Tag Archives: Christmas cookies

Candy Cane Sugar Cookies

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Just in time for Christmas!  I bought a small bag of crushed candy canes at Bulk Barn, probably about $2.00 worth …. thinking it would be great for decorating the sugar cookies we make every year.  Well, Sloan had a different idea and decided they should go in the cookies, so that’s what we did.  What a hit!

Peppermint cookies 1

  • 3/4 cup soft butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup crushed candy canes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar.  When light and fluffy add in eggs and vanilla and beat until creamy and smooth.

Sift dry ingredients together and stir into butter mixture.  It will be a stiff mixture, so you may end up using your hands, we usually do.

Last, stir in the crushed candy cane.

Knead lightly until you have a workable dough, then cover tightly and put in the fridge for at least an hour.  (you can do this days ahead or even freeze it at this stage)

Roll out dough on lightly floured board and cut into desired shapes.

We always decorate our cookies before baking them, in place of the added sugar you get with decorating with icing.

I used to use raw egg, but find I get better results using evaporated milk and gel food colouring.  Just put a little milk in a cup and stir in enough food colouring to get the colour you want.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes, watching carefully – every oven is different.

 

peppermint cookies 4

Get your kids involved!  Sloan is 9 and has been rolling and cutting dough for years now.

peppermint cookies 2

So many fun sugars and sprinkles available now for decorating the tops.

Peppermint Cookies 3

We do a  cooking class on Fridays – these four work so well together, and we have a great time with Pearl and Leo joining Sloan and Stella.

peppermin cookies 3

Each of the kids made their own dough & we baked up two batches – each family got to take one batch home for baking another day.

Peppermint cookies 5

Pearl has this tray ready to go in the oven, love all the vibrant colors.

Peppermint cookies 7

The most important part is taste testing ….

 

Stay tuned – more cooking classes to come!

 

 

Gram’s Shortbread Cookies

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shortbread 4

Sprinkle with a little coloured sugar, or mini decorations, to fit the season, but don’t overload these delicate little gems.  They really don’t need much of anything.

This is an age old recipe, probably handed down for generations, and all from a box of cornstarch.  I started looking for this recipe as a way to honour Gram Shirley Goldie, and posting it today, on the first anniversary of her passing, seems fitting.  What I didn’t expect in my search through recipes to find her special recipe, is that it was also my mom’s recipe, another much loved and very much missed Gram.  Our very dear Auntie Elsie used the same recipe.  This year when I made the cookies, I felt the need to work the dough by hand, no mixer needed here.  As I watched my hands in the dough, I saw the hands of my mother.  I saw the hands of my mother in law Shirley, and I saw Auntie Elsie’s hands.  I’m posting the recipe to honour them all, and in the hopes that for generations to come, this will be the “go to” Christmas shortbread recipe.

  • 1 cup Canada corn starch (really, you can use any corn starch)
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 2 cups sifted all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups butter (softened)

Sift cornstarch, flour & icing sugar together.  Use your fingers and work in the butter until a soft dough is formed.

shortbread

Maybe it was the Christmas season, but I found myself lost in watching my hands and thinking of the hands that taught me so much in the kitchen.

shortbread 2

Once the dough is held together nicely it should be soft and supple.  Either put in the fridge to rest at this point, or carry on with simple dough balls.

Shape into 1 inch balls and place on an uncreased cookie sheet.  Flatten lightly with a fork in a crosshatch pattern.

shortbread 3

Bake the cookies at 325 for 10 min or so – watch them, every oven is different.  Remove them the minute they show any colour.  They are very soft when they come out, so I recommend allowing them to cool on the pan so they don’t break.

It is possible to allow the dough to set up in the fridge after forming it into a ball, and use it to roll out and cut shapes.  This is a pretty delicate dough though, so don’t expect it to be as easy as sugar cookie dough.

How easy is this?

Orange Gingerbread Cookies

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The first time I tasted these orange ginger cookies, I knew we needed the recipe!  Thanks Courtney for supplying that courtesy of Nana Patti Collins ….. just wait until you try these.

Orange Ginger 1

Preheat oven to 365 F.

  • 1 cup soft butter
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tsp orange peel
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cloves

Cream butter & sugar until light and fluffy, add egg, orange peel & corn syrup.

Sift dry ingredients together and add gradually to creamed mixture.

Orange Ginger 2

Wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Orange Ginger 3

Roll between sheets of parchment paper (to 1/4″ thickness”) and cut.  (or form into a log and chill to slice and bake) These cookies do spread out quite a bit so leave lots of room between each one.

Bake at 365 for 9 minutes.