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Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes

Kids and adults all love homemade cookies, especially during the holidays. Treat your family to some new "All Time Favorite Cookies" this holiday season!

Below are 3 special Christmas cookie recipes for you to prepare this holiday season.



1. New England Christmas Cookies

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup of melted shortening
- 3/4 cup of melted butter
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of white sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 cup of sliced blanched almonds
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 3 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of soda

Directions:

- Cream sugar and melted ingredients.
- Beat eggs and add to creamed mixture.
- Sift together all dry ingredients and beat into dough.
- Stir in almonds.
- Form dough into small rolls and wrap in wax paper.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Slice thin and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Do not over bake.

2. Christmas Cookie Slices

Ingredients:

For The Dark Mixture:

- 3 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of soda
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 cup of shortening
- 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of raisins, ground
- 1 cup of nuts, ground

For The Light Mixture:

- 2 cups of flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of soda
- 1/2 cup of shortening
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 2 tablespoons of water
- 1/4 cup of chopped candied cherries

Dark Mixture:

- Sift together flour, soda, salt and spices.
- Cream shortening with brown sugar, add eggs and beat well.
- Stir in dry ingredients, nuts and raisins.

Light Mixture:

- Sift together flour, salt and soda.
- Cream shortening and sugar, add egg, vanilla and water and mix well.
- Blend in dry ingredients.
- Stir in cherries.
- Pack half of dark mixture into wax paper lined straight-sided pan 10 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches.
- Add all of light dough to make a second layer, top with remaining dark dough.
- Pack firmly. Refrigerate at least 24 hours.
- Remove from pan and cut dough lengthwise in half.
- Then slice in 1/4 inch slices.
- Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove immediately from pan.

3. Christmas Cookie Wreaths

Ingredients:

- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 1 cup of chopped raisins
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 1 cup of sugar
- 4 teaspoons of sweet cream
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 3 1/2 cups of flour (sifted)

Directions:

- Mix butter and sugar in bowl until creamy.
- Whip eggs and sweet cream.
- Add other ingredients and mix well until mixture becomes dough.
- Place in refrigerator to chill.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and cut small pieces.
- Roll into wreath shapes.
- Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- Let cookies cool.
- Add decorations if desired.

Want more recipes? You welcome to visit our website: The Recipes Package and Affordable Pasta Salad Recipes for more delicious recipes.

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A Guide to Pastry and Cookie Tools

Visit any cookware shop and you will see an amazing variety of pastry and cookie tools. Baking is perhaps the one area of cooking that spawns the most kitchen gadgets. Some of these kitchen gadgets are so useful you may wonder how you ever lived without them. Some, on the other hand, are redundant, unnecessary, and will gather dust in your pastry and cookie tools cabinet.

You should only buy the pastry and cookie tools you really need and will use. Make sure you buy the best quality pastry and cookie tools you can afford, and they will provide you with years of service. Well-made equipment tends to last longer, so you might even save money on your pastry and cookie tools in the long run by buying good quality equipment.

You will need a variety of pastry pans, pie pans, cake pans and cookie sheets to satisfy your baking needs. The size, shape and construction of the pan you use can make the difference between success and failure. When choosing which pans to add to your pastry and cookie tools, favor heavy aluminum or tin-plated steel.

Choose an assortment of different sizes of pastry pans and cookie sheets when assembling your collection of pastry and cookie tools. Depending on what you like to bake, you will want to have cake pans, loaf pans, muffin pans, pie pans, cookie sheets and jelly roll pans.

Utensils are an important part of any selection of pastry and cookie tools. A collection of inexpensive wooden spoons is ideal for mixing dough or batter. They won't scratch your bowls or nonstick cooking surfaces as the metal ones may do, and they are among the more economical pastry and cookie tools. Make sure you have a flat-ended spoon. You will need this to scrape the bottoms of pans.

Spatulas are the utensils of choice for removing hot cookies and biscuits from cookie sheets. Narrow spatulas are ideal utensils for loosening cakes and breads from pans, as well as spreading glazes and frosting. Rubber spatulas are a good choice for mixing batter and scraping bowls clean without damaging surfaces.

Lastly, you will want a selection of whisks in your pastry and cookie tools for mixing flight batters and sauces, beating egg whites, and whipping cream. The whisk is an inexpensive but essential utensil.

You will need to have a set of measuring cups for liquids and a set for dry ingredients as part of your collection of pastry and cookie tools. Transparent cups are easier to use as they enable you to see through the side to precisely gauge and measure quantities. Buy dry measuring cups in sets, as you will need the whole range of sizes. Lastly, you will need measuring spoons for measuring small quantities of ingredients. You may want to have more than one set.

One gadget you will certainly need among your pastry and cookie tools is a reliable timer. Don't' count on your ability to watch the clock. Let a timer remind you and avoid turning your cookies and pastries into charred little cinders. You will also want to have a pair of kitchen scissors amongst your gadgets, as they're handy for trimming pie dough, cutting paper to line pans and snipping pieces of dried fruit.

Vegetable peelers and apple corers come in handy, especially if you're inclined toward baking pies or fruit tarts. As odd as it may seem to the inexperienced baker, a ruler is a gadget you'll need among your pastry and pie tools. You will use it for measuring pan sizes and pastry shapes, but also as a straight edge when cutting pastries and dough.

A big, thick dough scraper is something you'll need, also. Get the widest one you can, you'll use it to cut, lift and turn sticky dough and scrape work surfaces clean. Of course you'll also need cookie cutters. Let your imagination run wild. A pastry bag is an essential gadget; you will want one with an assortment of decorating tubes. In addition to decorating, you will use it to pipe meringue mixture and fillings into pastries. Lastly, you'll need cooling racks for the last step before your cookies and pastries are ready to eat.

Shop our large selection of Cooking Utensils Pastry & Cookie Tools all at affordable prices.

And for all your kitchen needs from knives and cutlery to dinnerware go to Kitchenwareinc.com

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