Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

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Lindy
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

Woohoo!! My husband says my head is full of rocks once in a while. Hahahahahaha!!!
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jayseadee
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by jayseadee »

Lindy wrote:jayseadee - This is Giada's recipe which I would think would be excellent. Does this look right to you?
I found her recipe last year and made them. They were good, but not like Noni's :(
janet
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Lindy
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

jayseadee - What made them different? Softer, crunchier, more chocolatey or ??? There were plenty of other recipes on the internet so if I knew how they were different I could key in on how the recipes vary. I'm starting to learn how to change cookie recipes depending on how you like them....ie. use shortening if you want a chewy cookie and butter if you want crisp, powdered sugar or egg whites only tends to make them very tender and crumbly, egg yolks included makes them more cake-like and puffy. Alot of times I will "morph" several recipes together to make my own version of something. In fact a disaster at making homemade caramels resulted in one of my most popular cookies - I didn't keep the temperature at a certain level long enough to make the caramels the righ consistency for candy, but when I put the too soft caramel on top of a shortbread cookie, cover with melted chocolate and topped it with a pecan half my friends went crazy over it. I was just trying not to waste the ingredients - my depression era mother pounded that into my head when I was growing up. Sometimes there's just no way to match "Grandma's" because they did something magical. My granny alway made the BEST potato salad because she made her own mayo from scratch. No amount of puttering from ANY of the great cooks in my family has been able to recreate it. Unfortunately using "farm" eggs, etc. just can't be reproduced with the supermarket ingredients we have today.
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jayseadee
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by jayseadee »

softer cookie - and stayed in more of a ball shape. I've also found a couple of other recipes on line.
janet
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Lindy
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

janet - I've been looking online, but they all look pretty similar to the Giada recipe. Maybe your grandmother came up with her own twist on the recipe. Did anyone else in your family ever learn how to make them her way?
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jayseadee
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by jayseadee »

Lindy wrote:janet - I've been looking online, but they all look pretty similar to the Giada recipe. Maybe your grandmother came up with her own twist on the recipe. Did anyone else in your family ever learn how to make them her way?
Thanks for checking. We were all too busy trying to master her gravy and meatballs to think about cookies :D
janet
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Lindy
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

:lol:
mindehankins
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mindehankins »

Hey Lindy, I started my baking today. I baked one dozen of each batch, and froze the rest. Thanks so much for the great idea!
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Lindy
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

Hey, no problem Minde. If you figure out any new and improved ways of freezing let me know. Cookie dough is pretty forgiving though so I don't think any in-depth research is required. I've have pre-made dough in my freezer for up to a year and it's still turned out just fine. No off taste either.
mindehankins
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mindehankins »

Freezing is going fine.
I do have a hint to share that might help someone else, though. I've been making magic cookie bars for YEARS, but they've never been perfect. The crust was always a pain in the butt and only some of the bars retained their crust. Everyone loves them, and the crumbles make good ice cream topping, so I made them anyway. But this year, I increased the graham cracker crumbs to 2 cups, mixed them with the butter and patted them into the pan and then baked them for 10 minutes, THEN added the toppings and baked for 20 minutes. Perfect. For the first time ever.
Lindy's comment about tweaking recipes made me think - yeah, I totally need to do that.
Thanks!
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Lindy
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

Woohoo!! Way to go Minde!!!
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liamsaunt
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by liamsaunt »

I saw this cookie recipe on Tasty Kitchen this morning and thought it sounded really good.

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/dessert ... t-cookies/

If I have time this weekend I will bake them with my niece and report back. I must warn you that I am an inexperienced cookie baker though. I don't usually make cookies, my sister is the holiday baker in my family.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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mbw1024
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mbw1024 »

Do not have a lot of success with brown butter but that sounds darn good.
mindehankins
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by mindehankins »

Thanks Liamsaunt. That one sounds different and simple. Will try that on Sunday!
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Lindy
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Re: Time to start another Christmas cookie thread..

Post by Lindy »

It's crunch time now for getting my cookies done since the church sale is next weekend. I happened across a recipe for Christmas Mice that would be just so darned cute for kids, especially if you bring them out when it's time to read The Night Before Christmas to them. I've found two versions - one with peanut butter cookie dough and peanuts for ears and another that was actually a Halloween cookie recipe with peanut butter and rice crispies, sliced almonds for ears and dipped in chocolate. The second seems more of a candy recipe than a cookie, but who cares when they are so adorable. I'm going to be making some Hanukkah cookies for friends after the church sale is done so I might add the mice for their grandchildren.I would eliminate the black decorating sugar on the chocolate ones since I'm not doing them for Halloween and I think that sugar over the chocolate coating is a little redundent anyway. Take a look!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pean ... stmas-Mice

http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TOH/Im ... 21D31A.jpg
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