I don’t remember where I spotted the BHG Christmas cookie magazine, but I’m pretty sure it was standing in line at Ingles or Wal-Mart. On a whim I purchased the magazine and decided that I could make those pretty cookies. How difficult could it be? I was a chemistry whiz until politely asked to not return to class. In my defense, I did warn my lab partners to stand back... this might cause a flame. Since baking is essentially a chemical reaction of ingredients to heat, I figured I could do it.
I bought some buddah, and shuggar and eggs…that was in
2001 and I am still baking. There have been years when I didn’t bake at
all. The years when I baked just enough
for a few friends and families. And, years
when I baked up enough for my family, your family and a few electrical co-ops.
Accounting can make the holidays really suck. If you are an accountant with a December year
end and audit then you get my drift.
And, you might should have started baking a few weeks ago. FYI:
If you are an accountant and your holidays aren’t awful then I want some
of what you are taking. Or you are
either the boss or the underling.
Somewhere in the middle is the poor accountant who hasn’t done their
Christmas shopping and might remind you of Scrooge. She might also say things like, we aren't having Christmas this year and I am NOT putting up a tree.
I digress; lets get back to the baking. This is the first Christmas in 8 years that I haven’t been full time employed. And maybe that is why I haven’t felt the urgency to bake until now. Suddenly, the cold weather is up here and I need to smell some vanilla and cinnamon. And I’m sure the girls would love to start their sampling.
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| First Batch of Christmas Cookies: Snickerdoodles |
While the oven warms, I thought I would share this simple
snickerdoodle recipe. It is the first
that I tried way back in the day. It is simple, very quick and
would make a great cookie to bake with children.
Ingredients:
½ cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup of sugar¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
Slight pinch of nutmeg or pumpkin spice
1 ½ cups of All Purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Step one: Beat butter with an electric mixer on medium for
30 seconds. ( I use my pampered chef mixing bowl with lid.) Add 1 cup of sugar, baking soda and cream of
tartar. Beat until combined while
scraping down the side of the bowl. Beat
in egg and vanilla.
Add slight pinch of nutmeg or pumpkin spice. (This is Less
than a ¼ of a ¼ of teaspoon…you won’t be able to see it in the mixed
dough. It adds a hint of flavor!) Mix well then add flour ½ cup at a time. Keep the sides of the bowl scraped down in
between adding flour. Mix only until
combined well. Do not over mix…it will
make your cookies tough. Refrigerate
dough for one hour.
While my dough is chilling, I like to wash up all of my
measuring cups and spoons. Then I plan
whatever dough to mix up next!
Step two: Once chilled, add two tablespoons of sugar and the
teaspoon of cinnamon in a small flat bowl. Or, use a paper plate! Shape dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the
sugar cinnamon mixture. Place on an Ungreased
cookie sheet. (NOTE: I use parchment paper…it is the secret to
great cookies and less mess!)
Step three: Bake at
375 degrees oven for 10 to 11 minutes or
until edges are golden brown. Transfer
to a wire rack to cool. Will yield about
36 cookies. Once cooled, pack in a sealed
container and freeze. Separate layers of
cookies with wax paper. The
snickerdoodle freezes very well for up to 8-10 weeks which makes it the perfect
first cookie of Christmas baking.
Baking hint: How well
do you know your oven? If it bakes “hot”
reduce baking time. Also use a
timer. For Every batch! I use the timer built into the stove. Most microwaves have a timer also…so you don’t
have to go out and buy one.
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