Christmas Cookies - Bar, Drop and Shaped

I look forward to making (and eating) all of these every year.

BAR COOKIES:

Again, this was posted previously, but they are a great quick cookie for the holidays. They are from my friend, Kathy.

ENGLISH TOFFEE COOKIES

1 c. butter         

1 c. brown sugar              

1 egg              

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

½ c. toffee chips

¾ c. semi-sweet choc chips

3/4 c. chopped almonds, toasted

You can use your food processor as in the shortbread recipes, or cream butter and sugar, then add the vanilla and egg. Mix in flour and 1/2 c. chopped almonds. Or you can:

Beat in egg and vanilla.

Add ½ c. chopped almonds. Press in 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake at 350˚ F. about 20 minutes. Remove from oven.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

When they get shiny, spread with the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula.

Sprinkle on toffee chips and ¼ c.nuts.

Cool. Cut into bars.

These are easy. They are full of chocolate. They are irresistible.

FUDGY CHOCOLATE COOKIE BARS

1 ¾ c. flour       

¾ c. powdered sugar         

¼ c. unsweetened cocoa     

1 c. butter

2 c. chocolate chips

1 can condensed milk 

1 tsp. vanilla   

1 c. chopped nuts                                                           

You can use a food processor or do this by hand. Combine flour, sugar, and cocoa.

Cut in butter till crumbly (mixture will be dry).

Pat in 9x13" baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake at 350˚ for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 1 c. chocolate chips with condensed milk and vanilla.

Pour over prepared crust.

Top with nuts and remaining 1 c. chocolate chips. Press down.

Bake additional 20 minutes till set. Cool. Cut into bars.

I still don’t know why they are magic – they’re easy – but there are definitely no signs of magic ability. I know – I’ve read Harry Potter.
MAGIC COOKIE BARS
1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 can condensed milk
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 1/2 oz. coconut
1 c. chopped nuts

Melt butter in 9x13" baking pan.

Sprinkle on crumbs. Pat down.

Pour on milk.

Sprinkle with chips, coconut and nuts. Pat down.

Bake at 350˚ for 25-30 minutes till set.

DROP OR SHAPED COOKIES:

These next are good. Really good. They’re one of those Killing-You-Softly-with-Chocolate or whatever they call intense chocolate these days. They are intense chocolate, moist, melt-in-your-mouth good. I know there are a lot of steps, but even if there were twice the steps, they’d be worth it.

BLACK GOLD COOKIES (I double this for Christmas. Well, I double it for anytime…)
6 tbs. flour

½ tsp. baking powder

Scant ½  tsp. salt

10 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped (I use Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips)

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I use Scharffen Berger chocolate for these cookies)

6 tbs. unsweetened or unsalted butter

2 large eggs

½ c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Sift dry ingredients together in separate bowl. Place 6 oz. of semisweet chocolate, 2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate, and butter in microwave dish.

Melt till just before all is melted.

Place eggs, sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl.

Beat on medium speed 4 minutes. Scrape bowl. Beat 2 minutes.

Add melted chocolate mixture.

Beat 1 minute on medium speed. Add dry ingredients.

Beat on low 15 seconds. Stir in remaining 4 oz. semisweet chocolate.

Chill batter 10 minutes while oven preheats. Place a heaping tablespoonful of dough on nonstick baking sheet, or baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper.

No more than 12 to a baking sheet. Bake at 325˚ about 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes.

Store in tightly sealed plastic container. About 3 dozen cookies. These also freeze well.

About a week ago, I woke up early one morning with the remains of a dream in my head. I dreamt I had to make Cranberry Pumpkin cookies. Weird, huh? And when I woke up, I realized I’d never heard of such a creation and did not have a recipe. But they sounded good! So, I made them and they ARE good! The tartness of the cranberries is a very nice contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate chips. Really good!

CRANBERRY PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP
1 c. butter    

1 c. white sugar   

1 c. brown sugar   

2 eggs        

2 c. pumpkin      

1 tsp. vanilla

3 ½ c. flour (I used 1 c. whole wheat and 2 ½ c. white)

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2-3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp. salt

2 c. oats

3 c. chocolate chips

1 c. chopped nuts

1 c. chopped cranberries                                                                                                

Cream butter and sugars.

Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Add vanilla and ½ of pumpkin.

Mix. Add ½ of dry ingredients.

Mix. Add rest of pumpkin. Mix. Add rest of dry ingredients and oats.

Mix. Stir in chips, nuts and cranberries.

Drop by spoonfuls on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake at 375˚ for 10-12 minutes. About 5 dozen.

These are a family tradition at Christmas. Instead of sugar cookies, we make these. You would be surprised how the guys decorate the cookies…. These are a wonderful cookie – moist, if you roll them out thick; crisp, if you roll them out thin.

GINGER COOKIES

5 c. flour      

1 ½  tsp. baking soda   

3 tsp. ginger         

1 tsp. cinnamon     

1 tsp. cloves

1 c. butter (I used shortening for the ones to hang on the tree)

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 c. molasses

2 tbs. vinegar  

This was for the hang-on-the-tree cookies.

This was for the eating cookies.

                                                                      

Cream butter, or shortening, and sugar.
Beat in egg, molasses, and vinegar.

Stir together dry ingredients,

then add to creamed mixture.

The instructions I used for the tree ornaments was to divide the dough in thirds. Roll each third out on parchment lined baking sheets.

Freeze them for 15 minutes.

It was SO cold that day and there was no room in the freezer. The deck worked great.

Cut out the shapes. Transfer them to another parchment lined baking sheet. Use a straw to cut little holes in their heads for the ribbon or string.

Bake 6 minutes. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and tap firmly on the counter. This will make them nice and flat for decorating. Then bake them for another 5-6 minutes.

For the eating cookies:
Chill for easier handling. Roll out ¼” thick on surface sprinkled with cornstarch. Cut into shapes. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375° for 6-8 minutes. Cool on racks. Decorate.



These will be decorated by grandchildren.

I hope you have a great time making cookies and candy and can share with friends and family.

 

 

Merry Christmas!