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Peppermint Wreaths Cookies

1 1/4 cups softened butter
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (I used vanilla)
red food coloring
green food coloring
crushed peppermint candies (I left these out)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl beat together the butter and powdered sugar. Add the flavoring. Slowly add the flour and mix well. Divide the dough in half and place in two separate bowls. Tint one bowl green and one bowl red with the food coloring.

Take some green dough about the size of a walnut, and roll it on the table to make a rope about 4 inches long. Take a small piece of red dough and make a thinner rope (the red rope will be sort of a ribbon for the wreath).

So what you'll do next is wrap the red rope around the green and form a circle. Lay the circle on the cookie sheet. Take little pieces of red dough and make little balls to be the ornaments on the wreath.

Take a small piece of red dough and form a bow (by smashing each end with your thumb and forefinger) and place it at the ends where the wreath comes together. You can see on some I just used green dough and put red for the berries and bow.

After you make them all, bake for 6-8 minutes or until firm. Do not overcook them, they will turn brown which is not a pleasing color for the wreaths, but they still taste good. Let cool for a few minutes on the pan and then remove to cool completely. Store in an airtight container, or freeze them. Try to save some for the holidays!

Candy Cane Cookies: Another design I did was, I split the dough into 2 batches, and colored one red, and left the other batch the natural color. Using the method above of rolling, you can make cookies that look like candy canes. The kids love to get involved in the "rolling" It reminds them of Play Dough, but this, they can eat. Here's another recipe at the bottom of the page for Edible play dough made from peanutbutter

Christmas Cookie Tree Ornaments
for a Kids Tree Trimming Party

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and if desired nutmeg. Set flour mixture aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium speed till softened (about 30 seconds) Add sugar and beat till fluffy.

Add egg, milk, and vanilla, then beat well. Gradually add flour mixture and beat till well blended. Cover and chill dough about 1 hour. Roll dough, half at a time, on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters or knife, rerolling dough as necessary. Transfer cookies to ungreased sheets. With a plastic drinking straw, make a hole at the top of each cookie.

Bake in a 375 oven for 8 to 10 minutes or till cookies are light brown around the edges. While cookies are hot, if necessary reopen the holes with a toothpick. Remove cookies from sheet to a wire rack, then cool completely.

Put decorations in individual small plastic bowls. Tie a piece of ribbon in the hole of each cookie for hanging. Let guests decorate the cookies by attaching some decorations with some frosting. Let cookies stand 30 minutes or until frosting is slightly dry. Makes 36 cookies.

While the cookies are drying, keep the kids busy making other ornaments for your holiday tree. They can string popcorn, make paper chains, or cut out paper tree ornaments or see these easy Christmas Kids Crafts, also they might enjoy making Christmas Candy Ornaments and Chocolate Teddy Bear Ornament Cookies.

Note: If you would rather not frost, then mix drops of food coloring in the dough. You can also use this recipe at other times of the year. Make cookie ornaments for your Easter tree, Valentine tree, pumpkin tree etc.

Childhood Thumbprint Cookies

I make these every Christmas, but they're not just for Christmas.

1 cup butter soft
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and gradually add the sugar. Beat till light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, salt, then flour. Mix well. Chill dough. Roll dough in 1 inch balls, place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press thumb in center of each ball, leaving an indentation. Bake at 300 for about 20 minutes. Fill each indentation with chocolate frosting.

Also see Aunt Elle's Peanutbutter Thumbprints

Poinsetta Cookies

2 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup butterscotch chips
Granulated sugar
1/2 cup candied cherries, cut in wedges

Cream confectioners sugar and butter; add eggs and extracts. Sift together flour and salt; stir into butter mixture. Stir in coconut and 3/4 cup of the butterscotch chips. Chill dough until firm. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets.

Flatten cookie with the bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar. Place a butterscotch chip in the center of each cookie. Place cherry wedges in a circle to resemble a Poinsetta. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes.
Recipe from a 1974 cookbook

Santa's Whiskers Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tabsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup finely chopped red candied cherries
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup flaked coconut

Cream butter and sugar in bowl until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour, cherries, and pecans. Shape into two 8 inch rolls. Cover with coconut, wrap in waxed paper. Chill until firm. Cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool on wire rack. Yield 3 dozen

Christmas Balls

1 cup butter or margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons water
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
Red and green sugar

Cream butter and vanilla; add sugar, creaming the mixture until light and fluffy. Blend in water. Stir in flour mixing well. Add pecans. Shape in 1 inch balls. Roll in colored sugar. Bake 1 inch apart on ungreased cooky sheets in slow oven 325. for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool before removing from pan. Makes 3 dozen.
Recipe from a 1963 cookbook

Holiday Hideaways are a cute little Christmas cookie that you might want to try. It's from a 1992 Cookie Cookbook

Kris "Kringla" Cookies

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
5 cups Pioneer Biscuit & Baking Mix
1 cup sour cream

-In large mixer bowl, beat sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add buttermilk, beating to combine.
-Add Pioneer Biscuit & Baking Mix alternately with sour cream, beating until well mixed. Chill at least 4 hours (dough will be very soft).
-Work with a samll amount of dough at a time and keep remaining dough chilled. On a floured surface, roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into pencil-like strips about 8 inches long and 1/2-inch thick. Shape into a figure-8, pretzel or letter.
-Place 2 inches apart on a ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350&degF for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown. Remove cookies to wire rack to cool.

Nutmeg Logs

1 cup soft butter (two sticks)
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 cup sifted flour
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream softened butter with the flavoring. Beat in the sugar, then mix in the egg.
In a separate bowl, stir the flour, nutmeg, and salt. Mix with the butter/sugar mixture. Shape the resulting dough into snakes about 1/2 inch in diameter, and cut the pieces to 3 inches in length. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
When cooled, frost with nutmeg frosting. Make grooves in the frosting with a fork, and sprinkle powdered nutmeg on the logs while the frosting is still moist. Combine icing ingredients and spread on cooled cookies.

Nutmeg Frosting
1 cup powdered sugar - 1 tbsp. margarine, melted - 1/2 tsp. vanilla - dash nutmeg - 1 tbsp. milk

- This recipe is called Christmas Cookies. True to it's name it is lightly spiced, and has raisins and nuts. Drop by teaspoonsful on a cookie sheet.

- Here's a recipe for Spritz cookies. It's for a cookie press.

- This next recipe is called Log Cookies, they are chocolate and it also is used in a cookie press. Here's part 2 of this recipe. It makes 70-80 cookies.

- Here's a recipe for Rich Butter Cookies. I just have to try this one!