Santa Cookies

Santa successfully made it to Gigi & Papa's house to deliver presents to Will & Audrey. Will was very excited to leave these cookies for Santa since they looked just like St. Nicholas. Although he was too excited with the Christmas Eve festivities to be my cookie helper, I loved making these cookies. They are easy & fun, and I liked that the more I made, the more life-like they began to look to me. There's enough to do on Christmas Eve without having to get out bags of flour & sugar & make homemade icing. Best of all, Santa ate them all & left word that they were deicious. Thanks Santa for stopping by! See you next year!

1 bag white choclate chips

1 package Nutter Butter cookies

Red colored sugar

64 mini semisweet chocolate chips

32 red M&Ms

Reserve 32 white cholate chip. Melt the white chocolate chips using the instructions on the back of the bag. Dip each end of the cookie into the white chocolate & place on wax paper. Then immdeiatly use colord sprinkle to make hat & then a white cholate chip to make the pom pom. Place a M&M on his beard for his mouth. Dip 2mini cholate chips in a little melted white chocolate for the eyes. Repeat 31 more times. Let set on the wax paper & enjoy!

Kristin

Outstanding Oreo Cookies

Homemade Oreo cookies are just so yummy. I color the filling to match the season or holiday. Will & I made half red & half green filling then he licked the spoons and had a half red & half green face. The cookies couldn't be easier to make - they're from a cake mix! The filling is just cream cheese icing. Do you think Santa will like them?

1 box devil's food cake mix (Betty Crocker brand works particularly well)
3/4 c up butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl combine cake mix, the 3/4 cup butter, and eggs. Chill about 10 minutes. Roll into small balls. Pace o a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes. Cool.

To prepare filling, beat cream cheese, the 1/2 cup butter, and vanilla together. Add powdered sugar and mix together. Spread filling on top of cookie, and then top with another cookie. Makes about 2 dozen.

Recipe from The Essential Mormon Cookbook.

Ginger Ball Cookies

So Ginger Snaps are not my favorite cookies, or so I thought. My mom gave me this recipe last year & I didn't even make them (what a loss!). She got the recipe from my sister-in-law's mom, who was given the cookies & recipe from a friend. So basically it was through some divine power that this recipe ended up in my hands to bake & eat & thus transform my life. I am a better person from eating these cookies. My smile is brighter. I am kinder to my family. I am kinder to my dog. I smile at strangers, even at the Wal-Mart. My heart, like the Grinch's, grew 3 sizes upon eating the first bite of this cookie. Yes, they are that good.

Can you make these perfect cookies more perfect? Yes, by making this pumpkin dip to go with them. You're welcome.

3/4 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
4T molasses
2t baking soda
1t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
1t ginger
1/4 t salt
2 c flour

In a mixing bowl cream butter & sugar. Add egg & molasses and mix well. In a medium bowl mix all dry ingredients. On low speed add flour mixture to butter mixture a little at a time. Mix until just blended. Use a tablespoon to scoop out even amounts of dough. Roll into balls. Then roll into sugar. Flatten & bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes (for a crispy cookie) or 8 minutes (for a cookie that is crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle).

Kristin

Peppermint Bark

This recipe for Peppermint Bark is super easy, tastes super wonderful & looks super yummy too. There's no actual cooking or baking involved, just microwaving. I see little tiny boxes of Peppermint Bark in stores for like $7-$15, but mine looks just as pretty, tastes just as great (if not better), and costs way less. Does Santa like Peppermint Bark? I bet he does. And Will even creatively named these "Santa Cookies" so that's proof enough for me the Big Guy might be enjoying some of these with a glass of milk come Christmas Eve!

1 bag Toll House Milk Chocolate Morsels
1 bag Toll House White Chocolate Morsels
4 Candy Canes

Crush candy canes in a resealable freezer bag or food processor until finely ground. Melt milk chocolate morsels using the directions on the back of the bag. Spread and even layer on parchment paper or Silpat. Melt white chocolate morsels using the directions on the back of the bag. Stir in half the crushed candy canes. Spread evenly on top of milk chocolate morsels. Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes on top. Refrigerate until firm. Break into small pieces.

Kristin

Peppermint Candy Tarts

Here's another plate of cookies to try before we make the big decision of what to leave Santa on Christmas Eve. If Santa loves candy canes, which he does, icing, which he does, & sugar cookies, which of course he does, then he is sure to love these cute little tarts. They are basically a sugar cookie with butter cream frosting mixed with crushed candy canes, but when made in the mini muffin pans they become adorable little tarts. My cookies did puff up a little during baking so I used my little liquid measuring cup (like a shot glass) & pressed them down right after I took them out of the oven to create a well for the icing. I used my food processor to crush the candy canes & used a large star tip to pipe the icing. But beware, the icing tip needs to be large enough for the crushed candy canes to pass through. I had a rather large piece of candy cane clog up my icing tip & it could have been catastrophic but luckily it happened while icing the last tart!

INGREDIENTS

Tart Shells
1/2	cup granulated sugar
1/2	cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2	teaspoon peppermint extract
1	egg
1 1/2	cups all-purpose flour
1/4	teaspoon baking soda
1/4	teaspoon salt
Filling and Garnish
2	cups powdered sugar
3	tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2	or 3 drops red food color
2	to 3 tablespoons milk
1/2	cup crushed hard peppermint candies (about 18 candies)

DIRECTIONS

	Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 32 mini muffin cups with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in peppermint extract and egg until blended. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda and salt.
	Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Press each ball in bottom and up side of muffin cup.
	Bake 9 to 12 minutes until set and edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from muffin cups to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
	In small bowl, beat filling ingredients except crushed candies with electric mixture on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Stir in 1/4 cup of the candies. Spoon or pipe 1 rounded measuring teaspoon filling into center of each tart shell. Sprinkle with remaining crushed candies. Kristin

Reindeer Cookies

Ho, ho, ho it's finally time for Christmas treats. Will & I started off this festive holiday season with these reindeer cookies. At 3 1/2 Will already can name all 8 reindeer & knows every word to "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer". Gotta love his holiday spirit! In honor of his reindeer obsession, I made heart shaped sugar cookies, buttercream icing, & chocolate dipped pretzels to make "Rudolf cookies, because they have a very shiny red nose." I had seen a recipe for reindeer cookies last year, but after I search the internet & couldn't find them, I just made my own. We didn't have M&Ms which would have been my first choice for eyes & nose, but chocolate chips & a little red icing worked better than a special trip to the store. Let the Christmas cookie baking begin!

Note: I made 1 recipe of frosting & made 1/2 of it vanilla & 1/2 chocolate by adding 1/4 cup of baking cocoa to the chocolate frosting. My little reindeer likes "va-nil-la" frosting! To assemble cookies, frost heart shaped cookies, add two chocolate chips for eyes, a blob of red frosting for the nose & place 2 chocolate dipped pretzels on each side of the "head" for the antlers. I made 20 reindeer cookies with a few leftover sugar cookies for little Audrey to enjoy. Store in the refrigerator.

Sugar Cookies:

1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon

In a large bowl cream butter. Add egg & mix. Add sugar & beat well. Add remaining ingredients and mix. On a floured surface, roll out douag 1/2 -inch thick. Add flour if dough is too sticky. Cut dough into desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack & frost with your favorite buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

1 stick butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Beat butter until smooth. Beat in remaining ingredients until smooth, anout 2 minutes. Add additional milk a little at a time if thinner consistency is desired.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

Substitute 1/2 cup baking cocoa for 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar.


Kristin