Christmas Cookies & Other Goodies

So I am finally getting around to posting the christmas cookies and goodies we made last weekend.  The past week has been soooo crazy! Glad to finally be off work for a few days!  Anyways, we literally spent all day Saturday and Sunday baking and decorating. Our kitchen looked like flour and powdered sugar exploded in it.  But it was fun :) We might have gone a little crazy and made a TON of stuff-but most of it was shared with co-workers and family. I'm just glad Nathan put up with me the whole time and he made some pretty cool stuff himself.  I've got an awesome husband!

Sugar Cookies

I don't really have a staple recipe for these yet, so I just googled one and found one I thought looked good. Nathan really liked them so maybe I'll keep this one around for a little while. I decorated them with Color Flow icing using a recipe from Wilton.

Ingredients

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (softened at room temperature)
1 egg, lightly beaten (egg should be at room temperature)
3 Tablespoons half-and-half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) .
2. Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
3. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.
4. With a fork, stir in lightly beaten egg, vanilla and half-and-half. Blend well with fork, then your hands to ensure thorough blending. Chill dough for one hour for easier rolling.

*If you are not rolling the dough, chill for 15 minutes then skip to step 6 for baking.

5. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes.
6. Place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar or leave plain for decorating with icing.
7. Bake for 6 - 7 minutes, or until lightly brown.

Recipe source: http://www.momswhothink.com/cookie-recipes/sugar-cookie-recipe.html

Fudge
We just followed the recipe on the back of the marshmallow fluff container.  Last year Nathan made sludge-he added a 12 oz can of evaporated milk instead of the 5 oz can and obviously it never set up. So this year we made sure we got the right size and it turned out perfect :)

Peppermint Bark

Super easy. A bag of white chocolate chips, 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract and some crushed candy canes. Melt chocolate, add in extract and some crushed candy canes. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet or jelly roll pan lined with foil/wax paper. Sprinkle top with more crushed candy cane. Let harden, then break into pieces.

Pinwheel Cookies

Nathan made these last these last year and decided to make them again this year.  Some of them didn't roll right, so he just gave them a "marbled" look :) He's so talented!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 egg

3 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

1. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar and egg. Blend in flour and salt. Divide dough in half, mix cocoa into one half. Cover, chill 1 hour.

2. On lightly floured cloth-covered board, roll plain dough into rectangle, 16X9". Roll chocolate dough into rectangle same size; place on top of plain dough.
3.Roll doughs 3/16 inch thick. Roll up jelly roll style. Wrap, chill, slice and bake in 400 degree oven for 8 minutes.
4. Use wax paper to roll dough between using 1/4 of dough at a time. This way it is easy to handle dough and roll into jelly roll.

Recipe Source: http://wegottaeat.com/2ndfiddle/recipes/betty-crocker-pinwheel-cookies