Katie Cotton - Best Christmas Cookie Recipes: Easy Holiday Cookies 2014

Best Christmas Cookie Recipes Easy Holiday Cookies 2014 By: Katie Cotton Disclaimer This publication is intended to provide helpful and informative material. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem or condition, nor is intended to replace the advice of a physician. No action should be taken solely on the contents of this book. Always consult your physician or qualified health-care professional on any matters regarding your health and before adopting any suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it. Any and all product names referenced within this book are the trademarks of their respective owners. None of these owners have sponsored, authorized, endorsed, or approved this book.

Always read all information provided by the manufacturers product labels before using their products. The author and publisher are not responsible for claims made by manufacturers. Kindle Edition 2013 Manufactured in the United States of America

Christmas is my favorite time of year. And one of my favorite things to do is to give homemade gifts, which usually means making cookies! Best Christmas Cookie Recipes: Easy Holiday Cookies 2014" contains recipes to make cookies that would make perfect gifts for friends, neighbors, family and teachers, or even a little treat to leave out for Santa with his milk! I really love wrapping up dozens of cookies in cute little Christmas boxes to give out these personalized gifts. Every year people look forward to opening these gifts and it really has become a Christmas tradition. So why not give them a try this year? Merry Christmas! Stained-Glass Christmas Tree Cookies Ingredients: 1 cup butter or margarine, softened 2/3 cup sugar cup light corn syrup 2 teaspoons vanilla teaspoon lemon extract, if desired 3 cups all-purpose flour teaspoon baking powder teaspoon salt colored hard candies (a bag) Preparation: 1.

Heat the oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place each color candy in separate resealable freezer plastic bag; seal bag. With rolling pin, coarsely crush candy; set aside. 2. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Beat in corn syrup, vanilla and lemon extract. On low speed, gradually beat in flour, baking powder and salt. 3. Divide dough in half. On floured cloth-covered work surface, roll each half into -inch thickness. Cut dough with 3-inch Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutter.

Cut out and remove several smaller dough shapes from each cookie. Place tree shapes 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. If desired, re-roll small cutouts with remaining dough. Fill each hole in tree shapes with about teaspoon crushed candy. 4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown and candy is melted.

Place cookie sheets to cooling racks; cool cookies 8 minutes. With the back of the metal pancake turner, gently lift warm cookies from foil; place on cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes, before storing in loosely covered containers. Christmas Tree Cookies Ingredients: Green Dough: cup all-purpose flour cup butter, softened 1 tablespoon green crme de menthe liqueur or crme de menthe syrup 2 drops green food color Decorating bag fitted with small writing tip Cookies: 18 ounces refrigerated sugar cookies Candy sprinkles or miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits Preparation: 1. Heat oven to 350F. In small bowl, mix green dough ingredients until well blended.

Place dough in decorating bag fitted with small writing tip; set aside. 2. Work with half of dough at a time; keep remaining dough refrigerated. On lightly floured work surface, roll out dough with rolling pin to -inch thickness. Cut by 2 - to 3 -inch tree-shaped cookie cutter; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. 3.

Squeeze decorating bag to pipe the green dough around outer edge of each tree cookie; pipe dots randomly in the center. Top each dot with candy sprinkle. 4. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Grandmas Christmas Tree Sugar Cookies Ingredients: 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened 1 egg 2 cups white vanilla, baking chips Green sugar or edible glitter Preparation: 1.

Heat oven to 375F (or 350F for dark or nonstick cookie sheet). 2. In medium bowl, stir sugar, flour, butter and egg until soft dough forms. 3. On floured surface, roll dough until about 1/8 inch thick. 4. 4.

Bake 5 to 7 minutes or just until edges begin to turn light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool 15 minutes. 5. In small microwavable bowl, microwave baking chips on High 1 minute; stir until smooth. If necessary, microwave 10 seconds longer; stir until smooth.

Spoon into small resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut off tiny bottom corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle glaze over cookies. Immediately sprinkle with green sugar. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes. Gingerbread Cookie Recipe Ingredients: 4 ounces butter 4 ounces vegetable shortening 3/4 cup lightly-packed brown sugar 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses 1 large egg 3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon brown food coloring Royal Icing Preparation: 1.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with pan coating. 2. Cream the butter with flat paddle attachment of electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until soft. Beat in sugar; continue beating for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. 3. 3.

Sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in three batches, mixing just until each batch is blended. Shape into a large flat ball by hand, kneading a few times until smooth. Shape into two disks (6-inch by 9-inch). Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm enough to roll out. 4. 4.

Using a rolling pin, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 3/16" thickness. Cut out shapes as desired using either a gingerbread person shape or any other cookie cutter of your choice. Transfer to cookie sheets using a broad-angled spatula, leaving at least 1 inch between cookies. Place similar sized cookies on the same cookie sheets. To make hanging ornaments, punch holes in the tops of the shapes with a straw. 5.

Bake approximately 9 1/2 to 12 minutes, depending on size, rotating pans front to back once during baking. They should just begin to brown around the edges and feel firm to the touch. Remove from oven and cool pans on wire racks for a few minutes; transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. 6. Let cookie sheets cool completely before proceeding with next batch; you may reuse the parchment paper. Store baked cookies in airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks or freeze for up to one month.

Decorate as you desire with Royal Icing (see recipe below). Royal Icing Recipe Ingredients: 1 cup fondant or powdered sugar teaspoon cream of tartar 5 teaspoons Egg White 6 tablespoons water 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Preparation: 1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together powdered sugar, cream of tartar, and egg white Add vanilla extract; beat at low speed until sugar is dissolved, then at high speed about 10 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy . 2. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth to prevent drying. 3.