Melt in Your Mouth Christmas Cookies

From the kitchen of Sarah Smith

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
food coloring
butter flavoring

Directions

1. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the first 7 ingredients in order given and mix well.

3. Chill dough 2-3 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

4. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 in. thickness.

5. Cut with various cookie cutters. (Cookie cutters may need to be floured).

6. Place on a greased cookie sheets.

7. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until lightly brown.

8. Cool on wire racks.

For Frosting:

1. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in small bowl.

2. Transfer equal amounts of frosting into separate bowls.

3. Add desired amount of flavoring. Mix in food coloring.

4. Frost cookies and refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy!

Fudge Squares

4 eggs
2 c. brown sugar
2 c. flour
1/2 c. melted chocolate
1 c. nuts
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix eggs, sugar, and melted chocolate together, then add flour and baking powder sifted together, and then the vanilla and, lastly, nuts. Bake in one sheet on a buttered pan, and cut in squares when almost cold.

Submitted by: CM/Cooks.com

First prize Sugar Cookie

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
pinch salt

Cream together butter and sugar, then add in eggs and milk. Stir the remaining ingredients into a cupful of flour and mix in well. Add to creamed butter mixture. Add in sufficient additional flour to make a dough that can be rolled out. Do not add too much flour - just add enough to prevent the dough from being sticky. Do not over-mix.Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 10-12 minutes.... from Cooks.com

Santa Whiskers Cookies

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. red candied chopped cherries
1/2 c. chopped pecans
3/4 c. shredded coconut
Fruit and nuts can be increased, if desired

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in milk and vanilla. Stir in flour and baking powder, cherries and nuts. Form in rolls and roll in coconut, wrap in wax paper and chill.Slice 1/4 inch thick and bake on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Press extra coconut on top before baking, makes whiskers. Rolls may be frozen and baked later. Wrap in foil for freezing.

The choices are endless. I have made a few batches of each cookie so far and will continue baking more this week.

Amish Sugar Cookies

From the kitchen of Joseph & Michelle Salerno

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup cooking oil
2 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Combine sugars, butter and oil, beat well. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight. Make into small balls and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Do not over cook.

C.O.P. Cookies

Makes 1 batch • From the kitchen of Me and my Brother

Ingredients

1 cup Crisco (softened)
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package chocolate chips
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla

Directions

In large bowl, add all ingredients alternately and mix well. Using a teaspoon, drop dough on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 345 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies sit for 5-10 minutes - then, ENJOY :)!!

Chewy Noels

From the kitchen of Ellen Moore

Ingredients

2 teaspoons butter or margarine
2 eggs or egg substitute equivalent
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
5 Tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
confectioners sugar

Directions

Melt butter in small baking pan over low heat. Beat eggs slightly. Combine sugar, flour, soda and nuts. Stir into beaten eggs and vanilla. Pour mixture over butter. Do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until center is set. Turn out of pan onto rack. Cut into squares and dust bottom with confectioners sugar.

Grandma Olson's Parkay Cookies

From the kitchen of Grandma Tobe

Ingredients

1 pound Parkay (softened)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
green sugar
red sugar

Directions

Beat Parkay and sugar very hard. Add vanilla and flour. Divide dough into two parts. Roll each part into 10 or 12 inch long ropes. On two large sheets of waxed paper, place red colored sugar on one and green colored sugar on the other. Roll one cookie dough rope in red sugar and one cookie dough rope in green sugar. Refrigerate until ready to bake. When ready to bake, slice dough with very sharp knife into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees until cookies are lightly brown and set.

N.M. Cookies

Makes 112 • From the kitchen of Kinsey

Ingredients

2 c. butter
4 c. flour
2 tsp. soda
2 c. sugar
5 c. blended oatmeal
24 oz. chocolate chips
2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1{8oz.} Hershey bar, grated
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
3 c. chopped nuts {your choice}
2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add egg and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375.

Parking Lot Cookies

From the kitchen of Melody Lawson

Ingredients

1 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla (it's okay to spill a little bit)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups rice crispies
1 cup pecans
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix both sugars well, removing all lumps. Add shortening, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and beaten eggs. Mix well. Mix in flour (it�s starting to get thick). Mix in pecans and chocolate chips (getting thicker). Mix in oatmeal (very thick). Mix in rice crispies (use your hands, it's too thick for a spoon). Roll up into teaspoon sized balls and smash with fork. Place on bottom rack in oven. Move to top rack when bottoms of cookies start to brown. Remove before burning.

Seven Layer Cookies

From the kitchen of The Orndorffs

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
6 ounces butterscotch bits
6 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

Melt margarine and put in 13x9 pan. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over margarine. Spread flaked coconut over crumbs. Pour butterscotch bits over coconut. Pour chocolate chips over butterscotch bits. Sprinkle chopped nuts over all. Slowly pour sweetened condensed milk over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

"Santa's Whisker's" cookies

Makes 60 • From the kitchen of Meagan

Ingredients

3/4 cup Margarine
2 cups Flour
3/4 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 cup finely chopped candied red or green cherries
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup coconut

Directions

Beat margirine with an elictric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add about half the flour, the sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat till thourouly combined. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in cherries and pecans. Shape into 8-inch rolls. Roll in cocunut. Wrap in wax paper; chill 2- 24 hours. Cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place on an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden. Cool cookieson a wire rack. Makes about 60.

I have fallen short again...I'm sorry

I have been busy the past few weeks gathering the Christmas decorations and stringing the lights for the holiday season. I have also been searching for new recipes to try. Well, I found a site that I have fallen in love with and it is perfect for this time of year. It is www.northpole.com . I have selected a few recipes to share with you that I have been preparing this past week. They have all been hits.

I'm still up...

making the second layers for my sister's surprise cake for Saturday. I have helped decorate the building today and been scanning pictures for the family reunion. I have the layers in the oven and was about to make the buttercream icing for the base coat and then start rolling out my fondant . I made the fondant hearts for the cake last night. I have some in white and black. The black ones almost look like marble. I think they are cute. I just hope I can get the top layer fondant black enough and smooth enough...i'm tired..lol.

Chocolate Ganache

This is a recipe I ran across while looking for wedding/anniversary cake ideas. It looks and sounds good.

To make ganache, hot cream is poured over chopped chocolate (semi sweet or bittersweet) and the mixture is stirred until velvety smooth. The proportions of chocolate to cream can vary depending on its use, but the basic form is equal weights of chocolate and cream. Dark, milk, or white chocolate can be used to make ganache and different flavorings can be added such as liqueurs and extracts. Butter, oil, or corn syrup can also be added when a dark shiny glaze is desired.



Ganache Recipe:
8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
1 tablespoons cognac or brandy (optional)

Note: Truffles can also be made with Ganache. Truffles are just small balls of chocolate that can be rolled into cocoa powder, powdered sugar or toasted chopped nuts. You can use your hands to form the truffles, or else a melon baller or small spoon. Make sure the chocolate ganache is well chilled before forming into balls. Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. They are delicious and a great way to use "leftovers".



Ganache:

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth. If desired, add the liqueur.
Makes enough ganache to cover a 9 inch (23 cm) cake or torte.
To Cover a Torte or Cake:
Note: If covering a cake with ganache that is to be refrigerated, make sure the cake is cold before covering with the ganache. This will ensure that the ganache does not dull when stored in the refrigerator.
Brush any loose crumbs from the cake and place cake on a wire rack. Put the wire rack on a baking sheet. In this way if the ganache drips it will end up on the baking sheet, which makes clean up easier. Using a cake spatula, cover the sides and top of the cake with about 2 tablespoons ganache. This is called a crumb coat and seals in any cake crumbs so that your cake will have a smooth finish. Refrigerate cake for 5 minutes to set the crumb coat. If you have any air bubbles or crumbs in your ganache, pour through a strainer. To cover cake, pour the remaining ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula, using big strokes to push the ganache over the sides of the cake, to create an even coating of ganache. If there are any bare spots on sides of cake, cover with leftover ganache. Strain leftover ganache to remove any crumbs. At this point the leftover ganache can be refrigerated until cold so you can make truffles. Or it can be whipped with an electric hand mixer or whisk and then piped.

Sorry...

I am so sorry I have gotten behind in my posts. Just so much going on around here with school being out that I have just lost interest in posting new recipes. Plus, I am now hooked to Facebook and its many games,especially Farmtown. If it was only that easy on the real farm..LOL.

I have a family reunion coming up on September 5 and my mom and dad's 40th anniversary is September 7. Then John has a birthday on September 6...man am I gonna be busy baking then. I am making my sister a birthday cake this weekend. I will have to take pictures and post them before six months passes again. Oh course, all these are surprise cakes.

For the family reunion, I am planning on making a family tree cake. I have bought the fondant and all ingredients I am gonna need. I think I am making it as a sheet cake and then making the actual tree of fondant. I will post more on that idea when I take the pics of the finished product. I am looking forward to this challenge as I have never made anything out of fondant except the one wedding cake.

Birthday cakes

I had to make 3 birthday cakes back in May and they were all for the same day.Daniel wanted a skateboard, Steven a race car, and Taylor wanted the flip flops again. Well, you can see for yourself how they all turned out.

Rainy Days are here again...

Today, my eight year old was plundering thru the pantry for snacks and decided he wanted to make cookies. He started piling pans and bowls and ingredients on the counter for us to make his favorite...M and M cookies. Instead of the M and Ms we used white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts....YUMMY !!! He put spring colored sprinkles on one pan and left the other a they were.

TOILET CAKE

This was so fun to do!! A neighbor just turned 44 yesterday and his wife wanted to surprise him with a special cake....well this is it..