Christmas Cookie Success!

Aren't these just the most beautiful Christmas cookies you've ever seen?

O.K.  So they're not perfect - maybe they're  a little messy, the edges aren't crisp and clear, but we love them.  Hey! They're kind of like me!

I have struggled with finding a good Christmas cookie recipe and when I wrote about it in a previous post, my friends, the Fords, whom I met through this blog because they live close, and they're retired military (like us) and they're working towards living sustainably, sent me their Christmas cookie recipe. 

It was perfect!  It tasted good, rolled out nicely, and has a simple ingredient list. 

Ford Family Christmas Cookies

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg 

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Beat together butter/sugar on low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in flavorings and egg, mix. Stir in flour/baking soda. Cover & refrigerate 2 hrs (or overnight). Roll dough 1/4" thick on lightly floured surface and cut out shapes, sprinkle as desired. Bake at 375 F for 7-8 minutes or when edges are golden brown. (Dough is best if warmed slightly before rolling.)

I took the recipe for the cookie icing from the McCormick website: 

Colorful Cookie Icing

1 cup confectioners' sugar

3 to 4 teaspoons milk (this wasn't quite enough)

1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract 

3 to 4 drops McCormick® Assorted Food Colors and Egg Dye

We had so much fun baking and decorating them.  Thank you, Fords, for giving us a new family tradition!  

My next baking project is peppar kakor cookies.  These are the real deal.  My Swedish friend even sent me a bottle of Swedish light baking syrup and a package of bikarbonate so that I can make them properly!  

Happy Baking!   

Don't forget to hop over to the Homestead Revival Barn Hop! 

Russian Teacake Cookies

There are a lot of names for this cookie, but we've always called them Russian Teacakes.  My family has made these cookies at Christmas time for as long as I can remember.  I didn't think my children would be crazy about them because it's not the usual overload of cloying sweetness, but this is one of their favorite cookies!  

It's traditional that we have to chop the nuts with this antique nut chopper that was given to my mother by my great grandfather.  I wrote a blog about this neat little machine a little over a year ago - here.  The kids sometimes argue over who gets to do the chopping!

The batter is quite stiff.  The mixer really groans while I'm mixing it. 

Then we roll them into 1-inch balls.  You can place them closely together because they don't really swell or spread.

The finished product is buttery, nutty, slightly sweet, and oh, so tasty!  

Russian Teacakes

1 cup soft butter

1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2-1/4 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla.  Blend flour and salt and stir into butter mixture.  Mix in chopped nuts.  

Chill for at least one hour. 

Preheat oven to 400-degrees.  Roll into 1-inch balls and bake for 10 -12 minutes until just slightly browned.  

While still warm, roll in sifted confectioners sugar.  Cool.  Roll in confectioners sugar again.   

Makes between 2-4 dozen depending on how large you make the balls and how much batter the kids eat while you're rolling them!

The Search For the Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe Continues...

All I want is a sugar cookie that looks good, tastes good, rolls out and cuts easily, and doesn't have a ton of crazy ingredients.  No luck so far!

I tried making the Sugar Cookie Cutouts from the Kraft foods website yesterday.  They tasted fantastic because they had cream cheese in them.  But even after chilling for an hour the dough was still very sticky and impossible to to lift after we rolled out and cut it.  

We ended up just rolling the dough into balls and flattening them to bake.  The kids didn't care - they still loved decorating them!

Cookies are made of butter and love.  

~Norwegian Proverb

Don't forget to go over to the Great Holiday Barn Hop!