CHRISTMAS COOKIES

What would the holidays be without cookies? I Can’t imagine!  My family has our favorites, I’m sure your family does too. Great memories were made baking cookies in my kitchen with my two sons. A treasure beyond words. So I would like to share a few of our favorites, from my home to yours. May you create a few new memories of your own. Easy to bake, and yummie too. Try one or two of my family’s favorites, maybe they will become your family's holiday favorites too. Bonn appetite and Merry Merry!

Butter Spritz

1 C. Soft Butter

1 C. Sugar

1 Egg

5 Tbsp. Milk

1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract

2 1/2 C.Flour

1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder

In a stand mixer. blend butter, sugar.

Blend in egg.

Add milk and vanilla.

Stir baking soda into flour.

Add flour/baking soda a little at a time to butter mix.

Fill a large pastry bag with dough add a large star tip and pipe onto a baking pan lined with parchment.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven when the edges of the cookies have just slightly turned brown.

Let cool.

Melt chocolate at 30 second intervals in a microwave. Stir between each interval.

Dip half a cookie at an angle in melted chocolate and add sprinkles, such as chopped nuts, coconut, colored sugar, nonpareils, stars, anything you can dream. You be the designer!

Snowballs

1 C. Butter

1/2 C. Confectioners' Sugar

1 Tsp. Vanilla

2 1/4 C. Flour

1 C. Chopped Pecans (or your favorite nut)

Confectioners' Sugar

 In a stand mixer, combine soft butter, sugar, and vanilla.

Add flour a little at a time.

By hand add finely chopped nuts.

Roll into 1" size balls, place on parchment backing sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Let sit for a minutes.

Hand roll each ball into a dish filled with confectioners' sugar.

Roll a second time, 

Let cool completely.

Peppermint Snowballs

Follow the same ingredients as above snowball cookies, except substitute vanilla extract for peppermint flavoring and add roughly chopped peppermint bark in place of chopped nuts.

Bake and roll in sugar same as Snowball cookies.

Thumbprint

1/2 C. Butter

!/2  C. Sugar

1 Egg, Separated

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 C. Flour

1 C. Chopped Pecans

Raspberry Jelly

Mix butter, sugar and egg yolk and vanilla in a stand mixer.

Add flour a little at a time.

Roll into 1" balls.

Whisk egg white together with 1 teaspoon of water.

Dip and cover one ball at a time into the egg white.

Roll ball into the chopped nuts.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Make an indention onto the top of the ball with your thumb.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Let cool.

Add a drop of raspberry jelly to the thumbprint. Pop in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Use a fork dipped in melted white chocolate, drizzled over each cookie.

Gingerbread 

Christmas would not be happy without my gingerbread cookie. This is probably my most favorite holiday cookie. To bake...Link here.

Hope your holiday will be filled with cookies baking! MERRY MERRY!

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SOUTHERN STARS

Stars are one of my favorite shapes. Not only do stars come out at night, they come out year round in my home. Christmas is no exception. They are everywhere, on cookies, on mantles, on runners on plates, on pillows, on Christmas trees... everywhere you look. Lately, I have been intrigued with tobacco stick wood stars. So what is a tobacco stick? Well, long ago tobacco was a huge crop grown on many Virginia farms. When the leaves were harvested they were tied to sturdy long sticks, most with a pointed ends and hung to dry in the barn. Once dried, the leaves were placed in wood barrels and rolled down the road to the Potomac River. The sticks were stored for the next crop. Then the barrels were loaded onto ships to be sold over seas. Near my house there is Rolling Road, an old Colonial road named for the journey of tobacco rolled to port in Old Town, Alexandria. So there is a little Colonial history. Well, love at first sight. I am smitten. Sticks are perfect for making stars. No tobacco sticks laying around here, but I spotted these wood stakes at Home Depot one day. And they even have a point at one end. Perfect! Wood stars! Yes, the wood is cut, perfect size and ready to go with just a few supplies. Simple, and, this time of year, minutes to make. And what a great look anywhere you find a spot or two...any time of year.

This is what you will need-

Wood Stakes 36"

Stain
Craft Brush

White Paint

Chippy Brush

Power Drill/Screw Driver

1 1/4" Exterior Wood Screws

These are the stakes I used from Home Depot...Link here.

You can stain your wood, or just keep the wood natural as they come and let them age on their own. I used a light stain that is made up of 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup water and a pad of steel wool. Add to a jar with a lid and let rest several days. You can use any wood stain you like. This homemade stain gives wood a nice, soft weathered look.

Lightly coat the stick with the stain. Wipe off excess with a paper towel. Let dry (minutes).

Use an old chippy brush, sparingly and lightly add white paint. Craft paint, chalk paint, latex paint, any white paint you have. Let dry.

To assemble, lay two sticks as shown.

Flip over to the back side.

Drill a pilot hole at the intersection of the first two sticks.

Follow with one exterior wood screw.

Flip over to the front side and lay the third stick over the first two. You can measure, I just eyed it.

Very carefully, flip the three sticks over to the back.

Secure the third stick onto the first two sticks with screws.

Flip over to the front. Lay the fourth stick as shown.

Flip over to the back and add a screw to each of the points. 

Flip back over to the front. You will have to "weave" the fifth stick under the forth stick and up on top of the third stick. Sounds a little confusing, see photo. Picture speaks a thousand words.

Flip over to the back and secure the last two points with screws. From the back you can add a screw at each of the intersections where the sticks meet if you like. I did not, I thought they were secure with just seven screws.

One for the mantle...

 Even on the garden gate...

Welcome to my Southern home...

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