Homemade Christmas Cookies And Cash - November 3, 2009

Hi Everyone!

Do you want to have some extra cash for Christmas this year? We found a great e-book called Cooking Up Some Dough that gives a step by step explanation of how to sell your baked goods to earn extra money over the holidays. It's on sale for 40% off just for our reader's this week only (Use coupon code LOAD), and we've included as a special bonus our "Gifts In A Jar" e-book, so check it out today.

Next week, we will be having our huge Dining On A Dime Christmas Sale! This is one of our biggest sales of the year and is a great opportunity to get a great deal on our Dining On A Dime Cookbook. They make great gifts, so be sure to have your list ready!

Today is my oldest son's birthday. He turns 12 today and we had a wonderful surprise party for him on Sunday. It was a huge hit. If you want some party ideas for your kids you can see what we do for our parties here.

Be sure and visit our blog. Yesterday, we wrapped up our series about how to self publish your book. If you missed it you can find it here. You can check out mom's Gingerbread Men on the blog, too. They are tremendously popular with our family and we thought you might like the idea!

Have a great week!

-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Homemade Christmas Cookies

Start Now

You can get a head start on your holiday baking by planning now! Here are some good things to do to start:

• List what cookies you want to bake for the holidays.
  


• Divide the list into cookies you will give away, cookies for parties, cookies for school activities, and so on. Also, list the ones you will be serving for your own family closer to Christmas.
  


• Make the list of ingredients you will need and then go buy them so you will have them on hand. Stock your pantry.
  

Get as much as you can done ahead of time (now).

• Most cookie dough can be refrigerated or frozen so mix as many batches as you can. Some great doughs for this are basic chocolate chip or sugar cookie dough. You can take these two and add almost anything to them: chips, dried fruit, candy etc.
  


• Freeze the dough in small batches. If you only want to bake one or two cookie sheets at a time you don't have to thaw the whole batch. I do this all year around. I keep small rolls of dough in my freezer. When I hear the grandkids are on their way, I pull out the dough and have a hot pan of cookies when they get here. It makes the house smell good for them, too.
  


• If you will be using colored sugar or coconut, mix it up now. To make either one, place the sugar or coconut into jars with a couple of drops of food coloring and shake. Store it in the jars until you're ready to use it.
  


• If you love shortbread and like to give it as gifts, make it now and store in an airtight container. Shortbread cookies are one of those cookies that are better if they are aged for at least a couple of weeks.
  

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Baking

• Be sure to use what the recipe calls for, whether it is butter, shortening or margarine and never use margarine that is whipped, soft spread or reduced fat. Your cookies will spread everywhere if you do.
  


• Pre-heat your oven
  


• It is best to bake only one sheet of cookies at a time but if you must do more, leave a couple of inches around the sheets for air circulation.
  


• Let the baking sheet cool between batches because placing dough on a hot sheet can make the cookies spread too much.
  


• If your recipe calls for oatmeal or nuts, toast them before using them.
  


• Fill a container that has large holes (like a sugar shaker) with flour to sprinkle your board before rolling out cookies.
  


• Make sure when you roll out cookies to cut that they are all the same thickness. Also, make sure that each individual cookie doesn't have thin or thick spots, either, or they will not bake evenly. You can buy rubber bands to put on your rolling pin to get an exact thickness, but they are expensive.
  
  I have always used 2 strips of cardboard (the thickness that I need) covered in foil and just lay them on each side of the dough with each edge of the rolling pin laying on a strip.
  


• If you don't have cookie cutters or you don't have enough time to use them, just roll out your cookies and cut in squares or diamond shapes with a pastry cutter or pizza cutter. Sprinkle with colored sugar and bake.
  


• Use a wire cheese cutter to slice chilled refrigerator cookie dough.
  


• If you are making huge batches of cookies and do a lot of baking, you might try using old oven racks to cool them on. Just place something under each corner to make sure it is raised up slightly off of the table.
  

Storing and Shipping

• Cookies keep very well for a very long time without freezing. Most cookies don't have ingredients the health department calls "toxic" (their words not mine) and are very safe to keep for long periods.
  


• Always completely cool cookies before storing and never store crisp cookies and soft cookies together. Store soft cookies in an air tight container and crisp cookies in a container with a loose lid.
  


• I find that tins work best for storing cookies because sometimes the cookies pick up the flavor of plastic ware if it was previously used to store something like spaghetti with garlic. This is especially true if the cookies have a lot of butter.
  


• If you have cookies that have ingredients like cream cheese, they will need to be stored in the fridge, but the recipe will usually tell you if you need to do this.
  


• You can freeze cookies up to 3 months.
  


• When shipping cookies, be sure to give them plenty of time to get to the destination and always mark "perishable" on the package.
  


• Soft moist cookies, cookie bars and drop cookies ship the best.
  


• Metal tins are the best shipping container for cookies but, if you don't have one, a sturdy cardboard box will work. Line the box with plastic wrap or foil and place the cookies in it. Crumble up wax paper to place on the top, sides or anywhere else you need cushioning. I then slip the whole thing into 1 or 2 plastic bags.
  
  I wrap that box in bubble wrap and place inside another box. You could also use newspaper, peanuts or even popcorn for cushioning at this point.
  

Misc. Tips

• Cookie ingredients can be very expensive, especially for Christmas cookies. If you need to save money, choose your family's favorites that have the least expensive ingredients.
  
  For example, my family loves sugar cookies about the same as chocolate chip cookies. The sugar cookies cost much less because they don't have things like chocolate chips and nuts in them, so I would bake the sugar cookies.
  


• Another way to save on ingredients is to use less of things like nuts and baking chips. You really can get by with putting half a bag of chips instead of a whole one into chocolate chip cookies. The same goes for nuts. If that same recipe calls for 1 cup of nuts, use just 1/2 cup.
  


• When giving cookies as gifts, make them look more attractive by putting them in cellophane bags and tying with a ribbon.
  


• Instead of just slapping cookies on a platter for your Christmas dinner or party, add a couple of votives or one large candle in the center of the platter for a more festive look.
  


• Save those dried out cookies or that handful of leftover cookies. Freeze them and use them in place of any recipe or dessert that calls for a graham cracker crust.
  

Delicious Sugar Cookies...

We have tried countless sugar cookie recipes over the years but I have always returned to this favorite of mine. I remember so well the day I got this recipe. I was room mother for Tawra for the first time. Another mom brought these to the party and the teacher and I politely took one, thinking it would be like all sugar cookies -- unless they have a lot of frosting, they are a little dry and hard to gag down.

I took a bite and inhaled the rest of the cookie. I even ate a second one. They were so good! I have used this recipe for 30 plus years, even selling them to a restaurant for a while, and they are always a big hit.

You can roll them in balls, press down and sprinkle with sugar or you can roll the dough out and cut them with a cookie cutter. If you roll them, be sure to chill the dough well for at least a couple of hours or, even better, overnight.

Here are a couple of quick tips for working with cookie cutters:

• Chilled and stiff doughs work best.
  


• The thinner the cookie, the more detail will show up from the cutter. If the cookies are too thick, everything tends to melt or blend together. Different doughs and cutters act differently, so bake 1-2 practice cookies.
  


• Use a cookie cutter that doesn't have too much detail and keep in mind that small cookies are easier to handle.
  


• Dip the cookie cutter in flour every two to three cookies.
  


• Use a spatula to lift the cookies to the pan after you cut them.
  

Nan's Sugar Cookies

These are the best sugar cookies you will ever eat!

2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
6 cups flour

Cream together the sugar, shortening, eggs and vanilla. Add buttermilk. Stir well and add the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Roll into balls and drop about 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Lay a clean dish towel flat on the counter. Place a clean glass upright in the center of the towel. Gather the towel at the top of the glass and twist so that the towel is drawn tight against the bottom and the sides of the glass. Dip bottom of towel-covered glass into flour and press cookies flat. Place a drop or two of water on the top of each cookie and spread around. Then sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 350° for 5-10 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.