Cookies for holiday party

Cafe Society
1

Help! I’m in a holiday cookie rut! It’s a tasty rut, naturally – they are cookies, after all. But all the same, I’m tired of making the same cookies every year and would like suggestions for something new … well, at least new to my baking repertoire.

Here’s what I usually make: tollhouse (chocolate chip) cookies, Hello Dollies! (the Eagle sweetened condensed milk magic cookie bars, recipe on the can), and pecan puffs (aka Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cookies … many different names! they’re the cookies that are mostly powdered sugar, butter and chopped pecans, with enough flour thrown in to hold em all together LOL). I’ve actually foregone the pecan puffs the past few years because the batter is so stiff it is hard on arthritic fingers and hands to deal with. :frowning: I’ll probably still make the tollhouse cookies too and probably the magic cookie bars. But I need some new suggestions for our office holiday party.

So far, I’m thinking of the butterscotch oatmeal scotchy (oatmeal cookie w/butterscotch chips), gingerbread cookies and maybe sugar cookies cut-out in holiday shapes. Any suggestions would be welcome. The only real requirement is that it should be a fairly simple recipe - I don’t want to have something which might not turn out right! :eek:

2

I’m making gingerbread people, both butter and sugar cookie cutouts to decorate, oatmeal cookies, snickerdoodles, and giant chocolate chip cookies, along with peanut butter fudge (easiest recipe ever), peppermint bark, and banana muffins.

Most of my recipes are fairly fool-proof and easy, but my gingerbread and butter cookies are time-consuming. Just let me know if you want any of the recipes!

3

These sugar cookies make my world a better place. You don’t need to muck around with rolling them out or chilling the dough. You can roll them in red and green sugar, or a cinnamon/sugar mix for snickerdoodles. Or you can use food coloring to make them festive colors. They are so delicious.

4

Oh yum! Thanks for the replies, MissGypsy and pepperlandgirl! I would like recipes for the peppermint bark and peanut butter fudge, MissGypsy, please and thank you. :slight_smile: God I love fudge but I don’t have very good luck at making it, so an easy recipe would be greatly appreciated. And I’m definitely trying that sugar cookie recipe, pepperlandgirl, thank you so very much. Yay!

5

I usually make some of these about this time of year. Don’t let the pumpkin put you off–everyone I have ever offered these to has gone nuts for them, even the ones who are telling all about their deep and abiding hatred of all things pumpkin in between bites.

I’ve also got a triple chocolate espresso brownie recipe that’s to die for. Last year we actually had someone announce that the only reason she’d come to our Christmas party was because she thought there would be brownies.

6

Here are the recipes for the peanut butter fudge, the peppermint bark, plus an added one for an easy chocolate fudge:

Peanut Butter Fudge
1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar

Butter an 11 by 7 inch pan. Combine butter and peanut butter in a large glass bowl, place in microwave and heat on high for 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla, then sugar. Beat until smooth, spread into prepared pan and chill until smooth.

Peppermint Bark
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup crushed peppermint candy

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Crush candy, and sift through it with your fingers to get about 1/4 cup of large pieces for garnish.

Melt chocolate chips in double boiler or (carefully) in microwave; when melted, stir in the 3/4 cup of crushed candy. Scoop onto prepared cookie sheet, smooth out with knife, scatter reserved candy pieces over it.

Cool in fridge for at least an hour. Peel from parchment paper, break into pieces.

Best candies to use are the cheap candy cane-like sticks from the dollar store, or the mini-candy canes. The Brach’s starlight mints work, but you have to beat the everloving heck out of them to get small enough pieces. However, breaking the candy is a great stress reliever! To crush the candy, place the candy canes in a ziplock bag, wrap in a towel, put on a hard surface, and smack the heck out of it with a metal meat mallet or a rolling pin. The largest pieces shouldn’t be more than a 1/4 inch.

Chocolate Fudge
18 oz chocolate chips
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on high for 3 1/2 minutes, stirring halfway through. When chocolate is melted, stir in condensed milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Turn into a buttered 9-inch pan, chill at least 2 hours. This fudge is very rich, and the cinnamon cuts the “sweet” just a bit. You can also add 1 cup of chopped nuts to the mixture before turning into the prepared pan.

7

There have been several cookie recipes over the years that have come out of my kitchen, but these are some of my favorites:

Orange Cardamom Cookies: I don’t roll out the dough, but instead, I take the dough out of the mixer and shape it into a 2" diameter log, and wrap in wax paper, then plastic, and chill until firm. Then I slice the dough into 1/4" thick rounds and bake. These are good on their own, or half-dipped in dark chocolate.

Spoon Cookies: These are sneaky little guys. You’ll have one right after you’ve baked them and sandwiched it with jam (I like raspberry), and you’ll say to yourself, that’s a pretty good little cookie. Then, you pay attention to what the nice lady says just before the recipe, and you put them away in a tupperware for about a week. Then you have one, and your eyelids flutter as it melts away on your tongue. You decide then and there that you’re not sharing these, no, not a one.

8

Ooooh, thank you so much, JavaMaven1, CrazyCatLady and MissGypsy for the wonderful recipes, I can’t wait to try them out. LOL Yes, I’m going to (naturally!) try them out first before I let my co-workers have some. :smiley: They all sound so good, and thanks, esp., for the easy fudge and peppermint bark recipes, MissGypsy; they will definitely come in handy when it’s the last minute and I’m wondering what to give someone! I’ll probably have to make double batches, though. :stuck_out_tongue:

9

I gave my favorite holiday cookie recipe yonder.

10

JavaMaven1, those spoon cookies sound REALLY good. I don’t know much about baking, but do you think there’d be a way to flavor the cookies chocolate or peanut butter and preserve their transcendency? I’m thinking chocolate cookies with raspberry preserves might be pretty dangerous.

11

I have an oatmeal cookie recipe somewhere that uses kahlua in the dough. God, those are good. Maybe there’s a similar recipe online somewhere?

Palmiers are easy to make, buy puff pastry dough and add some filling.

12

These cookies never fail to please:
Mocha Crackles

These are a grownup treat.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease shiny cookie sheets. Arrange your oven so the cookies bake in the middle.

Set aside some Icing Sugar. (confectioner’s or powdered sugar)

½ cup** butter** (1/4 pound)
5 squares (1 ounce each) UNSWEETENED chocolate. As always, the better the chocolate, the better the cookie. However, ordinary Bakers or Hersheys works just fine.
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoons baking powder

-In a microwave or in a saucepan, heat butter, chocolate and instant coffee powder until the chocolate is melted. Cool slightly.

-In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and salt together.

-Add sugars, add chocolate mixture, stir very well.

-Combine flour and baking powder, gradually add to egg and chocolate mixture to form a soft dough.

-Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

-Roll dough into ¾ inch balls, roll in icing sugar, place 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. DO NOT FLATTEN, they will spread as they bake.

-Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 12 minutes.

Yields about 5 dozen. These are really pretty, and are yummy.

13

I got this recipe out of a mystery novel, of all places. Joanne Fluke writes a mystery series about the owner of a cookie shop, and she always includes recipes. I’ve tried a couple, and really like this one. It was really simple and it made about cookies, so it is great for a crowd.

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies
1 cup butter (2 sticks melted)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla 2 beaten eggs (beat with fork)
2 1/2 cups flour (not sifted)
2 cups crushed corn flakes
(crush them with your hands)
1 - 2 cups chocolate chips
Melt butter, add the sugars and stir. Add soda, salt, vanilla and beaten eggs. Mix well. Then add flour and stir it in. Add crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips and mix it all thoroughly.

Form dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers and place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Press them down with a floured or greased fork in a crisscross pattern (the same method as peanut butter cookies).

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to a wire rack until they’re completely cool. (The rack is important – it makes them crisp).

14

I made these on Thanksgiving and they were wonderful. I’ll be making them again soon for Christmas tin gifts. I omitted the sprinkles.

Grandma’s Ricotta Cookies

1 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Red and green sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease large cookie sheets.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add
ricotta vanilla and eggs and beat until combined. Add flour baking powder and salt and
beat until dough forms.

Using two tablespoons (one to pick up the dough, and one to scrape the dough onto the cookie sheet) drop dough onto cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15
minutes or until cookies begin to turn golden. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool.
In small bowl stir confectioners sugar milk and lemon juice until smooth. With a small
metal spatula or knife spread icing on cookies and top with sprinkles. Set aside to allow icing to dry and harden.