Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Ina Gartner and FoodNetwork.com
**Since I skipped posting this yesterday (Sunday, 12/4), I will include Day 5 & Day 6 in today’s post!
One of my favorite things about this time of the year is baking cookies. I love baking cookies to give away to friends and family. There was one year when money was so tight that the only gift we gave to friends and family was cookie trays. (I made 18 different types of cookies that year!) To me, sometimes homemade gifts like this are treasured more than gifts you buy and wrap. Typically, what I do is bake lots of cookies over one or two days. I then freeze them until we get closer to Christmas. I then thaw all the cookies and make cookie trays to give away once the week of Christmas is upon us.
Every day between now (11/30/11) and Christmas Eve, I will post 25 Days of Christmas Cookies. I would love your help! If you have a favorite cookie/bar to make this time of year, I would love for you to email me a picture of the finished product as well as a step by step recipe for it. I will then post your recipe and thousands of Addicted to Saving readers will get the chance to try out your recipe! Email me at addictedtosaving at hotmail dot com (all one word).
Day 5 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookes: Jam Thumbprints
This recipe is courtesy of Barefoot Contessa (I LOVE almost all of her recipes). I follow this recipe step by step except I make it without coconut. I find that these cookies are super buttery and really rich. Absolute perfection. My favorite jam to make them with is raspberry (seedless) but I also have made them with strawberry jam and even grape jelly and they come out marvelous every time!
Ingredients
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Raspberry and/or apricot jam
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until just combined, and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
3) Roll the dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (If you have a scale, they should each weigh 1-ounce.) Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.
Photo and Recipe courtesy of Jennifer K
Day 6 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookes: Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Jennifer K emailed me the picture and recipe for these amazing looking Cinnamon Roll cookies. They are absolutely adorable and would compliment any cookie tray!
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar, divided
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey, divided
1 teaspoon Spice Islands® pure vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
8 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
Directions
1) In a large bowl, cream butter and 1-1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, 1 tablespoon honey and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
2) Shape a heaping tablespoonful of dough into a 6-inch log. In a shallow bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; roll log in cinnamon-sugar. Loosely coil log into a spiral shape; place on a greased baking sheet. Repeat, placing cookies 1 in. apart. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar.
3) Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. In a small bowl, melt baking chocolate with remaining honey; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cookies. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container. Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen.
Christmas Cookies Recap:
Day 1 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookies Recipe: Peanut Butter Blossoms
Day 2 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipe: Rainbow Cookies
Day 3 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipe: Monster Cookies
Day 4 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipe: Hot Cocoa Cookies
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..