Cookies for Santa

My kid and I made some cookies for Santa last night. They turned out pretty good--nice and soft, not too sweet, fairly spicy. I can't wait to eat them after he goes to bed tonight. Who am I kidding--I can't wait to eat the rest of these after he goes to bed tonight.

Big and Soft Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons white sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. 

Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. 

This is from allrecipes.com (actually, it's from their iPad app which is pretty nice, especially for the cool price of free).

Pizzelle (Christmas Cookies!)

We are headed to a cookie party tomorrow; we were instructed to bring sugar cookies to decorate and other cookies to exchange (this is a family-friendly party if you noticed the lack of dancing ladies). PANIC! My patience level is less-than-optimal when it comes to making Christmas cookies. My talent level is even more pathetic. My husband, baffled by my sweaty palms and pacing, suggested we bring chocolate chip cookies. What?! You can't bring something so plain, so common, to a Christmas Cookie Party! My husband, nonplussed, responded that I need not worry: we had white chocolate chips in the pantry. Oh well, in that case.


Anyway, I have no idea why Christmas cookies have to be different than the cookies you eat the rest of the year, but they are. I used Martha's sugar cookie recipe this time. And for the exchange cookies? Well, after thumbing through cookbooks and surfing the internet, I settled on pizzelle. You need a special little appliance for these, a pizzelle maker (similar to a waffle iron, but thinner), but perhaps you could borrow one? They are pretty darn good, very similar to waffle cones, and really, really good with ice cream. Or coffee. Or Nutella. I mashed this recipe together from a couple different ones, but there are tons out there. And if you buy a pizzelle maker, it will probably come with a recipe.

Pizzelle

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. canola oil
3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
1/4 c. amaretto


Whisk the eggs, sugar, and oil together. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Let mixture sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, turn on your pizzelle maker (I like a medium-low setting). Place about 2 T. of batter on the iron and cook. Repeat. And repeat.

Caramel Bite Cookies

This recipe turned out pretty good. It's obviously pretty easy. I did not get too much help from my preschooler with these as he was too mesmerized by the bag of Rolo candies.

Caramel Bite Cookies 

Ingredients
1 pkg. Rolo candies
1 box Devils Food Cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c. oil

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs. Take a small ball of dough and form a ball around the Rolo. (Only use enough dough to cover the Rolo so it can spread through the cookie.)

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

 Yields about 3 dozen.

Thank you to Pinterest and the Six Sisters blog for this recipe.