A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity Our Favorite Recipes Christmas baking...

...any new recipes to be shared this year or recipes you'd like to try.

I am thinking of making some new treats this season...time to start planning ahead.

I'm going to be making Vanessa's (remember 4Ruddy?) cranberry salsa and IF I can find my recipe book which has gone missing, I am making my fancy sausage bread which I haven't made in a while because... the book has gone missing! I also plan on making about a dozen loaves of my English Muffin bread as gifts as well as the usual jar gifts from my kitchen.

I'm thinking of making rocky road squares and some new fudge recipes..and anything else that looks like 'diabetes in a pan' as my Uncle says.

I will be making the same things I always do.

I will make my
Grandmother's Oatmeal cookies--
most likley her Peanut Butter cookies--
some Soft Sugar cookies of which I found the recipe in a "Who's cooking What In Illionis" Book when the kids were small.
and some Fudge for my DH.--I do not make fudge well so I will liley make soem "box fudge".

I dearly love Divinity and I so wish that I could make it well, but I cannot so I will hope my sister makes a plate full to bring to Christmas Eve.

And yes I AM going to make all of the above with my old recipes---I will just not eat a bunch of them all by myself.

Have you posted your soft sugar cookie recipe anywhere here, Carol? i would be interested in that one.

I dont know--let me go look & if I did not I sure will post it now, Tina

Thank you. I have grown very fond of soft cookies. Not the 'soft' cookies on the store shelves so much. Whatever they add to keep them soft has a definite taste to me.

#67637 - 06-16-2007 11:07 AM
//www.agardenersforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/68518/From_Your_Childhood.html#Post68518

Here is where all the other recipes that I mentioned are at. I have no idea why I did not add the Soft Sugar Cookie--so here ya go.

SOFT SUGAR COOKIES

1-1/2 C. Granulated Sugar............................1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/3 C. Brown Sugar, packed well......................2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 C. Butter or margarine (2 sticks)..................1/2 tsp Salt
1/3 C. Milk................................................. 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg, DO NOT OMIT
2 Eggs, Beaten............................................1 tsp. Vanilla

Flour: I use between 4-3/4 C to 5 C.

Cream the 2 sugars and butter together.
Add remaining ingredients except for the flour. Stir well.
now, add enough flour to make a soft dough.
Roll out on a board dusted with powdered sugar to about 1/4 to 1/2 inches thick, and cut with cookie cutters. May be sprinkled with sugars, raisens or choc chips.

Recipe says to bake on greased cookie sheets for 15 minutes at 425*F, or until lightly golden brown.

transfer to rack to cool & store in a air-tight container. (I use paper towel placed on a dish towel.)

Trial & error has taught me these things:

1) bake at 375*F-400*F--this will depend on your oven.
2) Bake for 7-8 minutes to start.--Time will depend on the thickness of your cookie. I like to start with 1/4" raw cookies & see from there what I would like them to look like after baking..
3) If you do not have enough flour in them they will tend to spread out a bit too much, and for a shaped cookie this is not good.
4) Cookies will "puff up" while baking, so roll them out a bit thinner than you would like the cookie to end up being.
5) I usually use cooking spray to grease the cookie sheets with,--but you might need a bit more of that.
6) remember to add all decorations, except icing if using, before baking.
7) I use powdered sugar to roll out my cookies with so they do not end up tasting like flour from the excess flour on the board.
8) I often put the dough in the refrigerator for say an hour before rolling out--but recipe does not say that is necessary.
9) Keep a soft piece of white bread (wheat bread might impart a taste) in with the cookies. It will help keep them soft. When the bread gets hard replace it with a fresh, soft piece of bread.
10) DO NOT OMIT the nutmeg--it makes this cookie

Thank you very much.

I'm a soft cookie gal as well but gooey brownies are my favorite of all.

This year will be the same old mixture of brownies, loafs, and squares but just less of each one so I can make room for some new things.

The one thing that only gets made here at Christmas time and at no other time of year is Scotch cookies(shortbread with a dab of icing and a cherry on top). DH demands that it stays a tradition as it was when they were children...as well as the Meat pies. Meat pies get made in December and only cooked and cut for Christmas morning breakfast

yep--my girls demend the cookies that I am making as I have done it since before they were born. So tradition i t is. I used to make regular sugar cookies and then one year I made these & the girls insisit on them now instead of teh old sugar cookies.

Valarie makes the nut roll we have for Christmas breakfast unless I order one or 2 from the bakery. I am not much on making yeast breads.

I think I may begin baking deer weekend- DH will be gone anyway and I can put them up in the freezer--because onece I begin with Chriustmas things i n december--I will likly let baking go to the wayside

I usually bake everything in one day then freeze it all. My kitchen looks like a disaster area when I'm done but well worth it in the end.

yea mine looks like a disaster area as well. but yes I agree it is well worth the mess made.

I love baking and cooking in general. So I use it as a 'reward' for getting other things done. I am not allowed to bake unless my kitchen is sparkly clean. I have to vacuum or clean out a closet or something before the next project, etc. So the baking is spread out. Besides my kitchen is so small that just having projects spread out; some cooling and some getting ready to go in and things use up all of the space I have. So smaller batches at a time for me.

The reward system--I am going to have to consider doing that--good idea,

Well I have some things I want to try this year.

1. The Stained Glass Cookies.
2. A Sausage Stuffing (anyone have a recipe for this?)
3. My new Sour Dough Dinner Roll Recipe (Yummy)
4. Candied Almond and Mandarin Orange Salad (family favorite)
5. Christmas bread pudding (yum)
6. Will probably do my Airy Scone recipe as well (another yum)

*FUDGE - Easy use the recipe on the back of the Jiffy Marshmellow Creme Jar it is so easy and makes great fudge.

I'm getting fatter just writing down the list lol.

I will make my same old tried & true treats--and perhaps some Russian Tea cakes (wedding balls)

Do you think I can get a job as the official website taste tester?

Just how does that work, Tammy ???

I don't know JunieGirl but it sounded good to me, lol.

I got it, I got it, thank you Bill. See now if you try out a new recipe you can send me a tasting and I'll tell you how good it is. LOL.