Tis' the season for holiday carols, pine-tree candles, and Christmas cookies galore! Whether they come out "cookie cutter" perfect or not, during this time of year we can guarantee that they are made with love!!
Three of our very own are sharing their favorite Christmas cookie recipes and tips & tricks for baking delicious holiday themed cookies to share with family and friends - so get out your aprons and get ready to make the best type of mess with these yummy cookie recipes below.
Kitchen Sink Christmas Cookies with Emily Beckett!!!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup crushed candy canes
1/4 cup broken pretzel pieces
1/2 cup Christmas m&ms
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup marshmallows
1/4 cup red, green, and white sprinkles
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pans with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
Add egg and vanilla and mixed until combined.
Turn mixer to low and add in flour mixture until combined.
Fold in the candy canes, sprinkles, pretzels, m&ms, white chocolate chips, and marshmallows.
Using a small ice-cream scoop, scoop out cookie dough onto pan.
Bake for 8-12 minutes, until the outside of the cookie has browned.
Emily's Tips and Tricks!
After taking cookies out of the oven, if you find the marshmallow and candy canes have leaked from the cookie, take a knife and push the candy that has escaped back to reshape the cookie. You can also stuff the cookie with the marshmallows instead of folding them in with the other add-ins in order to make a cleaner cookie, but either way works great!
For the full cookie experience, grab a mug of hot chocolate and put on a Christmas movie! Enjoy!
Christmas Sugar Cookies with Katie Green!!!
Cookie Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
2 – 2.5 Tbsp room temperature water
pinch of salt
Cookie Instructions
In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy and smooth – about 1 minute.
Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 or 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and beat on high until fully combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Turn the mixer down to low and add about half of the flour mixture, beating until just barely combined. Add the rest of the flour and continue mixing until just combined.
Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out onto a piece of parchment to about 1/4″ thickness. Stack the pieces (with paper) onto a baking sheet, cover lightly, and refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F.
Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. The amount of batches will depend on how large/small you cut your cookies. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and using a cookie cutter, cut in shapes. Transfer the cut cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until very lightly colored on top and around the edges. Make sure you rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing. No need to cover the cookies as the cookies cool.
Icing Instructions
Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons of water in a medium bowl. It should be quite thick. If it is much too thick, add 1/2 Tablespoon more water. If it is much too thin, add 2 more Tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar.
If desired, add liquid or gel food coloring. You can pour some icing into different bowls if using multiple colors.
Katie's Tips & Tricks!
Make sure you have lots of fun with the process of baking and decorating your cookies!! Use lots of colors and don't get too caught up with the minor details! Good luck!!
Christmas Tree Cutouts with Abigail Grillo!!!
Cookie Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Flour for rolling out dough
Red sprinkles for decorating
Icing Ingredients
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar, use more if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk, use more if needed
Green food coloring
Cookie Instructions
Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Stir with wooden spoon to mix the ingredients and set the bowl aside.
Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. With the electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat until the mixture is well blended.
Add egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. With the electric mixer set on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and beat until smooth.
Using your hands, gather the dough together into one big mass. Divide the mass in half. Roll each half into a ball and pat the top to flatten it into a thick circle.
Wrap each circle in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill until firm enough to roll out - about 1 hour.
Adjust 2 oven racks to be in the center of your oven. Set oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheet.
With your fingers, sprinkle a light coating of flour over a flat work surface and the rolling pin. Remove 1 piece of dough from the refrigerator. Unwrap dough and place it on the floured work surface. With the rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large circle about 1/8 inch thick.
Using a Christmas Tree shaped cookie cutter, cut out as many shapes as possible, transferring them gently to the baking sheet. Re-roll dough and repeat step 7 and 8 until no dough remains!
Place baking sheets in the preheated 350°F oven. Bake until cookies are a light golden brown around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes.
When cookies are cool use the Rich and Creamy Icing to ice and sprinkles of your choice to decorate!!!
Icing Instructions
While cookies are in the oven put butter in a small saucepan, set saucepan on stovetop, and turn heat to medium. Heat until butter melts.
Hold the sieve over a mixing bowl. Put the confectioners' sugar in the sieve, 1/2 cup at a time. With the bottom of the tablespoon, press the sugar through the sieve into the bowl. Repeat with remaining sugar.
Add melted butter, vanilla, and 2 tbs of milk.
With electric mixer set on medium speed, beat until the mixture is creamy and spreadable. *Add more milk to make the icing thinner or more sugar to make it thicker as needed
Add the green food coloring.
Abigail's Tips & Tricks!
Homemade icing is the key to making these cookies irresistible!!! Use a piping bag and different decorative tips to make fun designs with your icing. You can get even more creative using different cutouts and food coloring to mix things up!