove chilled cookies from fridge and dip one third of each cookie in melted dark chocolate. Tap to remove excess chocolate, then place on wax paper on baking sheet and chill in the fridge until chocolate is set, 5-10 minutes.

3. Remove chilled cookies from fridge. Turn the cookies and dip the other ⅓ in dark chocolate so the thirds overlap and leave a triangle of white chocolate peeking through at the bottom. Refrigerate to set again.

4. Use a toothpick to apply a dot of melted chocolate to “glue” the candy eyes.

5. Pipe a beak with orange frosting.

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Directions for Brown Sugar Cookies

1. Cream butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg together.
2. Mix dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, and salt in separate bowl.
3. Add dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. Mix until the cookie mix becomes dough and it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Remove dough from bowl and wrap in saran plastic, and place in fridge for 10 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 375.
6. Flour your surface and roll dough out to 1⁄4 inch thick. Cut your cookies out.
7. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes or just when the cookie puffs up. The bottom may be slightly browned but they will still be nice and soft.
8. Once baked, let sit for one minute on the cookie sheet to firm up. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Directions for Buttercream

1. Cream your butter and shortening until well incorporated. If you don’t want your buttercream to crust over you can use all butter instead of shortening. Both must be at room temperature to prevent clumping.
2. Once creamed, add your vanilla and mix again.
3. Slowly add in your powdered sugar. Once you mix in all your powdered sugar, slowly add in your milk. The amount of milk will depend on humidity and weather. Add slowly, you can always add more but not take out.
4. Mix until smooth, maybe 30-60 seconds on medium speed. Be sure not to over-whip your buttercream. Normally a buttercream recipe says to whip until light and fluffy, you don't want to do that for this recipe.
5. After piping your buttercream, allow 6-8 hours to dry before stacking. This allows the buttercream to form a crust.
6. Store unused buttercream in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

More Poinsettia cookie decorating details:
Using the large leaf tip 366, have the “beak" pointing down (that’s what I call it) Gently squeeze the buttercream so it billows out the sides and slowly start to pull back for each petal. Stop squeezing where you want the petal to end. Continue around your cookie for about 6 petals. Make sure to leave an opening for the small petals in the center. When you pipe your small petals, you will want to gently squeeze about 5 tiny petals to complete your flower. Place 5 or 6 sugar pearls in the center of your flower

More Holly cookie decorating details:
Outline your cookie with buttercream using tip 5, don’t go to the very edge. Leave a little space so you can see that beautiful cookie under there. Fill in your cookie horizontally piping back and forth with your piping bag at an angle. If you hold it straight up and down it won’t look right. Once you are finished, draw the vein of the holly leaf down. Finish off your cookie with the deep red holly berries using tip 12.

SUPPLY LIST:
· 3 inch round cookie cutter
· Holly cookie cutter
· No-taste red gel paste- Wilton brand
· White icing color- Wilton Brand
· Green gel paste- Wilton brand
· Tip 366
· Tip 352
· Tip 5
· Tip 12

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Naughty or Nice Cookies

Course:

Dessert, Cookies

Seasonal Event:

Christmas

1. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and vanilla.
2. Mix dry ingredients; fold into butter/sugar mixture.
3. Form into balls, refrigerate.
4. Dip tops in nonpareils.
5. Bake 350°F degrees for approximately 12 minutes (until top starts to crackle and barely brown on the edges).

1. Cream butter, sugar, & salt.
2. Add eggs and vanilla.
3. Add in cocoa powder.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda together.
5. Then fold into butter/sugar mixture.
6. Fold in chocolate chips and crushed Oreos.
7. Form into balls; refrigerate.
8. Roll dough balls in black sanding sugar.
9. Bake at 350°F (high convection) for about 12 minutes.