Christmas has always been a time for cookies in our family. Many people participate in cookie exchanges — a party where each person brings a batch of their favorite cookies to swap with everyone else. This way, everyone leaves with an assortment of goodies without the hassle of making several different mixes.
Here are some of my childhood favorites for you to try. Most of the recipes are from my mother’s Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book, circa 1963. The book was so well used, it no longer has a cover. In 2002, Betty Crocker reprinted the book for a new generation of cookie enthusiasts.
Candy Cane Cookies
1 cup shortening (half butter or margarine)
1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 egg
1½ teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red food coloring
½ cup crushed peppermint mint candy
½ cup granulated sugar
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix shortening, sugar, egg and flavorings thoroughly. Mix flour and salt; stir into shortening mixture. Divide dough in half. Blend food coloring into one half.
Roll a 4-inch strip (using 1 teaspoon dough) from each color. For smooth, even strips, roll them back and forth on lightly floured board. Place strips side by side, press lightly together and twist like rope. For best results, complete cookies one at a time — if all the dough of one color is shaped first, strips become too dry to twist. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Curve top down to form handle of cane.
Bake about 9 minutes, until lightly browned. While still warm, remove from baking sheet with spatula and sprinkle with mixture of candy and sugar.
Makes about 4 dozen canes.
Editor’s note: Be careful when moving these cookies. I found them to be very fragile, and most of my cookies broke when they were brought to the office for photographing.
Chocolate Christmas Crinkles
½ cup vegetable oil
4 squares unsweetened chocolate (4 ounces) melted
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup confectioners sugar
Mix oil, chocolate and granulated sugar. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Stir flour, baking powder and salt into oil mixture. Chill several hours or overnight.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into confectioner’s sugar. Roll in sugar; shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on greased cooking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake.
Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
Christmas Bells
½ cup shortening (part butter or margarine)
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Mix shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir flour, baking soda and salt together; blend in. Color 2/3 of the dough red or green. Mold into 10 x 1½-inch roll. Mold this roll into a bell shape by squeezing the top together and leaving the lower half flared and curving and the bottom flat; chill. Save ½ cup white dough for the clappers. Roll out the rest of the dough on waxed paper into a rectangle large enough to cover the colored roll, about 10 x 4 inches; trim edges. Wrap around roll; chill again.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut 1/8-inch thick slices. Place 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Press tiny ball of dough at the bottom for clapper. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.
Makes 5 dozen cookies.
Variation: Christmas Balls
Make Christmas Bells, except leave roll round (do not shape into bell) and do not make clappers. After adding outside strip of white, roll in colored sugar.
Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies
Cookie
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
Decoration
powdered sugar
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and sale in medium bowl. Set aside.
Combine brown sugar and ½ cup butter in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla; beat until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture. Beat until well mixed.
Drop batter by level measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets Bake for 9 to 10 minutes or until set and lightly browned around the edges. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.
Combine all filling ingredients except powdered sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until smooth. Gradually add 4 cups powdered sugar, beating well after each addition until creamy.
Spread 2 tablespoons filling onto bottom-side of 1 cookie. Top with another cookie, bottom-side down. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Sprinkle filled cookies with powdered sugar.
Tip: For perfectly round cookies, pipe batter in 1-inch circle on parchment-line cookie sheets using piping bag without a tip.
Recipe courtesy of Land O Lakes Butter.
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