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Post by brownrexx on Dec 11, 2019 9:55:43 GMT -5
Do you made Christmas cookies?
My mom always made dozens of cookies when we were kids but with just hubby and I here, we can't have lots of cookies around. We would be eating them non-stop since we have very little willpower for such things.
I do however always make Spritz cookies which are sugar cookies made with a cookie press. Mom always made them and they are still my favorite. It would not be Christmas to me without them. I did not make them yet but soon ......
Is there a special cookie that is traditional in your family that you will make?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Dec 11, 2019 10:03:45 GMT -5
I make a few now, but nothing like I used too. Not as many people to give them to anymore.
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Post by paulf on Dec 11, 2019 10:20:09 GMT -5
All the grandkids love to make Christmas cookies when they visit, mostly sugar cookies with lots of sprinkles on top. Grandma's cookies are the best they all say.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Dec 11, 2019 12:29:25 GMT -5
Too many diabetics in the family.
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Post by september on Dec 11, 2019 15:19:53 GMT -5
I used to make decorated cookies to use as tree ornaments when son was little, along with cranberry and popcorn strings to decorate the real Christmas tree. Enjoyed the old fashioned hand made traditions, but it was all too much work to keep up. When I was growing up, the traditional cookies at our house were spicy thin gingersnaps made with cookie cutters. I don't do any cookies for Christmas now, but I sure enjoy receiving a generous gift plate of 5 or 6 varieties from our neighbor lady who is a wonderful baker.
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Post by guruofgardens on Dec 11, 2019 16:18:25 GMT -5
I make 2 batches of gingerbread dough every Christmas - one for each of the kids to roll out whichever shapes they want. One year the son wanted hot peppers in his cookies. No comment!
Every year our Church group has a cookie exchange. Yesterday I came home with 5 dozen cookies for hubby! We'll soon bring many of them to a friend who doesn't get out much.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Dec 11, 2019 19:40:45 GMT -5
guruofgardens My most popular cookies every year, for many years, have been those habanero gingersnaps! Now I have those aji dulce peppers, with that intense habanero flavor, but almost no heat, so others can sample them, that can't take the heat. I make the hot ones square, and the mild ones round, to distinguish them.
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Post by spike on Dec 11, 2019 20:20:03 GMT -5
Not as many people to give them to anymore. If you need my address . . .
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Post by spike on Dec 11, 2019 20:21:40 GMT -5
You also got us addicted to those!!
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Post by pondgardener on Dec 11, 2019 20:26:45 GMT -5
I tried those last year and shared them with my son-in-law who loved them as well. Dehydrated a bunch of habaneros just for that use this year.
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tallpines
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Post by tallpines on Dec 11, 2019 20:37:44 GMT -5
. It’s not a Christmas Cookie, but, I’m going to make a comment here regarding another Christmas Kitchen Project .....
That would be the annual Ginger Bread House .....
With 5 children and 16 Grandkids, I have been the primary gatherer and supervisor for this project for close to 50 years! The past few years we have gone with a store-bought Kit.
Just about every year, I have struggled with keeping the “walls” “glued” together well enough to support the roof, to survive the decorating process.
The process was made even more difficult when today’s “assistant” in the project is THREE! Although, I did chuckle at one point when he was instructing me with some important advice ........ “Gramma! You gotta GRUNT a little bit!”
Towards the end of our project, after several total structure collapses ....... I had a “light-bulb moment”!
Now ... I just need to remember it until next year!
I don’t know how you use your gingerbread house ....... but ...... we never, ever eat ours. We once talked about saving it until the Fourth of July ..... and then ...... blowing it up with a big fire cracker. But, the very thought of that was much too traumatic for the grandchildren who had helped built it.
So ........ As long as no one ever actually “eats” that house ..... Rather than the annual struggle of trying to GLUE that house together with “frosting” ......
Next year ....... I will be going with the Light Bulb Moment!
I WILL BE USING THE GLUE GUN!
(I hope I remember.)
.
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Post by guruofgardens on Dec 12, 2019 10:27:06 GMT -5
Oh - such good ideas! I used the Superhots in my sons' s dough, but may just use habaneros since they are in the stores quite frequently right now. In fact, I’m making strawberry habanero jam today for daughter's co-workers, just one of many different jams she is gifting to them.
Jam - I think I’m making 2 more batches, but not sure just yet. Momma's gettin' tired!!
Daughter DID make one batch of jam with momma's help, but unfortunately I’m more efficient! This too will pass.
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Post by bestofour on Dec 12, 2019 11:27:32 GMT -5
The 3 grans who live closest and I make gingerbread houses. We don’t eat ours either so this year we’re going to try kits so we’ll have better luck with the wall. My youngest grand daughter and I will make sugar cookies then I want to try my hand at making what I think are called wedding cookies. They’re white and sort of melt in your mouth.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2019 13:07:00 GMT -5
Since you don't eat it, not only a glue gun, but a small cardboard box inside of the house ( and you can glue to it as well) makes the structure stable.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Dec 14, 2019 9:44:57 GMT -5
I just want to know folks keep your kids and grandkids from eating the gingerbread house! My boys never finished eating the gingerbread houses we made, but they always ate at least some. Surely they at least pick off the candy decorations?
But yeah, if no one is eating it, hot glue and a cardboard structure inside are the way to go.
________________
I am planning a family bake day close to Christmas to make the Christmas cookies and desserts for Christmas dinner. Probably we will do it on Monday the 23rd since the kids will be out of school. We are looking around for recipes we want to make. Fudge (I found a promising keto fudge recipe so I can eat it) and snickerdoodles seem like likely candidates so far. Also, I saw a recipe for a white chocolate cranberry cookie that I want to run by the 15 year old - that sounds right up his alley, I think.
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Post by september on Dec 14, 2019 11:08:07 GMT -5
I get new cookie recipes emailed to me through my StarTribune online newspaper subscription. They always have some new and interesting ones. I don't bake much so have not tried any of them. Here's one of the latest: Cranberry Pecan SwirlsFrom Annette Poole of Prior Lake Makes about 3 dozen cookies Note: This dough must be prepared in advance. Ingredients: 1-1/2 cup flour, plus extra for rolling dough 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature 3/4 cup sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cranberries 1/2 cup ground pecans 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest Directions In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, and reserve. In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla extract, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour. In a small bowl, combine cranberries, pecans and orange zest. On a lightly floured work surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to a 10-inch square. Sprinkle cranberry mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border on two opposite sides. Roll dough, jelly-roll fashion, beginning at one of the borders and rolling toward the other border. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze at least 8 hours. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap dough and trim off uneven ends. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 1/4-inch thick slices and place cookies (flat side down) 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 14 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cool 2 minutes and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2019 17:29:19 GMT -5
Those cranberry cookies look very pretty.
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Post by bestofour on Dec 16, 2019 1:02:16 GMT -5
september, those are beautiful cookies. Can't imagine mine would be as lovely. Laura_in_FL, one of my grand children will eat some of the icing and candy but the other two like making the stuff but they don't eat it. They haven't tasted it but say they don't like it.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2019 8:07:21 GMT -5
The problem with me and cookies is that I make them, then I eat them, then I make some more, and then eat more...and so it goes! There is something just so good about a freshly made cookie.
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