Photo & Recipe Courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod
**Since I skipped posting this yesterday (Monday, 12/6), I will include Day 7 & Day 8 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 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 7 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookes: Lemon Sugar Cookies
I made this cookie for the first time about two years ago. I use a tiny star shaped cookie cutter and these cookies are both adorable as well as light.
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 2 large lemons
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling cookies
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
4. Add lemon zest, egg, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Mix until combined. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.
5. Roll rounded tablespoons of dough into balls and roll in sugar. Place on prepared baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.
6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are slightly brown around the edges and set. Let cookies sit on the baking sheets for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
*To keep cookies soft, store cookies with a slice of bread in an air tight container.
Day 8 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookes: Easy as Fudge
Photo and Recipe Courtesy of Margaret R
Margaret R. emailed me this great recipe. I know that fudge isn’t technically a cookie but it is a staple on any cookie tray isn’t it And, it is super yummy and easy to make! I love Margaret’s recipe because it includes just two ingredients. Talk about frugal! Margaret makes lots of fudge to give away to friends, neighbors, the mailman AND she even leaves this fudge out for Santa! Love it!
Ingredients
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
(Or, 1 part sweetened condense milk to 2 parts chocolate…depending on how much you want to make.)
Directions
1. Melt chocolate chips in a double-boiler (or in the microwave-stir every 15 seconds)
2. Add Sweetened condensed milk; mix well
3. Pour into a dish lined with aluminum foil
4. Refridgerate until firm
5. Peel foil off and cut into squares. (we like to use the mini cookie cutters for added cuteness)
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
Day 5 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipe: Jam Thumbprints
Day 6 of 25 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipe: Cinnamon Roll 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..
I need to add the lemon cookies to my list! Those sound great! I made the hot cocoa cookies and you were right…they do taste just like hot cocoa! Thanks for including these recipes. Love the addition!
With the Lemon Sugar Cookie recipe, you mentioned you used a star cookie cutter. Did you use it instead of rolling into balls?
Hi Jo! Yup, I roll the dough out a little using a rolling pin and then use my cookie cutter 🙂