Can you believe we’re only weeks away from Christmas? Are you already making your plan? Have you started making cookies yet? During the holidays everyone loves to put out a big plate of assorted homemade cookies. Having the time to make several kinds of cookies is another story.
Today I’m sharing four cookies my own mother makes for Christmas that will get your cookie platter started. All four recipes start with the same base sugar cookie dough. Four different Christmas cookies from one large batch of dough. That changes everything. These are not fancy cookies. They take no special skills to make and they require no special tools. They are rustic but super delicious.
Sugar Cookies Dough
(Four Batches)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/2 pounds butter
- 10 cups sugar
- 6 Tbs baking powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 10 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 1/3 cup vanilla
- 2.3 pounds flour
METHOD
- Cream together butter and sugar far until completely blended.
- Add eggs, milk and vanilla.
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Add dry ingredients to butter mixture.
- Devide into 4 batches. Wrap twice with Saran Wrap
- Refrigerate overnight
- For classic cut out cookies: Roll no thicker than 1/4 inch. Cut and bake approx. 5 to 6 minutes at 350 degrees. See recipes below for frosting and more recipe options.
Sugar Cookie Frosting
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups butter, softened
- 4cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2Tbs milk
- 1/2tsp almond extract
METHOD
Combine all ingredients. Mix until smooth.
Pistachio Cranberry Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1 batch sugar cookie dough
- 1 box (4-serving size) pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix
- 1 cup dry-roasted salted pistachio nuts
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
- 2 cups white chocolate melting discs
METHOD
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with Parchment Paper; set aside.
Start with one batch of Sugar cookie dough, let sit at room temp. - In large bowl, stir or actually kneed together cookie dough, pudding mix, pistachios and cranberries; mix well.
- Using a small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on lined cookie sheet. Press with fingers to slightly flatten.
- Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
- Melt white chocolate discs in a glass bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Stir and repeat until melted smoothly. Drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let cool before covering.
- Store tightly covered at room temperature.
Red Poinsettia Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 batch of sugar cookie dough
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon red food color
1/3 cup red sugar
24 yellow gumdrops (1/2 to 1 inch)
METHOD
- Heat oven to 350°F.
In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in flour and food color until blended and color is even.
Remove half the dough, and refrigerate remaining dough until needed. - Shape dough into 12 (1 1/4-inch) balls; use a cookie scoop
roll in red sugar and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. - With thin sharp knife dipped into flour, cut each ball into 6 wedges, cutting 3/4 of the way down into ball but not through bottom.
Spread wedges apart very slightly to form flower petals (cookies will separate and flatten as they bake). Repeat with remaining dough and red sugar. - Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set and edges just begin to brown.
Immediately press 1 gumdrop in center of each cookie. Cool 1 minute; carefully remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 10 minutes. Store in tightly covered container. Can be frozen.
Sandwich Cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1 batch of cookie dough (above)
- 1 batch frosting (above)
- 1 bag of Giridelli chocolate melting discs.
METHOD
- Heat oven to 350°F
- Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Using a round cookie cutter cut out an even number of cookies.
- Cook cookies on a sheet pan covered with parchment. 5 to 6 minutes.
- Let cool completely. Frost the back side of one cookie and sandwich with another. Repeat until all cookies are sandwiched.
- Melt chocolate discs in a glass bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Stir and repeat until melted smoothly.
- Drizzle finished sandwich cookies with melted chocolate.
About the Author
Photographer Sally Roeckell specializes in contemporary lifestyle portraiture with an emphasis on food photography. Her Blog, Table and Dish is a website devoted to celebrating and curating the many ways that food binds us. Sally hopes that her recipes and images will inspire you to gather your friends and family in the kitchen to make memories, use the time to connect with busy kids, chat over mixing bowls, get messy, laugh, sing, set the table, clear the table, pass the salt, debate the days topics and pray. You can follow her here as a weekly contributor to 365Barrington and Heinen’s as well as via Table and Dish on Instagram and on her website at TableAndDish.com.
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