Kid-Friendly Cookies for Santa
By Megan Anderson
I remember growing up that my 5 siblings and I would always follow the tradition of putting out a plate of cookies for Santa, and we were always thrilled to see the crumbs left on the plate in the morning, sometimes accompanied by a note of thanks from Santa himself. We didn't just leave out the standard chocolate chip cookies, we always left out a variety of cookies, but there were always a generous amount of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
Years later, I made the connection that pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were my mom's favorite cookies, just like Santa! This year for December, I thought it would be fun to give you a couple of recipes that your little elves can help make for Santa, it's so much more thrilling to see the crumbs from Santa if they had a part in making the treat. My guess is that these recipes will become family favorite recipes all year round, and not just at Christmastime!
Raspberry Chocolate Thumbprints
Recipe and photo courtesy of: family.go.com
Ingredients:2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
Directions:
2. Sift together flour and baking powder.
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir until a soft and pliable dough forms.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheets. Make an indentation in the tops of cookies with the handle of a wooden spoon or with your thumb-this is the part your kids will love!
6. Bake for 5 minutes and remove from oven.
7. Fill each indentation with seedless raspberry preserves -- using a baby spoon works well for this.
8. Place cookies back in the oven for 10 minutes, or until they just start to brown.
9. Remove from oven and immediately drop 2 or 3 chocolate morsels on top of each cookie. Let cool completely.
10. When cookies are cooled, dust with powdered sugar.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Simple Sugar Cookies
Recipe and photo courtesy of: family.go.com These sugar cookies are great because you can bake them with the colored sugar already in place, and there is no messy icing to worry about!
Ingredients:2/3 cup softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light.
3. Add vanilla and egg and stir until well combined.
4. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt until a soft dough forms.
5. Shape dough into a flat disc and wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour before rolling. (I recommend having steps 1-5 done before calling in the kids, the fun part is coming up!)
6. Dust rolling surface with an equal mixture of all-purpose flour and powdered sugar. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.
7. Place cut cookies onto a baking sheet prepared with cooking spray or covered with parchment paper.
8. Decorate with colored sugar as desired.
9. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until very lightly golden.
Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Five Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe courtesy of "Peanut Butter Sweets", one of our featured cookbooks this month!
Ingredients:3.4 cups peanut butter
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups Bisquick All Purpose Mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk peanut butter and milk until smooth.
Add the Bisquick and vanilla to the peanut butter mixture. Blend together until ingredients are well distributed. Using your hands, shape dough into 1-inch balls. Sprinkle the brown sugar on a plate and roll the balls in the sugar to cover.
On an ungreased baking sheet, flatten the cookies using a spoon or your hand, and bake for approximately 5-7 minutes.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Cry Baby Cookies
Don't let the name fool you, the only tears that will be shed will be when these cookies are gone! Recipe courtesy of "Peanut Butter Sweets", one of our featured cookbooks this month!
Ingredients:1 cup sugar divided
1/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 large egg
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ginger powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Reserve 1/4 cup of the sugar. Mix all of the other ingredients together in large bowl. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Sprinkle the reserved sugar on a plate and roll the balls in sugar until covered. Place on an ungreased baking sheet in ball form or flatten with your hand or a spoon and bake for 20 minutes.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
