It’s Time For Holiday Cookies

Mom’s it’s that time of year again. The holiday are fast approaching and you know what that means! Holiday Cookies. I wanted to kick off the season with some great Halloween Cookie ideas and recipes that are easy to make and oh so yummy to eat.

I love preparing cookies for the neighbors, school functions and best of all the kids. My oldest daughter has recently taking on the baking roll so I found an easy Holiday Cookies For All web-site that she can access and bake to her little hearts content.

This first recipe is from Betty Crocker and I wish I would have found it years ago. This will be the easiest recipe for cookies you will ever find. And the best part, they will turn out every time. It calls for the sugar cookie mix you find in the baking aisle, you know the one we have been buying for years. To that you add some food coloring, I’m using Halloween colors right now and of course as the recipe includes the red and green for Christmas cookies. Get some cookie cutters out and bake, it is so easy mom’s and if you have even bought these you already know how good they taste. This is truly the perfect Cooking For Kids Recipe:

Recipe Credits – Betty Crocker :

Holiday Surprise Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
Red and green food colors
16 thin rectangular crème de menthe candies, cut into thirds
Assorted Betty Crocker® colored sprinkles, sugars, decors and decorating gels

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, egg and flour until dough forms. Divide dough into thirds. Tint one-third red and one-third green with food colors; leave one-third plain. Keep dough covered tightly until ready to use.
On floured surface, roll each third of dough until 1/8 inch thick. For round cookies, cut with 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter; for square cookies, cut into 1 1/2-inch squares using sharp knife. (Dip cutter or knife in flour for easier cutting.)
On ungreased cookie sheet, place half the cookies 1 inch apart. Place 1 candy piece on center of each cookie; top with another cookie. Gently press edges together to seal, using tines of fork. To decorate before baking, sprinkle cookies with colored sprinkles, sugars or decors as desired.
Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Decorate with gels as desired.

Suggested Variations:

Instead of the crème de menthe candies, use one of the following in each cookie:
Piece of a milk chocolate candy bar (1.55 ounces), separated into small rectangles, each cut into thirds (larger baking or candy bars will be too thick)
Small round chocolate-covered creamy mint
1/4 teaspoon toffee bits.

And For Halloween Holiday Cookies try this fun cookie recipe:

Jack-O-Lantern Cookies

Ingredients: Jack O Lantern Holiday Cookies

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

1 Tbs. Milk

orange and green food coloring

hard candies (lemon drops), crushed fine

Directions:

Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Beat in baking powder, salt, and flour. Add milk if dough is too stiff.
Color 1/8 of the dough green and the remaining dough orange.
Roll out the orange dough on a lightly floured surface (between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick) and cut with a round cookie cutter to make a pumpkin shape.
Place each cookie onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Roll and shape stems out of the green dough and attack to the top of each pumpkin shape by gently pressing together.
Carefully cut out large spaces for the eyes, nose, and mouth with a knife. Fill the cut out holes with a small amount of crushed lemon drops. Do not over fill.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 min. Do not allow to brown. Cool for about 10 min. then remove from the baking sheet. Store away from humidity.

Thanks to Holiday Cookies For All for some great cookie recipes just in time for the hol,iday season. Go check out the site for more great cookie recipes like the ones above.