X

We detected that you're visiting our site from the UK. Would you like to visit the ChaCha UK website?

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies have become a favorite part of the holiday. Many groups organize 'Cookie Walks' -- fund-raising events for which the community's best bakers prepare their finest cookies, for those too busy to bake buy up a supply for the holidays. However, D.I.Y. cookies at Christmas time will always be a favorite -- store-bought cookies just can't compare to homemade!

About Christmas Cookies

Christmas would not be complete without a plethora of yummy cookies gracing the kitchen table. Don’t forget, they also make great gifts for teachers, friends and neighbors! Just place them into a Christmas tin, add a bow and you have a Christmas gift from the heart that all are sure to enjoy.

Cookie Baking Tips
*Spend a little extra and buy good quality nuts and chocolate, save money by buying cheaper flour and sugar
*Use your regular cookie recipes but add a festive touch of colored sugar sprinkles or food coloring in the dough
*Check expiration date on baking soda and powder – it may make all the difference!
*Use ingredients at room temperature
*Use a cool cookie sheet, hot sheets melt the dough and will change the shape
*Remove cookies from the oven while they are still soft in the center. Cookies will continue cooking on the hot pan while it cools off
*Bake ahead so you aren’t stuck in the kitchen for hours and hours. Cookies can be frozen up to 12 months!

**Sugar Cookies**
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

**Peanut Butter Cup Cookies**
Ingredients
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
4. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

**Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies**
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon milk

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with raspberry jam.
3. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies.

**Gingerbread Men**
Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1. Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Decorate cooled cookies as desired.

**Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies**
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in nuts and raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.
3. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

**Chocolate Mint Cookies**
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 (4.5 ounce) packages chocolate covered thin mints

Directions
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, be careful not to over bake. When cookies come out of the oven, Press one mint wafer into the top of each cookie and let sit for 1 minute. When the mint is softened, swirl with the back of a spoon or toothpick to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint wafer. For smaller cookies, break mints in half.

**Snowballs**
Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration
1/4 cup finely crushed peppermint candy canes

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream the butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar and the vanilla. Mix in the flour, nuts and salt. Roll about 1 tablespoon or so of dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Do not allow these cookies to get too brown. It's better to undercook them than to overcook them. While cookies are still hot roll them in confectioners' sugar. Once they have cooled roll them in confectioners' sugar once more. Variation: add some finely crushed candy canes to the confectioners' sugar used for the final dusting.

Related Images

See all images »

Palestinian Greek Orthodox Christians attend Christmas mass at the Orthodox Saint Porfirios church in Gaza City on January 7, 2012. The Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas and other religious holidays according to the Julian calendar, while other Christian churches have adopted the later Gregorian calendar.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 06: Egyptian Coptic Christian men and boys put on their robes as they celebrate Christmas Nativity Liturgy, the start of Christmas, at the Coptic Orthodox Church of St. George on January 6, 2012 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Like the Eastern Orthodox Church in Russia, Copts still use the Julian calendar and thus celebrate Christmas on January 7. St. George Church, like other Coptic churches around the country, has witnessed a surge of Christians fleeing Egypt since the start of the Arab Spring. In Egypt human rights groups estimate that as many as 100,000 Copts have left Egypt since the revolution as churches have been burned and Christians increasingly persecuted by the Muslim majority.

Christian Orthodox monks tour the Church of the Nativity in the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem on January 6, 2012, as Orthodox Christmas celebrations kicked off in the traditional birthplace of Jesus to the sound of bagpipes and protests by Palestinians accusing church leaders of selling land to Israelis.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 05: Michael Borcina embraces a priest outside of St. Thomas Episcopal Church following a funeral for three girls killed in a Christmas Day fire on January 5, 2012 in New York City. Hundreds of people attended the service to remember Lilian Badger, 9, and her twin sisters Sarah and Grace, 7, who died in a fire in Stamford, CT on Christmas morning. The girls' mother, Madonna Badger, and her friend Michael Borcina were the only survivors of the fire, attributed to a bag of smoldering ash and embers left in a first-floor mudroom. Officials reported the girls had wanted the ash out of the fireplace so that Santa Claus could come through the chimney.

Recent Christmas Cookies Questions

PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NEXT
198 Answers
Advertisement
›
›
›
›
Christmas Cookies