Our Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes

Please enjoy our final installment of our Holiday Recipe releases with our Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes. These are easy to make and quite delicious! Let us know how you like the recipes. Happy Holidays to everyone from all of us at Seniors Lifestyle Magazine! Thank you to all our contributors!

Easy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll round teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Note: Add any toppings you may like (sprinkles, frosting etc.) prior to baking. Here are some ideas.

Recipe Credit

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup butter softened
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup peanut butter
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
3. Bake at 375 F for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Recipe Credit

Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• ¾ cup molasses
• 4 cups, all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Vanilla frosting of your choice
• Red and green paste food coloring

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight until easy to handle.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-inch cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool. Tint some of the frosting red and some green. Decorate cookies.

Recipe Credit

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Cinnamon Sugar = 2 tablespoons sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon 

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Then add flour, baking powder, and salt. Roll dough into 1.5” balls and roll them in cinnamon sugar. Bake for 12 minutes at 375F.

Recipe Credit

Whipped Shortbread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ½ cup icing sugar, sifted
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• Colored sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. In large bowl with electric beaters, beat butter, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla and salt until fluffy; mix in flour just until combined. Cover bowl and refrigerate just until firm, about 20 minutes.
2. Roll by tablespoonfuls into balls; place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Using lightly floured tines of fork, press tops of cookies until flattened to ½-inch (1 cm). Top with sprinkles, if using.

3. Bake in preheated 300°F (150°C) oven until pale golden and just set, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cool on pans on racks for 10 minutes; transfer cookies to racks and let cool completely (store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks).

Recipe Credit