Monday, December 14, 2009

Cookie Day: All That and a Bag of Chocolate Chips!


Today was Cookie Day! As previously mentioned, My Mom and I have Cookie Day every December, and as the name suggests, it is a day where we make loads and loads and LOADS of cookies to give to our friends and neighbors (and of course, devour ourselves).


Here I am with some of our delicious, delectable creations. Please forgive my makeup-less, sweatshirt-clad appearance. Just keepin' it real. We don't dress up much around these parts when it's cookie day.



Here is my rediculously messy kitchen, in the throws of Cookie Day. Again, just keepin' it real...



This year we made several different types o' cookie goodness. We made:

These Snickerdoodles were actually made for our annual church bake-off last night, and they won in the cookie category! The were really good!!! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 c. chopped almonds, toasted
  • 3 c. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 c. sugar + 1/4 c sugar for the topping
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp. almond extract
  • 3/4 c. dried apricots, chopped
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

  1. Whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  2. Using a hand mixer on medium speed, cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy (5 minutes).
  3. Add eggs and almond extract to butter mixture and blend until incorporated.
  4. Add half of the flour mixture, beating on low until combined. Add remaining flour, beating only until just incorporated.
  5. Fold almonds and apricots into the dough until evenly distributed.
  6. Mix together 1/4 c. of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a shallow bowl or plate.
  7. Shape dough into 1.5 inch balls. Roll the dough into sugar/spice mixture.
  8. Transfer cookies to greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned. Cool completely and enjoy!

Another part of this year's cookie day fun was making a gingerbread house with Bennett. My dad and McPreachy did this fun project with Benny while my Mom and I were in the kitchen baking away!


We used a gingerbread house of the pre-baked variety, and it worked great. Why go to all that trouble baking the house, when decorating is really the fun part? At least that's the way I see it!





Here are the fun and delicious candy decorations.




Here's Benny-boy overseeing the construction of the house.

In all honesty, Bennett was much more excited about trying to eat all the candy decorations than he was about actually decorating the house. But he did have a lot of fun. After he got bored with it, McPreachy finished decorating it himself.



Here are a few shots of the finished product. Come along, kiddie-winkies... I'll give you the tour.

Here's the side of the house, where little graham cracker bunnies just love to frolic and play amongst the gumdrop tulips.
Here's the other side of the house. Question: What in the world is that little white swirly-swoop on top o' the lollipop? It scares me a little, as do the frosting "wigs" our gingerbread poeple are wearing. Methinks McPreachy got a little craaaazy with the frosting.

Here's the front door of our Casa de Gingerbread. Notice the very Sistine-Chapel-esque rose window above the front door (McPreachy is very cultured).
Merry Christmas, Cookie Lovers!

2 comments:

  1. I LOVE cookie days!! Isaac I plan to have one this Friday and take cookies to all our neighbors. Hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas!! Loving your blog as well......

    xoxo,
    Clattie

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, I know.....those picts to come!! Thanks for the push to do it!! xoxo

    ReplyDelete