Homemade Christmas Cookies
Herewith is a wonderful selection of cookies to which you can bake for the Christmas holiday and any time.
I came across these cookies while browsing my selection of Wilton Enterprises’ Cake Decorating Year Books. This particular selection came from the Year Book of 1997.
I plan to make them myself some time prior to Christmas and wanted to share them with you all that love to bake during this season and whenever you bake.
As you will see they are all basic traditional recipes that probably been used for Centuries throughout the world.
Have a great time baking them and have a Merry Christmas.
Shortbread
1 cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
Preheat oven to 300°F. Spray pan with vegetable pan spray. In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add flour and mix until dough is smooth. Chill dough one hour. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until very lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes in pans and remove shortbread to cool. Baked shortbread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks or frozen for two months.
Makes 4 dozen small cookies.
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Chocolate Cookie Recipe
¾ cup butter or margarine
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 375°F. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and cocoa, one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. If dough is too soft, add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Do not chill. Cut patterns, transfer dough pieces to ungreased cookie sheet with spatula. Bake 8-10 minutes, cool.
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Gingerbread Recipe
5 to 5½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1¼ cups unsulphured molasses
2 eggs beaten
Preheat oven to 375°F. Thoroughly mix flour, soda, salt and spices. Melt shortening in large saucepan. Cool slightly. Add sugar, molasses and eggs; mix well. Add four cups dry ingredients and mix well. Turn mixture onto lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining dry ingredients by hand. Add a little more flour, if necessary, to make a firm dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to ¼ inch thickness for cut out cookies. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Small and medium-sized cookies for 6-10 minutes, large cookies for 10-15 minutes. One recipe of this gingerbread dough will yield 40 average-size cookies.
Note: If you’re not going to use your gingerbread dough right away, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate. Refrigerated dough will keep for a week, but be sure to remove it 3 hours prior to rolling so it softens and is workable.
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Roll-Out Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups flour
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix baking powder and flour, add one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough will be very stiff; blend last flour in by hand (if dough becomes too stiff, add water, a teaspoon at a time). Do not chill dough.
Note: Dough can be tinted with icing Color. Add small amounts until desired color is reached.
For chocolate cookies: Stir in 3 ounces melted, unsweetened chocolate. Divide dough into 2 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a circle approximately 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Dip cutters in flour before each use. Bake cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet on top rack of oven for -7 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.
Makes 20-24 average size cookies.
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Large Batch Roll-Out Cookies
1¼ cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
5 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla flavouring
Preheat oven to 375°F. Cream butter and sugar together, then add eggs and beat until fluffy. Sift dry ingredients together and add alternately to creamed mixture with milk. If mixture is too sticky, add a little more flour so that it is easy to handle. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick and cut. Dip cutters in flour before each use. Bake for 8 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Makes 36-42 average size cookies.
On another note, if you know of someone that loves to bake. Perhaps, a young child, teenager, newly wed etc., these cookie supplies will make great gifts and stocking stuffers.
