When the holidays roll around, there is one thing Shorebread looks forward to more than anything. We could proobably survive without the music and the festive lights but one thing we can’t do without: Christmas cookies. And we’re not picky. We’ll eat just about any… today we decided to round up our all time favorites. We hope you join in on the fun and spend a day in the kitchen with the ones you love most!
1.) Snickerdoodles
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup of shortening
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup of sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
2.) Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon red food coloring paste
Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy; gradually adding sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended, scraping bowl as needed. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Roll 1 portion of dough into a 12- x 8-inch rectangle on a piece of lightly floured plastic wrap. Knead food coloring paste into remaining portion of dough while wearing rubber gloves. Roll tinted dough into a rectangle as directed in step 3. Invert untinted dough into tinted dough; peel off plastic wrap. Cut dough in half lengthwise, forming 2 rectangles. Roll up each rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, starting at 1 long side, using bottom piece of plastic wrap as a guide. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze 4 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut ends off each dough log, and discard. Cut dough into 1/4 inch pieces, and place on parchment paper in baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 7 minutes or until puffed and set. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 min.
3.) Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients:
48 Hershey’s kisses
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup Reeses creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrappers from chocolates. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar, beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around the edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 48 cookies.
4.) Peanut Butter Cookies with Butterscotch Bits
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups of chunky peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 11-oz. package butterscotch morsels
In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter and peanut butter until smooth. Gradually add sugar, beating to blend. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and butterscotch morsels. Form into a large disk and wrap in plastic. Chill for 2 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 375 degrees; line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Use hands to form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place balls about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Using a fork, press balls flat, then press again to form a crisscross pattern. Bake cookies until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cook on sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
5.) Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients:
3/4 cup grated almond paste
2/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg white
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons raspberry jam
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; secure to baking sheet with masking tape. Place first 3 ingredients in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg white; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flour and salt to almond paste mixture; beat at low speed until well blended. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and shape dough into 36 1 inch balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets, and press thumb into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon jam into center of each cookie.
6. Wreath Cookies
Ingredients:
1 package vanilla candy coating, broken up
Green paste food coloring
2 1/2 cups coarsely crushed mini shredded whole wheat cereal biscuits
Mini candy-coated chocolate pieces, red cinnamon candies and swirled holiday white morsels
Microwave vanilla candy coating in a medium bowl at medium for 3 minutes, stirring after every minute. Stir in desired amount of food coloring. Add cereal, stirring gently to coat. Drop cereal mixture by heaping tablespoonfuls onto wax paper; shape each spoonful into a wreath. Decorate with assorted candies. Let cookies stand about 30 minutes until firm.
7. Gingerbreadmen Cookies
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup molasses
1 large egg, room temperature
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices and salt. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream together butter and shortening. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in molasses and egg. Scrape down sides of bowl, then stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough. Divide dough in half. Form into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap and put in fridge for four hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface into 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a 3-inch cutter and place 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Gather scraps and re-roll to form more cookies. Repeat with remaining dough disk. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, switching sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Cook cookies on baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookies.
8.) Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients:
1 cup butter; room temperature
1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Stir or beat into butter mixture until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans, if using.Drop dough in 2 tablespoon portions, 2 inches apart onto buttered 12 by 15 inch baking sheets. Bake in a 400 degree oven until cookies are lightly browned and no longer wet in the center (break one open to check), 6-8 minutes if baking more than one pan at a time switch pan positions halfway through baking. With a wide spatula, transfer cookies to racks to cool. If hot cookies start to break slide a thin spatula under them to release. Let stand on pan to form up, 2 to 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
9.) White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter; room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup salted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
Heat oven to 350 degrees with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. One at a time add the eggs beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat until just combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop level tablespoons of the dough onto un-greased baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until golden, rotating the pans halfway through, 9 to 11 minutes; cool slightly on the pans, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10.) Chocolate Snowballs
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup chocolate chips
Confectionery sugar
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour and salt; stir into creamed mixture. Fold in nuts and chips. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on un-greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cool cookies slightly before rolling in confectioners’ sugar. Yield: about 4 dozen.
