Peanut Butter Cups

My husband's favorite. :-)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 1/2 c sugar
• 12 c brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 c flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• ~10oz mini peanut butter cups
• mini muffin pans

DIRECTIONS

1. Cream peanut butter, butter, and both sugars.
2. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to mixture.
4. Blend to make a dough.
5. Shape into 1/2 inch balls. Place in an ungreased 1 1/2 inch muffin tins.
6. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
7. Immediately after removing from oven, press a peanut butter cup into the center, deep, until only the top shows.
8. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Candy Canes

These cookies are so YUMMY but they do take a while to make.

From Betty Crocker's Cookie Book, pg 74

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 3/4 c margerine or butter, soft
• 3/3 c shortening
• 1 1/2 eggs (yeah, I don't get it either)
• 2 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 3/4 c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp red food color
• 3/4 c crushed peperment candy
• 3/4 c sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix powdered sugar, margerine, shortening, egg, almond, and vanilla.
2. Stir in flour and salt.
3. Divide dough, color 1/2 red.
4. Shape 1 tsp each color into 4 inch rope. Twist together into candy cane shape.
5. Bake on ungreased sheets for 9 mins at 375 F.
6. Mix candy and sugar. Sprinkle immediately over cookies after baking. Cool on racks.

Chocolate Dipped Almond Fingers

I believe this is another cookie we've done every year since we started. If we decide to drop one next year, this will be it. We like them, but the dough is crumbly and annoying. LOL

From Good Housekeeping Christmas Cookbook, page 48

INGREDIENTS

• 1 c butter or margerine
• 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 c sifted flour
• 2 c finely chopped, toasted slivered almonds
• 6ox semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 tbsp shortening

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix @ medium speed - beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in milk, vanilla, and salt.
2. Mix @ low speed - beat in flour. Stir in almonds.
3. Wrap dough in wax paper. Chill 3 hours.
4. Shape into 2 inch fingers, place on ungreased sheet.
5. Bake 15 min @ 325 F. Cool on wire racks.
6. In double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, melt chocolate with shortening.
7. Dip end of cookies in chocolate. Let dry on racks.
8. Store in loosely covered containers at room temperature.

Classic Spritz Cookies

Like the title says, classic.

May have gotten this recipe from Pampered Chef, but I'm not sure. It's pretty basic anyway.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 c butter
• 1 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3 1/2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• colored sugar for decorating
• cookie press

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat to 375 F.
2. Thoroughly cream butter and sugar. Add egg, milk, vanilla and almond; beat well.
3. Stire together flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing to make a smooth dough.
4. Do not chill.
5. Press cookies onto ungreased sheet.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on rack. Sprinkle with colored sugar while hot.

Sour Cream Snowdrops

I think we've been making this cookies since we started doing Christmas Cookies. Before our son was born we used regular sour cream. Now we use the soy substitute sour cream.

From Pilsbury Festive Holiday Recipes, page 73

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 c margerine or butter, soft
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c chopped nuts
• 1 c crisp rice cereal
• Powdered Sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine margerine, sour cream, egg, sugar, and vanilla.
2. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour.
3. Add nuts and cereal.
4. Drop rounded tsp 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheeets.
5. Bake 8-10 min @ 375 F
6. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Stained Glass Cookies

We've done this cookie for the past few years. It's a fun cookie to make with kids. Originally from Foodnetwork.com: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/stained-glass-cookies-recipe/index.html


Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• Assorted brightly colored, hard candies
• 1 (2 to 3-inch) star cookie cutter
• Special Equipment: 1 small triangle cookie cutter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour. Remove the dough from the mixer and press into a rectangular shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Remove from the refrigerator and cut dough into 1/3. Roll out dough, 1 piece at a time to a 3/16-inch thickness. Cut out as many large stars as possible. Repeat with all of the dough. Cut a small triangle out of each the arms on each star.
4. Place the hard candy, by color, into small plastic bags. Place a towel over the bags and crush the candy with a meat mallet. Place all of the cookies on parchment lined sheet pans. In each of the
5. triangle holes, fill with different colors of crushed hard candy. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown, and the candy has melted.

Mini Chocolate Chip Snowballs

Another new addition to our recipe box, also from allrecipes.com: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mini-Chip-Snowball-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Instead of the mini morsels we used dairy-free chocolate chips. Still yummy! :-)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (12 ounce) package NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Morsels
• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
• Powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour; stir in morsels and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar if desired. Store in airtight containers.

Soft Gingersnap

These yummy soft gingersnap cookies are a new addition to our Christmas Cookie recipe box. The recipe came from allrecipes.com: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Soft-Gingersnaps/Detail.aspx

We did substitute margerine for the butter, because our son cannot have cow's milk, and also egg replacer for the eggs because our neighbor's daughter can't have eggs, but they are still delicious!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Additional sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.
2. Roll into 1-in. balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-12 minutes or until puffy and lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks.

Christmas Cookies

Is there anything better than baking up some goodies, wrapping them up, and sharing them with friends and family?

Stay tuned for photos of the individual cookies, and the recipes! YUM!

Coming January: CTMH's new catalog!

January's Stamp of the Month: (click for larger view)

Layout: Easter (digital)

Layout: Guitar Hero (digital)