The holidays wouldn't be the same without our cherished and treasured cookie recipes. It wasn't easy, but we were able to pry a few of them, the
time-tested and the traditional, from the vanilla extract-stained recipe books of our staffers for you to try this year.
Now, let's get baking!
Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies
From Account Executive Caley Bittner
Makes 30
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar, divided
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
® cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans, divided
1 (13 ounce) package Rolo candies
4 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate, melted
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, 1 cup sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in ½ cup pecans.
Shape a tablespoonful of dough around each candy, forming a ball. In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and pecans; dip each cookie halfway. Place nut side up 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
Bake at 375°F for 7-10 minutes or until tops are slightly cracked. Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle with melted white chocolate.
Caley's Cookie Backstory
"I have always loved to bake Christmas cookies purely for the nostalgia of the activity. It was an annual tradition growing up and we always decorated cookies as a family, so I have fond memories. When I got married, I started baking cookies in my own kitchen, but I was soon to find out that my husband wouldn't help me eat any of them! All my recipes were vanilla cookies and he's a chocolate lover! So I set out to find a recipe that would be both beautiful and appease his chocolate appetite."
Old-School Christmas Sugar Cookies
From Food Writer Carrie Havranek
Makes 72-84 cookies depending on cookie cutter size
½ cup butter
½ cup shortening
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs plus one egg white
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Cream butter, shortening and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until it's lightened in color, 2-3 minutes at medium-high speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn mixer to low and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
Sift together the dry ingredients and slowly add them into the bowl and mix on low speed until the ingredients are just incorporated. Wrap dough in wax paper and chill for at least two hours or overnight.
When it's time to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove dough from the fridge and open the wax paper. Cut the dough in half with a bench scraper or chef's knife. Rewrap and return one half to the fridge.
Depending on the room's temperature, you may need to wait a bit for the dough to be pliable enough to roll out, but not so warm and soft that it shreds as you try to work with it. Break the half into smaller pieces. Take one of those pieces and using a floured rolling pin and pastry board, roll the piece out like pie dough to about 1/8-inch thickness—the shape doesn't matter, really. Press floured cookie cutters into the dough and transfer to ungreased rimless baking sheets.
Brush cookies with one beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar or decorate to your liking. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
Carrie's Cookie Backstory
"Every Christmas, my sister and I would be charged with decorating the holiday cookies until finally we took over the entire baking process as 20-somethings. My mom tweaked this recipe over the years, adjusting the butter and shortening ratios and settling on a whole tablespoon of vanilla extract. I've varied this recipe by sifting in spices or scraping out a vanilla bean and adding it into the dough. I've done these cookies as pumpkins, cut them out with Easter-themed shapes and decorated them with royal icing, but the best is still the simplest: free-form sugar and sprinkles. As a food writer, baker and cook, I'm always messing with recipes. This one? I don't mess with perfection."
Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies
From Photographer Alison Conklin
Makes 48
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 egg
3 ½ cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red food coloring
2 Tablespoons finely crushed peppermint candies
2 Tablespoons sugar
Stir together 1 cup sugar, the butter, milk, vanilla, peppermint extract and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Divide dough in half. Stir food coloring into one half. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Heat oven to 375°F. Stir together peppermint candy and 2 Tablespoon sugar; set aside. For each candy cane, shape one, rounded teaspoon dough from each half into 4-inch rope by rolling back and forth on floured surface. Place one red and one white rope side by side; press together lightly and twist. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; curve top of cookie down to form handle of cane.
Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until set and very light brown. Immediately sprinkle candy mixture over cookies. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Alison's Cookie Backstory
"My mom made these cookies with me when I was a child and it grew into a yearly tradition. Now I make them with my boys at the holidays. When the boys were toddlers it was like playing with Play-Doh, but as they grew older it became a wonderful game of who could make the most perfect candy cane. These cookies are delicious and fun and certainly are easy ones for kids to be part of."
Saltine Toffee Bark
From Publisher Pam Deller
40 saltine crackers (1 sleeve)
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
® cup chopped pecans
Line a 15”x10”x 1” baking pan with foil. Arrange saltines in a single layer on the foil, completely covering the foil.
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, and continue to boil for 3 minutes without stirring.
Pour the brown sugar/butter mixture over the saltines.
Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
Allow the chocolate chips to soften for a few minutes and then spread evenly to the edges.
Sprinkle pecans over the soft chocolate and allow bark to cool to room temperature.
Cover and refrigerate for one hour until the bark is set. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.
Pam's Cookie Backstory
"My sister Susan always brings this toffee-inspired recipe to my house during the holidays. Our family calls it 'Christmas Crack' because once you try it; you just can't stop eating it!"
Glazed Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Account Executive Kellie Bartholomew
Makes 36
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup shortening
1 Tablespoon orange peel
2 cups all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
½ cup chocolate chips
Heat oven to 375°F. Mix first 4 ingredients. Then add next 5 ingredients.
When mixed well, add chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. (Tip: Kellie uses the Pampered Chef Scoop to make equal-sized, round cookies.)
Bake until light brown, 8-10 minutes.
Remove from cookie sheet to cool. Spread with glaze when cooled.
Light Brown Glaze
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk
Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat until light brown. Remove from heat and add rest of ingredients. Spread on cooled cookies.
Kellie's Cookie Backstory
"Since my youngest son was allergic to eggs when he was little, I tried to come up with a baked good that he could enjoy. I took a recipe that I found in my mother's cookbook and modified it until a cookie star was born! Until now, this recipe has been a ‘best kept secret.' Hands down, this cookie has a cult following among my family and friends. When the first leaf turns yellow, the requests for them start rolling in."
The holidays wouldn't be the same without our cherished and treasured cookie recipes. It wasn't easy, but we were able to pry a few of them, the
time-tested and the traditional, from the vanilla extract-stained recipe books of our staffers for you to try this year.
Now, let's get baking!
Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies
From Account Executive Caley Bittner
Makes 30
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar, divided
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
® cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ cups chopped pecans, divided
1 (13 ounce) package Rolo candies
4 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate, melted
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, 1 cup sugar and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in ½ cup pecans.
Shape a tablespoonful of dough around each candy, forming a ball. In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and pecans; dip each cookie halfway. Place nut side up 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
Bake at 375°F for 7-10 minutes or until tops are slightly cracked. Cool for 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle with melted white chocolate.
Caley's Cookie Backstory
"I have always loved to bake Christmas cookies purely for the nostalgia of the activity. It was an annual tradition growing up and we always decorated cookies as a family, so I have fond memories. When I got married, I started baking cookies in my own kitchen, but I was soon to find out that my husband wouldn't help me eat any of them! All my recipes were vanilla cookies and he's a chocolate lover! So I set out to find a recipe that would be both beautiful and appease his chocolate appetite."
Old-School Christmas Sugar Cookies
From Food Writer Carrie Havranek
Makes 72-84 cookies depending on cookie cutter size
½ cup butter
½ cup shortening
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs plus one egg white
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Cream butter, shortening and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until it's lightened in color, 2-3 minutes at medium-high speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn mixer to low and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
Sift together the dry ingredients and slowly add them into the bowl and mix on low speed until the ingredients are just incorporated. Wrap dough in wax paper and chill for at least two hours or overnight.
When it's time to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Remove dough from the fridge and open the wax paper. Cut the dough in half with a bench scraper or chef's knife. Rewrap and return one half to the fridge.
Depending on the room's temperature, you may need to wait a bit for the dough to be pliable enough to roll out, but not so warm and soft that it shreds as you try to work with it. Break the half into smaller pieces. Take one of those pieces and using a floured rolling pin and pastry board, roll the piece out like pie dough to about 1/8-inch thickness—the shape doesn't matter, really. Press floured cookie cutters into the dough and transfer to ungreased rimless baking sheets.
Brush cookies with one beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar or decorate to your liking. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
Carrie's Cookie Backstory
"Every Christmas, my sister and I would be charged with decorating the holiday cookies until finally we took over the entire baking process as 20-somethings. My mom tweaked this recipe over the years, adjusting the butter and shortening ratios and settling on a whole tablespoon of vanilla extract. I've varied this recipe by sifting in spices or scraping out a vanilla bean and adding it into the dough. I've done these cookies as pumpkins, cut them out with Easter-themed shapes and decorated them with royal icing, but the best is still the simplest: free-form sugar and sprinkles. As a food writer, baker and cook, I'm always messing with recipes. This one? I don't mess with perfection."
Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies
From Photographer Alison Conklin
Makes 48
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 egg
3 ½ cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon red food coloring
2 Tablespoons finely crushed peppermint candies
2 Tablespoons sugar
Stir together 1 cup sugar, the butter, milk, vanilla, peppermint extract and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Divide dough in half. Stir food coloring into one half. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Heat oven to 375°F. Stir together peppermint candy and 2 Tablespoon sugar; set aside. For each candy cane, shape one, rounded teaspoon dough from each half into 4-inch rope by rolling back and forth on floured surface. Place one red and one white rope side by side; press together lightly and twist. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; curve top of cookie down to form handle of cane.
Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until set and very light brown. Immediately sprinkle candy mixture over cookies. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Alison's Cookie Backstory
"My mom made these cookies with me when I was a child and it grew into a yearly tradition. Now I make them with my boys at the holidays. When the boys were toddlers it was like playing with Play-Doh, but as they grew older it became a wonderful game of who could make the most perfect candy cane. These cookies are delicious and fun and certainly are easy ones for kids to be part of."
Saltine Toffee Bark
From Publisher Pam Deller
40 saltine crackers (1 sleeve)
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
® cup chopped pecans
Line a 15”x10”x 1” baking pan with foil. Arrange saltines in a single layer on the foil, completely covering the foil.
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, and continue to boil for 3 minutes without stirring.
Pour the brown sugar/butter mixture over the saltines.
Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until bubbly. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
Allow the chocolate chips to soften for a few minutes and then spread evenly to the edges.
Sprinkle pecans over the soft chocolate and allow bark to cool to room temperature.
Cover and refrigerate for one hour until the bark is set. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.
Pam's Cookie Backstory
"My sister Susan always brings this toffee-inspired recipe to my house during the holidays. Our family calls it 'Christmas Crack' because once you try it; you just can't stop eating it!"
Glazed Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Account Executive Kellie Bartholomew
Makes 36
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup shortening
1 Tablespoon orange peel
2 cups all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon salt (optional)
½ cup chocolate chips
Heat oven to 375°F. Mix first 4 ingredients. Then add next 5 ingredients.
When mixed well, add chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. (Tip: Kellie uses the Pampered Chef Scoop to make equal-sized, round cookies.)
Bake until light brown, 8-10 minutes.
Remove from cookie sheet to cool. Spread with glaze when cooled.
Light Brown Glaze
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk
Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat until light brown. Remove from heat and add rest of ingredients. Spread on cooled cookies.
Kellie's Cookie Backstory
"Since my youngest son was allergic to eggs when he was little, I tried to come up with a baked good that he could enjoy. I took a recipe that I found in my mother's cookbook and modified it until a cookie star was born! Until now, this recipe has been a ‘best kept secret.' Hands down, this cookie has a cult following among my family and friends. When the first leaf turns yellow, the requests for them start rolling in."
