Christmas Cookies – Cinnamon Lemon Spiral Cookies

Almost like a cinnamon roll! Perfect for a holiday breakfast addition or just to have around for snacking during the holidays. Would also make a nice statement on a Christmas cookie plate.

Cinnamon Lemon Spiral Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cups granulated sugar
2 cups butter
1 tablespoon (packet) yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup scalded milk, cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

I cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Dash of cloves
Zest of one lemon, finely grated

In a large mixing box, combine Flour ½ cup sugar and cut in the butter until it resembles peas in size. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm 1/4 cup of water and all it to the milk, vanilla, and eggs, mixing together well. Add to the flour mixture and mix into a ball of dough. Cover with greased/vegetable oil sprayed plastic wrap and refrigerate eight hours to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper or use light coating of vegetable oil spray.

On a well-floured board, roll out the dough into a rectangle about one-quarter thick. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and lemon zest and sprinkle liberally over the rolled out dough. Roll the dough up along the long size, pinch the edges closed and roll onto the seamed side. Cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch slices (thinner is crisper/thicker is more cake-like) Place cut slices on parchment covered baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes depending on your oven and the thickness of your cookies. Cool a few minutes before removing from the baking sheet. Glaze cookies while still a bit warm.

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon or so of finely grated lemon zest
Enough fresh lemon juice to form a glaze.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Cookies

Ginger, pumpkin, and spice! Now that is the scent of coming holidays! This recipe has a long list of ingredients but a close look will show they are all common items, nothing exotic . . . until the scent of them permeates your home. When I make these cookies gluten-free, I use Better Batter Gluten-Free blend with good results. It’s all in the weighing that is the key to success when substituting gluten-free blends for wheat flour.

Spicy Pumpkin Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Zest of one fresh orange
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the shortening and brown sugar and beat together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and mix thoroughly. Add the extracts, zest, and pumpkin.

Combine the dry ingredients and add to the shortening/sugar mixture. Stir in the cranberries or raisin and nuts.

Scoop out teaspoons of dough and place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown and set. Remove to cool on a rack.

A nice touch for the holidays would be an orange glaze. Just drizzle it over the cookies when they are still a bit warm and let dry. Some colorful sprinkles in keeping with the season wouldn’t go amiss, either!

Pumpkin Drop Cookies

Always nice to have a last-minute, go-to recipe at hand in case you have to stretch the dessert offering for unexpected guests or need a little something to tide people over as the turkey finishes roasting to perfection. Given the season, one is most likely to have an extra can of pumpkin on hand and could put this cookie recipe together in quick time. Nothing like coming into the house to the scent of fresh cookies exiting the oven.

Pumpkin Drop Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Either line baking sheets with parchment or use vegetable oil spray to grease them.

1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening (plain will work, too!)
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Freshly-grated zest of one orange
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup dried cranberries (plump them in warm water and drain before adding.)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream together the shortening and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs thoroughly. Add in the vanilla, orange zest, and pumpkin. Stir together the dry ingredients and blend into the creamed pumpkin mixture. Stir in the cranberries and nuts.

Drop dough in heaping spoonfuls (teaspoon or tablespoon size, you decide!) onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for approximate 10-15 minutes depending on size. When light brown and slightly firm to the touch, remove to a cooling rack. Glaze with orange icing. If you have some holiday sprinkles on hand, go for it! 🙂

Orange Icing
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Enough fresh orange juice to form a glaze.

Butterscotch Apple Cookies – Simple and Good!

This is a relatively quick cookie to get into the oven. A nice afternoon surprise with a cold glass of milk. They could even be considered a breakfast snack when you are in a hurry with a cup of coffee. Simple enough for random munching but elegant enough for the holiday cookie place, too.

Butterscotch Apple Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup or honey
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup toasted and chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup grated apples (be sure to peel them before grating)
1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment or use vegetable oil spray.

Cream shortening, brown sugar, corn syrup (or honey) and eggs in a bowl and beat thoroughly. Mix in the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Mix well. Stir in the vanilla and the rest of the ingredients.

Drop by small spoonful or use cookie scoop of your size choice onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden around the edges and set in the middle. Remove to cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Oatmeal Apple Bars – Serve them Warm!

Fall is approaching more quickly now and apples are in abundance already. Nothing like a spicy apple and cinnamon concoction to put the sent of holidays into the air just a bit! This is a cookie-type bar cookie with a lot of taste and goes well as a snack or dressed up for dessert.

Apple Oatmeal Bars

½ cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup rolled oats
2-3 green or tart apples, peeled and diced (about 2 cups total)
Juice and zest of one, small lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking pan (approximately 12x9x2-inches) with parchment paper or use vegetable oil spray.

Cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, zest, vanilla extract, and the apples. Now stir in the rolled oats, apple mixture and nuts into the flour/butter mixture. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan.

Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack. Cut into desired-sized bars and either sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with a lemon glaze. Goes well with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a generous portion of freshly-whipped cream.

Getting Ready for the Fall Holidays – Spicy Cut-Out Cookies!

Spicy Cut Out Cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon ground anise seed
3/4 cups softened butter
1 1/4 cups packed, brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Combine the dry ingredients and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg, milk, extracts, and zest and mix well. Mix in dry ingredients to form dough. Wrap dough and refrigerate over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets.

On lightly-floured board, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut out with desired cookie cutters. Place on prepared baking sheets and bake until cookies are golden around the edges, approximately six to eight minutes. These cookies tend to burn easily! Cool on wire rack. Makes about 6 dozen cookies, depending on size of cookie cutters.

Frosted Sugar Cookies

Go with a basic recipe and dress them up with butter cream icing and a few holiday sprinkles. In the picture, I used Christmas colors but going with red, white, and blue would be great for patriotic holidays. In a hurry? You can just dust them, warm from the oven, in either cinnamon & sugar or powdered sugar. Found the recipe on the back of C&H Sugar box and I think it is going to be a keeper. It pays to read both sides of any box before you toss it out.

Frosted Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/3 cups butter, softened

2 large eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together the sugar and butter until creamy. Add eggs, blending well. Add vanilla and beat in thoroughly. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the butter mixture and blend until well incorporated. Form dough into approximately one-inch balls and place on either an ungreased baking sheet or one that is lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Let stand on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Buttercream Frosting for the Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1-3 teaspoon water or milk

Food coloring as needed or desired

Colorful sugar or sprinkles

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add cream of tartar and powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Add water or milk and continue beating until you have a spreadable frosting. Whip an additional five minutes to make it light and fluffy. Spread on cooled cookies and immediately add sprinkles before the frosting sets. You can divide the frosting into two bowl and have two different colors. In honor of any holiday! 

*This would be a good one for gluten-free, too. I can recommend BetterBatter for a good outcome.