Christmas Cookies

Yesterday was a day spent making four different kinds of Christmas cookies.  The Roo was so excited that I didn't have to sew because that meant we could play all day together coloring pictures of Herbert (her elf on the shelf) and baking.  I only kept a few cookies from two batches and gave the rest to my mom and husband to take to work for their friends.  I have already gotten several compliments, two people said that they were the best cookies they ever had.  WOW!!  Compliments like that make the late night and achy feet well worth it. 

We made Mini-Chip Snowballs, Peppermint Pinwheels, Snickerdoodles and "Peanut Butter Big Chocolate Chip", which is what Remy calls Peanut Butter Blossoms.  The Peppermint Pinwheels I discovered on Pinterest (of course, I LOVE that site!!)  Here is the original link and here is how Roo and I did it:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

What To Do:

*Sift all the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add milk, vanilla, peppermint extract and egg and mix thoroughly.  You'll probably have to stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl, then finish mixing.  Add dry ingredients slowly and mix well. 

Scoop out half the dough and place in separate bowl.  Add red or green food coloring to the dough in the mixer bowl and beat well.

On a powder sugar covered/wax papered surface, roll out the colored dough.  (I learned after doing this recipe that you should shape your dough halves into rectangular logs and then roll them out to make sure they are as similar as possible.)  Carefully set this aside and repeat with white dough.  Gently slide the white dough on top of the green dough and press together.

Starting at the narrow end, carefully and tightly roll up the cookie dough.  Seal the end by pressing the dough together firmly.  Grab the dough in the middle and gently stretch slightly, continuing down the length of the dough.  It should double in length.

Now, keeping your dough log on the wax paper, dump a line of sprinkles along the edge of both sides and roll the log into it.  Press gently into the dough surface, making sure the whole thing is covered.  Wrap tightly in the paper, twist the ends closed and place in the freezer for an hour or so. (Oh!   Also, I didn't have a long enough piece of wax paper so make sure yours is extra long or you will be discovering sprinkles in your freezer, drawers and floor for days!),

Once the dough has set, cut it in 1/2" slices.

Bake at 375* for 10-15 minutes (depending on how thick you cut them).

(Don't worry, it does wash off!)

Let cool on a rack and enjoy! 

We had a lot of fun making cookies together.  I remember the day that we found out she was a girl, the first thing I said was "I'm going to teach her how to bake!  We're going to make cookies all the time!"  I love the time I get to spend with my little girl.

Merry Christmas!
-Kristi

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