Gingerbread Ornaments

This is a great holiday activity. The kids love cutting out the cookies and decorating them. I got the recipie from our friend Mindy. She used it to make gingerbread houses with her girls. Check them out here. Ingredients: 

• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 1 1/2 cups molasses 
• 4 eggs 
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 2 tsp allspice 
• 2 tsp cloves 
• 2 tsp cinnamon 
• 2 tsp ginger 
• 8 cups flour 

 Directions: 

1) Blend butter and brown sugar together in a mixer. 

2) Add molasses, eggs, baking soda, and spices. 

3) Mix until well blended. 

4) Stir in flour. 

5) Refrigerate at least 3 hours or over night. 

6) Preheat over to 350 F 

7) Roll out cookie dough on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes and place on cookie sheet. 

8) Bake for 10 - 12 minutes 

 Tips: Use a straw to cut out a small hole in the cookie shape before cooking. This will make it easier to thread the ribbon to hang the ornament.

Snickerdoodle

Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite cookies. Over the years I have attempted to make them, but have never been satisfied with the results. Finally I found a snickerdoodle recipe I like. This one is from the allrecipes.com website.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened and room temp
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar ( or 2 tsp lemon juice)
1 teaspoon baking soda - fresh
1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons white sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 teaspoons cinnamon. Set aside
3. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs, and the vanilla. Mix the flour, cream of tartar, soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Do not over mix.
4. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls. Roll balls of dough in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
5. Bake 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheets a few minutes.

Best Big, Fat, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't know if this is the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, but this is probably my favorite of all that I've tried. They are really easy to make, and taste great. Let me know what you think.



Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Yield: 24

Ingredients
4 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, melted
2 cups packed brown sugar ( CH Golden Brown)
1 cup white sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 cups chocolate chips ( 11.5 oz Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate)

Procedure
1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

2. Cream together melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. Beat in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until creamy. Mix in sifted dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand with a wooden spoon. Refrigerate dough at least one hour.

3. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease cookie sheets.

4. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, press cookie dough into measuring cup and then drop on cookie sheet. Cookes should be about 3 inches apart.

5. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets around 10 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe from AllRecipies.com. Doubled original recipe except for chocolate chips and added 1/2 cup extra flour